When a railway line is to be carried across a range of mountains or hills, the first question which arises is whether it is better to construct a tunnel or to make such a détour as will enable the obstruction to be passed with ordinary surface construction. The answer to this question depends upon the comparative cost of construction and maintenance, and upon the relative commercial and structural advantages and disadvantages of the two methods. In favor of the open road there are its smaller cost and the decreased time required in its construction. These mean that less capital will be required, and that the road will sooner be able to earn something for its builders. Against the open road there are: its greater length and consequently its heavier running expenses; the greater amount of rolling-stock required to operate it; the heavy expense of maintaining a mountain road; and the necessity of employing larger locomotives, with the increased expenses which they entail. In favor of the tunnel there are: the shortening of the road, with the consequent decrease in the operating expenses and amount of rolling-stock required; the smaller cost of maintenance, owing to the protection of the track from snow and rain and other natural influences causing deterioration; and the decreased cost of hauling due to the lighter grades. Against the tunnel, there are its enormous cost as compared with an open road and the great length of time required to construct it. To determine in any particular case whether a tunnel or an open road is best, requires a careful integration of all the factors mentioned. It may be asserted in a general way, however, that the enormous advance made in the art of tunnel building has done much to lessen the strength of the principal objections to tunnels, namely, their great cost and the length of time required for their construction. Where the choice lies between a tunnel or a long détour with heavy grades it is sooner or later almost always decided in favor of a tunnel. When, however, the conditions are such that the choice lies between a tunnel or a heavy open cut with the same grades the problem of deciding between the two solutions is a more difficult one. It is generally assumed that when the cut required will have a vertical depth exceeding 60 ft. it is less expensive to build a tunnel unless the excavated material is needed for a nearby embankment or fill. This rule is not absolute, but varies according to local conditions. For instance, in materials of rigid and unyielding character, such as rock, the practical limit to the depth of a cut goes far beyond that point at which a tunnel would be more economical according to the above rule. In soils of a yielding character, on the other hand, the very flat slope required for stability adds greatly to the cost of making a cut.