The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-05-11

has not yet been described
The description OF the uspailata
route may begin from Valparaiso
From that port to the JunCtioh ioi
Santiago at the station or Ltal La
the country is billy, rather dry, with
rn,,tne PASTURES and meadows along
inc streams. and thickets of small
trees or scrub on the siopes--a country
rnuch like Southern California save
that there are no oaks and no CONFER
Gus trees.
Further on the hills grow higher;
there are rocks with patches or Drill
liant flowers, and occasional glfnpsts
of the great range are caught up 'he
openings of valleys, AT pretty piace
called Santa Rosa de los Andes the
Andean railway proper tferro' .atrh
Transandino) begins, and We chahse
into n car of narrower gauge
A Cogwhecl Trunk Line.
This Transandine railroad, one OF
the few which does not belong TO the
Chilean government is narrow gauge
and it's construction involved dlthcul-
ttes ufusnal even In the case OF noun
tain lines. not only because the grades
were very steep, but also because the
valleys leading up To the central
ridge were especially that on the
Chilean side, extremely narrow.
To have hoTed cDTkStiSW ga H'@
gag tunnels. like those on the Goth
ara railway in Switzerland. would
have involved an expenditure alto
rcther disproportionate to the re-
turns TO be expected from the trar-
nc II was therefore found necessary
to adopt the cQg-wheei system, ana
ON those parts of the line where the
grade in too steep for tho ordinary
locomotive a rack or coRwheet appa-
fAr "A
the locomotive. fitted with corre-
spending apparatus. climbs by its
help.
This reduces the speed OF the train
In ascending those steep parts. most OF
which arc on the Chilean side. ana
unavoidabIv reduces also the freight
carrying capacity of the line. rhere
is therefore, not much heavy goods
traffic ,,tstssing over IT, But to passen-
( gers who wish to save time and escape
a sea voyage the gain is enormous,
! for while the transit from valparaiso
/ to Buenos Aires through the straits
of Magellan takes eleven days. the
land tourney by this Transandine rail-
Nav can be accomplished in forty
hours
The Beginning of the Andean Railway.
Travellers sleep at Santa Rosa In or
der to start early In the morning by
the weekly train which in twelve
/ hours crosses the mountains to Men,
doza From the hotel at the station
we looked straight up long. narrow
valley to tremendous peaks OF black
rock thirty miles away to the east.
How they stood out against the bright
morning sky behind them, few white
clouds lowering above
Up this valley runs the railway past
little farmhouses. surrounded by stifr
poplars. Fields irrigated from the
rushing stream beneath, are green
with young corn; weeping willows
droop over the watercourses, vines
| trail along the fronts of the cottages,
and the pastures are bright with
spring flowers.
/ After eight Or ten miles the valley
narrows, and at its bottom there liz
only the torrent with sometimes
/ few yards OF grass on one or other
bank The rock walls begin TO rise
more steeply, and the trees give place
to shrubs. AT a spot called the sol
dier's Leap, the train runs on shelf
in the rock through gorge over
which the converging crags almost
touch one another and shut out the
light. the torrent roaring sixty feet be-
low.
Vast black precipices rise on the
northern bank six or seven thousand
feet above the river. Slender stream
lets. perhaps the children OF unseen
SHOWS behind. fall slowly from ledge
TO ledge, some of them lost In mtdAlt
when gust or the west Wind sweeps
them along.
The Old Mule Path Across the Andes.
At last, vegetation having now dis
appeared, q great black ridge rises in
front across the end OF the valley
and seems to bar further progress
On it's steep face, however, one can
presently discover a sort OF track,
winding up it In zigzags. This is the
old mule path by which travellers used
to climb slowly to the pass, itself still
far behind. The spot at its foot, where
there are few houses. is Juncal, the
last place where the wayfafer halted
to rest before he started for the for
midahle passage of the mountains.
Here two glens opening from oppo-
site sides meet at the foot of the great
ridge. The glen to the north is short
descending abruptly from a semicircle
Of savage black peaks. the hollows be-
tween them flied with snow and ice.
That TO the south is long. narrow and
nearly level: 1t is a deep cleft which
runs into the heart OF the mountains
as far as the west side of the mighty
lTupungato, whose glaciers feed it's tor
/ rent.
| Up this southern valley the railway,
turning at right angles from its previ-
/ Gus easterly direction, runs for some
| miles then crosses and leaves the tor
rent, turns north and mounts along a
narrow shelf cut out in the side OF the
great black ridge OF Juneau, already
mentioned.
! The slope rising above the line and
] falling below II to the valley ~ OF
terrific steepness. Tho grade = also