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Show THE RAILROAD TO MOUNT VESUVIUS. - To climb Vesuvius travelers had to start from Resina, west of the volcano, and not far from the Portici station on the Salerno Railroad, or from Pompeii and Torre dell Aununziatia? on the southeast. But now the former will alone be taken, as a railroad is just completed up the great cone of the mountain. Tourists will not take the carriage-road from Resina to the Hermitage of San Salvatore and the Observatory, but instead of getting out the vehicles as formerly, continue, by a new road, to the foot of the cone. Then the inclined railroad is taken, and the cars are drawn up in eight minutes by ropes to the summit of Vesuvius, a great improvement over the old system of being carried in litters. At the railroad station are a convenient café and restaurant, a cistern to supply the stationary engine with water, and a house for the railroad people. The road is about 900 yards in length, and ??? ends at an angle of fifty degrees. The rails are laid on a heavy plank bed, and, for greater safety, two cables are used. The plan is that of Engineer Olivieri. |