Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1893-03-31
LOFTY RAILROADS.
The Highest in the World Crosses
the Andes.
Nearly Three Miles Above the
Level of the Sea-

The highest point attained by rail-
road in the United States is in the
Rocky mountains, 9027 feet above the
sea. Trains on the Calloa- Oroya line
in Peru are now ascending to a height
as far above this great elevation as the
total height of Mount Washington. In
other words, when train on the
Oroya line enters the Galcra tunnel to
cross from the western to the eastern
slope of the Cordilleras it is more than
q mile higher above the sea than the
loftiest bit of railroad track in this
country. Some stretches of track in
Mexico are also higher than any rail-
road in the United States.
AT present the Galera tunnel is the
highest elevation attained by any rail-
road in the world. Some months ago
the Sun reported that this wonderful
Oroya railroad had at last crossed the
Andes. 1t was on September 28th last
that the first train from Callao passed
through the tunnel to the eastern side
of the mountains. Twenty years
elapsed after the line was started at
the sea before the Cordilleras were
conquered, and trains have scarcely a
foot of level grade for 106 miles until
they pull into the Galera tunnel,
Is, 63S feet above the sea, and emerge
upon the eastern face of the Andes.
If this were not the loftiest tunnel
in the world it would still be con-
spicuous as specimen of railroad
construction. 1t was driven through
the rock distance of 1856 feet. If
train happens to stop in the tunnel,
passengers can hear water from the
vaulted roof patterlng on the car tops.
The melting snow that crowns the
mountain summit above it filters
through to the excavation. Two chan
nels are cut iu the rock to carry the
water out of the tunnel. One of them
leads to the head stream of an Amazon
tributary and the Atlantic; the other
to the Rimac River and the Pacific.
1t is doubtful if any other railroad
for general traffic will ever be carried
to so great an elevation. The surveys
for the Pan American railroad do not
thus far indicate elevations at all ap-
preaching that of the Oroya line. 1t
will be necessary here and there to
pass from one valley to another sep
arated by mountain ranges, but the
highest points along the line will not
be over 1000 feet above the sea, if the
results of the preliminary surveys hold
good.
South America will always beat the
rest of the world in elevated railroads.
The South Peruvian line from Mol
lendo TO Lake Titicaca attains a height
of 14,641 feet, only 997 feet lower
than the Galera tunnel. The remark
able Chilean Railroad, now nearing
completion, which, starting at Anto-
fagasta, runs hundreds of miles north
east into Bolivia, has its highest point
at Carcoto, 12, ,0o3 feet above the sea;
and 1t is noteworthy coincidence
that the Trans-South American line
from Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso is
also said to be just 12,008 feet above
the sea at its highest point. These re-
suits have been obtained by triangula-
ton, but for ordinary purposes il
may be as we'll to lop off the extra
feet above $4,000, just as some geog-
raphers do in the case of Mt. Everest.
They say that the figure 29,004 feet,
given as the height of this loftiest of
mountains, implies a refinement of
accuracy in measurement to which it
is not entitled.-[New York Sun.