The Mont Cenis Pass Railway operated from 1868 to 1871 (with some interruptions) during the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel

Fréjus Rail Tunnel

The Fréjus Rail Tunnel is a rail tunnel of length in the European Alps, carrying the Turin–Modane railway through Mount Cenis to an end on connection with the Culoz–Modane railway and linking Modane, France and Bardonecchia, Italy...

. The line used the Fell

John Barraclough Fell

John Barraclough Fell , was a British railway engineer and inventor of the Fell mountain railway system.Fell spent the early part of his life in London, living with his parents. About 1835 he moved with them to the Lake District. In 1840, he married a 25-year-old woman named Martha in Kirkstall,...

 design of mountain railway

Fell mountain railway system

The Fell system uses a raised centre rail between the two running rails on steeply-graded railway lines to provide extra traction and braking, or braking alone. Trains are propelled by wheels or braked by shoes pressed horizontally onto the centre rail, as well as by means of the normal running...

 with three rails. The railway, opened in June 1868, was 77 kilometres (47.8 mi) long, with a gauge of and a maximum inclination of 9 per cent. It was used primarily to transport English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 mail

Mail

Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...

 to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 as part of the All Red Route. This temporary line was built by Brogdens, Thomas Brassey

Thomas Brassey

Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...

 and others (see John Brogden and Sons), and employed English engine-drivers.

The Estrada de Ferro Cantagalo

Estrada de Ferro Cantagalo

The Estrada de Ferro Cantagalo or Cantagalo Railway in Brazil operated from 1873 to 1965, and used the Fell mountain railway system, with equipment from the temporary Mont Cenis Pass Railway which closed in 1871. From 1883 the Fell rail was used for braking only...

 (Cantagalo railway) from Niterói to Nova Friburgo in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 which opened in 1873, re-used some of the equipment from the Mont Cenis Pass Railway, and was to the same gauge of 1100 mm. Brazil's first mountain railway, it operated until the 1960s.

External links

• [ NLA]