The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-06-12 00:00:00

OPENING OF THE MOUNT VESUVIUS
RAILWAY.

The formal opening of the Mount Vesuvius Railway
took place on the 6th inst., and was celebrated by a
splendid fete, to which 150 persons were invited.
All the persons present were unanimous in expressing
admiration at the successful completion of so bold an
undertaking. Several ascents were made in the
course of the day, and on each occasion the machinery
wor.ied with the utmost precision. The line runs to
within a very short distance of the mouth of the
crater, and the time occupied in the journey from the
foot of the mountain to the terminus is about eight
minutes.

Telegraphing from Mount Vesuvius on June 6, The Times'
Correspondent says :

"I have the gratification of sending you one of the
first despatches flashed from the base of the cone of
Mount Vesuvius. Far below lies Bella Napoli and
her lovely bay. At mid-distance stand the observa-
tory and hermitage, where until now one had to leave
one's carriages. Along the side of the moun-
tain a range of gay Italian flags fly from
the newly-elected telegraph poles. Above from
where I stand runs almost perpendicularly, at
any rate at an incline of 70 deg., the funicular railway
with its upper terminus so close to the rim of the
crater that, after a minute's clamber, one looks down
into the fiery mass below. Higher still rises a dense
volume of white smoke streaming away to the north,
fortunately for the gay crowd assembled to take part
in the inauguration of the newly-constructed line,
which, commencing from Thursday next, will reduce
the time required to ascend this part of Vesuvius
from an hour-and-a-half to no more than eight
minutes; and the fatigue all that implies is sitting
quietly in a comfortable carriage.
"It mustbe admitted that on this, the first public ex-
periment, the boldest among the many present confessed
the necessity of screwing their courage up to sticking
point before making the railway journey along a road
steep as a ladder or a. fire-escape, and 860 metres in
length; but as regards danger, it is reduced to a
minimum. It is not a train in which one travels, but a
single carriage carrying ten persons only, and as the
ascending carriage starts, another, counterbalancing it,
comes down from the summit, the weight of each being
five tons. The carriages are so constructed, that,
rising or descending, the passenger sits on a Itvel
plane, and whatever emotion or hesitation may be felt
on starting, changes, before one has risen twenty
metres, into a feeling of perfect security. The motion
also is very gentle, and the effect is magnificent, if
not,. indeed, grandly awful, as, when hanging midway
against the side of the cone, one looks from the window
directly upwards or downwards along the line, which, its
slight incline alone excepted, is perfectly perpendicular.
Dismounting at a little station at the summit, one can
scarcely be said to clamber to the edge of the crater,
for the company have cut a convenient winding path
up which all, except the aged, heavy, or feeble, can
walk with ease. The upper station was gaily decked
with a trophy of flags. naffbs of all nations waved
along each side of the line, and after descending again
to the base of the cone we sat down 120 in number, to
a splendid banquet, spread in a spacious and well-
appointed restaurant, established in a kind of Pompeian
villa."