The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1871-07-05
Narrow Gauge Railroads.

zatlon few years back was con-
sidercd tho perfection Of road
making. Railroads, howovcr,prov.
ing so immeasurable an improve.
ment over tho cold way" rapidly
commended themselves to intclli-
gent aud ontcrprising minds
throughout the globe, till our own
day, when plank roads and Nc
! Adam are scarcely ever heard Of.
Tho one great obstacle to the uni.
vcrsal Introduction of railroads
has hitherto been their inordinatc
cost. But for the great expense
OF construction, every neighbour
hood would have its raiIroad--cv-
cry village, town and hamlet
would send it's chariot, drawn by
the snorting iron horse, to every
other ncighboring town. But
railroads cost money-in fact, Il
great deal Of money to build and
even after they are built they cost
II great deal to "run,' and keep in
repair.
There is II remedy at hand. The
! four feet cight.and.a half gauge,
hitherto deemed Indispensable, is
now shown by competent en-
ginccrs, and by actual prooi, to
have involved an enormous waste
of material power and money.
Narrow gauges, Of one foot clcv-
cn-and-a- half inches, two feet six
inches, and three feet, arc now
being built in various parts of the
world, and are found perfectly
safe, ample for all business re.
quircmcnts, and incomparably
cheaper than tho old broad gauge
lines. Tho narrowcst gauge of
which we have hcard-23l inches
is in use on Il short railroad of
thirteen miles, between the slate
Quarrics Of Frstiniog and Port
Maddox, in Wales. When the
company first began to corry pas,
scngcrs on this line, tho govern
mcnt inspector Of railroads limited
the rate Of speed to twelve niles
an hour. llo has since given au.
thority to run the passenger
trains at any rate of speed they
may think fit and in his last Off
cial report he affirms that he
wravcilcd over this little road at
thirty miles an hour, with every
feeling Of safety" Enginccrsin in dil;
fcrcnt parts Of the world have fol
some years past had their att cnlion
turned to this subject, and dcvia
tions, greater or less, nrom-thc old
broad guagc have been mado, gen.
crall y with success; but this cX,
pertinent in Wales has gone so fl,
beyond all preceding attempts,
that it has naturally attracted
great attention aud accordingly
wc find that nearly every govern
mcnt Of Europe has sent its best
engineers TO tho slate quarrics OF
Wales to witness tho new railroad
wonder. There arc several lines
also now being constructed in this
country, on the new principle,
among them the line, three hun
drcd miles long, from Santa Fc to
Denver City.
The saving Of tho new over the
old method is much greater than
any one not familiar with tho dc.
tails Of railroad building would
imagine. The roadbcd of the
present broad gauge is almost
uniformly eighteen feet widc in
cuttings and fourteen feet on en-
bankmcnts. The reduction Of two
feet in tho gauge would allow of
moro than q corresponding rcduc-
ton in tho width Of cmbank
mcnts. 1t is also acknowledged
by tho most eminent engineers
that a narrow guagc admits of
sleeper grades and sharper curves
both Of which items scnsibly iii.
minish the cost OF construction.
I The samo lcsscning Of cost applies
10 tunnels, bridges, culvcrts, sleep
crs, cross ties, balasting, &c. The
smaller weight Of the trains, too,
admits tho uso Of lighter rails. In
fact tho cost Of construction Of a
narrow gauge line may be fairly
put down as at least $4,000 mile
less that Of " broad gauge line.
But great as it is, tho first cost of
construction Of a broad gauge limo
is not greater drain on tho re-
sources Of railroad companies than
the excessive cost Of operating
them.
This is IN cmincntly practical
subject, and will readily commend
Itself to railroad men, engineers,
and to thinking men gcncrally y -
1t can hardly fail TO exercise a
potent influence in tho develop
mcnt Of the more sparscly settled
portions Of our country. The
great reluctance Of capitalists
hitherto. and even now, to en-.
bark in railroad enterprises. has
been the almost universal convic-
ton that they cannot be made to
pay the construction, i. c., the
stakeholder. But this is solely
because tho cost Of building and
stocking them has been much
|greater than necessary. Wo are
now on tho brink Of II great rcvo-
luton in railroad building, and wo