The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1870-03-03
Remarkable Railroad Engine
0ring.

Mr. Charles AckenheIl, now OF the
Pittsburgh s. Connellsville Railroad, but
formerly employed as an engineer in the
construction of the Black Forest Rail
road, in the Duchy of Baden, contributes
to the american Railooay Times descrip-
ton of ten heavy grades, at the town of
Hornberg, from which we take the fol
lowing:
One hundred and eighty feet above the
town is the railway station, 1887 feet
above sea level; the railway summit is
5000 feet One of the main tributaries
of the Danube river has It's source here
BY tunnelling the summit, this height
has been reduced to 2,780 feet The air
line between these two points being only
seven miles; that gives Tor every mile of
this line 213 feet elevation. 1t was a
hard task for the engineers to establish a
line with a suitable grade, bringing in
account the adverse influence of climate
The winter in those climates is very Sc
we're, subjecting the road to heavy snow
drifts
However, by the most careful study of
the ground, by the most skillfpl supervis-
ion Of the surveys Of Robert Gerwig,
Chief Engineer, one of the ablest en-
gineers in Europe; by investigating al
most every inch of the Typographical
features, the engineers succeeded in es-
tablishihg, after several years work, line
answering, in the highest degree, every
requirement in location, grade, and all
other features of first-class railway.
1t was stipulated that the grade should
not exceed two feet per hundred, or one
hundred and five per mile; no radius
should be less than five hundred leet, a
five degree and forty-five minute curve
rules which have been strictly followed.
The air line of seven miles was length
ened into fifteen and half miles by en-
tering in side valleys; by going up for
instance on the north side of the main
valley and returning for two miles on the
side then making a turn again towards
the north higher and higher on the sides
of the mountains the road climbs to the
in nnmberless bends One tunnel
follows another in quick succession.
About half way looking down into the
valley, you are at least six hundred feet
above it's level; two hundred feet below
you-nearly perpendicular-you see the
railway two hundred feet further you
see the road again, and at last, over two
hundred feet further, you see the waves
of the creek like a small silver thread
between the rocks. From Hornberg to
the summit there are twenty nine tun-
nels, the total length of which is 28,500
feet. The longest is the ."Summit" or
Sommerau" tunnel, $500 feet long the
next is the +" Gremmelsbach' tunnel, 1900
feet long. The most remarkable is the
" Triberg," so-called "S'' tunnel, 2,700
feet long, having the shape of an S."
the most difficult work for construction
on the whole road, because no shaft could
be used. The heading of this tunnel was
last November, after three
years work. The lengths of the other
vary from 500 to 2,400 feet. One
vis.duct is to be constructed about eight
hundred feet long and eighty feet high,
all Of cut stone. The geological forma-
tion is entirely granite, which renders
tunnell1ng very hard and tedious work.
The construction of the road was com
menced in 1867, and is rapidly progress
ing on the average they do from two
in twenty four hours.
The road will be finished in 1878, and
be one of the greatest works of engineer
ing in Europe The cost of these fifteen
miles is about five millions of dollars
and must be considered very high, the
wages for labor being very low, from
sixty cents to one dollar day Only nj
tro glyccrine mixed with sand, is used for
blasting; it has been proved the most eff
fpctiyn material and if worked with care
it is not at all dangerous more than
common powder. The track will be OF
steel rails, which are now adopted in
Europe on all important railways.
The Fifteenth Amendment will confer
thn ballot unnn ahnnt 900 600 NEGROES