The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1871-10-18
NARROW GAUGE RAILROADS.
Correspondence Cincinnati Commercial,

DENVER, Septen.be 20, 1871.
Part your hair in the middle and keep
your cigar straight was the advice OF a
friend, the other day. when informed him
Of my intention to take trip over the
narrow gauge railroad, which next to irri-
cation, is the pet institution of all Colora-
doans. Through the courtesy of Superin-
tendent Borst, special train was placed
at the disposal of a party of newspaper
men and others for run of ten miles and
return, to inspect the practical workings
of the Denver and Rio Grande Narrow
Gauge Railway.
Standing beside the train of the Denver
Pacific, our trail had decidedly dwarfsh
appearance. The ties were little, the track
was little, the engine was little, the cars
were little; and in accordance with the
eternal fitness oil things, the station at
which we stopped was Lttletoa.
THE RoAD-BED
has a width of eight feet ties six and a
lalf feat The guage, rs is well known, Is
three feet. The rails are twenty-four fee,
IN length, and weigh thirty pounds to the
yard. Those on the ordinary guage roads
weighing ffty-sx pounds. In track-laying
three men handle these rails easily.
THE ENGINES.
Freight engines have thirty-six-inch
drive wheels, six wheels coupled, and one
pair Of small lead wheels; cylinders nine
by sixteen inches, and weight, with tender,
fifteen tons. Passenger engines have forty
two inch Dive wheels, four wheels
COUPLED, one pair Of small lead wheels, and
weigh, with tender, thirteen tons. The
tender has four wheels.
CARS.
Passenger cars have eight 2i-inch wheels.
Length over platform, 40 feet; inside 80
feet, outside width, : feet inside, 6! feet.
| iieight inside to center of dome, a feet
| nj 1ve rail 10 floor TO beam, q inches (;
above rail TO top of DOME 10 feet . inches.
| These cars have seats for thrty-fve pas
sengers. the ordinary width seat for two
persons on one side, and single seat, just
wide enough for one person, on the other.
| A partition divides the car in the middle,
and to keep the balance, the position Of the
single and double seats in one apartment
| is the reverse Of that in the other.
These cars are handsomely finished, and
| upholstered in the best style. They are
! roomy and we'll ventilated, and as com.
Portable a. any car could be. The motion
is easy-no jumping the track, no hump
| ing or rocking more than one experience:
on any Few road. In fact, this road IL
smoother than any new road / ever saw
FREIGHT CARS
weigh about four thousand pounds, and
! have capacity of ten thousand pounds
| have four wheels and are Of two sizes
twelve and sixteen feet ip length, respect
| lively; width, outside, seven feet inside
SIX and one-half feet height, six feet
| doors on end of side. Platform cars o
| same length and width as the box cars
COST OF CONSTRUCTION.
The thirty-seven miles Of the road nov
completed cost eleven thousand dollars pc
mile, or with equipments twelve thousanc
five hundred dollars.
Is THE ROAD \ SUCCESS
\ fair answer to this question cal
hardly be given from severe test of it
practical workings, but so far rs tried, yes
The first rail was laid not six week
since and the cars are running but thirty
seven miles, 80 that neither distance mol
time are sufficient on which 10 determine
| its entire success. Seventy-hve miles arc
| graded, ready for the iron, and the road is
! beng rapidly pushed TO its destination
| FL Paso, New Mexico, eight hundred and
! sevnty-five miles distance. So that but q
! few months will elapse before a thorough
trial of the narrow gauge road will be eff.
| fected
From actual trial it has been ascertained
! that a speed of tw cnty-ive miles per hour /:
easily attainatle, ana greater if necessary
| with entire safety. Our excursion train raI
| at a speed Of about twenty-five miles pei
| hour. and with as much comfort to passen'
gers as on the ordinary gauge roads.
We ran up and down the steepest grades
| with the greatest ease on our twenty mile
trip,
A COMPARISON
Of train weights, &c. has been made be
| tween train on the three-feet gauge and
one on the old gauge of four feet and
eight and half inches. An ordinary
local train on the Pennsylvania Central IL
taken to represent the old gauge. This
comparison IS believed to be accurate, anc
is valuable as showing the difference be
tween the two systems.
oRDIsARY G,uGI.
Tons
Four passenger ears, each seating fifly-,hree
passengers, and each car weighing twenty
~
One baggage IL
One engine and d2I
Total train weight. l4Ci
THIS tram seats az passengers.
sAHROw GAUGE
p to carry the same number OF psssengers~
' 81, passenger cars, each seating thirty-fye
A passengers, and each car weighing eight
u Doe baggage car ....................,....,
O"e ngine and