OPENING OF THE MONT CENIS RAILWAY.

Southland Times, Issue 1011, 28 August 1868, Page 3

OPENING OF THE MONT CENIS RAILWAY.

i After many delays, the railway through j the pass of Mont Cenis was opened for passenger traffic on Monday, June 15th ; and henceforth the Ups which divide Italy from France re practically abolished. There are mechanical peculiarities about this line which render it unique in railway enterprise; and if the principle upon which it will be worked be j established by experience a great step will be made in the application of steam locomotion through mountainous countries. Tne chief peculiarities are the introduction of a central rail between the lateral rails, and a combination of horizontal wheels, worked by separate cylinders, adapted to give adhesion by grasping the mid rail with a power equal in certain cases to more than twelve tons per wheel. On the Italian side the railway descends the mountain by a series of zigzags, in which there are gradients of one in twelve and curves of two chains and a half radius. As the profitable working of engines of the ordinary construction is supposed to be limited to gradients of one in twenty- five and to curves of somewhat less than half a mile radius, it was conceived that the inevitable difficulties of this character on the line through the Cenis Pass might be obviated by the central rails and the horizontal wheels. Numerous experiments have confirmed this view, and especially some made over the whole length of the line from St. Michel, the terminus on the Savoy side of the mountain, to Susa, the terminus on the Italian side, during the past three weeks. Everything being in readiness, business was commenced on June 15 by the despatch of two trains at intervals of an hour from Susa, at times so arranged as to arrive at St. Michel to join with the trains leaving for all parts of France. On the other hand, on the arrival of the trains from the interior of France, two trains were despatched from St. Michel to Susa. The whole of this service was performed with punctuality, the average time occupied in the transit through the pass being 5\ hours. As the ordinary diligence occupies a minimum of 11 hours, a considerable saving of time is the result of the innovation ; but the saving of time is not all, inasmuch as the fares are less. Thus, while the minimum fare by the diligence is 35 francs, the fares by the rail are 25 francs by the first-class carriages, 22 francs by the second, and 18 francs by the third. And to these considerations must be added the superior sense of comfort felt in travelling by railway over that inspired by the diligence. About 20 passengers arrived from Italy ; and out of 29 who arrived from France in order to cross the mountain into Italy 24 chose the railway, while the remaining five selected the diligence. In a financial sense, therefore, the passenger traffic on the opening day was promising, though not the slightest effort had apparently been made by the means customary in England to attract business to the line. There are covered ways on the two sides of the summit, extending for eight or nine miles, sometimes in long and sometimes in short sections, for the purpose of saving the line from snow-drifts and avalanches. They are but a few inches higher than the chimney shaft of the engine ; and as the engine chiefly burns coal, while the boiler has to make a good deal of steam, large volumes of smoke speedily collect, and the breathing is sensibly affected. Numerous openings have been made in the roofs, with the view of allowing the smoke to escape ; but its accenis is interrupted by strong currents of atmospheric air from the outside, and consequently the smoke remains twirling about as the train passes along. It does not seem to be a very difficult mechanical problem how to remedy this somewhat serious inconi venience — for it must be serious to persons in feeble health whose lungs are sensitive. Another inconveniense is the change of carriage ; but this incidental alike to the railway and the diligence ; and some complaint was heard that facilities are not. afforded for booking through from Paris to Turin, or vice versa, by the rail as they are by the diligence. The motive for this is, we are told, that passengers proceeding either way may be at perfect liberty to adopt either mode of conveyancing through the railway company relying with some confidence on the operation of their lower fares and saving of time.-^- Some News.