Semmering

Semmering, a mountain on the borders of Styria and Austria, 60 miles SW. of Vienna, and 4577 feet above the sea, over which the Vienna, Gratz, and Trieste Railway has been carried by a series of ingenious engineering contrivances. The railway, built in 1850-53 at a cost of £2,000,000, sweeps up the steep face of the mountain in many curves, and descends its southern slope, after having passed through 15 tunnels and numerous galleries, and crossed 16 viaducts. It extends from Gloggnitz on the north to Mürzuschlag on the south, a distance of 25 miles, traversed by quick trains in 1 hour and 37 minutes; by slow in 2 hours 17 minutes. The greatest elevation is reached at 2940 feet in the Semmering tunnel (4692 feet long). The steepest gradient for any distance is 1 in 40.