Re: Travel time on the Valley road.

About what I'd expect across the board...with the sole surprise (but logical questioning) over the quicker timecard in 1895...I would presume that, earlier,  there was a bit less express loading time, smaller tenders hence less need for water somewhere along the way – or rather, with larger tenders later on, the need for a few more min's to take H20 and a few more parcels in the Wells Fargo express car, or maybe a bit more US mail or both...and maybe a few more passengers later on, too.

 

Either way, the differences are not too great...

 

–Kevin

Travel time on the Valley road.

Per Lynn's suggestion, I'll offer a comparison between times Sacramento to Folsom on the SVRR/S&PRR and between Sacramento and Rocklin–both distances 22 miles.

1901:
S to F: 1 hr. 40 min on mixed train, 55 minutes on passenger.
S to R: 50 minutes on passenger train w/one stop, 57 minutes on train w/two stops.

1895:
S to F: 1 hr. 25 min mixed w/ 11 stops, 1 hr passenger w/11 stops
S to R: 55 min w/ 1 stop fast mail, 50 min w/4 stops Overland express.

An undated timetable reproduced in back of Gerry Best's "Iron Horses to Promontory" (which lists Mark Hopkins and E.B. Crocker as officers–so pretty early):
S to R: 2 hr 15 min on mixed, and 1 hr 5 min on express. Both of those are actually from departure in Sacramento to departure of train from Rocklin, so times actually should be one station-stop shorter.

Wendell