Three of them
as late as last May led to blind terminals within less than a day's
march from it--the double line from Cologne via Stolberg to Weiwertz,
the double line from Cologne via Junkerath and Weiwertz to St. Vith, and
the double line from Remagen via Hillesheim and Pelm to Pronsfeld.
The cost of the whole system, with its numerous bridges and multiple
sidings, must have been enormous. The German average of $108,500 to the
mile would hardly cover it.
Here is what a traveler saw when he visited this corner of Prussia last
May:
The ---- is as much struck by the significance of the ordinary
traffic along these lines as he is by the huge embankments and
cuttings on which nothing has yet had time to grow, and by the
inordinate extent and number of the sidings to be seen
everywhere. Baby trains, consisting of a locomotive and four
short cars, dodder along two or three times a day, and if a
freight train happens to be encountered, it will be found to
be loaded with railway plant.
Another point that is noticeable is that provision exists
everywhere at these new junctions and extensions for avoiding
an up-line crossing a down-line on the level; the up-line is
carried over the down-line by a bridge, involving long
embankments on both sides and great expense, but enormously
simplifying traffic problems when it comes to a question of
full troop trains pushing through at the rate of one every
quarter of an hour, and the empty cars returning eastward at
the same rate.
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