On the line from Madrid to Saragossa, the length of which is 213 miles,
there are twenty-six tunnels; the most important of them is Horna,
1,010 metres. The total length of these twenty-six tunnels is 4,791
metres, or 3⅝ miles. On the Manzanares to Cordova Line, the length of
which is 243½ kilometres, there are thirteen tunnels, the longest of
which is 1,025 metres; their total length 3,092 metres. The Albaceta
to Carthagena Line, is 154 miles long; the chief tunnel is that of
Almadenes, along the gorge of the same name, its length is 1,056
metres. There are four short tunnels on this line, all in the vicinity
of the gorge; their combined length is only 393 metres, making, with
the tunnel of Almadenes, 1,449 metres.
The Northern of Spain—Madrid to Irun—is 399 miles long. Although it
is not the longest, it is probably the most important railway in
Spain, traversing nearly throughout its entire extent, a difficult,
and, at places, an extremely hilly country, and finally terminating
at the Pyrenees, where it meets the Bayonne and Irun Railway. Thus,
on the section from L’Escurial to Avila, 44 miles long, there are
sixteen tunnels, the total length of which is 4,408 metres, all of
which are associated with numerous extremely difficult works of art
in their immediate vicinity, some of the viaducts varying from 95 to
135 feet in height, with other proportional dimensions. It is in this
section that the Guaddarama Mountains are traversed, and, until the
locomotive crossed the Mont Cenis the summit of this railway was the
highest in Europe, 4,505 feet above sea level. On the section between
Otzaurte and Beasain, 33 miles long, there are twenty-three tunnels,
the total length of which is 10,351 metres. Some of the works of art
on this section are magnificent in their character and construction.
The tunnels on the other sections of the line are not so numerous;
nevertheless, they are altogether fifty-eight in number, with an
aggregate length of 22,160 metres, exactly 14 miles.
Turning from the most difficult Spanish railway in point of
construction, to the easiest for the greater part of its extent, the
Seville, Xeres and Cadiz Line, the length of which is 103 miles, we
find that there are no tunnels upon it, although on the section between
Xeres and Cadiz there are several extremely difficult works of art.
The Alar del Rey to Santander Railway is 87 miles long. It has
twenty-one short tunnels upon it, the total length of which is 4,808
metres.
The length of the Palencia and Astorya Line is 110 miles. It runs
from Palencia to Gigon, on the Bay of Biscay. This railway is only in
course of construction. There are several tunnels upon it, of which the
particulars have not yet been published.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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