Summary : Around the World in Eighty Days

Phileas Fogg and his companions began their journey across the United States aboard the Pacific Railroad, a vast "great trunk line" stretching 3,786 miles from San Francisco to New York. This impressive railway, comprised of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines, allowed for a seven-day transit that previously took six months. Constructed with remarkable American efficiency despite political debate, the line advanced at a rate of a mile and a half daily, traversing territories inhabited by Native Americans, wild animals, and Mormon settlers in Utah. Fogg's critical objective was to reach New York by the 11th to ensure he caught the Atlantic steamer bound for Liverpool. Their train departed Oakland station at six in the evening, amidst cold, overcast weather that threatened snow. The passenger car, an expansive omnibus-like vehicle, featured two rows of seats, various saloon, restaurant, and smoking cars, and a constant flow of vendors. The train maintained a steady twenty miles per hour, sufficient to arrive at Omaha on schedule. Many passengers soon fell asleep. Passepartout, seated beside Detective Fix, felt a significant chill in their relationship, silently resenting Fix after recent events and ready to lash out at the slightest provocation. A light snow began to fall an hour into the journey, though it posed no impediment. At eight o’clock, the car seamlessly transformed into a dormitory; seats converted into comfortable berths, providing travellers with private, curtained beds. They slept as the train sped across California, passing through Sacramento, the state capital, unobserved around midnight. By morning, the car reverted, allowing passengers to witness the dramatic, winding landscape of the Sierra Nevada. The railway track deftly navigated precipices and narrow defiles with bold curves, the locomotive's powerful shrieks echoing amidst torrents and colossal pines. Around nine o'clock, the train entered Nevada via the Carson Valley, reaching Reno by midday for a twenty-minute breakfast stop. The route continued northeast along the Humboldt River, revealing diverse scenery of vast prairies, distant mountains, and foaming creeks. However, their progress was severely interrupted around noon by an enormous herd of ten to twelve thousand buffaloes blocking the tracks. The locomotive's cow-catcher was useless against the tranquil, immense procession of animals. Fogg remained philosophically patient, while Passepartout was enraged by the three-hour delay, cursing the obstructing "cattle" and the engineer's reluctance to force a passage. The engineer, however, prudently waited, knowing that attempting to charge the herd would inevitably derail the train. The buffaloes continued their unhurried march for three full hours, and it was night before the tracks finally cleared. The train eventually passed through the Humboldt Range defiles at eight o'clock, and by half-past nine, it penetrated Utah, the unique territory of the Mormons and the Great Salt Lake region.