Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-01-16
ttOMMGNICATED,
SnrrOW.( Gauge Railroad.

way thus far in the ncwSpa pers, mostly IN pre-
dictions of the wonders to Je achieved by the
three feet gauge. would be glad if some one
would inform Us somew hat as to practical re
suits. may state, in addition, that the won
derful gauge has been extensively tried in 1n-
dia by the British Government, and is already
condemned CIVIL ENGINEER.
The Kansas Central Railroad was opened for
traffice September, 1872. It is of three feet
gauge;sin its construction and equipment the
principle of economy 10 first cost has been
carried, probably, to the extreme limit; 1t runs
through country at once sparSely populated
and preseutingconsiderable physlca difficulties.
For these reasons it is an interesting case IN
the narrow gauge problem.
The. cross sections adopted in construction
were, IN filing, eight feet width OF road-bed
aud slopes of one and one-half to one; 10 cut
ting, ten feet road bed and slopes of one to one
in loose earth, and considerably sleeper 10 the
clay shaIes in which the heaviest cuttings we're
made. These dimensions have been found too
small The fills have already washed down, SO
that 10 many cases the ends OF the ties have 10
support; while the width of the cuttings is en-
tireIy Inadequate to the required drainage.
Considerable repairs have already been neces'
sary on this account Moreover, when the
iron was laid it was impossible to ,rectity the
alignment upon the narrow entertainments but
the center line of the entertainments, as the
contractors left them, necessarily became the
centre line of the track
II is evident, aud IL acknowledged by the
officers of the road, that the ! init OF economy
IN the cross-sections has been passed.
The bridging is all OF timber There are iOO
feet of Howetruss bridge, in seven single spans
of various lengths, four trussed glrders OF 40
feet each and ] 800 feet of pile bridging.
Ia the pile bridging each bent consists OF four
piles, driven in line trausversely to the line
of track driven from ten to fifteen feet, and
standing so high above the surface that they
carry directly the caps upon which the track
btringers rest. All abutments or piers OF the
other bridges are Of piles arranged III the same
general way, EXCEPT that IN one Instance the
piers are of trestling 10 no case is there any ma
sonry. As consequence of this use OF piles to
carry the superstructura without the lnterpo
sition of masonry or trestling they stand 10
many cases with from one half to two-thlrds OF
their length above the surface 1t Is not ne
cesss.ry TO comment upon the stability or per-
mauence of such structures.
The culverts are of timber or dry masonry.
! The cattle. guards are Of timber, and never
more than two feet deep. There is but one
small piece of wet masonary on the llne-the
ahutments Of a road bridge over the track.
The ties are hewn six feet long, with SIX
inches face The iron is IS feet long, OF the
Sandberg standard section and thirty pounds
to the yard This has been found too light,
and 50 pound iron was laid on the last few
| miles. Whether or not this last Is heavy
enough remains to be proved. The JOINTS are
; ti,hcd.
The maximum curve used is twelve degrees,
and the line is extremely crooked. The maxi
mum grade is IS feet to the mile, There Is
constau, succession of short undulating gra-
dents. Notwithstanding the free use OF curves
and heavy gradients in location, this is not Of
ten a surface line, but has ch-comparative-
ly light-cutting and filling:
The road is equipped with two Baldwin To-
comotves of twelve tons each. having four drlv.
10 .,' -----~.,A and single .eading trucks,
and cylinders nine by six inches; one BALDWIN
locomotive of seventeen tons, with six driving
wheels connected, single leading truck and ele
ven BY sixteen cylinders two passenger cars
and two combined baggage and smoking cars,
by the Jackson 4 Sharpe Company; % box
cars, 3S flats, 9 stock and 10 four wheeled coal
cars. The freight cars are now mostly butt by
u LcavcnWorth company.
The passenger cars seat thirty two persons.
| Possibly these cars may be as we'll ventilated
aud made as comfortable for a long journey as
those Of the medium gauge; certainly they are
not 50 now. Ii may be we'll to mention here
that the lateral oscillation Of these cars, when
moving at fifteen miles an hour; is much great
er than that upon VIGOROUSLY ill-coudilloned
roads Of broader gauge, at twenty miles or
H,u far tbic tart, lie dina m rho Il H..
cd gauge is an interesting question The
weights Of the box cars are bout $500 pounds;
Of stock cars, $500; and of the flats, about
| 1000 pounds: and their working loads are fixed
at eight tons.
Tue construction and equipment of the road
as it now is, cost according to the statement of
the Superintendent, Mr. Buchanan, 5000 a
mile. 4 liberal estimate makes the cost of the
above equipment about s. 900 mile
The line is located throughout over high,
rolling prairie. The eastern end is marked by
| high, abrupt swells, isolated limestone buttcs
and deep arroyas and waterways. Proceeding
westward the line rises to the top ola plateau,
where the sWe'ls are longer and gcntler, the wa
terways insignificant and the limestone seldom
shows in the cuttings The western fifteen
miles is up the valley of the Grasshopper
River.
1t is an ugly country to locate over, but
an admirable one to display the relative econo-
my OF the reduced gauge, rs line can ap.
proach conformity to the contour OF the land
| only by the bodest use of curves and as at
best there must be much earthwork.
Unfortunately, no fair comparison can lie
made Ct the cost Of construction of the Kansas
Central as it now is with that of a 6rstclass
road Of any gauge; for the cross-sections are
confessedy too small, the iron is acknowledge
ed to be too light, and the timber substruc-
true must be considered as at best but semi
permanent
Perhaps it is too soon to expect FROM the
Kansas Central any valuable data concerning
the relation between the earnings and cost Of
operating Of narrow gauge lines. At least
such data are still uuattainable, because OF
the unwillingness Of the officers Of the road
to publish them, or Of their own want Of accu
rate knowledge; probably for both reasons.
HENRY u. PROuT.
FASHION Here is something concerning
l e