The grades as we ascend are very steep, 116 feet to the
mile, this line being well ballasted. In the valleys the line was laid
originally with steel rails of 50 lbs. weight, and 3,080 ties to the
mile, in the mountains with 60 lbs. rails, but no renewals are made
with less than a 60 lbs. rail. From Rocklin to Newcastle the vineyards
and orchards are very numerous, and again at Colfax, at which latter
place we got some very fine grapes grown at an elevation of 2,400 feet
above the sea. In the afternoon we passed the mining country, where the
whole features of the country have been changed by the use of the
'Monitor' for hydraulic mining, by means of which the sides of the
mountains have been washed down to the valleys, filling them and the
streams up, and doing much damage to the flats below: this system of
directing a stream of water through a six-inch nozzle against the cliff
to wash out the gold has now been discontinued, and is illegal, owing
to the damage caused by it. The snow sheds commence at Blue Canon,
4,693 feet above the sea, and 170 miles from San Francisco. They are
simply rough wooden sheds to protect the line from drifting and falling
snow, there being no avalanches to contend with on this route.
"Some of the views on the Sierra Nevada are very fine, notably that at
'Cape Horn.
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