Evening star., 1898-08-12
THE JUNGFRAUl RAILWAY
The Boldest Engineering Enterprise to fa-
cilitate AlpiHe Ascent.
zzi7.
Tourists Will Soon BE Able to At
SC &
tain an Elevation of Two
- I5f.--
a. and a Half Miles.
From the New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune. '.r-.-.-
The boldest enterprise yet actually I'M
dertaken is the railway, up the Jungfrau.
This peak, in the range that lies between
the ca1itons of talafs' ana Berhe, is sur
rounded by precipTtous1 cliffs and IS COW
cred with eternal snow. 1t is particularly
difficult Of ascent But this will not be
true for more than four or fivo years.
Herr Guyer Zeler, who is president of
the Northeastern railway system of Switz-
eriand; is behind the project. The Jung
frau is 1860 feet above the sea, and lacks
only 200 feet of Mont Banc's elevation.
Pixies Peak, in the United States, is, to be
sure, a few hundred feet higher than the
Jungfrau, and a railway has been in opera
ton to its top for several years. Put the
Swiss road will start from much lower
level than the American, or about 1900
feet above the sea. 1t will have nearly. or
quite. 1000 feet more to rise. The steep
est grades will be the same those On the
Fixes Peak line-25 per cent.
There is already in operation a road from
Interlaken to GrindelwaId, and thence along
the Wergern Alp to the hamlet OF Murran.
The Jungfrau road diveTges from he other
at Little Scheidigg, and runs for short
to avoid the avalanches of that locality is
to go underground and hence the new line
on reaching the edge of the Elger glacier,
enters a tunnel. Emerging at MoncnJoch,
at an elevation of l0,5OU feet, the road will
run along the side of the Monch, ascend
too feet more, and then enter the jung
frau itself, at a station called Jung gfrau-
Jtch. The terminus will be situated about
30 feet below the summit and Al elevator
Will carry passengers the rest of the way.
Work was begun on the road more than
year ago, and operations were actively
conducted in the tunnel beside the EiSer
glacier all through the winter. OF course,
II the route had beer exposed to the rigors
OF the weather outside. 1t would have been
impossible to do any blasting OF grading
Tor more than two or three months OF the
year. Owing to the remarkable hardness
OF the rock, progress has been slow, but ii
is hoped that the whole line will he COM
pieted within three or four years Even
before it is all done, it is probable that the
owners Will operate it for part OF IT'S
length. The wonderful glimpseS to be had
and the delightful air to be breathed long
before reaching the summit will be in
dCcement enough to many tourists to take
advantage of the opportunity. There VIII
be galleries, reaching out sideways or else
upward, from the maip tunnel into the
open air, and balconies here will enable
the tourists to get fine outlooks and obtain
material refreshment.
Power for operating the road will be Sc
cured from the Lutschine, near Lauter-
brunnen, with the aid of turbines and dy-
namos. Some of the older roads in the
Alps are operated by steam, but all the
new ones use electricity, Like the road On
Mount washington fthis one Will have
toothed "aiI. or rack,s ibetgeen the rails on
which the train rides. and stout gearing on
the engine viii engage the rack. and thus
part OF them mechanical ind part of them
electrical, will be provided.