The Mont Cenis Fell Railway

This is the quite remarkable story of how a group of British entrepreneurs put a railway over an Alpine pass nearly 7,000 feet high in the 1860s, to provide the first rail link between France and Italy. They used the central rail system which the ingenious British engineer John Barraclough Fell developed for the Mont Cenis Railway to climb 1 in 12 gradients, and when the railway was opened in 1868 it was the world's first mountain railway. It was an undertaking of the greatest importance in the history both of technical innovation and of international communications.

Yet it was no more than a temporary measure, to serve until a tunnel at low level could be completed. It ran for only three and a half years. Nevertheless it strongly influenced mountain railway development, and itself was so soundly built that there are still many traces to be found of it.

Details of MCR locomotives, rolling stock, train services and traffic are all included in this book. Despite the early period which it covers, the book is fully illustrated, many of the illustrations being in origin contemporary with the railway itself.

John Ransom is an established author, primarily of transport matters but also on Scotland, where he lives in the Scottish Highlands. He has been involved in the railway preservation movement both in the UK and Europe since its earliest days.

C'est l'histoire extraordinaire d'une groupe des entrepreneurs britanniques qui ont fait un chemin de fer franchir le col dans les Alpes, près de 2,100m, dans les années 1860, pair fournir le première liaison entre la France et l'Italie. Le Monsieur John Barraclough Fell était ingénieux et il a développé son système du rail du centre pour faciliter le Chemin de Fer du Mont Cenis à monter les inclinaisons de 8%. C'était le premièr chemin de fer des montagnes dans le monde, quand il etait ouvert en 1868, et il a influencé le dévèloppement des chemins de fer des montagnes.

En anglais avec le sommaire et les légèndes en francais

ISBN 978 0 906294 41 3 [ISBN-10: 0 906294 41 X]
92 pages, 50 illustrations, hardback. £16.00

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Reviews:

'Ce livre très bien documenté . . . très beau livre . . . ' CFRU 274

'The illustrations are excellent . . . it is well written and a most absorbing account, thoroughly well done indeed.' New Zealand Railway Observer

'A painstakingly researched, detailed and readable account . . . A compelling story, very well told.' Railway Magazine

'A fascinating story of a remarkable railway, well told and presented. Thoroughly recommeded.' Narrow Lines

'This is excellent value for money, produced to a very high standard ... Highly recommended' Narrow Gauge News

'Un ouvrage intéressant et très documenté qui plaira aux amateurs de la Haute-Maurienne et aux techniciens des chemin de fer.' la Vie nouvelle

This is a handsomely-produced, well-written book that can be well recommended. Continental Railway Journal