The Express.
London, England, 1867-10-25 00:00:00

[BTAXPED, H. ADDITIONAL.]

THE MONT CENIS SUMMIT RAILWAY.

(PROM 001 OWN 001

ST. WORM, SAVOY, Om. 22.

The Mont Cenis Summit Railway was completed,
in so far as the construction of the road is con-
cerned, above a month since ; and would have
been opened to the public, it was expected, before
now, repeated trial trains and engines having
passed over it many times with perfect safety, at a
satisfactory speed. An abundant supply of
rolling stock is also delivered at this place
for the conduct of even more than the large
passenger and goods traffic now carried by
the diligences and the fast fourgons of the
grande ritcssc. I have just returned from a
successful and rapid journey from Lanslebourg to
SUMS and back, and can vouch for the extraordinary
speed, considering the severity of the gradients,
and for the comfort with which this wonderful
journey can be accomplished.
Although the opening of the line to the large
number of travellers who daily pass over the
, frontier by this route is anxiously desired, the
directors have wisely deferred it, although not on
' account of any apprehensions as to the safety of
the line which are either expressed or entertained, I
but in order that their own assurance may be made
doubly sure as to the perfect trustworthiness of
their engines. With this view Messrs. Mammy,
Brogden, and other gentlemen, have been making!
experimental runs with the engines, in which they
have received the able and zealous assistance of
Mr. Bell, resident engineer, Mr. Blake, general'
manager for Messrs. Braaaey and Co., Mr. Barnes, ;
locomotive superintendent, and other officials.,
The directors have ordered the application of the
I most crucial tests to the engines, and a variety of
experiments, to prove their trustworthiness. In
one of the moat recent of these trials an accident
of a purely mechanical character, to which all ma-
chines are liable in common, occurred to an engine,
which induced redoubled caution and more search-
ing scrutiny. The accident was the failure of the eye
of a shaft, from an undetected flaw or defect in the
metal probably. In itself a misfortune, the acci-
dent was not without advantage, inasmuch as it
, demonstrated fully the enormous power of the
I brakes acting upon every wheel of the engine and
carriages which make up a train, including the
horizontal wheels which bear upon the middle
rail, and bring the whole to a firm lock in almost a
second. From personal observation of the dill-
gence and ability displayed by the directors and
officers of the company, I venture to believe that
the directors are too wise to enter upon the receipt ,
of the traffic now ready for their acceptance at the
risk of any future avoidable interruption from
mechanical derangements or defects, or from any
cause that forethought can prevent. They will
open only to carry on successfully and with per-
feet safety to the public.
It will be readily admitted by any one
who 'sojourns for a day or two at either this
place, or at Susa on the other side of the Mont
Cenis, that a more tempting and lucrative traffic
has rarely, if ever, awaited the opening of a new
line of railway. Repeatedly we have seen, within
two or three days, as many as from seven to nine
diligences, all carrying their full complement of
passengers, pouring into or departing from St.
Michel within two or three minutes of each other ;
each vehicle drawn by from five to seven horses, to
be changed, if for the Italian side, for as many at
Modane, and again for fourteen or sixteen mules
to drag the vehicles up the mountain from Lando-
bourg. In addition to the diligences a number
of the covered waggons of the grande ritesse are
constantly on the road between St. Michel and
Susa, conveying the goods requiring rapid transit
at the higher rate. These are all, of course, exclu-
sive of the goods conveyed by slow vehicles, which
usually take three days to the journey
48 miles, which will be done by railway
in about four hours. There are also some local
conveyances which start from each terminus, but
these are not worth much consideration, as almost
the whole of the traffic is, I have noticed,
"through" from St. Michel to Suss, or rice rertni.
The principal portion of my railway trip on the
Mont Genii may be said to have commenced at
Lanslebourg, which lies at the foot of the moun-
tain, although the ascent may be said to be con-
tinuous from Culoz on the Rhone, and of the
Mont Canis line from Nerez. The station at Lana-
lebourg is well furnished with sidings, turn-tables
and other conveniences. The railway proceeds
alongside of the Imperial road during its whole
course to the top of the mountain, the only devia-
tions being at the turns of the zigzags where the
line takes a curve of longer radius than the road.
In the ascent of the mountain the first four miles
were accomplished in seventeen minutes, the
average gradient being about one in twelve.
The motion of the engine was remark-
ably steady all the way, and none of the passengers
by the special train, about thirty in number, ap-
peared to be conscious of any other sensation than
may be felt in travelling by any ordinary train.
Near the top of the mountain the Lake Cenis is
passed on the left, and shortly after it the hospice
and the station of the Grande Croix, which forms
even at this height, about 6,000 feet, a part of a
considerable Alpine village. For some distance
the line is comparatively level, but soon the descent
is commenced in earnest 'by one of the most im-
posing engineering works on the line—a long
curved escarpment on the face of a precipitous
rock, which constitutes the western side of the
wild valley of St. Nicolas. The Imperial road at
one time passed by this course, but was abandoned
because of the danger from avalanches. The way
has been made good for the railway, the roof
strongly arched, and the outer side enclosed by
massive masonry, excepting a series of openings
for light and ventilation. On emerging from this
covered way it is seen from the openings that its
I long course is by a regular and comparatively easy
gradient, whereas the new post road is carried by
steep zigzags on the upper face of the gorge, and
ascends again to a point where the railway once
more joins it, and the two in concert descend
together by another series of inclines to Susa. The
ery on the face of the rock is from 400 to 5001
feet below the summit, and the precipice under it
is about as deep. The views increase in beauty as the
I termination of the journey becomes nearer, the mag-
nificent valley of the Dora, in the directionof Turin,
; being especiilly commanding, the towns of Nove-
lises and Suss, and numerous villages and hamlets,
being seen far below as the train descends. The
distance front Lanslebourg to the summit of the
mountain was accomplished in less than an hour,
I and the descent in about two hours and forty
minutes. In other trial trips it hies been demon-
' strated that the entire distance of 48 miles from
St. Michel to Susa can be accomplished with
great ease in five hours, stoppages inclusive, the
time usually occupied by the diligences being about
ten hours. The tariff of charges by the line has
been fixed at 25 francs first class, 22 francs second
class, and 18 francs third class ; and for goods by
passenger train 40 franca per ton. The charges bvl
diligence are 40 francs per place in the coupe, and
35 francs in the interieur ; the charge for goods byl
the quick fourgons is GO francs per ton.
The Imperial road, and the railway with it,
which the floods damaged so much last autumn,
have been completely restored, and by much stronger
works than those that existed before. The floods
were more violent than any known to the oldest
inhabitant. Tradition says that about 250 years
since a flood of equal violence occurred. The works
i have been entirely unaffected by any weather in-
fluenoes since they were completed, but have not,
I indeed, been subjected to what may be called trial.
No fear is entertained for their stability.
' The piercing of the tunnel is proceeding mere
satisfactorily than was the case some months ago,
but there are as yet no signs of works for the

[TWOPENCE

approaches, excepting the surveyor's flagstaffs on
part of the length between St. Michel and Modane,
and these indicate what will probably prove the
most costly engineering works ever faced or accom-
plished in the "open.'