The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29
SWISS AERIAL RAILWAYS
Rack and Pinion Road Up Mt. Blanc
 to Be Extended to Tate Rousse

From Consul General R. F. Mansfield.
 Zurich
 Aerial railways, which have long been employed for industrial and military pur- poses, are now being utilized for trans- porting passengers over precipitous places
 in the Swiss mountains. Several of these roads are now in operation, and the de- mands of tourists, who want comfort in the ascent and descent of mountains. and who enjoy the novelty and sensations ex- perienced in scaling the heights in cars carried through the air on cables, are en- couraging the construction of aerial routes over some of the most difficult places in the Alps. The popularity of the Swiss mountain resorts and attractive scenery of the higher regions are also in- centives for building railways over the great glaciers and granite walls leading up to them
 The first aerial railway projected in Switzerland was the work Of q German engineer, who, in 1901 enlisted the CO., operation of capitalists in 9erne and of the community of Grindelwald m a plan to build an aerial line for the ascension of the Wetterhorn. The concession was secured In 1904, a company organized and in 1908 portion of the roa1 was inaugu- rated In the first section the two ex- tremities of the line are separated by q horizontal distance of 1000 feet the aver age incline for the course being 45 de- grees The cars are made of steel, each being propelled by two cables with q re- sistanee of IT times the power required to carry them up the incline.
 No motive power is employed, the line being operated by the simple movement of ascent and descent. The cars are ~ the same weight and are regulated by automatic brakes of such force as to ir.. sure safety.
 The line passes over the Grand Glacier and deseends the Wetterhorn and at con siderable distance from the rocky, prccipi- tous sides of the mountain. neatly to the summit It is in operation from June l to October only, as the heavy SHOWS in the mountains during winter make trans portation impracticabe and dangerous The popularity of the Wetterhcrn route is handicapped by the fact that the start ing point is several miles from Grindel- wald, the principal town in the valley, which has no railway connection. Sta tistics show that 3OO0 passengers were carried over the road in 1909. 36co in 19l0, and 5000 in 1911.
 Since the introduction of cable. rack and pinion. and aerial railways in Swift zerland, attention of engineers has been directed toward Mount Blanc, the highest peak in Europe and most famous in the Alpine ranges. with the beautiful valley O1 the CUdIDOnlX ItduinR up to us DaSc. On both French and Swiss sides Mount Blanc is comparatively easy of ascert' toward the base and not especially abrupt even in the higher regions
 rack and pinion road has been built and is now n operation from the valley of Fayet and Chamonix well up on the side of the mountain From Fayet it ascends to St. Gervas, from where. by an incline road on a grade of IS degrees. 1t reaches the Col de Voza at Aan altitude of 50GJ feet. This road. which is 10 be supple mented with an aerial line similar to that on the Wetterhorn. is to be extended to Tate Rousse and from there around the sides of the Aiguille de Counter from which, through tunnels and galleries splendid views of the glaciers will be afforded
 The aerial route will start from the town of Chamonix at an altitude of 200 feet and will ascend to the Glacier des Bossons at 750O feet, with two intervening stations The grade on this section will be 5D de- grees to 50 degrees. and the line will finally be extended to the Aiguille du Midi at an altitude of 11,5o9 feet. Tl,s first sec ton is to be completed in 1913 and the ex- tension completed the following year. This road will be worked with three cables-the carrier the tracteur. and one for the brakes The carriages will accommodate 2f persons each and are to be supplied with automatic brakes and provided with