Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 December 1890 — The Transandine Railroad. [ARTICLE]

The Transandine Railroad.

The year 1892 will probably be signalized in South America by a most Interesting event in civil engineering and in international overland commerce. This will be the completion and opening of the Transandine Railroad, the first across the continent of South America. It is nineteen years since this work was begun, and it is new confidently expected that it will be finished by the beginning of 1892. The road is to run from Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso, a distance of 871 miles. There are now 640 miles of it finished at 3 the Buenos Ayres end and 82 at the Valparaiso end. Of the remaining 140 miles about one-third is practically complete and the rails laid. The passage of the Andes is accomplished at the Cumbre Pass, which is 13,045 feet above the sea level. The railroad, however, does not reach the summit of the pass, but pierces the mountains by means of a tunnel more than three miles long, at an elevation of 10,450 feet above the sea. The grades are, of course, very steep; for a considerable distance the rise is more than 422 feet to the mile, or 1 foot in every 12%. On this portion of the line a rack-rail is employed similar to those on the Harts and other mountain roads. One unfortunate feature of the road is the diversity of gauges adopted. The different sections of the road have been built by different companies, and each company has its own gauge.— Engineering Record.