LOOP IN THE SELKIRKS, SHOWING FOUR TRACKS.
The countries of Asia (with the exception of India) are but scantily supplied with railways. Even Palestine—the Holy Land—has, however, been invaded, and has now two railways. One of these is from Jaffa (the biblical Joppa) to Jerusalem, 54 miles (1892); the other is from Beirut to Damascus, 70 miles. British interests have long advocated an “all-rail-to-India” project. The line would start opposite Constantinople, pass down the Euphrates valley, across Persia, and along the coast of Baluchistan to Kurrachee, connecting there with the Indian railway system. This great system aggregates 25,000 miles, and extends up to the Bolan Pass and the Khyber Pass, on the Afghan frontier. Southward, it has been proposed to connect with the Ceylon railways by a line of bridges and embankments along the reefs and shoals known as Adam’s Bridge.
Owing to the vigorous opposition of the government and people, China has but 350 miles of railway to its 4,200,000 square miles and its population of 420,000,000. Many lines are projected, but are all in the eastern portion, and the twentieth century will be well advanced before the railway opens up the heart of the country to civilization. Japan, the very opposite of China, has encouraged railway construction, and now has 3000 miles of railway to its 147,600 square miles and its population of 45,000,000.
The most notable of all the railways in Asia is the great Trans-Siberian railway, now being built by the Russian government. It was commenced in 1891, and may be completed by 1903, the distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, or Port Arthur, being then about 5670 miles. There are several large cities on the route, and the line does not pass through such a wild and uninhabited country as that through which the Union Pacific Railroad was built thirty years ago. It is now open to Lake Baikal, the trip of 3230 miles being made in about 12 days by the slow train, or 8 days by the less frequent fast train. The road is roughly and lightly built in many respects, so that high speeds cannot be maintained. The eastern end of the road will pass through Chinese territory, thus giving Russia a firm foothold in that empire. Hardly less interesting is the Trans-Caspian railway, from the Caspian Sea to Samarcand, 885 miles, with a branch from Merv to within 95 miles of the Afghan city of Herat. An extension to the Persian Gulf is also projected. As the Trans-Siberian railway has developed a new wheat-growing region, so the Trans-Caspian railway is developing a new cotton-growing region.
In Africa the railways already extend northward from Cape Town, through the land of the Boers and up to Buluwayo, the old Zulu stronghold, 1400 miles. There is a picturesque project for carrying the line on to the Mediterranean, a total distance of 5500 miles, but this will not materialize for many years. The Congo railway, passing the rapids, opens communication between the coast and a long stretch of inland navigation. Several lines are being pushed from the east coast into the interior, and a transcontinental railway from St. Paul de Loando, on the west, has been commenced, but there is not now much life in this latter project. The French have two favorite schemes for railways,—from Algeria to Timbuctoo, and from Tunis to Lake Chad, the latter line being about 1600 miles in length.
In Australia, the lines of the different colonies are gradually extending and connecting to form a continuous system, which is hampered, however, by differences of gauge. There is railway communication between the capitals of Queensland (Brisbane), New South Wales (Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne), and South Australia (Adelaide). The great stretch westward to the coast cities of Western Australia is yet in the future, as is also the South Australian transcontinental line from Adelaide northward across vast deserts (already crossed by the telegraph) to Palmerston.
ENTRANCE TO ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL, SWITZERLAND.
Great bridges and tunnels are among the prominent features of the railways of the world, but space forbids entering into details of these works. They are in principle similar to those required for highways, but many of these great works would never have been undertaken for such traffic as is carried by a highway. The only railway suspension bridge ever built was the Niagara bridge, opened in 1855, and replaced by a steel arch in 1898. The development of bridges and traffic may be judged from the fact that the Victoria single-track tubular bridge over the St. Lawrence, at Montreal, which was opened in 1859, was replaced in 1897–98 by a double-track railway and roadway truss bridge on the same piers. The steel arch bridge, 1700 feet long, across the Mississippi, at St. Louis, cost $5,300,000. The tubular bridge, 6592 feet long, over the St. Lawrence, at Montreal, Canada, cost $7,000,000. The cantilever bridge, 8925 feet long, over the Firth of Forth, Great Britain, cost $13,000,000. The cost of the proposed suspension bridge, 3000 feet long, over the Hudson, at New York, is estimated at $13,000,000. The first railway tunnel was the Portage Tunnel, in Pennsylvania, built in 1831. The longest railway tunnel is the Simplon, in Switzerland. It is 12.25 miles in length, and is still under construction. The next longest is the Gothard, Switzerland. It is 9.30 miles long, and was opened in 1881.
In track construction, cast-iron rails began to be superseded by wrought iron in 1820, and many of the early American railways had strap iron laid on timber stringers. Within the past twenty years steel has been used almost exclusively. In place of rails weighing 25 to 35 lbs. per yard, and 3 to 15 feet in length, we now use rails of 80 to 100 lbs. per yard, 30 to 60 feet long. Stone blocks and wooden ties were first used to support the rails, and the latter are now generally used, although metal ties are extensively used and date back to 1846. In 1894 there were thirty-five thousand miles of railway laid with this form of track. The next development will probably be a permanent and continuous concrete bed for the rails; as the present construction, with wooden ties laid in stone or other ballast, requires continual attention and repair under the effects of heavy traffic.