WINTER ON THE PACIFIC RAILROAD.

Otago Witness, Issue 838, 20 December 1867, Page 15

WINTER ON THE PACIFIC RAILROAD.

(From the Scientific American.) Snow in scattered patches enlivened the hills around Dutch Flat, and varied the scene as we rolled along on the Central Pacific Railroad. The farther on we moved the deeper the snow became ; twelve miles ahead and we were rolling through banks of snow on either side from five to seven feet deep, the space of the track being cut out with the smoothness of the "wall of your room. Along the road were scattered squads of men keeping it in repair and keeping the snow off the track. | We were now approaching Cisco, and for six to eight miles it seemed we were travelling between great gorges, as snow stood on an average six or eight feet above the tops of the cars, and in places 100 feet or more above the track, and almost perpendicular, tt l«oked terrific — certainly grand ; and to think I was on the Pacific Railroad, the boldest work of the age, added a majesty to the scene and a pleasure to the mind which language cannot convey. As you look back on the railway canal as it were, daringly cut through mountains of snow, it spoke in unmistakeable language that it is only to possess the will to do, and anything can be accomplished. We soon arrived at Cisco. Here the snow, I was informed, waa 15 feet deep, but I do not think it exceeded ten. This is now the terminus of the railroad, and here you take sleighs. We jingled along gaily, all enjoying the scene and making merry, the snow still getting deeper. We were now riding ( on top of it, and its depth could only be estimated by the telegraph poles, which are 24 feet long. At times the wire was entirely submerged, and then the poles would stick out, it may be two, four, or six feet. Now and then along the roadside you could see a chimney of some lone cabin sticking out and seeming a miniature smoking volcano, or an incline tunnel cut down to some farmhouse.

"We reached the summit, and what a scene ! I thought snow scenes on Lake Superior were beyond competition, but the scene of the summit of the Nevada baffles all description. At this locality are a number of buildings, some entirely covered over with snow : others, set up on posts, with two stories and a sharp peaked roof, have the extreme part of the peak sticking out. The snow here is from 27 to 30 feet deep, and in some places double it. The mountains ate almost spotless ■white. Notwithstanding the depth of snow, there are quite a number of Chinamen and other individuals walking around, and who all at once at times drop out of sight, like ground squirrels into their holes. I must not forget to mention one shrewd hombre who rather conceived the idea that he would not be buried up altogether, and built a cabin on the top of about 20 feet of snow, propping it up as the snow falls. The probability is his real estate will fall some time about next July.

There have been, about the summit, several snow slides, in one instance burying, some say 30, others 60, Chinamen. The towering, ponderous bodies of snow speak loudly, " beware of my power if I start." Snow slides, when they move, are worse than whirlwinds ; they are typhoons, earthquakes, and whirlwinds consolidated. They make a clean channel as they move ; immense trees are but pipe-stems, and ponderous boulders are carried along as pebbles. They can be likened to shooting stars in their speed. — Correspondent Bulletin. The Sacramento Union says of the winter's work : — The first great fall of snow was easily managed, though before the line was fairly restored, other storms broke upon the mountains, and from that time until the middle of March, the snow

plows were kept in almost continual 'service. The winter was one of the fiercest ever known in the Sierra Nevada. Snow fell five days of one week. Yet the railroad men persisted, determined to prove that even in this terrible season, without the instruction of experience, and bothered by the settling of a new road bed, they could run trains to Cisco. It was found. that with the aid of the big independent snow plows, where the track was not walled in by rock and earth, the result of the heaviest storms could soon be cleared away, the bulk of the snow being thrown into the ravines. The greatest difficulty was in the deep cuts. The freight cars which came into Sacramento loaded with snow, have borne witness to the kind of work done in clearing them. The railroad men have decided on covering the cuts, and have adopted a plan for strong roofing structures.