In ascending the canyon, very heavy development work had to be carried out. At one point a huge loop had to be described on the mountain-side, and the summit negotiated by a long tunnel beneath the Beckwourth Pass. The latter acts as a funnel or shaft for the warm “Chinook” winds, which, entering the pass, melt the snow almost as soon as it falls. Consequently, on this section snow is an insignificant enemy, and does not strike such terror into the hearts of the railway authorities as, say, on the Canadian Pacific, or the Overland route. The records at Beckwourth give the maximum depth of snow as 24 inches, so that Boreas will be kept within bounds very easily by an ordinary snow-plough. By placing the track well below the snow-line, and with the assistance of the kindly Japanese warm wind, the heavy expense of snowsheds has been avoided. This is no mean saving either, for in many cases the cost of building these protective sheds has been more per mile than the railway itself sheltered within. On one line the average cost of this protection is £15,000 per mile, and it is necessary for 40 miles! On the eastern sides of the mountains the railway runs into the ill-famed Humboldt River territory, which has proved a thorn in the sides of many railway-builders. This fine waterway at times bursts its bonds, floods the country, and finally follows a new course. In order to avoid any troubles from this cause, the line was kept well clear of the district, though it involved many artificial works such as bridges, embankments and tunnels, while the river is crossed 24 times in 185 miles. Between the foothills of the Sierras and Salt Lake City two other mountain ranges had to be overcome--the Pequop and Torano chains respectively. A tunnel solves the first, and a striking piece of development work compasses the second. This is a horse-shoe curve 5 miles in length, which rises gently eastwards at the prescribed maximum grade. Had the engineers cut straight across as the crow flies, miles would have been saved, but the banks would have been three times as heavy. The eastern point of this horse-shoe brings the railway to the fringe of the Salt Lake desert, a rolling waste of salt and borax in which lies the inland sea of the same name, and whose waters in the distant past lapped the foothills of the Torano range. The rail strikes across the desert in a bee-line for 43 miles, the permanent way being as level as a billiard-table, with the rails resting on a solid mass of salt, 8 feet or more in thickness. This marked the first attempt to cross this dismal expanse by railway. Many a traveller essaying the perilous journey as a shorter cut to the country beyond has been overwhelmed by thirst or the intolerable heat, to lie down to his last rest, his bones afterwards being found bleaching in the glare of Old Sol, beating down from a cloudless sky.