Talk:Mont Cenis Pass Railway

News
News of the sucessful Mount Cenis Railway reaches far off Queensland in 1865, where if failed to impress anyone of its use on the steeply graded (1 in 50) climb up to Toowoomba. Tabletop (talk) 03:26, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

All Red Route
The Mont Cenis Pass Railway mentions the All Red Route, however this railway goes through France and Italy, which are not and never have been parts of the British Empire.

How come? Tabletop (talk) 09:05, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

Could I hazard a guess? Imperial communications were obviously vital, especially after the Indian Mutiny. Early on the Route presumably was almost entirely by sea, using British ships. However the creation of rail routes through France and Italy made it possible to speed up that section of the route compared with sailing round the Iberian Peninsula. Also these railways were built under British supervision and run by British-trained staff. The vital mail was very likely supervised at all times by British staff. So the important features of the service were still British and it was an Imperial service. France and Italy, unlike Austria, were our allies. We could trust them to carry us and our mail. It was still a British route in the sense that we had chosen it and trusted it. Budhen (talk) 14:31, 15 February 2013 (UTC)