During the past 138 years, many articles have appeared describing construction of the railroad at Capt Horn, about 57 miles from Sacramento. None of these articles were written by authors who were present during construction. . . .These authors used many descriptions to dramatize their writings. . .Ed Strobridge quoted and analyzed these statements with commentary in an excellent history book titled, "The Central Pacific Railroad and the Legend of Cape Horn. (This book is available from the author and several book outlets).

Excerpts from the forward of the Jack Duncan book. "Why is Cape Horn a topic of discussion? For 138 years this 1000 feet of the Central Pacific Railroad as been publicized as a spectacular view point and a phenomenal accomplishment by Chinese workers and one of the wonders of the world. Why not Donner Pass which was certainly more spectacular, more difficult and more dangerous?

I believe the answer is "snow sheds". Passengers and journalist coming from the east were denied the view of Donner Lake because of the continuous tunnels and sheds. Two deep canyon views were offered west of the sheds. These were at the railroad sites named American and Cape Horn. The first, at American, offered a better canyon view because the American River was visible whereas the river was not visible below Cape Horn. However, the sensation of Cape Horn was more thrilling, like hanging on a cliff. . . .one result of this "cliff hanging" sensation was that journalist and publicists wrote exciting fictional passages about the Cape Horn and these grew with time, many being presented as facts, not as sensations.

(Ed Note: As with many books written many years after the fact, this 79 page book also surmises many things. However, the author has gone to great lengths to document with diagrams and statistics why he believes his version is worthy of consideration as to the true story of Cape Horn. This book is available at local book stores and from the author. There are also many, many photos of present and past that make it a very interesting book to consider.)