Precisely what this Brandt drill signified to the engineers in connection with this tunnel may be gathered from the fact that from the time drilling commenced, in 1880, only four years elapsed before communication was established between Bluden on the one and Innsbruck on the other side of the range. In this short period a passage 26 feet high by 23 feet wide was cut through solid rock for a distance of 6⅜ miles at a total cost of £1,500,000, or $7,500,000. In comparison with the two previous enterprises of the same character this was a magnificent achievement. The Cenis tunnel, 7½ miles in length, occupied some 13 years to complete, while some 8 years were required to drive 9¼ miles through the St. Gotthard. This was an achievement of which those engaged in the task were justly proud. Indeed, the Austrians hold a unique position in the rapidity with which they can drive these gigantic undertakings through the most formidable mountain chains. The section of railway upon which this tunnel is situated sorely tried the ingenuity of the engineers up to the Paznaun valley. The line clings to the mountain-side, which is broken up by precipitous crags, and these either had to be pierced or blasted right away to provide a path for the railway. Gushing torrents pour madly down these slopes, and had to be spanned by noble and lofty viaducts or bridges. At some places the boiling waters are deflected from their bed into an artificial channel built of concrete; at others there are massive retaining walls to prevent the waterways from breaking bounds and sweeping the embankment away. One wide gorge is bridged by a single iron span 393 feet 8 inches in length. This is the Trisanna viaduct, below which the glacial brook tumbles over the boulders at a depth of some 262 feet. Elaborate precautions also had to be adopted to protect the line from the ravages of avalanches and landslides. Years before the Arlberg line was contemplated, however, some distinctly noteworthy achievements in engineering had been placed on record by the establishment of railway communication between Vienna and Trieste on the Adriatic Sea. Certainly the line did not follow the shortest route between these two points, but it must be borne in mind that it was undertaken in the early ’forties, when Great Britain, “the home of the railway,” only possessed some 840 miles of line, and railway engineering was quite in its infancy. It is little wonder, therefore, that the engineers of the project in this wild corner of Europe followed a circuitous path, to avoid fearsome obstacles as far as practicable. They resorted to sharp curves and heavy banks, and the line doubled and redoubled in the most amazing manner. Bridges and tunnels were introduced very freely, some of the viaducts spanning deep clefts on the mountain flanks being very lofty.