Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1872-03-19

venlence and comfort afforded by
the Stephenson guage. The evidence
Is positive that the cost of construct
ing q railroad with three feet guaeo
With 20 or 30ib iron, is about ten
Thousand dollars per mile less than
The cost of building broad goage ou
the same road that CATS constructed
Tor The 3 feet measure can be- built to
carry Toad more than double the
weight Of The car, and tho cost Of tho
car proportionately Tess.
Reducing he weight of the loeomo
tive or increasing the number Of The
driving wheels increases indefaiteiy
the durability Of the rail. fla press.
nre u eight t0ne To tho square inch
Tato applied 10 our ordinary railroad
iron, il would crush il. The pressure
OF the wheels of the heavy iocomos
lives often reaches four tons 10 the
inch and 10 motion sometimes attaius
the limit Of pressure as the crushed
rails bear evidence, The narrow
train when loade3 is onc-lhird dead
weight, which il the weight Of train
excluding freight, and two-lhirds live
weight, or weight Of freight The
dead weight in the broad guago train
is equal 70 or greater than the live
weight.
This is the case when the cars ars
full but statistics Of actual work
show that on broad guage roads The
average weight is TO |. 1.-THE mar
row guage locomotive weighs fifteen
tons it will therefore haul as much
freight as as broad guage locomo~
tive weighing twenty tons. BY using
u "Fairle" locomotive which has 8
driving wheels q locomotive Of 80
tous C.u safely be used on narrow
guage roads with the 80 ID iron COM
monty used for that purpose. With
such locomotive, as large train
can be hauled AS would be manages
bic on any broad guage road, aud
when wo take into consideration that
two-thirds OF the narrow guage train
is paying freight, 1t becomes clearly
demOnstrable that the narrow guage
road can do more work than is done
or can be conveniently done, on the
broad guage road of the most extern
sive business. Hence the common
idea that The narrow guage road is a
road OF less business capacity, is fal-
laciOus.
1t is not only adapted for roads of
light traffic, but equally adopted for
trunk lines. The power required to
draw train of Ger ,ain weight IN
Guiding cars and freight, is the same
on any gauge in str4igh5 line, but
on curve the obatruction of the
curve dimiBishes economically as
the curve diminishes Experiments
seem TO have demonstrated that the
obstruction Of the curve diminisncs
geometrically in proportion as the
gauge is diminished. AS to the cost
Of operating narrow gauge roads,
different estimates have been made,
but We have seen none where the
saving was not placed as high as 20
per cent, Of the gross earnings on the
narrow gauge more than on broad
gauge roads
Twenty per cent saving on the
paying bu.i.oss of The roads Of tho
country would be a greater dividend
than is ordinarily made on The mo
successful roads Where otherr roads
woali merely pay operating e&pens,
es. the narrow gauge road would
pay a large dividend
1t therefore appears that th3 nav
row gnage road, costing about half
az much Tor construction, is capable
Of paying vice as large u dividend
and with the cost OF the two classes
Of road the same, the advantages Of
the narrow guage are so great that
it would be economy TO change all
The roads Of tho country TO the mar
row guagc. We have no doubt that
this will DC done. In the meantime,
rs narrow guage roads increase III
number, and the necessity arises for
thorough connection with the broad
guage lines already in operation,
this connection will be made by
third rail Already the Albany and
Snsquehanna railroad has a third
rail for the accommodation of narrow
guage cars, aud coal is transferred ia
TINS manner from Wilkesbarr Pa,
TO Rutland, VI, Aud in few years
at most We shall see trains of mar
row guago cars running on all our
great thoroughfares, and as broad
guage iron and rolling stock wear
out we look to see them replaced by
those OF greater efficiency and less
expense.
lti a common opinion that the
narrow guage train is more likely to
upset, but this is an error. The
height OF the car is lessened as its
width is diminished, and in this re
spect is equally safe with the car OF
broader guage. Ii is admitted by
all that the narrow guage road ID
best adapted for feeders or lines OF
light business. ln consequence OF
the ightness of the cars, and the fa-
cility which they possess for ruu-
ming curves. it is shown that grades
and curves are practicable on the
narrow guage roads which would be
utterly impraelicable for roads of
broader guage. H zee, if the trunk
lines were narrow guage, feeders
could be constructed SO cheapIy that
it would pay TO make them to every
village Of three hundred Inhabitants
in the country, aud the extension q
our railroad facilities be thus inde.
initely increased. Il would thus
seem that the array of facts deveI-
oped by the operation Of narrow
guage roads fully justities the adop-
ton of this guage for all new pro
iects, as the capacity and economy
Of the system must in due time Gem
pei lis use on all trunk lines. ~
costly has heretofore been the cor
struction of railroads, that few, #
any have been able to pay interest
90 the original Investment, and the
country Is taxed millions Of do lars