The project as sanctioned was divided into three sections for constructional purposes. The first section is that known as the Pyrhn railway, which connects the main line between Vienna and Switzerland via the Arlberg tunnel at Linz. From this point a short branch line ran directly southwards through the Krems valley to Klaus, having been built for tourist purposes. It was decided to overhaul this spur to bring it into conformity with the conditions of a main line, and to build the new line onwards from Klaus. From Auspoint, which is at an altitude of 1,563 feet, the line makes one continual climb, climb, to the Selzthal terminus, nearly 40 miles distant. The average rise ranges from 70 to 132 feet per mile to overcome the Pyrhn Pass, beneath which a tunnel nearly 3 miles in length was bored. This tunnel, however, is only one of many, for there are numerous short burrows through shoulders and crags. Nor are the bridges a whit less majestic. The Steyr River is crossed by a lofty single masonry arch, and again lower down by an iron suspension structure, while the Teichl is spanned by a single-span lattice steel bridge. The loftiness of these structures is an outstanding characteristic. The rivers at the points in question have cut their beds at a great depth below the banks which constitute the railway level. Swerving bends are also conspicuous, for the railway continually swings from one side of the valley to the other. The construction of the Pyrhn railway, however, was simple in comparison with the other links of this chain of communication. At Klagenfurt, south-east of Vienna, commences the Karawanken railway, so named because it pierces the difficult mountain range of that name. The stretch is only 19 miles in length, but the country proved to be so broken that only 4 miles of level track could be introduced, and those in the vicinity of the stations! Throughout the remaining 15 miles the railway is really a gigantic switchback. The line hugs the hill-sides, and has to make the rough descent of the broken Hollenburger in order to gain the level of the Drave River, to pass between the Stattnitz on the northern and the Karawanken chains on the southern side of the depression. The mountain-side is steep and broken in the extreme. In all directions gullies extended, where the soft earth had been washed away by the violence of the snow freshets. These had to be filled in with solid, heavy embankments, the debris for which was torn from deep cuttings through projecting humps of rock. Some of the gaps were too wide and deep to be overcome in this summary manner, and had to be bridged. The Hollenburger viaduct stands out prominently among works of this kind. From end to end it measures 262½ feet in length, and in the centre the rift is 92 feet below the level of the rails. The mountains sheer up precipitously on the one, and the beautiful valley of the Rosenbach falls away on the other, side of the track.