An Historical, statistical, and scientific account of the railways of Belgium from 1834 to 1842 - Softcover

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1843 Excerpt: ... frontier. The two chains of mountains confining the valley furrowed by the river Vesdre, the existence of the chaussee following the winding course of the river, the great number of manufacturing establishments whose claims for compensation were to be avoided, or whose acquired rights were to be respected, and other motives not less important, explain the boldness of a scheme to which all these obstacles should give way. The extreme complexity of the elements of the plan,--the examination and the discussion of the numerous plans proposed for the route in the vicinity of Liege,--the crossing of the town of Verviers, which gave rise to long discussions,--the fixing of the point of junction between the Belgian and Prussian railways at the frontier,--and, lastly, the engineering questions which rose up en masse respecting difficulties previously unknown, but which were met with at every step upon the ground traversed by the railway,--all these circumstances were so many causes for delay in the adoption of the final plan. The engineers, Messrs. Simons and De Ridder, had already, in 1833, prepared and presented a project for a line from Antwerp to Verviers. This project, which formed the groundwork of the law of the 1st of May, 1834, was necessarily modified after the working of the first sections opened for traffic had shown that the railway would not serve exclusively for the carriage of goods, as had been at first thought, but that it would acquire a much greater importance from transporting travellers at high speeds. The sinuous route proposed in 1833, with numerous and sharp curves, was unsuited for a passenger line, and accordingly, in 1835, fresh surveys were ordered, hastening as much as possible the proposed line from Liege to Verviers. The point of jun...