Regarding the Mont Cenis tunnel and traction.

[spudfan]

Here is a few extracts from book which has a chapter on the creation of the Mont Cenis tunnel in the alps. The extracts here deal with the track and motive power. The book was written at the time of construction of the tunnel by someone who was doing some climbing in the area. Anyway I found it really interesting. If any one out there wants the whole relevant chapter I can email it to them.

Edited April 16 by spudfan

[Maitland]

The Fell system. It was trialled on the Cromford & High Peak line not all that far from me, and was meant to complete the Mont Cenis route while the tunnel was being built. Unfortunately for the promoters, the tunnel was completed using pneumatic drills much quicker than expected, the line was then obsolete, and they lost a lot of money.

The centre rail was installed, for braking purposes only, on the Snaefell railway in the Isle of Man, and is still in use. Fell had other ideas for quickly built, lightly engineered railways, that never quite seemed to hit the target. The first two locos on the Pentewan Railway in Cornwall were to his design, and apart from having the cylinders above track level (!) were similar to those build for an experimental rapid- deployment "train set" military railway that  didn't get adopted either. He had a very strange taste in locomotive design, even for that age.

If you can be bothered scanning, I'd love a copy. 

[spudfan]

Have sent the scans. Enjoy...