The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-12-08
rFor The DlspatchJ
the Rleh,hond, Sange Questipn- Broad

The KicnEEaOuGs GAuSe eSusstaVttsT-1s otau
4 VS.. Marrow Gatsges
The question Of railroad gauge has Within
the last few years attracted the serious at.
tentionE Of some oI thee abiest Sminds OF
Europe and America. The subject, though
.abiy dtscussed; fns never been defnitety de'
;cided.; Though very many valuable inluts,
suggestions, and facts have thus been OBJ
tained, the, few trials that have been, msfte
have given to, the railroad world the; safest
data upon, which to, decide for the future
The time was In. this country, when the
broad, OF, six foot, gauge had strong patrons,
and. spriHging UP on all sides, Ts gbeheld
men who, advocated thed 5.6-seot, the
sfoot, the s4.1Gfoot, &c. Roads were built
during the enthusiasm Of the times on
all of these patterns, Years OF trial have
proven to the most of them their failure, as
shown by the example of the Erie the
Atlantic and Great w estern, the Mississippi
and Ohio, and others During all this time
the question has; been, ably. discussed; and
settled bg railroad men.,4 This fact Is proven
most &c not: all such roads either have re-
dueed or are seeking the means to reduce 70
tue 4s3-foot gauge. The i4,ss:foot seems 10
have been hit upon, as 1t were, by accident, az
best suited to the heavy traffic Of this country;
and we find that at least 6ye-sixthsf OF all
| eur roads ara builtJte that standard. :; Ihat
thts gauge is best for g. railroad we, do not
presane to say; 1t is yet an open question
Ijust where to place the proper nediumpe-
tween the broad, and narrow ~ stems, so as
properly to !combine all the good qualities OF
both, AS the 4.sa foot ia In the ascendant, IL
is lust probable twill never, be decided.
| with railroads, as elsewhere, nsjorities gen.
orally rule. and as the 4S3,foot is just now
inthe ascendant its advocates exert power
ful influence upon all contemplated new
lines, holding as 1t were the keys OF trade
and connection.-for,t to break bulk meanG. to
ispgthen yourliue. 19Of' late years strong adj
yocates for narrow gauges have aprnng up
Like their brethren, the broad.gauge men,
they take the field witha diversity of s6y 81
or 4-foet; and in this particular at least
the extremes inject. The a-foot seems
to have taken the frmest lfoetboia IN this
country, Its advocates slaiming for It cheap
ness in first cost of construction, the advant-
age of heavier curves aud grades, carrying
CAPACITY in excess of the 463.foot roads In
proportion to the weight OF, its trains, and
generally B. much cheaper train-eXpenSe.
Whatever may be that bappH medium, expe.
rience has proven that the 3.feot gauge does
not meet its requirements, nor does It come
up to the standard its friends bad hoped for.
If thoughtful persons will stop to consider
its claims 1t will be found that they are only
partially true; as proven by lines already
built. How often we see It asserted In the
papers thatsuch roads cost only one-balf as
much as the broader gauges-a statement,
not strictly true, which leads to serious er-
rors where large sums Of money are con-
cerned. To make a good track fora 4.S3.foot
road requires It's cuts to be Is feet at the bot
tom, its banks IA feet at the top its ties at
least feet long, and IT'S rails to weigh from
IS to 81 pounds per yard. To make good
track for 3.foot road requires its cuts to be
from - to- Is feet at the bottom, its
banks from 8 to 10 feet at the top, its ties
from to Z feet long, and its rails to weigh
from 80 to so pounds to the yard. The
bridge.masonry and superstructure Is nearly
the same In both, the culverts alone being
shortened to suit the banks. Hence it has
been found that the three foot roads cost
about uree:fJhs as much as the 4S4 -foot
roads, aud generally overrun these figures.
AS to curves and grades, q certain force ID
required to move ton Of freight around
curve or up a grade; increase either, and
you must increase your motive power or de-
row-gauge can do here is to tighten its loads
proportionate to the size, and capacity of Its
engines; and this the broad-gauge has it fully
eighths Of all the roads In this uGtry shame
fully abuse their. motive power and road.
beds. In every direction you see fine en-
gines laboring under heavy. loads Of old,
rickety, badly.buiit cars, which are allowed
n nd
want of springs, to pound and tbump
away at the track until it is hardly pass
able. You read on the ears, "capacity
1000 pounds, weight $4,000 pouHds";
that is, for every ton Of freight these cars can
hold that engine must haul little more than
ton OF car as dead load, aggravated by the
immense friction Of bad couplings, bad
wheels, bad breaks, bad trucks, and absence
of springs. Is it wonder that these en-
gines are bali the time in the repair-sbops,
or that rails and ties are constantly needing
renewal, and that small army Of trackmen
must be constantly employed? And With it
all, the engines, only half loaded, are putting
and steaming up and down our moderate
grades. A 27.ton engine on a straight road,
in good repair, can move at the rate of 10 or
- miles an hour on level about 1,400 tons
exclusive of itself and tender :on grade
of 10 feet to the mile, about 900 tons 30 feet
to the mile, about $50 tons while at 100 feet
to the mile, only about 200 tons. In practice,
trains can be made to weigh only about one.
half the above figures, preeaution .neces-
sary for pro per control, for increase Of speed
should it be necessary, for winds, for curves,
slippery rails, &C., making no allowance for
bad cars or bad track. So that on grade of
100 feet to the mile train weighing 125
tons, of which rs tons only would be freight,
all that can be expected of an ordinary
heavy engine is to move at the rate Of u
miles an hour. p" '"' 10 aofj 'L"E"% ss.'' !.
Mr.iJauret, superintendent Of the United
States Roling.Stock Company, as first ex.'
pertinent produced a car for his com pany
weighing ,125 pounds, while its carryiugs
capacity was 1S gross tons ;"for small grain,
16 gross tons-thus reducing the dead load
and Increasing the freight capacity Of such a
train so TO 80per cent. Let railroad compa.'
MES reduce the weight Of their locomotives
and cars, throw all the weight of the former
on their drivers, and so construct the latter
as to ebviate slack, excessive friction, &c AS
far as possible, while their capacity Is in.
creased, and they will'rob the narrow gauge
Of its strongest claims. Do this, and we may
hope to see lighter rails, better roads, and
heavier train. loads, and corresponding de-
crease in train-expenses. 1'. .'.E y ~ L..''5
The narrow-gauge roads may do well as
feeders, but their points Of greatest useful
ness are such as lateral coal or iron.roads, to
supply furnaces, &C., In new countries. where
freights are not likely for years to grow up
to broader gauge. For trunk lines, or
where country is be opened up to an in
creasing trade, they will ever be failures.
Many roads started after this pattern are
changing TO the 4.83-foOt. .at 49,