Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 304, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 December 1912 — THROUGH HEART OF ALPS [ARTICLE]

THROUGH HEART OF ALPS

New Railroad Traverses One of the Most Picturesque Sections of All Europe. The great .international highways from north to south, which in former days led over the Alps, nowadays pass through them; their number is shortly to be augmented by the opening of the new Bernese Alps or Lotschberg railroad, which will constitute the newest and shortest route to Italy from Switzerland and the neighboring countries. It will be opened to the traffic of the world next May. This new Alpine railroad has been constructed in the face of formidable difficulties, and will be numbered among the most noteworthy feats of railroad engineering in,modern times. All the forces of elemental nature were mustered to oppose the task of laying a railroad line through one of the wildest mountainous districts in Europe. A nine-mile-long tunnel had to be pierced through the heart of the Bernese Alps range, but this was a mere bagatelle compared with the difficulties' encountered in constructing a track through the precipitous and avalanche-swept country on either side of this. The line, which forms a short cut to the Simplon and obviates the wide detour hitherto necessary, is only 48 miles in length, but has occupied more than six years in building, owing to the obstacles which had to be surmounted. Mighty embankments had to be constructed along the edge of dizzy precipices, granite viaducts and steel bridges thrown across wild ravines, and huge wall-like barriers erected high up the mountain slopes to dissipate the force of the destructive aval&nche. The railroad traverses a country rich in points of interest and second to none as regards scenic magnificence. Leading Berne, the Swiss capital, the line proceeds by way of quaint, medieval Thun to the beautiful lake of that name; here the eternal snows of, the Jungfrau, Schreckhom and Matterhorn come into view and form a striking background to the changing colors of the lake. Thence the line continues through the charming Frutigen and Kandersteg valleys, with their typical Swiss pastoral scenes, and arrive at Kandersteg, the northern portal of the Lotsch£erg tunnel, surrounded by fantastically shaped peaks. Passing through the tunnel, the line emerges in one of the most wildly picturesque valleys of Switzerland, and one hitherto practically inaccessible to the tourist —the Lotschen valley. The steep, pine-clad slopes of this uninhabited region are soon exchanged for the smiling pastures of the Rhone valley, and the line gradually descends from its high mountain ledge to Brigue, where the Simplon railroad is joined.