The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1874-04-04
N0rrOsO Gauge R0iIroo,Js
of the York Gazette. 49,

Correspondence of the York Gazette.
When new enterprise is canyassaa in
community the main point of the discussion is
whether the money invested will be likely to
pay return sufficient to warrant the inyest-
ment. In other words "will it payY
In the contest between the narrowand broad
gauges this is the important question although
It is surrounded by hedge Of imaginary dif-
ficulties, that to a casual observer are almost
insurmountabe. These" toy" railroads. as thew
are sometimes styled, are not the transient
temporary substitutes for good railroad that
they are largely considered, but for at least
five good reasons are the best and only 1,rncti-
cal railroad that is entitled to consideration in
these days of excitement on the cheap freight
question. LIST, The cost of construction is 80
| per cent. less than that of the broad gauge
| I'd, The cost of the superstructure is A. Der
| cent less. Sd, The safe average speSu efsfr6m
| 35 to 40 miles per hour can be used. 4th, The
| cost of the rolling stock is from 90 to 55 per
cent less. 5th, The percentage of dead to pay
| ing freight is So. There are many other rea-
| sons for preferring a narrow gauge-say feet,
to that of the #. 81 in.-but if these are salts
factorily elucidated they are the very strong
est that could be offered.
LIST, The difference in The cost of construc-
| ton does not exist to any large extent in the
narrowing OF the excavations or entertainments,
but In the fact that narrow gauge road can
be placed on totally different ground from the
broad one, lessening greatly the cuts and fills
or avoiding them almost entirely. This arises
| from the fact that with the decrease in width
| between the rails, there is a more than cores
ponding lowering of the centre OF gravity of
| the cars themselves. So that, as the curvature
of the road can be largely increased for the
narrow gauge, it is even safer on these sharp
| curves, as the centre of gravity is lower inpro-
portion than the broad cars. Any one can see
| if more curvature is thus admissible, deep
cuts and high fills can be avoided, in most
cases, by curving on the surface, around them.
An average cost of grading and masonry for
the broad gauge roads may be set at $4,000 pei
mile in favorable circumstances, while mar
row gauge could be built over the same section
| of country at an average of $4,000 per mile
| In cases where persons along its line are the
parties from whom the money is obtained to
| do the grading, ETC., the above item becomes
| so important that there are large areas of our
land that no road will ever 60 through on such
difference of cost can best be shown over diff
cult ground as in instances near at home, where
the difference is as about Sc, 900 is to S65, 600
| for about q mile of work. So it is the best
gauge for poor country
I'd, The cost of superstructure is very large
| ly diminished in a narrow gauge. It has to
| carry less weight so il can be of lighter build
| The cars or rolling stock are of very much
| lighter make, and while they carry nearly as
much per car as their larger antagonists they
| do not weigh one half as much, the relative
| proportion being better stated thus: one hun
| dred tons of broad gauge cars will carry about
| one hundred tons of freight. The one hundred
| tons of freight on narrow gauge would be car
red on forty five tons of cars. Experience in
the narrow gauge railroad has proved this fact
| beyond doubt, that as the rolling stock de.
| creases in weight, so may the supporting pow
err of the superstructure be decreased in
strength, and therefore, in cost.
| Sd, If the curvature may be increased, as
shown, and the centre of gravity at the same
| time be lowered beyond the ratio, the safety
gauge. The Festiniog railway of Wales is 1 #
| Ill in. gauge, and they transport their trains
| over curves from 40 to 100 it. radius at 30 tc
40 miles per hour. No accident theretron
having occurred in many years.
4th, If rolling stock Weighs less, it also cost
/ less than that of broad guage road. While a
| box car of the Penn'a Central weighs from 10,
900 TO % 900 lbs, and transports as maxi
mum 10000 lbs.--a narrow guage csr weigh:
| from $500 to 1000 lbs. and transports 5000
| lbs. Other sizes in proportion.
So we arrive at the 5th proposition. AS jus
| given, we can see at glance that while thu
| broad gauge car carries l ID. of dead freight tC
Id. of paying freight, the narrow gauge car
| ries over lbs. paying to Id. of dead. There
fore if broad gauge roads can pay dividend.
and interest on such working terms, where
does the paying capacity of narrow gauge
end?
These are but portion of the items making
up the total of the reasons in favor of the mar
row gauge system. Space does not admit o
| attacking the specious arguments of those OPP
posed to anything neO, no matter what thu
merits We close this article by the simple
addition to statement made previously
it is also the gerry best road for rich country