Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1914 — HIGHEST OF RAILROAD LINES [ARTICLE]

HIGHEST OF RAILROAD LINES

Great Altitude Attained by Some of the South American Lines— Feats of Engineering. ■ f z p , In the spring of 1912 in South America a railway was opened between the harbor town of Arica in Chile and La Paz;.the capital of Bolivia. The gauge is 3.28 fee't and the Andes mountains are passed through a tunnel located at 12,980 feet over the ocean. After passing the tunnel the railroad follows the Maure river, crosses the Desugadero river and terminates at La Paz, which is located at an elevation of 12,113 feet. The total length of the road is 300 miles.

This railroad, however, is not the highest in the world. In the fall of 1912 the Antafogasta railroad was opened, connecting the Mulati river with Potosi. This railroad has its highest point at an elevation of 16,006 feet.

Of standard-gauge railways the Peruvian Central railroad is the highest. It connects the harbor city Callao with the capital Lima and the City of Oroya. Its tunnel through the Andes mountains is located at a height of 15,750 feet. v

In Europe the highest railroad is located on the Jungfrau mountain in Switzerland. This mountain is 13,665 feet high and the highest point reached by the road is 11,140 feet. In the United States the nine-mile railroad up Pike's Peak in Colorado reaches the top of the mountain, which is 14,216 feet high.