Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1872-02-17
NARhOw GAUGE.
Something More OF the Experiment
an Colorado.

From the Cincinnati Commerci3l.
The comparative cheapness OF the .
construction and operation of mar
rOw-gauge railways cOmmends them
TO the people. Ii only remains to
show by experiment that they are
practicable, TO induce capitalists TO /
invest largely in them. For short
lines and roads tributary to main
lines, have proven to be adequate to
all the service demanded of them
The experiment of operating a long
line upon a three-fOOt guage is in
progress in Colorado. The road,
which is being constructed rapidly,
and of which seventy-five miles are
completed, and starting from Den
yer City, is to skirt the base of the
/ Rocky Mountains TO Santa Fe, and
thence to be continued TO Il PasO,
on the Mexican border, and finally
to be continued TO, and terminate in,
| the City of Mexico. The total
length of this line viii be 1850 miles.
The cost of construction Is but SlS-
| 600 per mile, or $1,000 less than that
| Of the Kansas Pacific.
! Mr.. Samuel Bowles, of the Spring
| field Republican, has recently been
over that portion of the road which
has been completed, and reports
very favorably concerning it. As
important results depend upon the
success Of the enterprise, we sub
join a single passage from his Den
yer letter descriptive of the new un-
dertaking:
"The road and its trains in the
first place look like q railway play
thing, in contrast with the broader
and heavier tracks and larger cars
of the accuatomed lines; delicate
|, and dainty, they seem almost TO
faint and feeble for the hard, quick
work to which they are called, and
especially unequal to the great con-
test which they have invited. Yet
= so far, surely they are performing
their task with ease, with comfort
| with celebrity and with success. The
track-bcd of the narrow guage is
feet wide, as against 9; the distance
l between the rails 3 feet, as against
: | feet 81 Inches; the ties are to g.
, | feet, as against 5; the rails weigh 8,
= pounds to the yard, as against Sc
the engines II to 10 tons, as agains
S % TO so tons, putting about half tn,
4 | weight on the drive wheels that the
p large locomotives do; the passenge
cars, with wheels, and carrying s.
passengers, weigh tons, as sgains
: Is tons, 8 wheels and so passengers
e and the freight cars so far introduc
D ed weigh tons, run on 4 wheels
and carry 4 to tons of freight, q
against cars weighing tons on
U wheels and capable of 10 tons load
o Where four passengers sit in the OF
q binary car, there are seated in tn
narrow ones, two on one side, an
one on the other of the passage way
the car being divided in the middl
by a door, and the seats for two an
one, respectively, being reversed !
the two sections, so as to balance til
carriage. The cars at first intro
=, duced are feet wide and l04 fee
l. high from rail to top. They prov
q trifle more compact than is necel
sary, and not quite generous enoug
in accommodations for passenger
e but this evil is being remedied
h new cars now constructing; Will
II sleeping cars and drawing room Cal
can be made for the narrow gaue
roads, which will accommodate sti
d more persons, in proportion to the
T. size and weight, than the ordinaI
It cars of this character now do"