Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-06-29
The Narrow Gauge Railroad.

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HISTORY OF THE INITIAL NARROW
'a2 I. GAUGE ROAD IN WALES.
[Engtist Cor. Philadelphia Press,]
FEsTINIEoa, North Wales, Maya1
NO. 3-oosT OF CONSTRUCTION.
II said in my last letter that the
cost of constructing broad gauge rail
ways had in too many cases rendered
the. speculatiohs financial failures,
and SO had discouraged, to a conside-
frable extent, thefurther development
Of the railway system, but that a
clear. and general apprehension Of the
fact that narrow gadge lines fully
equal to the accommodate all the
traffic likely to come upon them can
be built at about half tie cost of lines
Of The ordinary gauge, must have the
efectyo inducing capitalists to invest
much more freely:in the work Of
railway extension 'i'fi.
~ It rests with me now to demon
strate that there will be such saving
as I have mentioned. :. ea.i - :. ;
And, here it will be we'll for me to
define what 1 meanby e narrow gauge
line Do 7 mean a line; of the same
gauge Gas the Festiniog Railway ?
Certainly not. The Festiniog Rail-
way, as 1 have shown, is capable Of
doing a vast amount of work; the
goods traffic upon it almost equals
that upon the London and North
western Railway, one Of our most
hourishing lines; but yet it would
undoubtedly be improved. by a little
extra Width the passenger carriages
especially would Be much improved
thereby and, probably, if the line
had been originally planned for q pas
senger railway, it would have been
set 6 out to, a somewhat wider gauge.
Other. railways, which may fairly
claim the title narrow gauge" range
up to a. gauge Of three feel, six inches
or.three feet seven inches, but. care
full calculation has shown that two
feet nine inches or three feet is the
maximum gauge of which the eapa-
.bihties can be made fully available.
This is a n.depending princi-
pally upon the construction of the
rolling stock, of which shall have to
say more afterwards; at present it
will be sufficient to give the result Of
the calculation without entering into
the calculation ITSELF We will take,
then, two feet nine inches as our mar
row gauge. = . -
I" Snpposing that two perfectly
straight and perfectly level lines were
constructed side by side, one Of 2
feet. .9-inches gauge, and one of the
" standard" or Affect 8 l-2-inches
gauge, there would be an unmistaka.
Bic saving in, favor Of the narrow
gauge. u / am aware that it has beer
argued that there would not. The
carriages on a narrow. gauge will be
considerably wider in. proportion te
the gauge than upon a broad gauge
line 1as shall have occasion to point
out subsequently,, and it has conse
quently been said that if the carriages
are almost as wide on narrow as OF
a broad gauge there can be little
saving in constructing The former
The width of the line itself, and
consequently, the cost of it, will b b
nearly the same in both. cases. A
first sight this would seem to be SO
but it must be evident that, with tn
narrow gauge, shorter sleepers will b.
required, and with shorter sleeper:
the formation will be narrower: !: then
the formation (Which is the area to b
drained), being narrower, the water
ways on both sides will be narrowe
too, and the whole width of the wa,
will consequently be considerably les
tn n where the rails have to be Ian
further apart. In the first place
then, the narrow gauge implies !
saving of about twenty-five per cent
in the purchase OF hea.right of way
and a saving to; that extent in tn
cost Of formation altogether may b
calculated upon. Next, lighter rail
and sleepers and less ballasting ma
be adopted, for the locomotives an
trucks will be very much lessin weigh
than those on the broad gauge. L
some cases where the narrow gapg
has been adopted, too light 9 rail II ma q
have been laid down, but it will b
seen, I think, when | come to ente
more particularly into the question {
rolling stock, that q very great r. n
iluction may safely be made in tn
weight Of the rail below that whic
is is required e Iyiil for the broad gauge line
The saving in permanent way, ther'
} fore, may, = Without doubt, be put dow
= at 80 per cent. Bridges, culvert
stations, warehouses, engine and wal
!. onaheds, and buildings Of all descril
> tions will be somewhat smaller. an
the saying under this Il head, thopg
:. not very large, will still be apprecl!
: bic and worthy of consideration. J
the rolling stock, too, which may |
[includedin the. original. cost of tt
4 line. there will be a, considerable sa'
ing. 1t issometimes argued that
= the carriages and trucks will be smal
}, er and. lig liter, they will carry le /
:, loads, and therefore.a greater numb,
! will be required to accommodate II
7 + same traffic; SO that there can be
? saving under this head. ! hope
show, however, when we come to co
. sider the comparative cost of wor o.
I ine traffic on The two gauges, tn
q this IS an error. The truth is th-,
: the carriages and trucks on the bros
a a gauge lines are TOO large and to9 toy hea
y for The loads which. they carry as
! 4 rule, and the same number Of light
't and smaller vehicles would do all t
!. work. The trains, therefore, on