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With the coming of the railroad the beginning of the
end had come for Beale's Cut. Previous to September
1876 stagecoaches from both Los Angeles and the coast
had left off passengers at the summit of the San Fern-
ando mountains near Lang's Station. They were picked
up on the other side of the mountain to continue the
train trip north or south. The poor old fifteen-foot wide
Beale's Cut proved too narrow for "horseless carriages"
by 1910 and since the freeways · have come into our lives,
the old cut remains almost forgotten.
From an engineering standpoint the biggest difficulty
with the San Fernando tunnel project was the boring and
financial problems. Upon completion the cost exceeded
two and one half million dollars and took a year and a
half to bore through the mighty mountain. If Chinese
help had not been available the tunnel might never have
been completed. Located some 27 miles from Los Angeles
between Weldon Canyon and the Santa Clarita water-
shed, the cut, when completed, was nearly 7000 feet long
(6940 feet exactly.) Candles to light the excavation as it
continued were supplied from Newmark and Co. in Los
Angeles. Fifteen hundred men labored at the bore with
frequent caveins, sweat, blood and the loss of life. Dig-
ging commenced on March 22, 1875.
The . sandstone composition of the mountain was sat-
urated with water and oil and the muck was like work-
ing with very soft mud pies. The challenge of this almost
impossible task was met by the young superintendent,
Frank Frates, native to the Azores, who had started his
railroad career with the Central Paeific. Hard work was
no stranger to this earnest young man. His Chinese crew
had had previous experience with the Tehachapi tunnels,
most of them having been at Caliente when it was rail-
head for the Southern Pacific.

According to figures given by Remi Nadeau, Frates'
excavation was 22 feet high, 16½ feet wide at the. bottom
and over 18 feet at the shoulders, an angular arch being
formed overhead. The Chinese worked as teams of two,
one man holding the wedge in place against the rock
. while his partner swung the heavy sledge. The upper
half of the tunnel was dug in advance of the bottom half

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