FROM THE RM, MARCH 1931

“SHORTLY after leaving Bevers, the train enters, at Spinas, the Albula Tunnel. In the centre of the tunnel – which is perfectly straight, and through which it is possible to see from end to end, despite its length of 3¾miles – the railway is 5998ft above sea-level. “Great difficulties were experienced in the completion of this bore, which is one of the longest narrow-gauge tunnels in the world, owing to the high altitude; one of the worst troubles was the tapping at various points of springs of ice-cold water, which at one stage caused an interruption of 15 months in the work on the northern side. “After coping successfully with these interruptions, the engineers succeeded in gradually increasing their average progress from 190 to 239ft per day, and the whole tunnel was finished in less than four years between 1899 and 1902. It cost £282,000.”