Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-02-19
LETTERs ERoM THE PEoPLE.
THE ADVANTAGE OF NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS
THEIR POINTS oF ECONOMY.


1 took occasion, few weeks since, to call atten-
ton to a few facts pertaining to the subject Of
narrow gauge economy These appear to have
been not wholly devoid Of interest to one OF
your readers, for in q recent issue OF the COM
| MERCIAI, the latter propounded some 81 ques-
/ tions classified under different heads. after
which he very appropriately signed himself
/ have neither the fine, nor inclination to
answer in detail, questions by the score; but
would suggesti that one who appears to have
i thought so deeply on the subject should seek
/ the information he desires from such Works and
Periodicals as ;-Fairlie's Battle OF the Gauges
Spooner's Marrow Gauge Railways Engineer
ing" OF London from 1868 to 1873 The London
Engineer American Railway Gazette, and the
st. Louis, June, 1872. In these, the pros and
cons haye been carefully discussed and from
| them far more intelligent opinion Gamble
formed, than it is possible to evolve from brief
newspaper item. Tho general reading public are
| indifferent to the minutip OF engineering enter
| prises and care sseny for the leading facts or
| generallprinciples underlying such subjects. l
| cannot forbear referring to a few Of the topics
alluded to by your correspondent.
| In the first place, l distinctly disavow any
sympathy with those who look upon the narrow
gauge system as perfect specific for all the ills
that Railway Economy is heir to. believe that
| the narrow gauge system has a distinct sphere
of its and that its interests not, in them
selves, calculated to clash with those OF a judi.
ciously constructed broad gauge road, any more
| than does the one horse carriage with tho ba-
| rouche and span. In viewing the system,
| therefore, as a whole, | do not expect to find n
marked and decided economy in every one of it's
departments, but am convinced of its merits, IL
| while all of those show no increase OF cost over
the broad gauge, some OF them exhibit an un-
questioned advantage.
| In my last, took occasion to point out a few
| of the more prominent economies. Among the
less conspicuous are those cited by Enquirer
under heads 1, 2, A, and 5, many OF which, while
| they detract nothing from the merits OF the
system, do not specially recommend it, Others
possess slight economies which go to swell the
aggregate saving, but are more the subject of
inquiry for the professional man than for the
reading public.
The widths of road beds mentioned in topic
| No. 8, are by no means exceptional. On three
feet gauge roads, it is customary to make the
widths in cuts equal to II feet and on banks IL
feet, thus giving the average Of II feet With
| regard to cost of excavations, tile work oil
| the narrow gauge will, by "Inquirer's'
own data, be to that on the broad as the ratio
| OF to (for slopes OF to u giving saving OF
fully l6 per cent in this all important item
For slopes OF Ia to l the ratio will be that OF
| about 6 to Z. The next inquiry; a. in rock-cut-
tings, would not the relative cost be AZ II to IA
appears very much i'll the light Of the following
| nterrogatory il times = are As will times d
also be As for in my last article left it to be
| inferred from the ratio OF car sections (viz: N
1 tlfOl what ulIlenslOnB would probably DG
| adopted in cutting rock-tunnels. II the road
| bed widths multiplied by the heights neces-
| sary for the tunnels the ratio of the products
will substantially equal that OF the areas given
for the car sections.
| The fsh-plates. chairs, spikes and bolts re-
ferred to in topic No. 3 are very much lighter
on the narrow gauge, and consequently less OK
pensive than on the broad. The rails cost al
the present time about $50 per ton or 1920
per mile for rail of 3Ulbs to the yard thus
/ MAKING A gayiup i'm raiia aluun ~ ltttl0 q
mile. for every mile of single track constructed
| on the narrow gauge plan. particularly re-
quest that Inquirer will make note of this one
item, for fear he may unconciousy glide into
habit OF considering all economics connected
with the narrow gauge, rs of u trivial and uuim
| portant character.
In answer to the 9th topic l unhesitatingly
| affirm that piers and abutments when -scientt
cally proportioned for the bridges Of broat
gauge roads are in every instance more massive
than those required for narrow gauge railways
The marked saving in bridges has already beer
demonstrated.
| think it necessary to cite only one fact ia
| connection with topic No. Z, III order to throw a
| ray of light on the question asked under thir
head. Six narrow gauge passenger cars (uf the
standard proportions in service throughout til,
| United States) will carry ZIG passengers, anC
| they weigh 30 600 pounds. The same number o
passengers are carried on the broad gauge road
Of the country in four cars that weigh 152, ,00
pounds. making a difference in favor OF the mar
row gauge of $4,000 pounds. Is ii not clear tina
where 80 much dead-weight il dispensed with thu
tractive power required will be smaller mucf
loss fuel will be consumed in doing tho same ~
fective work, and that where the load Ia so dis
| tributed over the track, tho ultimate effect ol
rails will be no more severe than on ordinar
gauges? Economios.o of like importance Obtain
for freight cars.
In reference to topic No 8, / must confess m
ignorance of the historical facts regarding TN
Philadelphia Wilmington and Baltimore Rail
road, but do not doubt the accuracy of tho state
ments 1t is Tumored that the recently con
structed Darby improvement (frOm Philadelphi
| to Chester) has cost that Company between on
and two millions of dollars. II construe tn
idea of Inquirer correctly, the true policy 0
| the original Directors OF the r., w. ~ B. ltai
| road would have been. not to have attempted tn
, | construction of road between the great cite
OF Philadelphia and Baltimore, until such tim
as they were able to raise some fifteen million
I | OF dollars, and then to have built it a
! | in the same substantial manner as tho presen
| improvement by which means they would hav
. | saved all OF the unnecessary expenses enumers
ted. True-the travelling public might hay
| been inconvenienced for wears by want Of tn
, | proper facilities, but then tho trifling sum
l | l5 Millions was sure to come sometime ia tn
y | progress OF the ages aud when that happy pc
= Rod arrived and the road was built, there woul
i be peculiar satisfaction i'll knowing that it wa
substantially constructed, and that the part
could only give out by actual service, and not
| dollar would be lost in alterations.
Topic No. asks whether broad gauge road
with narrow gauge equipment would not HAY
l. decided advantage over strictly narrow gRug
Y ono, in being able to send cars over connectln
broad gauge roads. 1t seems TO me that theol
i ticayl it would the idea OF not breaking bu
t is certainly all excellent one. But practically.
81 would be like turning out sheep to pastul
=, among wolves. The light narrow gauge car
is | propOrioned for their hight trains and ENGINE
d | of only 20 tons weight, would undoubtedly
al badly crushed whenever broad gauge engines
l. So tons weight, attempted to drill them in
,, line with such ponderous trains as those san
: engines were capable of hauling
IL In this connection, 1 cannot refrain from st
O. ting what / consider tho true light in which
1t view the narrow gauge question. Suppose E
lr Instance the case of two small cities, separate
e. by, say distance of 50 miles, which it Ii desir
bic to connect by rail also that the intervenir
country is. but sparsely settled. The throu,
1, traffic is but light, and two trains per diem W
v. carry all of the passengers and merchandis
r seeking transportation. These may be hand
Il, in either Of two ways. We may concentrate Il
VI " entire mass in a few heavy cars, and draw tho
% by means of ponderous engine over GO IL
~ rails; Or on theEcontrary we may dttenlaie Il
W. W. mass by placing it in a number of light cars al
mm mm transT ort it by light engines over rails of only
III lbs to the yard. The trains in either case "
s- not occupy more than three or four minutes
passing anyIgiven point and during the renal
lr ing l436 minutes OF the day the capital invest
ng in the rails and the road bed will remain unel
lr. ployed. From sthis standpoint, it would see
nd folly to invest larger sum in the plant tn
ln- was absolutely necessary to secure the safe a