OVER A MIGHTY RANGE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1901, 8 November 1913, Page 3

OVER A MIGHTY RANGE.

ANDES TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY,

LOFTIEST IN THE WORLD. That mighty range of mountains in South America, the Andes, whioh has made peoples, changed customs and languages, and set natural and political boundaries, has now been conquered bv the railway engineers, writes Mr. H. J. Shepstone in the "Scotsman." During the last few weeks two important lines have been laid aoross it, one from Chile into. Bolivia, and another from Peru into Chile. ;. The new Bolivian line starts from Arica, in Chile, and runs to Las Pas/a distance of 270 miles. ' It crosses tho Andes at an altitude of 12,804 feet. This height, however, is eclipsed by the Peruvian enterprise, whioh at one point reaches an altitudo of 10.104 feet, or oyer three miles above sea level, making' it far and away the loftiest railway in the world, '

From Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso. More important still, in opening up this wonderful continent to trade and oommerce, and also to tourists, is the Teoently completed Trans-Andine Railway, which connects Buenos Ayres, on tho Atlantic, with Valparaiso on the Pacific. It is the first transcontinental railway to be built in South America. This daring railway over the 'snowcapped Andes virtually follows a straight line across the oontinent, and is some 888 miles in length. Compared to the 8000-mile track of the Canadian Pacific, it looks insignificant, but it was, nevertheless, a far more difficult feat. It meant tne carrying of a track up and over one. of the loftiest ranges in the world, where the engineers had to pit their skill and strength against the eternal snows, which were only _ conquered by pieroihg the summit with a two-mile tunnel.

Starting from Buenos Ayres, the lino runs for 650 miles over the Pampas to Mendoza. The Pampas is a gradual rising plateau, and from this region comes the Dulfe of' Argentina's enormous wheat, wool,i and : hide Export. ; Mendoza lies; 2470 feet above the'sea" level, .and' here 1 lises the Andes,'that great barrier which runs the whole length of the continent, and which has made historical tho building of. the', ftrst South American trans-' continental railway. For a distance of 156 miles from here, > the : track lies among the mountains, the remaining 82 milesljeing across the rich central plain of Chile to Valparaiso.

. Following the Old Trail. From Mendoza the railway follows the old Andean trail,into the heart of the mountains. .'-For centuries this has been the highway between the. Argentine andChile, but it is only passable in summer, being blooked by heavy snow* drifts in winter, and rendered dangerous to travellers by blizzards." Leaving Men*, doza, the river of that name is crossed and recrossed by seven bridges, and then ever upward olimbs the railway like a'huge surpent, now crawling along the edge of some steep precipice, then over' yawning chasms/ by. neat steel bridges, or piercing its way through the. mountain side by laboriously out tunnel.., So 'the journey continues till Punta do, les Vascas is reached at an altitude of 7709 foot.

From .this pjoint . the, gradient .is. so. Bteep^pVer;l. j in 'the, cog and, rack system is'employed'.' The'powerful triplicate teeth of the engine grip'the third or rack-rail, which safeguards and expedites the running of the • trains. Soon one is in the heart of the mountains, among the grandest mountain scenery in the world. In the distance the hoary extinct volcanic peak of Tupungato is detected, and then the-,pro-montories of the cathedral-like, ridge of Los Penitentes come into uew in seared

dignity, • followed by a glimpse of the mighty Aconcagua, the highest pjpak in the whole range, its head towering soiide 23,000 feet above sea* level. , Above' all, it is a wonderrland of colour, crowned by towering peaks in a mantle .of white enow. The World's >Hsheßt Tunnel. The old trail crosses the mountains Tby the Cumbre Pass at ah altitude of 12,796 feet. But at an elevation of 10,500 feet the engineers called a halt, and then pierced the summit by a tunnel just over two miles in length. It was at once a difficult and arduous feat, necessitating the toil of an army of brave men for several years in a region of eternal snow and frightful blizzards. Indeed, this tunnel in the Andes lies 1500 feet higher than the highest 'carriage road in Europe—that over the Stolvio Pass—and more than 3500 feet higher than the Mount Cenis, St. Gothard, and Simplon Passes. The tunnel is virtually. a replica of the Simplon, .though the conditions were entirely different/ Here, close upon two miles above the sea, the air is rare, and at first the men suffered from mountain sickness, while during the winter months the cold was intense. Sudden blizzards would spring up and bury the shelters feet deep in snow. In this rarefied air and intense cold the men worked summer and winter. Operations • were commenced simultaneously on each Bide of the mountain, the men meeting in the middle, 1500 feet below the summit. 'As in the case of the Simplon, the pathway was laboriously bored by Dowerful drills driven by compressed air. The rock proved exceedingly-hard and very difficult to drill. The drill-bits were always slipping and jamming, causing endle3S irouble. Sometimes as long as twenty hours were required to drill a p -ncl of holes for the explo-

sives. As* soon as tho rock was excavated, masons .followed, filling the woodon forms with Portland cement two feet in thickness. Continaal watchfulness was-necessary to-, guard • against loose pieces of rock coming down unexpectedly and injuring tho men. • Br ', By English Engineers. The .'". ..ale undertaking was' carried Out by English engineers. 'Altogether an army of 1640 men were employed' 640 on the Chilian side, and oyer 1000 on ' the Argentine side. With the exception of a few' : Spaniards, Italians, and Englishmen, the labour was entirely Chilean. The work was carried on in eight-hour shifts, night and day, without a step, from one month's.end to the othor. The only stoppage was for two days; when the headings met, nearly four years after the work had been put in hand. How carefully tho calculations had been mado is evident when it is stated that the difference in the two levels was hut threequarters of an inch, and tho difference in lino 25 inches. Tho men were housod in special shelters at each end of tho tunnel. The whole camp was covered with oorrugated iron, and to ,the visitor presented a strange spectacle. Owing 'to the long winter and snowfall, a large amount of covered-in space was necessary, for storago purposes, and the various ' buildings and sheds were all conneoted togethor by passages. The snowfalls on the mountains here are not particularly heavy, remombering the high altitude, but owing to its light, powdery character,, and the fierco winds which usually rage, it is soon piled up into drifts, 20, 30, and 40 feet in depth. Once through the tunnel, the engineering wonders of the lino are by no means exhausted. From the Chilean end of the tunnel right down to Los Andes the laying of the steel rails demanded all the resources of the engineer. Here, again, the cog and rack system, is employed, owing to tho steep gradient. Before Los Andes is reached the track crosses no fewer than 118 bridges, passes through 24 tunnels of rarving lengths, and also through iu-

numerable snow and avalanche sheds.These latter are necessary to keep the line dear of snow, which colleots upon the sides of the mountains, to be ultimately precipitated upon the track. Tho bridges invariably cross deep chasms through which turbulent waters rush after the. melting of the snows. They vary in .length from a few feet to 100 feet and more, consisting, as a rule, of a single span. Tho scenery liore, too, almost Daffies description, being wild and grand. The first stoppingplace after emerging through the tunnel on the.way to Valparaiso is Juncal, where the railway company have erected a hotel.

"Christ of the Andes." It is in the mountains here where, there is a remarkable statue, known Christ of the Andes. It stands on the dividing line between Argentine and Chile, and was erected in celebration of peace, between tho two Republics. Tho statue", which is of bronze cast' from oannon, is 26 feet high, and the granite pedestal on which' it stands is 20 feet nigh. The pedestal bears this interesting description: "Sooner shall theso mountains crumble to dust than Argentines and Chileans break the peace, which at the feel; of Christ the Redeemer they have eworn to maintain." No railway in the world runs through such magnificent and almost indescribable mountain scenery as the transAndine line, and already it has attracted, a wide tourist traffic. Then it is-a wonderland of gorgeous colours, in this easily rivalling the Grand Canon of the Colorado. The whole journey, from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, is now made in thirty hours in well-appointed trains. It brings Chile nearer to Lon-. don by'at least twelve days. Before the coming : of the railway Tbuilder, goods had to'be -taken by boat through the treaoherous Straits of Magellan. Shepstone.