How World Deadly Extreme Rail Routes that Change Our Transport

What We Have Covered in This Article

Last Updated on March 12, 2021 by Editor Futurescope

The railway is definitely one of the most important means of transport in the world. It significantly reduces road congestion. In fact, in many developed countries, it is commonly used the mean of transport.

Advantages of railways

Fast- While it was initially one of the slowest modes of transport, nowadays, trains are one of the fastest inter cities in Europe after the invention of electric trains.

Convenience- Since it is not prone to jams and congestion cases, it proves to be convenient

PAMBAN BRIDGE


It was built more than a century ago and happened to be the first and the longest sea bridge in India until 2010 when the Bandra-Worli Sea link was built. It was opened on the 24th February in 1914 to be precise. Although the large part of it is just a conventional bridge resting on 143 concrete piers, it has a section in the middle which has double-leaf bascule. This section can be raised to allow ships and barges to conveniently pass through.

It spans 2 kilometers and it connects the Indian mainland and Pamban Island. It is 12.5 meters (41 feet) above the sea level. It has undergone several modifications over time. As a matter of fact, it was upgraded to carry broad gauge trains. This work off ally came to end on the august 2007.

Pamban Bridge has however experienced severally incidents. The most memorable and which portrayed its immense strength was the cyclonic storm of December 1964. This storm, 7.6 meters long, struck the island and overturned a passenger train. This accident left all the 150 passengers on board dead. It was however repaired and was back to service in 46 days. Again a naval barged drifted into it in 2003 an incident which left minor damages to the bridge.

GASTA RAISALTA–ANTOFALWAY


The Salta Antofasta railway is single track railway which links Argentina and chile. It passes through The Andes. Is non-electrified meter gauge railway which 941 kilometers long? It connects Salta city which is in Argentina and Antofagasta in Chile through the Atacama Desert.

The construction of this railway started in 1921. However, the whole railway line became fully operational after inaugurated on the 20th February 1948. It should be noted that all this time some section of the railway had started being used. As a matter of fact, the Chilean track had been inaugurated a year earlier in 1947. On the same note, the highest point of the line a viaduct called La Polvorilla had been finished as earlier as 7 November 1932. This point is 4420 meters above the sea level. This makes the railway the fifth highest n the world. While this railway was built to serve the commercial purpose of the mining industry, the viaduct is used for tourist purposes by The Tren a las Nubes which means train to the sky. Tourists enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery, desert landscape, steep river canyons argentine Puna Scenery.

The railway is nicknamed Huaytiquina which actually refers to an ancient Andean mountain pass between Chile and Argentina. Throughout the whole journey, the train crosses a total of 29 bridges and passes through 21 tunnels, 13 viaducts, and 2 spirals and negotiates 2 zigzags.

GEORGETOWN LOOP RAILROAD


Georgetown loop Railroad is a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad which was built in the 19th century. The construction was completed in the year 1884. It was part of the larger Colorado Central Railway. This line was extensively used at the rise of the Colorado Gold rush. It was also used during the silver boom to transport silver from the Silver Plume mines in the 1880s.

The Colorado central Railroad took over its management in 1893 and operated it for passengers and cargo transportation up until 1983. It was later closed in 1939.

However, in 1984, it was later re-opened to operate as a tourist railroad during summer. It is owned by the Colorado historical society and operated by the Historic Rail Adventures. This tourist train connects to Georgetown and silver plume, a 3.2 kilometers stretch. The route itself is about 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles). In addition to that, it has an elevation of 640 feet. It passes through mountainous terrain which has cuts, fills, grand loops and trestles. The most fascinating experience is where the tourist can opt to take a walking tour at the Lebanon silver mine which is located midway the rail. Here, they have an opportunity to walk 150 m meters inside the mine tunnel which were once very rich with silver.

KURANDA SCENIC RAILWAY AUSTRALIA


Kuranda Scenic Railway, as the name suggests, offers a spectacular and fascinating journey through the beautiful scenery of dense rainforest. There are so many attractions including hundreds of flowering plants, different rainforest trees, orchids, exotic palms and different unique creatures. The tourists also have a marvelous view of the Barron Falls and Stony Creek Falls which is just some few meters from the passing train. Also, there is a zoo a walking distance from the station.

This railway was built back in 1891, where the operations started in 25th June the same year. It stretches 37 kilometers and the journey along this railway takes about 1 hour and 50 minutes.

The train starts its journey at a renowned tourist attraction site, tropical gardens Kuranda railway station and passes downhill through Barron Gauge National Park to Freshwater railway station which is located at the bottom of the mountain. Here you find a gift shop, information center and a café located inside an old train carriage.

The Kuranda scenic railway passes through 15 handmade tunnel and 37bridgees at an elevation of 328 meters above sea level. There are morning departures Freshwater and cairns to Kuranda and afternoon departures from Kuranda to Freshwater and cairns.

On the journey, the passengers get a Z-card which portrays the history of the railway construction and a map showing the journey and Kuranda.

DEVIL’S NOSE RAILWAYS


The railway system in Ecuador was built to connect the Andean highlands with the pacific coast. The project of this railway was started in 1861 where it took 12 years to open the first section between Duran and milagro in the year 1873. It later reached Bucay in 1888. It stretches 965.5 Kilometers making it the largest infrastructure in the country. However, the road travel dominates the transportation industry as opposed to when the railway was the major transport back in the mid-1900s.

The railway line, which is run by Ferrocarriles del Ecuador Empresa Publica (FE EP) (Ecuadorian Railways Company), has undergone renovation after it was destroyed by el Nino rains in 1997.  A major restoration was done in 2008.

The devil’s Nose is the section of the railway where the train has to shunts back and forth on the rocky promontory. The trains cross several deep ravines as it moves down the steep switchbacks. The train has to reverse severally to maneuver these switchbacks. This section is located Alausi and simbabe.

There train stops frequently to allow the passengers to have a view of the beautiful scenery. It then proceeds to Urbina which is the highest point with an altitude of 3609.

LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH CLIFF RAILWAY


Lynton and Lynmouth cliff railway was opened in 1980. As a matter of fact, it has been continuously in use since the ester Monday of the same year. It is water funicular railway which joins the Lynton and Lynmouth towns. The proposal to have a railway in place at this area was as a result of obstacle the high cliffs separating this town caused to the sprouting tourist industry and economic development in general.

This railway is a monument in its own. It stretches 862 meters and has an elevation of 500 feet. It has a gradient of 57% provides an amazing view of the fabulous Lynmouth bay. The most fascinating thing is that it is the steepest fully water powered railway in the whole world. In fact, it is the only fully powered railway in the world and among the three in the world. The railway consists of two cars which are joined using a continuous cable which runs around 1.675 meters pulley each at the incline’s ends.

CUMBRES AND TOLTEC SCENIC RAILROAD


This tourist railroad was built in 1980. It was primarily built to support the mining activities in the San Juan Mountains. It is 3ft narrow gauge railroad which runs between Chama in new Mexico to Antonito in Colorado covering a total distance of 103 kilometers(64 miles) over the Cumbers pass at an elevation of 10015 meters.

Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad is the highest and longest steam railroad in America. It is jointly owned by the New Mexico and Colorado states. It crosses the borders of the two states 11 times going through Toltec George. Owing to its authenticity the railway was listed on the National register of historic places in 1973.

The train passes through the forest of Ospens. You can have a nice view of the deer, Bears, eagles and elks. It also passes through plain, open tundra and rocky gorge. Here you get to see spectacular geological formations.

Traveling by trains remains one of the most fascinating experiences. This is because of the spectacular places it the railway passes through. The beautiful scenery in the plains, dense forests, plains and mountainous region are in most cases breathtaking. Make a point of visiting one of the places listed above.

Editor Futurescope
Editor Futurescope

Founding writer of Futurescope. Nascent futures, foresight, future emerging technology, high-tech and amazing visions of the future change our world. The Future is closer than you think!

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