3-034-654 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Opening of the Mont Cenis Tunnel: country people waiting to see the train pass, 1871. Railway tunnel - 3.7 km (8.5 miles) in length - in the European Alps, linking Bardonecchia in Italy to Modane in France. The tunnel...from Modane, in Savoy, to Bardonnéche, in Piedmont, bored through seven miles and a half thickness of mountain,...by the science and skill of native engineers and the labour of native workmen, since 1857, was formally opened on Sunday week...The first special train, at half-past ten o'clock, conveyed the Italian Ministers of State, the Syndic or Mayor of Turin, and other high official personages, to meet the French Minister of Commerce, M. Victor Lefranc, M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, and other distinguished Frenchmen, at Modane...All the way from Turin, along the line of railroad, crowds of people from the neighbouring villages saluted the special train with hearty cheers, with flags displayed and bands of music. On the other side, in Savoy there were similar demonstrations of popular feeling; and a few of the local militia, in their uniform, mingled with the peasantry in their rustic attire, made a picturesque group here and there by the roadside. These our Artist has sketched, as they stood waiting for the train'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.