The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1871-06-09
Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Narrow Gauge Railroad.
The subject ofnarrow gauge railroads
as they are called, is cliciting great
deal of attention among railroad men
throughout the country, and the opinion
seems to be gaining ground that roads
with three foot gauge are to be rnE
railroads of the future in this country
Gen. j. 4. Boyle il ably presenting the
advantages Of such gauge in series Of
letters in the Louisville Courier-J ournaI
to the Directors OF the proposed Louis
vile, Memphis and New Orleans Rail.
way, and shows conclusively that as an
investment for capital the narrow gauge
is vastly superior, and more safe, and
the capacity for doing business in pro-
portion to expense, where the speed
does not exceed 30 miles an hour, il
more than 100 per cent. in favor Of the
3 foot gauge over tho a foot, while the
expense Of construction is from only SO
to 40 per cent. as great as on the 4! foot
gauge. Gen. Boyle's articles are lengthy
and exhaustive. and have drawn forth
shorter articles from other sources, an
extract from ono of which we publish
herewith. Says the correspondent:
The numerous articles which have
been published by distinguished cngi-
neers and railroad men and by the news
paper press of this country and Europe
clearly indicatc'a coming revolution in
railway construction, and should in
struct lis in our duty in adopting that
system Of gauge which would meet the
demands of the commerce Of our section
for ages. and is within the ability Of the
people who arc Interested to build and
control. "tiN
Tho narrow-gauge railway is no lon
ger new experiment. The saving i'm
the expense both of construction and
working the road is immense. Roads OF
this kind are now in successful operation
in Wales, in Prussia, in A Austraiia, in Can
ada, and in this country. Earl Mayo,
the Governor General of India, has been
$50 impressed with the superfuous
breadth OF gauge in the Indian railway
system that lie has persuaded the
Council Of Calcutta to reduce it in all
future lines from five feet 10 three feet
six inches. We believe the Festinlog
road in Wales was the first narrow
gauge road that was built. Its length is
i miles, the gauge 33l inches the en-
ginc weighs seven tons; the passenger
cars arc ten feet long and five feet wide,
conveying twelve passengers. The
freight cars carrying threatens Of freight.
The curves have radius of 132 feet
and the grades are 20 feet to the mile.
Capt. Tyler, the Government Inspector
of Railroads, at first limited the rate OF
speed 10 IL miles an hour; but he has
since authorized tho company to run
trains at any rate of speed they may
think fit. and they now run with entire
safety at thirty miles per hour.
The success of this road was so great
that the Russian, the Norwegian, the
Indian and the British governments
sent commissioners to Wales to inspect
The line, and they arrived ut the unani-
nous conclusion that the common rail-
road gauge of feet 81 inches is far be-
yond all necessary requirements. They
all considered 3 feet ample, while many
Of them put the maximum ut 2 feet 6 in
ches. The tonnage of the Fcstinlog
road in one year amounted to l3G, 1872
tons, averaging 1883 tons per mile.
while the passenger business amounted
10. 6,SO7 passengers per mile. The COM
missiOners 10 whom reference has been
made reported so favorably 10 their re-
spcctive governments that narrow gauge
roads were constructed in other Europ-
can countries. As for example, in Nor
way, where il has been adopted as the
system of the country; in France, where
there are two private roads and o pub
lie road Of 20 inch gauge; in Prussia,
where they have the BrGthal road Of 81
inch gauge; in Russia, where there are
two such roads. In Prussia the engines
weigh III tons and draw SO cars, each
loaded with 8 tons. The cost Of the To-
comotive is $4,000, and the cars $500.
The cost Of the line per mile, in
cluding rolling stock, has been about
5000. In this country they are build
ing "A miles Of road, with gauge Of "a
feet, between niqua and Celina, Ohio.
In Colorado they are about to commence
the Denver and Rio Grandc road, $50
miles in length, the gauge TO bo feet 9
inches, and the estimated cost 900 per
mile. This road commences at Denver
City, follows the valley Of the Platte
river, down the valley Of the Monument
creek, down the valley Of the Fontainc
que Douttlc to the Arkansas river. fol-
lows the Arkansas valley, via the Pun
cho pass, through the st. Louis Park TO
the upper canons Of the Rio GImndc.
In Canada about 400 miles ofthc three
feet six inches railway arc projected
and some fifteen miles completed. In
Australia, $50 miles are completed and
25O miles projected on this gauge
The cost of operating these roads is
diminished as greatly as the cost OF
construction. Mr. Fairlic, in a paper re-
Gently read before the British Associa-
tion, said: ''lt ought TO be engraved OH
the mind Of every engineer, that every
inch added to gauge beyond what Il
absolutely necessary for the traffic add.
to the cost Of construction, increases tho