Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-08-22


Vitzuau. at the base of the Rigi, were
astonished to see gangs of laborers begin
the work Of making a clearing through the
| forests on the mountain slope. The Vltz-
nauers were delighted for they had no
roads and there was not a wheeled vehicle
in the town nor a highway by which it
could be brought ihitLer. The idea of
railroad in their desolate mountain region,
and above all, railroad up the Rigi,
never entered their heads, and a rep )rt
which some time after obtained currency
in the town, tnat the laborers were begin
ing the construction of railroad, was
greeted with shout of derision. Never
theess that was the beginning of the Rigi
line, ami in May in 1871, the road was
opened for traffic. II is 5000 feet long,
and during that distance raises 4 600 at an
average grade of one foot in four. Though
steep, it is by no means so
much 50 as the Mount Washing
ton road. which rises 5,285 feet
above the sea at an average of one foot in
three. There are stretches of the Rigi
road at which the grade is about one foot
in two and one-half. which is believed to
be the steepest in the world. The Rigl
road has several special features aside from
It's terrible slopes, which entitle it to be
considered triumph of the engineer S skill.
About midway up the mountain the build
ers came to solid mass of rock, which pre-
sented a barrier that TO a surface road
was impossible They determined to
tunnel it, and after an enormous expendit-
ure of labor, finished an inclined tunnel
90 feet in length, of the same gradient as
the road. A gorge in the side of the
mountain where small streams, the
Sehnurtobel, had cut itself passage, also
numbered their way, and was crossed 10y a
bridge of lattice girder work in three
spans, eighty-ive feet long The entire
road bed from beginning to end was cut
in the solid rock. A chanuel was chiseled
out to admit the central beam, which con-
tains the cogs fitting the driving-whee to
the locomotive.
The cost Of the road, including three of
these strangely constructed locomotives,
three passenger coaches and three open
wagons, was 100000, and it is a good
paying investment. The fare demanded
for the trip up the mountain is FIVE francs,
while half that sum Is required for the
downward passage, and the road is an
nually traversed by from 30, 900 to 1000
passengers. Curious sensations are pro-
dGCed by ride up this remarkable line
The seats OF the cars are inclined, and so
long as the cars are on a level the seats
tilt at an angle which renders it almost
impossible to use them. But when the
start is n AIDE the frightful tilt places the
body in an upright position, and with the
engine in the rear, the train starts off up
the hill with an easy, gliding motion,
passing up the ascent, somewhat sleeper
than the roof of house, without the slight
est apparent effort. But if the going up ex-
cites tremor, much more peculiar are the
feelings aroused on the down grade. The
trip begins with a gentle descent and all
at once the traveller looking ahead sees the
road apparently come to an end. On a
nearer approach he is undeceived, and OBJ
serves before him long decline which APP
pears too steep even to walk down. In
voluntarily he catches at the seats
expecting a great aceeleration of speed
Very nervous are his feelings as the train
appr )aches this terrible slope, but on com
ing to the incline the engine dips aud goes
on not a whit faster than before, and not
more rapidly on the down than on the up
grade. Many people are made sick by the
sensation of falling experienced on the
down run. Some faint, and a few years
ago one traveller, supposed to be afflicted
with heart disease. died of fright when
the train was going over the SchnurtObe
bridge. The danger is really very slight,
there not having been a serious accident
since the road was pened.
Bold as was the project of a railroad on
! tue Rigl, Il still holder scheme was
preached ten years later, when a daring
genius proposed a railroad up Mount
| Vesuvius A railroad up the side of an
! ordinary mountain seemed hazardous
enough, but to build a line on the slope
OF a volcano, which in its erpptions had
buried cities and every few years was sub
! Jeut to a volcanic spasm, seemed as hazard
GUS to trust the ralls of an ordinary line 20
the rOttOn river ice in spring time The
| proposal was not, however, so impractical
BILE as it looked. While the summit, Of
| VeSuvius changes from time TO time from
the frequent eruptions, and varies in
height and In the size of the crater, the
general slope and contour of the mountain
are about the same to-day as when Vesu-
vius a wooded hill with a valley and lake
in the center Of its quiescent crater, served
as the stronghold of Spartacus and his
rebel gadiators. There have been scores
| OF eruptlOns since that IN which Hercula-
neum and Pompeii were overtbrown, but
| the sides of the mountain have never been
seriously disturbed A road on Vesuvius
gave promise of being good speculation
Naples and the other resorts of the neigh
borhood annually attracted many thous-
ands of visitors, and considerable
number of these e;ery year assembled
/ the volcano, even when forced to contend
with all the difficulties Of the
way. Many, however, desiring to as
cend, but being unable OF unwilling to
walk up, a chair service was established
a peculiar chair being sIung on poles, and
| borne by porterS. In course of time the
chair service proved inadequate for the
numbers who desired to make the ascent,
and the time was deemed 6t for the estab-
ment Of more speedy communication Not
withstanding the necessity, the proposal
| to establish a railroad met with general
! derision, but the scheme was soon shown
to be perfectly practicable, aud a begin.
min was made in 1879 The road is what
! Is known as a cable road, there being a
single sleeper with three rails, one on the
/ l. Il