И. А. Курбасова Е. И. Силантьева

World's Shortest Railroad

Only a few of us may have heard or read about the world's shortest railroad. It ran in northern New York for a distance of seven-eighths of a mile! The rolling stock handling the service included one locomotive, two open coaches and a baggage car. This rolling stock was supposed to carry ten thousand passengers a year, as well as heavy loads of freight. The railroad connected two lakes spanning the unnavigable part of the Marion River. Steamers were to meet the train at both ends of the line and to transfer passengers and freight. In winter, however, with thick ice covering the lakes, the steamers stopped running and, with them, the world's smallest railroad.

Needless to say that other, more efficient means of trans­portation should have been used to handle the traffic all the year round. But at that time the line was considered to economically justify its existence. Indeed, it carried its load successfully for nearly thirty years. And it might have performed its duty for many years to come but for the con­struction of a highway between the two lakes. The result was that the little railroad was out of business.
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1. The difficulties encountered in the construction of early tunnels.
2. The Channel Tunnel.
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TEXT B. RAILWAYS ACROSS THE WATER

(1) Railroad tracks can cross the seas, lakes and rivers. Railway vehicles are carried across such stretches of water as the North Sea, the English Channel, the Baltic and the Black Seas by train ferries (паром), with railroad tracks being laid on their main decks.

(2) Most of these "ships" are intended for freight cars only. But there also exist ferries to carry passenger coaches. For example, sleeping car express trains, with passengers staying in bed, make regular runs from England to the Continent. There is no need to say that ferries should be strongly built to withstand high waves and winds of great force.
(3) Another way to overcome a water obstacle is to erect a bridge structure. The suspension bridge across the Bospo­rus¹ in Turkey may serve as an example. It is Europe's longest bridge, the length of its span between the sup­porting towers being nearly 1,080 m. Being built in the modern manner, the bridge structure is not affected by winds and storms. Its carrying capacity is 20,000 motor cars daily.
(4) Instead of erecting bridges or using ferries to cross rivers railroad builders may bore tunnels beneath the river bottom. Sometimes underwater tunnels are not bored through rock like conventional mountain tunnels; they are simply huge iron tubes resting on the river bottom and rising up to ground level on the opposite sides of the river or chan­nel. Now thought is being given to railway tunnels under the sea.
(5) In this respect, a project to link Sicily² and Italy across the Strait of Messina³ is, no doubt, of certain inter­est. A permanent link between these two countries has been an object of discussion for a long time. After taking into consideration all factors, including cost, high wind dangers and interference with navigation, most experts spoke in favour of the undersea tunnel.
(6) According to the project three interconnected tubes are to be placed at a depth of 40-50 m below the sea suface. They are supposed to be fixed at certain intervals directly to the sea bed by cables.
(7) The cost of the scheme would be considerably lower compared with other alternative structures.