Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-06-15
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Narrow Gauge Railroads.

'ew years back was considered the pertec-
hon of road-making. Railroads, how
ever, proving so unreasonable an i'm
provement over the "old wav" rapidly
commended themselves to. intelligent and
minds throughout the globe,
till our own day, when plank roads and
McAdam are scarcely ever heard of The
one great obstacle to the universal intro
duction of railroads has hitherto been
their inordinate cost. But for the great
expense of construction every neighbor-
hood would have its .railroad-every VII
lage, town and hamlet would send its
chariot, drawn b. the snorting iron horse,
To- every other ,neighboring town But |
railroads cost money-in fact, great deal
OF money TO build and even after they
are,built they cost great deal to run"
and keep in repair
There is remedy at hand The four
feet e;ght-and-a-half gauge, hitherto deem
ed indispensable, is now shown by COM
petent engineers, and by actual proof, tos
have involved an enormous waste of ma
terial, power and money. Narrow gauges,
of one foot eleven -and-a- half inches, two
feet six inches, and three feet, are now
beng built IN various parts of the world.
and are found perfectly safe, ample for all
business requirements, and incomparably
cheaper than the old broad gauge lines
The narrowest gauge of which we have
heard-233 inches-is in use on q short
railroad OF thirteen miles, between the
slate quarries of Festiniog and Port Mad
cck. in Wales When the COMPANY first
began to carry passengers on this line the
government inspector of railroads linntcd
the rate Of speed to twelve miles an hour
lie has since given authority to rln the
;nay think fit ana in his las 1!iir.al 70
port he afiirms that he "-r,i.e,;el cvar
this little .oad 81 thirty mile = honr
with every feeling of safety" Engineers
in different parts OF the world have for
some years past had their attention turned
TO this subject, and deviations, greater or
less, from The old broad gauge have been
made, generally with success but this eX-
penmentin Wales has gone so far beyond
all preceding attempts, that it has natu-
rally attracted great attention and ac-
cordingly We find that nearly everv gov
elnment Of Europe as sant rs best eagl-
neers ID the slate quarri S If Wales 70 vii
ness the new railroad wonder. There are
several lines also now being constructed
IN this country, on the new principle
among them the line, three hundred nile:
long. from Santa Fe to Denver City.
Tie saving OF the new over the old
,nethod is much greater than any one moi
familiar with the details Of railroad build
ing would imagine The roadbed Of the
present broad gauge is almost uniformly
eighteen fest wide in cuttings and four
teen feet wide on embankments The
reduction o! two feet. in the gauge would
allow Of more than g corresponding re-
duction in the width OF embanbments
II is also acknowledged by the most eml-
nent engineers that q narrow glugo
admits Of sleeper grades and sharper
curves; both of which items sensibly
diminish the cost OF construction. The
same lessening Of cost applies to tunnels
bridges, culverts sleepers. crosS-ties bal
lasting, &c The smaller weight Of the
trains, too, admits the use OF lighter rails.
In fact the cost OF construction OF a mar
row gauge line may be fairly put down as
at least $l0,O00a mile less than that Of o
broad gauge line. But great as it is, the
first cost Of construction Of broad gauge
line is not a greater drain on the resources
O: railroad companies than the excessive
cost Of operating them.
This is ar eminently practical subject
and will readily commend itself to orallroad
men, engineers, and TO thinking men gen
erallv.' 1t can hardly fail to exercise a
potent influence in the development of the
more sparsely settled portions Of our
country. The great reluctance OF capital
ISIS hitherto, and even now, to embark IN
railroad enterprises, has been the almost
universal conviction that they cannot be
made to pay the construction, /. e., the
stockholder. But this is solely because
the cost Of building and stocking them
has been much greater than necessary.
We are now en- the brinkoF q great rcvolu-
ton in railroad building, and we earnestly
hope that South Carolina may ere long
ENJOY her share Of benefit from this great
andpractical Observation-Disclosures News.
On the subject OF Narrow Gauge Rail
ways we copy from the Chronicle & Sent
aey the following comments
NAsEow GAUGE RATLwAYs-We ac-
knowledge a copy OF a pamphlet bearing
tic foregoing title, issue,l by Born, Dear
ins 4 Co, giving a large amount OF
s5..;isticll information touching the cost OF
construction. cost Of operating. and COM
u.l2t.ve merits of his neH' depggturs II
is.:iways. As an i!:gstr1t:on o: ce-ll IL
,;re ctstt,' estimates :.rc 5iEen %. ne cost
oi supey;trGcturc q i've ditieren; 5lu-os
j,i: :. sinc!e mile Of road as Go.iows: The
cass OF one mile, Of / feet S! i.ehez, bang
@lQ3-.77 the cost q ( :eet Gau.se, WI!
H. s.. S@3 %; Of 3 !e5t gacse >5.Ill y
a. :? lee. 6 inches, 2;3Go52g; and C. :.
fe.; 405l 90 TIE m.onopo,.r q. ...s'a
c,rpoyat.ons owning and operI5.a- large
lnes at extremely low rates .os tawR u
ite.ghts, and very high !~i-s =. !gs
,;eiaiis, Is monopoilcs ."",n'- s i.i
row gauge roads will. q, ~ as
PLAY no unimportant part i. pa f}'a +
economy As feeders 10 a...:t ..aes else
where. narrow gauge .oa.is ne already
beng brought into use and TIC i!npetll-
lL.en; Is % transfer 70 connecting b:oad
c.l4r Ines overcon. bv The construction
y! boxes which yc;. I'll: a|in..j OF bo.ng
paced upon platform eFs ., the wilies
road anl als0 by a'rs ks;
i'he opponents O. .-r-,' .,.1s- -
road, a.ntain that r'::.,,.s =. -
swcr for short brand: lines, tbey vii iCi
J -t.c