Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-06-15
''i7 The Ma Narrow ira i,oG Guagse . Railroad. d..
HISTORY OF THE INITIAL NARROW
GAUGE ROAD in WALES.
.rE,,oli,h Cor. Pht1adelpaio press.1

tors from almost ell parCs OF Ine nal
table globe. Wiaea.men from th
East Russian counts, Egyptia
beys, Anglo-Indian engineers, Mo-
wegians, Prussians, Austrians, French
Spaniards, Italians--have been to Sc
and criticise the miniature iron roao
New World visitors, too, from tn
States; the West Indies, the Brazil'
have crossed the Atlantic and mad
their way to the Welsh hills, to in
spect the "Tom Thumb" Railway
as it has been called. Scarcely
week passes but some authorize'
commission or some unauthorized
self-appoiinted inquisitor puts.in al
appearance, and Mr.. Spooner, tn
very courteous engineer and manage
of the line, must sometimes .begil
to wonder whether he is secretary O.
Snowman. 80 n
Having Just paid visit to Fest
niog and had a. full opportunity Q
examining the line, ! have though
that a brief description Of it and. /:
few. remarks upon some points which
it brings up for. consideration would
not be uninteresting to your readers
If the Festiniog Railway were
merely curiosity l should need t.
apologize for proposing to trouble yor
with anything on thesubject, for yor
have curiosities of your own in abun
dance, both natural and artificial, hu
man and mechanical. But the Fes
tiniog Railway is more than a curios.
ity; # is a practical illustration OF 9
most important principle in railway
construction. It is q tact-wortt
more than a thousand theories-whicl
demonstrates that the railways Of the
future need not be the costly and Of:
ten unremunerative works which they
have been in the past; fact which
I believe, is to. bring about a reyolu-
tion in railway matters and all that
appertains thereto: r., :,
Any such fact, I judge. will be !oi
supreme interest in country with
vast expanses of territory still unpeo-
pied, vastresources still undeveloped
territory which must be peopled, re-
sources which must be developed
mainly through the agencies Of rail
ways, originally the outcome OF civ
iilization, the, offspring of that ever
fruitful parent, Necessity, have now
become the very pioneers of civil,
zation, the great plough;,sha,res which
open up the virgin; lands that man.
kind may rejoice in the harvests Of
various kinds which they are waiting
to produce. Like the outstretching
branches of a tree, railways, wherev,-
er they spread themselves abroad
carry with them seeds like to those
from which they sprang, and thus
population, industry, and commerce
are made to cover the earth.
To ordinary visitors the Festiniog
Railway begins at Portemadoc (Which
is situated at the northeast corner ol
Cardigan Bay), and runs thence t:
Dinas and Duffros, villages situated
between Noel Wyn and Manod
two slate-bearing mountains in the
Festiniog district. More properly
speaking, however, the, railway com N,
mences in the mountains, and ends
at Portemadoc, for its primary object
was to carry the states from the quar-
ries which abound in the Festlnioe
district down to Portemadoc, whence
they are shipped to the various mar.
kets. This still forms the greatest
part of the traffic on the line, al
though a larea passenger, traffic ha:
been developed during the last eight
years.
The line, which is single one, was
originally constructed in 1882 as 3
horse tramway. and was made of 8
nominally two-feet gauge, the exsct
gauge being half an inch less thar
that. FL years ago Mr.. spoonel
resolved n the bold experiment o.
conve' Ing it.into a locomotive pas
sengvr railway, retaining the old way
and thus setting at defiance the pre-
conceived theories of engineers as -tc
the width of gauge necessary for {
line over which steam engines shoult
run. l:Years before that the grea
battle of the gauges" had beer
| fought id the country, and four feet
eight and half inches had beer
adopted as the standard" gauge
the narrowest which was at all con
sistent with the requirements of rail
way traffic. Even that was regarded
by some as too narrow, and lines o
seven-feet gauge were laid down al
enormous expense, for the sake o
some fancied advantages, which new
er resulted. Had any one venturet
to hint that a large trafic-equal tx
any which was then contemplated !
might be conducted on a line of two
feet gauge, he would have been scout
ed as madman. Facts, however
are stubborn things, and not easily
convicte Of lunacy. A large traffic
both passenger and goods, is conduc
ted on a two-feet gauge and, though
I am not going to say that such {
gauge is ssuitable foruliyersal or ever
general adoption, the Festiniog ;ex
pertinent has made it clear to all bu
the most pig.headed that a much mar
rover gauge than that generally
adopted is amply sufficient for th'
accommodationof all ordinary traffic
and may be constructed and workee
at far less COST than the standard
gauge. yct *, y lbi..o
Let us then take a trip along thu
interesting little railway, and SET
what it is and what it does. Arriv
ed at Portemadoc Station, we find ths
train in. waiting--a train which looks
almost like a;child stoy, so diminn
tive is it compared with what weart
accustomed to see, One might near
ly sit astride the engine, and the car
riages look as though aspush woule