I think the best arguement for the Bakersfield to Chowchilla leg is that is the flatest and cheapest to build section. Getting through the Tehachapi mountains (See Golden State Hy) and down into desert at Newhall, then up the next range and down into the Valley and LA basin was going to be very expensive. Likewise going north to about Fresno, then west running along the coastal range to mount the Altamont Pass. Highway 5 was started the same way, except heading south after Altamont and connecting to Gilroy, then finally to Bakersfied. taking flatland route east of 101.
One of my best memories was getting into my '57 Alfa, which I rebuilt the engine from scratch and went screaming, average about 80mph from Berkeley to Reseda in about 5 hours.What was most delicious was the smell of Permatex cooking off the engine gaskets and the freezing wind, because there was only a windshield and a heavy wool coat There is something about the smell of a brand new engine, like a gourmet food or something.
Later I saw the movie The Graduate and thought. LA you have no idea. You gotta float in a four wheel slide turn, and still have enough power to kick out of it in a crash down shift. Beauty. A crazy Australian amateur RR driver showed me and scared me near to death. The merry motherfucker was dying of cancer, what did he care? He had sold me the car in boxes and was giving it the Michael Denny test run in Tilden. Breathless, no seat belts, no top, me and Denny fucking out of our minds going 60mph into blind S turns. He turned my lovely handcrafted engine into a roaring monster.
A random riff on memories of great times.