The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-05-08
,mcial Paper for the Government
NARROW GAUGE RAILROADS.

The development OF our unrivalled re
sources, the transportation of the'product'
of the soil and the work of machinery, the
necessities of travel and the impoverished
condition Of many sections of Virginia, i'm
periously demand the completion of the old
and the construction ofnew lines ofrailroads
But the great difficulty is to find the CAPT,
tai willing to invest where there is but
faint probability of an adequate return
The average cost of railroads in this State
is about SAC, 900 per mile, and this in new
enterprises becomes an obstacle no,
easily surmounted. Can this expense be
lessened aud good accomplished This il
the question which the scientific and com.
mercial world has been considering, and
which has brought to light the results OIL
experiments more or less satisfactory
Most prominent amongst the many meth
DDS suggested to obtain this great deside-
ratum of cheap transportation, we may
mention the narrow-gauge railroad and al
ready the enterprising and discerning ma
tions across the water are checked over
with these lines.
We find upon an examination of the
subject that hundreds of miles have been
completed in this manner by the Russians,
Prussians and Norwegaus. Coming
nearer home we find that the mountainous
mining regions of South America have de-
monstrated the practicability and profit of
such lines, and many miles are now in
operation or under contract. Away to the
far West, in the comparatively new fields
OF Australia $50 miles of such road are
completed, and double this number pro-
jected. Norihward, Canada points to her
400 miles already laid, and in our own
land, Colorado, which has been but for
days the child of civilization, has $50 miles
completed, at cost of $4,000 per mile
only. These roads are of various gauges,
ranging from two feet to three feet and
half, while the ordinary gauge is four feet
eight inches or the wide gauge of five feet.
The experiments of the English railroad
operators with narrow-gauge roads and
the results they obtained are very inter-
esting, and are well worth consideration by
our people. They found out that these
roads could be built at greatly reduced
rate, could be much more cheaply equip.
ped, could be built and operated success
fully over greater elevations and depres-
sions and on more economical curves than
the ordinary railways of wider gauge liz
Producing in fact new power in railroad
organism, and permitting the iron horse
to traverse regions where he had never
been able to 60 before, and to distribute
his blessings in districts which have been
absolutely inaccessible. hitherto.
And in many ct the most valuable Sec
tlons of our State, (the Southwest for ex-
ample,) where the country is difficult to be
traversed. and where rapid descents and
rocky projections are the rule, and forbid
the entrance of the wide gauge, except at
very great cost, we may affirm in the light
of our knowledge and experience, derived
from many examples, that the narrow
gauge road may be made to answer every
purpose, and may be constructed and ope-
rated for about one-fourth of the cost of
the other and wider. Again: most of our
roads of small traffic and difficult opera
ton TRANSPORT more than twice az u,nch |
dead or unpaying weight as would be re-
quired under the narrow-gauge regime.
Ponderous engines draw empty cars from
line to line, from point to point, at great
expense. We send.out a bushel measure
to gather in pint of grain.
We cannot close this article better than
by reference to the following illustration
brought out by an investigation before a
committee of the Massachusetts Legisla-
ture: