Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-06-22
The. Narrow Gauge Railroad.
HISTORY OF THE INITIAL NARROW
GAUGE ROAD IN. WALES.
.[Engtish Cor. Philadelphia Press.l
FEsr1N1oG, North Wales, May II

The experiment at Festiniog has
made it evident that by adopting
a narrow gauge the benefits of a
railway may be secured in district
where otherwise it would be impossi-
BILE to provide for them. To quote
the words of committee of the Mas
sachusetts House Of Representatives,
at is q wonder Of mechanical science,
and a lamp of hope to the railway.
:forsaken everywhere" The Duke of
Sutherland, who accompanied the
Russian Commission on their visit to
.Festiniog last year, exactly hit the
mark when he said that the question
of gauge was, in many districts, the
question Of railways or no railways.
Engineers have, in too many IN
stances, overlooked this most impor-
tant point. Welded to old ideas, de-
.termined not to see fact which was
in contradiction to their theories, they
have opposed reduction of gauge,
either altogether ignorant or altogeth-
er careless that their advice, if car
ried out, must inevitably debar sparse
ly-populated or undeveloped districts
from ever obtaining the facilities of
railway Communication, and | am not
e1aggerating when I say that, through
their absurdly extreme conservatism
and their wilful blindness, many dis
tricts have been practically shut out
from the world which might now
have been teeming with population
and rich in wealth of every kind.
How comes it that existing rail
ways in England are not much more
profitable than they are? 1t is not
that they have failed to develop
traffic. The most sanguine hopes Of
their promoters in this respect have
been more than verified; facilities
for. cheap and rapid communication
have everywhere been appreciated by
the public. Yet, with all this sue
cess, numbers of railways continue to
Weld poor return to shareholders,
on account of their great cost of con-
struction and their great cost in work.
ing expenses, owing to the broad
gauge which has been so generally
adopted. Many lineis now fnan-
cial failure which ought to have been
remunorative speculation. Many
capitalist now receives no dividend
who ought to have first rate return
upon his investment, just because the
rails have been laid too far apart.
Hence railway extension is dis
couraged. Railways. cannot be built
without capital, and capitalists are
not easily induced to invest their
money in speculations which, at best,
are only likely to yield them a very
moderate return. and that after some
considerable time occupied in the
construction of the line and develop
mentof the traffic.
Once let it be generally and clearly
apprehended that narrow gauge rail.
ways-capable of accommodating all
the traffic which is likely to come
upon them-can be constructed at
about half the cost and in nearly half
the time which are necessary for rail
ways on the old gauge. and the whole
state of things will be altered, money
will be freely forthcoming, railways
will be pushed forward in all direc-
tions, and the benefits of cheap and
quick communication will be carried
into districts which are now hopeless
ly off the road.
The revolution has commenced, and
nothing probably will now stop it.
Already the little Festiniog line can
now count upa numerous family of
descendants, and the tide of opinion
is turning strongly in favor of the
narrow gauge lines.
In India, 5000 miles of narrow
gauge railway are to be constructed
at once, and considerable portion of
the broad gauge lines already in ex-
;stence in that country are to be con-
verted into narrow gauge lines. Three
of the four engineers appointed to re-
port on the subject recommended
gauge of 2 feet 9 inches, and the
fourth recommended the adoption of
S-feet-6.inches gauge. The gauge
decided upon is 8 feet 3 inches, the
old gauge being 5 feet 6 inches: liz
reference to this important decision,
one of our leading engineering pub
lications says: 1.-THE Inauguration
of the new railway system is a grand
era in the history of India, and it
will be interesting to note how much
more rapidly her resources develop,
her local miseries decrease, and her
!. military positions strengthen. as the
new and. cheaper lines rapidly run
(over the districts now standing so
much in need of them"
In Norway, Sweden, Russia, and
France in Canada, South America
and Queensland. narrow gauge lines
have been adopted for some time, and
are working successfully.
Nor have American engineers failed
to see the advantages Of the system.
l am informed that in the mining dis
tr;cts of Pennsylvania roads have re-
Gently been constructed of two.feet-
s:,--inch gauge. Only a week ago a
rt reno,~t Ito which, have already re-
fsrred ! strongly recommending the
so adontioon Of a thfee-feet gauge, was
r nresented to the Massachusetts House
pf a Representatives, and will doubt
less lead to immediate actiop. And l
am olad to learn that out in the Far
WI West YOU have an Important line,
eight hundred and fifty miles in
length, projected on the same gauge,
and that portion of it is in rapid
progress.
The choice is most wise one, and
will, without doubt, rapidly hasten
the development of the rich tract of
territory through which the line is to
pass. Even were there nothing to be
saved in the construction of the main