Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

TWO REM A B,KA BLE ALPINE MOUNTAIN RAILWAYS. 307 on a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 along the sides of the Eiger, through, the Jungfrau] och, and round and up the Jungfrau, stations to be made on the south and north sides of the mountain chain to afford a number of different view-points. The sta- tions, constructed and projected, are seven in number, as follows : Kleine Scheidegg (6,770), Eiger- gletscher (7,620), Rothstock (8,300), Eigerwand (9,404), Eis- meer (10,368), Jungfraujoch (11,139), and Jungfrau (13,664). The figures in parentheses signify their respective heights above sea-level. A peculiarity of the line is that, when complete, only about the first 1| out of the 7| miles will be in the A Railway Open} all the rest in Tunnel. . . being in tunnel. The tunnel is 12 feet 2 inches wide and 14 feet 3 inches high., and has a semicircular roof. The rock through, which it passes is for the most part a very hard lime- stone requiring no lining, so that the difficulty of boring was offset by the fact that a mini- mum of boring need be done. By keeping the railway under cover, entire protection was afforded against avalanches, and the miners were enabled to work all through the winter season when tourist traffic had ceased. This system also made it possible to complete the railway in instalments, and. to utilize tho receipts from opened sections to cover partly the cost of those being bored. The heavy gradient and a deficiency of water prevented the use of the Brandt hy- draulic drill. The less effec- Electnc Drills. but more han(iy Siemens and Halske electric drills, making about 400 blows a minute, have been employed ex- MAP SHOWING THE WENGERALP AND JUNGFRAU RAILWAYS. The completed portion of the latter’s tunnel is indicated by heavy broken lines; the uncompleted sections above Eismeer by light broken lines. clusively. Th© current for driving them is derived from the power-house below Lauter- brunnen, where the White Liitschine River is harnessed to a number of turbines, which also supplies part (2,650 horse-power) of the motive power for the electric locomotives operating the line.* The surveying of the course was necessarily very difficult, and occupied nearly five years. While it was in progress a start was made at Little Scheidegg on the track construction, and in August 1899 the Scheidegg-Rothstock section was opened. In 1903 tourists could travel up to the Eigerwand station ; in 1905 to Eismeer. It is anticipated that in 1911 the Jungfrau peak itself will be reached. The rack system used here is that invented by M. Emile Strub. The electric current con- * A second power-station on the Black Liitschino do- velops 10,000 horse-power.