The First Transandine Railway Author(s): W. S. Barclay Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 36, No. 5 (Nov., 1910), pp. 553-562 Published by: geographicalj Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1777343 Accessed: 15-06-2016 22:53 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Wiley, The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Geographical Journal This content downloaded from 144.82.108.120 on Wed, 15 Jun 2016 22:53:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE FIRST TRANSANDINE RAILWAY. 553 Carboniferous and Pleistocene glaciation has been proved. There is not sufficient evidence to show whether or not the Australian, Tasmanian, and New Zealand Pleistocene glaciation is due solely to local meteorological conditions. In reply to Mr. Finlayson: I am pleased to know that the question of glacia- tion in the south island of New Zealand is receiving the special attention of dis- tinguished New Zealand geologists, and I shall look forward with interest to the publication of the results of their work. Mr. THIELE: Mr. Kitson has fully expressed my views, and I may just empha- size what he has said with regard to glacial action. I cannot accept the extreme glacial corrosion that has been brought forward by some writers to explain the origin of the fjord region. Prof. Kendall referred to the relative quantity of rock carried by a glacier in any given cross-section. From what I have seen of the New Zealand glaciers, there was undoubtedly a considerably greater amount of rock material on the lower portions than in the middle section. Thereis a large amount of concentration of rock going on in the last few miles of the lower portion on account of the melting away of the ice, and that seemed to be a particular feature of the present glaciers, providing just the conditions for the formation of a lake in a similar way to what happened on the larger scale in the case of the old Tasman glacier. Dr. STRAHAN: This paper has presented problems, many of them surpassing interest. It only remains for me to ask you to record a vote of thanks to the authors for their communication. THE FIRST TRANSANDINE RAILWAY. By W. S. BAROLAY. AFTER difficulties which have delayed its construction for close upon forty years, the railroad across the Andes uniting Buenos Aires to Val- paraiso was opened to traffic on the Centenary of Argentine Independence, May 25, 1910. " The tumult and the shouting dies, The captains and the kings depart." Inaugural and centenary festivities and speeches are over now, and an important new factor in the world's transport has been made over in perpetuity to public service. It is worth while summarizing the work which has brought about this result, and the new conditions it has brought into being. For communications throughout the world are ever growing closer, and the tightening of any one thread in the gigantic web affects the whole in ways formerly unknown. Geographical Advantages. The Transandine railroad crosses the Andes at the Uspallata pass, in lat. 33? S. In most of the cross-sections of the Andes from this point northward, a triple cordon, consisting of the coast range, the main Cor- dillera, and an inland parallel range, have in turn to be surmounted. But the headwaters of the Mendoza river flowing eastward, and those of the This content downloaded from 144.82.108.120 on Wed, 15 Jun 2016 22:53:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 554 THE FIRST TRANSANDINE RAILWAY. Aconcagua river flowing west, form a divertio aquarum which has eroded on either hand a fairly straight pathway to within measurable distance of the pass at 21,000 feet above sea-level. Towering immediately above the pass is Aconcagua, 23,393 feet, the highest peak in the western hemisphere, while near at hand are Tupungato, 22,329 feet, Juncal, 19,358 feet, and Tolorsa (round which the old mule road runs), 20,140 feet. The Uspallata route has been in constant use since the early days of lNat. Scale 1: 20. OO0.OOOor ! nch. 315-60 StatuteMiles 00oo o loo 00 ? 200i I 300Ml~1Mles. Miles. THE TRANSANDINE RAILWAY AND ITS CONNECTIONS. Spanish possession, when it was used by messengers carrying dispatches from the Pampas to the Pacific coast. The easy guide afforded by a river's bed on plains which rise so slowly to the confused foothills, and the landmark of lofty peaks clustered at this point, would have out- weighed the advantages of another pass to those early travellers even had such a one been available. But although half a dozen surveys have been run, either as variants upon the present route, or within measurable distance of it, the local location adopted by the Transandine railroad has been substantially that followed by every traveller here since pre-Inca This content downloaded from 144.82.108.120 on Wed, 15 Jun 2016 22:53:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms : = SECTION OF THE CORDIIE3IRA OF TItE A2NDES Latitude 23" S. L. 3 (d V) c (d -o Feeb 'W a u E c nt 20, o000 v - - 3 - ( Ro a *5S^ 12.000 8000 Sea Level 1::rj?..4,1 e m Latitude 33 S. u) U cr C F Feet. W 0,o E 4<.000 m v< 2 .~o.ooo \ ,6,000 uE o .,U y - t 0 . 4.0aQ cn~~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ;j kr' .? .... .. J '~ c 8o0 S0a Lec r^r,.z o Sea Level '"~:::.~ ~ :'rC"'...,:',t..:.,-.: ~',.xw~,~~ ,:m,,--::~r~,~ . ... *,"~~~~~~' ..~~ ~ . , ;,,,-.:;',:v",-~,'~..,~.,- A rchean Rocks: :Granites and Igneous Sch.iss ..,J, Limestone ShaJes and Slates conta/ning recent Fossil She/Is _.SS / 'ecent6 Eruptive Rocfs . Porphyries ~fe Sandstone a.nd Conglomerates .- LaZe Alluvium,s iJ. le 250.00 Horizontal Scale ,2 50,00O.........?1, , 20 30 40 57 Statute Miles Vertical Sc< ale 250.000 This content downloaded from 144.82.108.120 on Wed, 15 Jun 2016 22:53:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 556 THE FIRST TRANSANDINE RAILWAY. days. This choice of the obvious is a wise one. So long as extra capital cost and operating expenses involved are not excessive, the location of a railroad among picturesque or historic surroundings has a very positive bearing upon its earnings. The tracks which span the Niagara gorge and the Victoria falls at the Zambesi are notable instances. There is no more interesting cross-section of South America than that viewed on this trip. The management rightly lay stress upon that fact, for the cumu- lative value of educational travel in inducing future passenger traffic is now increasingly recognized. Some Geological Features. The tunnel bore (see section) disclosed a rock-mass of highly calcified limestone, with occasional pockets of almost pure gypsum. On being immersed in water, or exposed to wet weather, this rock in a few weeks decomposed into soft mud, for which reason it was found necessary to line the whole tunnel with a 20-inch facing of concrete. The limestones are interstratified with bands of slate and shale, yielding in turn to gravel conglomerates, whose waterworn pebbles show a common origin with the porphyrtic and eruptive rocks now massed at levels far below these higher ridges. Here, as at other points. in the long chain, the Cordillera shows evidence of being the outcome of successive pressure ridges acting from west to east. The older range, prior to its last elevation, has suffered degradation on or near the sea surface, as is shown by accompanying fossil shells, and has cast its spoil upon a floor since converted into younger and now loftier ridges. The great height to which these sedimentary rocks have been raised in the final formation, has tilted their strata at every conceivable angle, from a few degrees only to the sheer verticals shown by the Penitentes cliffs, under which the tunnel passes. Cleavage lines imparted to the rock under enormous pressure combine with the porous nature of the stone to make it peculiarly liable to weathering under the glacial conditions now at work in the higher slopes, and formerly obtaining at much lower altitudes. The resulting slopes of talus which line the base and flanks of the ranges have proved as awkward an obstacle to the constructing engineer as they doubtless will later to the mountaineer and sportsman. The whole surface of the limestone is treacherous and rotten, and within the tunnel wet patches were found, which could only be accounted for by the infiltration of surface snows through 2000 feet of overlying rock. At Inca Bridge, on the Argentine approach, the sulphurous and car- bonated springs which are responsible for that somewhat over-rated phenomenon break out at a high temperature, as is also the case at Cacheuta, 16 miles west of Mendoza city. On these lower levels the oxides released by the intrusive lavas which form the main axis of the chain, transform the cliffs exposed along the Mendoza river into a gorgeous panorama of colour. Banancas of conglomerates ranging from 200 to 500 This content downloaded from 144.82.108.120 on Wed, 15 Jun 2016 22:53:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms iV!d aCCS ::|::: : :: : : f: :ff0SX ::: f : :::::::::0:: :: : :: f :? f f :: : :: : ::: : : :: : TALUS FORMED BY WEATHERING OF LIMESTONE.