[roussanoff]

I am not that familiar with the history of railroads, but I will speculate:

- take the railroad as far west as possible, then a stagecoach (expensive, slow, uncomfortable). The land route was created after the Gold Rush: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Trail

- ship to Panama, cross by land in Panama, ship from Panama to California (cheaper, slower, risk of disease like malaria)

- ship around South America. Yep, all the way to Antarctica, through Magellan Strait. (even cheaper, even slower, risks from travelling by the sea). This route seems crazy if you look at the map. However, for goods, it was very much in use before Panama Channel was built. Sea is so much easier than land.

I am not sure what "foreign power" this quote refers to though. Panama? Chile? Maybe you could also go through Mexico?

[_dain_]

Magellan strait