COMMUNICATIONS the Simplon Tunnel; broadside; celebrates the construction of the railway tunnel linking Italy (Val d'Ossola) and Switzerland (Upper Rhone Valley); the tunnel was dug under the Monte Leone (3;552 m) and the Park Alpe Veglia; along an old route called 'Simplon' from the name of a small town adjacent (Simplon). The tunnel measuring 19;803 meters in the barrel to the north-east and 19;823 meters in the barrel to the south-west; at the time of construction; and for the next 76 years; was the longest railway tunnel in the world. The tunnel was opened February 24; 1905