Milan Train Station

The first Milano Centrale station opened in 1864 in the area now occupied by the Piazza della Repubblica.  It was designed by the French architect Louis-Jules Bouchot (1817–1907) and its architectural style was reminiscent of Parisian buildings of that period. The station was designed to replace Porta Tosa station (opened in 1846 as the terminus of the line to Treviglio and eventually Venice) and Porta Nuova station (opened in 1850 as the second terminus on the line to Monza, which was eventually extended to Chiasso) and was interconnected with all lines, either existing or under construction, surrounding Milan. It remained in operation until 30 June 1931, when the current station was opened.

Jungfrau Railway

This post stands a bit outside of the normal scope of this blog.  I was fascinated by it as I was reading up on Switzerland, and thought that creative keepers might be able to use it.  I'm considering implementing a little side-quest (maybe related the the Jigsaw Prince and the Scroll of the Head, or competing cultists) with a bit of a James Bond/Pulp Action flavour perhaps.  Or maybe its a 'Wild Goose Chase', and keeps them from their main goal for a little bit?  Just ideas.

Anyway, some information (shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia)


The Jungfrau Railway is an 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge rack railway which runs 9 kilometres from Kleine Scheidegg to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch (3,454 m). The railway runs almost entirely within a tunnel built into the Eiger and Mönch mountains and contains two stations in the middle of the tunnel, where passengers can disembark to observe the neighbouring mountains through windows built into the mountainside. The open-air section culminates at Eigergletscher (2,320 m), which makes it the second highest open-air railway in Switzerland.

The line is owned by the Jungfraubahn Holding AG, a holding company that also owns the Wengernalpbahn and Lauterbrunnen–Mürren mountain railway railways



1894 the industrialist Adolf Guyer-Zeller received a concession for a rack railway, which began from the Kleine Scheidegg railway station of the Wengernalpbahn, with a long tunnel through the Eiger and Mönch up to the summit of the Jungfrau.
1896 construction began. The construction work proceeded briskly.
1898 the Jungfraubahn opened as far as the Eigergletscher railway station, at the foot of the Eiger.
1899 Six workers are killed in an explosion. There is a four-month strike by workers. Adolf Guyer-Zeller dies in Zürich on 3 April. The section from Eigergletscher station to Rotstock station opens on 2 August
1903 The section from Rotstock station to Eigerwand station opens on 28 June.
1905 The section from Eigerwand station to Eismeer station opens on 25 July
1908 There is an explosion at Eigerwand station.
1912 21 February, sixteen years after work commenced, the tunneling crew finally breaks through the glacier in Jungfraujoch. Jungfraujoch station was inaugurated on 1 August.
1924 The "The house above the clouds" at Jungfraujoch is opened on 14 September.
1931 The research station at the Jungfraujoch is opened.
1937 The Sphinx Observatory is opened. A snowblower is purchased and this results in year-round operation

Exchange Rates

As the investigators travel across Europe, its likely that they'll have to exchange moneys.  Today, we're used to the idea of Europe using a unified currency - the Euro.  In the past, it wasnt so easy.  The British have the Pound Sterling, the French use Francs, Italians are all about their Lira, the Germans are struggling with massive inflation and the Reichsmark.

Well..... heres a copy of Guttags Foreign Currency and Exchange Guide.  It has far more information about monetary exchange rates than any investigator or keeper are likely to ever need.  So it might prove to be a handy resource.

Guttags Foreign Currency and Exchange Guide

Something for Investigators and Keepers to keep in mind, the book is just a guide.  Local exchange rates may vary wildly, and public perception about government stability may lead to people using entirely different rates because of a preference for a more stable currency (Example: In Italy, the 'official' exchange rate between a dollar and a lira might be about $0.20 for 1 lira, or 5 lira for a dollar, but the unofficial exchange rate might be 10 lira for a dollar, because the Dollar is perceived to be a more stable currency).