Climbing Railway Trains.

Southland Times, Issue 19036, 2 May 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

Climbing Railway Trains.

Railway trains that climb mountains are especially interesting, and there are some that do where the gradient is such that, if the wheels and rails were smooth, the feat would be impossible. Tho most remarkable of the half-dozen mountain climbing lines is the one that leads to the summit of Mount Washington, in New Hampshire. The gradient is extraordinary, one in'2.*G7, and the journey, which is tivo miles, takes about an hour and a quarter to complete. The line is a treble one, but the centre rail is cogged, and fits in with a similarly-constructed wheel in

KOTE THE PECULIAR SHAr-E OF THE ENGINE

the centre of the engine. It is thus that the train is enabled to climb a hill, the ascontof which slopes at an angle of nearly forty degrees. The rapid change in the atmosphere, as the train proceeds on its journoy, is very peculiar, as when the passengers embark it may be so hot as to make any effort a burden, and when the summit is reached it may be in the midst of a snow storm. In Switzerland the Bernhault line is among, the most notorious of Alpine railways, and is peculiar because, instead of ascending the mountain direct, it goes up it in spiral fashion, which makes a mile journey four times as long. The engine pushes before it one carriage, containing fifteen passengers, and at different altitudes stations have beenorectsd, whereat the travellers may alight and view the scenery, and a field telegraph enables thorn to send telegrams to their friends below en route.