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road had no connection with a line, other accepted that Southern Pacific built the Te- Minot, apparently surreptitiously
than SP, which could provide them with hachapi Pass line to achieve access to the Los employed by President Manvel, finds a
access to markets east of California so they Angeles basin, and/or to utilize it for their route that while longer than the line over
logically sought the Santa Fe as a buyer for route to southern Arizona and Texas. They Tehachapi is lower and has more advanta-
their 234-mile railroad. In December 1898 also built a line with no traffic potential from geous ruling grades. He proposes deviating
Santa Fe purchased the SF&SJV Railway Mojave to Needles to block Santa Fe. southwesterly from the SP line between
for $2,462,300.00, which also included the I have recently acquired, by a purchase Mojave and Waterman (now Barstow) at a
43.8-mile branch line from Calwa to Visa- on eBay, the report by railroad locating en- location he calls "Rogers," thence proceed-
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lia. Santa Fe had leased the SP line from gineer Henry D. Minot dated August 5, ing through the Antelope Valley and turns
Needles to Mojave in 1894 which, via the 1890 which is addressed to A. Manvel, Esq. westerly approximately parallel with the
A&P, gave them access to the eastern mar- Pres. of the A.T. & S.F. RR Co., Chicago, present Kern County - Los Angeles County
kets, but this still left a 68 mile gap between Ills. This report, excerpts from which will common boundary to a location where a
Mojave and Bakersfield. hereinafter appear, unmistakably show that summit tunnel 7,200 feet long would turn
The above information is generally Santa Fe was looking for another access the route northwesterly near to Castaic
known or readily available to those inter- route to the San Joaquin Valley that would Lake and thence down into the San Joa-
ested, but what follows may be new to most avoid the Tehachapi line already occupied quin Valley. While no survey notes or maps
readers, as it was to me. It has been generally by Southern Pacific. accompanied the report, Mr. Minot does
state that the proposed line would not go
through the Tejon Pass. No description of
the route is furnished for that portion of the
proposed route after exiting the 7,200 foot
tunnel but it would seem that the logical

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LOJ

14 THE WARBONNET