The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-09
FOUNTAIN RAILWAYS.
yIRSr SUCCESSFUL ONES BUILT
IN SWITZERLAND.

Lnclty EmpAvyru - = "osFo E~WoS'
switzerland h the homo Of mountain
railways. which originated thirty odd years
ago. and TO Swiss engineers we must look
FOR everything essentially novel and enter
arising in connection with this branch OF
engineering. Mount Rigi. says the London
Globe, was the first to submit to the iron
Rirdle, and everybody IL acquainted with
IAO astonishing success achieved by the
railway nom Tltznau to the summit.
strictly speaking, however, this was not the
arst mountain railway 10 be built.
The pionaar attempt 10 carry q railway
m the side Of a mountain was the old High
peak line, In Derbyshire, which was on-
strlcted on Fell's system In 1858. The
Theoretical limit beyond which an adhesion
locomotive cannot pull more than its own
weight II Q per cent; but the practical
limit IL considerably greater, although
where the gradients are long and sustained
Il Is bad policy to go beyond lin 20. or ~
ner cent. Fell e~ndeavored to overcome the
ainnculty OF lack Of adhesion, that Is, the
amount OF friction between tire and rail
necessary for propulsion, by using a smooth
central rail and providing the engine and
ears with horizontal wheels that rolled
along its side. The High Peak railway
,roving fairly successful for the transport
~ minerals, the inventor next built, and
opened in 1857, a line o. the samep rincipleto
convey passengers to the summit OF Mont
Cents, but on it's steep grades the extra
adhesion proved totally insufficient.
To change the smooth central rail for q
r,ck. the idea Of Riggenbach, was only
A small step, and when once this step had
bean taken, as in the case Of the Rigi rail-
v,y. the first section Of which was opened
Nav %, 1871, the only practical solution
sf the problem had been found. The Rigi
railway therefore enjoys the distinction
Of being the first mountain rack railway,
and it has admirably fulfilled its purpose
which was TO afford large numbers an easy
and time saving opportunity OF enjoying a
arst class panoramic view Of the lower
ranges Of the Alps.
The large batch Of mountain rack lines
which followed after the Rigi enterprise;
accept in minor details, formed no new
idea. It was the same song, with merely
variations OF the tune, and till the advent
of the GornergratO project none ventured
beyond the lOwer. rangee:of the Alps. Rig
xenbach's rack is formed by.V shaped bars,
6xed to the sleepersf andE.turned back TO
back, while between the bars are riveted
circular toothed rings at four inch intervals.
However, since the time when it began its
victorious career on the Rigi this rack IT.
Aelf has been improved upon and has found
several rivals. The principal railways
equipped with the original Riggenbach rack
are the Vitznau-Rigi and Arth-Rigi, Brunig,
Engelberg, Schynige Platte and Trait aux
Planches, while the Bernese Oberland and
the Wengern Alp have the improved pat
tern, which substitutes small bars Tor the
circular rungs.
The Abt rack, which for long proved the
most serious rival to the Riggenbach, is
found on the GornergrAt, R0thorn, Ter
matt, Generoso, Aigle Leysin, Bex Vllars
and Saleve railways. This rack Is not built
In ladder form, but consists OF two or more
Rteel plates set on edge, with spaces cut out
Of them, in which the cog wheels or pinions
Of the locomotive engage. The cog wheels
are, therefore, in constant action with the
rack, an arrangement that tow
ard smooth motion. Further, the Abt rack
possesses the unique advantage tina on the
steeper gradients several rack plates can
be placed parallel, which naturally renders
the working tronger and safer. When more
than two plates are used the Teeth are
The tooth Of each plate being opposite the
space Of another.
"A third form Of rack is the Locher, intro
duced by Col. Locher and employed only
on the Mont Pilatus Railway, where the
Sradients attain the extraordinary steep
ness of 4s per cent. 1t Is peculiar In having
its teeth placed horizontally on both sides
, Of the rail. A new form OF rack rail, known
rs tho Strub, has been. adopted by the
lected for the projected railway up Mont
Blanc, A rail Of the ordinary running type
d employed, the teeth being cut in its head,
which is made correspondingly higher than
usual. 1t Is believed hat all future rack
railways will be equipped with the Strub
rack, as it forms the strongest, cheapest,
and most simple yet devised.
The American tourist has discovered q
new way of descending rack lines in his own
country, namely, by means Of a slide board,
which Is a plank Just big enough to sit upon,
With fanges that hold 1t to the rack rail-
The. thick grease on the latter allays all
friction, m the force OF gravity does the
rest. The story is told OF a telegraph opera
tor who was Won't to descend the Mount
Washington Railway in this amer ac-
complishinR the three mile run in three
minutes. However, one night when trav-
cling at full speed he collided with a porcu-
pine which was eating the fat on the cog
rail. The slider kept his'seat, but he will
never forget the taste OF p~orcupine spikes.
A few Of the Swiss lines, notably the
Br1nig and Zermatt, are mixed rack and
adhesion, and the locomotives have a sepa-
rate mechanical arrangements for each, a
pair Of outside cylinders actuating the
adhesion driving wheels throughout the
entire distance, and a pair Of inside cylin-
ders the rack pinions. An arrangement
Of springs in the permanent way enables
the locomotive to pass from an adhesion to
q rack section and vice versa without
stopping, the pinions automatically engag-
ing with and disengaging from the rack.
With the exception of the Non Pilatus, no
Swiss rack railway has a sleeper gradient
than rs per cent. The Gornergrat line,
which reaches an altitude Of e,9OS feet, was
the first to penetrate close to the ~regionof
perpetual snow; but the terminals OF the
R0thorn are further above sea level than
those Of the Gonergrat, or slightly more
than one mile, although the summit Of this
latter line is reached at 1928 feet. The
Jungfrau railway il, however, to be carried
up to a height OF 10, 429 feet above the sea
or more than 5000 feet beyond the line of
perpetual snow, and amid glacial surround
ings Of a most magnificent character. The
Gungfrau line has 20 reached the station
OF Esmeer, 1902 feet, wherefore il has the
distinction Of being the most elevated rail-
way il Europe. The highest railway in the
world L., however, the Central Peruvian
the eliminating point OF which occurs in
atunnel at an elevation Of IS STA feet above
-w-I TAA D.r,V.ta- liz. kA..,A 4.