Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-08-02
NARROH

Monday we clip the following true
and excellent paper on the narrow
gauge question, which is evidently
written by an experienced railroad
man. Avoiding all theOriZing and
argument, il states the economic facts
of the new system which is gaining
favor so rapidly and so irresistably /:
The results of the efforts of the off,
GERS o fthe Denver & Rio Grand Rail-
road Company to establish a system
of narrow gauge roads, adapted to
American uses, and to demonstrate
the probability of constructing long
lines without government, State, or
local aid, promise to have a most i'm
portant influence on the carrying
trade Of this country. This road,
which is eventually to be 800 miles
long, is now under contract from Den
yer to Colorado City-eighty miles.
The cost of construction and equip
ment of the Kansas Pacific road was
about S23, 800 a mile. The cost of the
narrow gauge will be about S13, 500.
The saving in construction, and the
great economy in working, assure
very large profits from the outstart,
and the subscriptions to the stock
and bonds, amounting to s $1,000, 600,
have been promptly taken up. The
gauge decided upon is three feet.
The character of the equipment diff
fers little from that at present in use
on other roads, and is chiefly different
in size and weight. The passenger
cars, with eight wheels, seat thirty
four persons. Seats are arranged for
two on each side and one on the 9TH
er side of the ordinary passage.
Freight cars are much shorter than
ordinary ones, and run on four wheels.
A comparison of train weights shows
that an ordinary train Of four passen-
ger cars, carrying % passengers, will
weigh about 1469 tons. q train of six
cars, Carrying the same number, will
weigh, on the three foot gauge, but y
tons, less than one-half the train
weight on the full gauge. The weight
ofthe engine on the two gauge is as
thirty-two tons to twelve and a half
tons, and the weight on drivers as
twenty tons to ten tons. This renders
a thirty pound rail quite as service
able as the ffty-siX pound now in use.
A rate of speed of twenty-eight to
thirty miles anhour is easily obtained
on u lAACC iDDb BauSc IOdus
In freight trains, on the old gauge,
the dead weight and the freight
weight are about equal. On the mar
row gauge the weight of cars 20 the
weight of freight is as one to two and
a half. Thus in a load of LAO tons,
old gauge the weight will be 100 tons,
and that of freight the same. In a
load of 722 tons, on the narrow gauge,
the cars will weigh but POS tons, and
the freight SIC tons. In other words,
a small engine, weighing twenty-five
tons, will haul about twO-thirds the
paying matter hauled by a large en-
CINE more than double the weight and
in cars of much less costly construc-
ton. On the full gauge road an en-
CINE of fifty-seYen and a half tons
will haul 20 tons freight and 40 tons
cars. On the narrow gauge two en-
gines of twenty-five tons each will
haul 1,O24 tons of freight with only
4l2 tons car weight. Great as is this
proportion of dead weight, it is rem
dered much greater by the fact that so
manly cars run empty return tips.
If comparison of gross tonnage are
made, the saving effect by narrow
gauge is necessarily immense.
The, economyin construction is very
great, as well as that of equipment.
The weight of bridging, and necessar-
lily the cost, is materially lessend, as
the weight Of trails Is considerably
reduced. Machine shops and build
ings generally can be made smaller
and machinery much lighter. Grad
uation is reduced thirty per cent. 1T
fha 11u-acf In r0wnh cor N frfa, - i I
reduced fifty per cent, and in noun
famous regions a narrow gauge can
be constructed where a wide road is
impracticable.
The confidence which the expert
ments of the Denver & Rio Grande
have inspired insured the
construction of narrow guage roads in
new countries, not only as feeders to
main lines, but as trunk lines them
The problem of cheap land
transportation promises to be speedi-
" solved. Ifthe experience even of
q few months fully sustains the facts
we have given, there must be necesar-
an immense revolution in the rail
road business Of the country, an nor
nous reduction in the cost of trans
portatiOn, and possibly a very great
depreciation in railroad values, Take
for instance, the effect upon the Balti-
more & Ohio road of the building of
such a road from WilliamspoTt to the
Allegheny coal fields. Would not a
new road, the cost of construction of
was not more than one-haif
that Of its rival, and the working ex-
pense of which were far less, necessar-
attact to itself at once, by rate of
freight profitable to 1t, but Tuippus to
its antagonist, the entire business 0fthe
coal region, ana would not the success
Of such a road Immediately lead to its
own extension and the construction
Of others2 The matter is one of far
more Importance than was at first
thought, and when we reflect that
experience will lead to greater peTfee-
ton and larger economy, it is diff
cult to foretell what may not be the
effect Of the narrow gauge on the rail-
read system of the country, and upon
It's material develOpement. Cheap
roads mean cheap rates, increased
and traffic, and large dividends,
and necessarily lead to the deyelops-
nent Of valuable districts by the con-
struetion of new roads and providing
facilities.