Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1874-11-07
Narrow Gauge---No. 2.

in width, was built many years aso,-iong
before the ubiect Of narrow gauges was thought
| of in the o. s. The success Of the testiulog
Railroad was such as to aStonish ITS stockhold-
ers by the realization of 40 per cent. dividends.
The f. Inch gauge roads adopted by the
English government As the standard gauge for
ali her vast Indian Empire-alter long consul
tation and reports Of three different Corps OF
Engineers, headed by her most eminent Ensi-
neers, is certainly not of very recent adoption.
Here we see a vast territory Of plain and up
lsnd in Hinloostan, having an area OF l,25O,-
600 square miles, aud peopled with 10000
600 ofinhabitants, governed by the most opu-
lent and powerful Kingdom Of the earth, a
dopting the Na,roc Gauge. What pigmy
comparison then, to be made. Engineer
says it could only be made practicable in the
mountain regions Of West Virginia aud Ten
nessee."
The 2OOO miles of Narrow Gauge" already
built in this country are not ''all merely branch
or more than feeder or mine roads. Mr.. Z. Il.
Spoouer. the Father Of the narrow gauge, IN
the Festiuiog railway proved first it, utility
aud profit Carl Phil, c. +. next introduced
it into Norway. We see 1t long since adopted
in Iudia, Russia, Australia, South America ADD
! Canada. Colorado. Arkansas, Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona. Utah, New York, PennSylva-
MA Ohio, and Iowa have already in operation
or are constructing the Narrow Gauge.
Now would ask the learned Engineer
| lwho answered my first letter. what are we to
understand by his repetition Of " a and 'the
| standard gauge? Is it the #. gauge first
adopted by England The IT, the #. the
#. 10 in. or the 4 f. 3 inch gauges already
adopted aud running 10 the L. $. aud Clnadas2
The #. gauge Of n Y. IL Erie, Atlantic
| e. Great Western, & Ohio & Miss.-maEng a
continuous line from New York TO St Louis
| the Il. gauges of The No Pacific st. Lonis
/ to Kansas, Originally aud of all roads in the
| Southern States South Of the James River
/ prior TO the war the 4 10 Ohio gauge; the
81 of all roads + st of the Ohio and North OF
| the James, Does he not hnOw-doubtiul-
| that no train Of cars can pass westward into
and through Ohio from 49, inch gauge on
| 20 the 1 f. 10 inch gauge without and unless
/ it were and be supplied with BrOad Tread
wheels? As an Engineer he certainly
! should cite facts, and give authority 10 prove
his assertions, or his communications against
Marrow Gauge" will surely be taken with
kindly grains Of allowance usually granted to
anonymous correspondents.
As proof Of the utility, cheapncss and
profit 10 the construction, the stocking aud E.
! quipmeut and the running Of, and Instant in-
/ crease Of profits ia the narrow gauge over the
wider gauge, every well Informed man IN the
land Ton r. L. subjects knows that England
and Canada have changed and reduced the
gauges Of their roads, and that since the war
many Of the Southern roads have changed and
lessened their gauges. That the Ohio d Miss
Cincinnati TO ST. Louis has more recently
been reduced from a IT, gauge TO q gauge,
aud that within the past 80 days Report has
been made and adopted by y majority OF the
| Stock and Bond holders lboth English and ~
merican) Of the great Erie Railway, TO reduce
and change the gauge. OF that road, and the
! Atlantic aud Great Misunderstanding from
! New York 10 Cincinnati Ito the narrow gauge
! of 1 f.. 81 inches What then, does this clear
/ ~ prove And if it does prove thai gauge
Of road of 4 Fl. 81 inches can be made remu-
neratiye, where 8 Fl. guage cannot, does 1t
not clearly aud incOutrovertAby strike every
! logical aud sane mind that, in same proper
ton and ratio, it must prove TO be the more
valuable and Of greater utility IL the foot
gauge road?
Next. word as 20 the bugaboo and scare
crow objections raised as To- the increased trou-
/ bic and expense occasioned by break OF bulk,
and transfer If freights necessiiAted by break
Of gauge Experience, for 10 10 II years at
/ least, has proven this 10 be mere nothins-a
| bagatele IN the great Oil regions Of North
Yves, Pennsylvania, in lS62-4, oil was and
could only be carried 20 PhilAde phia and New
/ York BY a break Of bulk ~ Cory and Oil City,
/ Pa. and the facts. then and there dem 1nstra-
| ted. were that transhipnent could be and
was made to the extent Of 10 to 1900 Bbs
/ daily, at a cost Of one cent per Dbl. Of 400 lbs.
/ each. or 81 cents per ton. In the transhiP-
} meut of Coal, ores, &c, from the Pennsylya-
MIA mines and #. 81 guage to the It. guage
Of the Erie railway, tie cost Is mol over two
and-a-half cents per ton-which Is done by
/ running train of one gauge on to tTcstIe or
/ elevation over a train Of different gauge, and
/ dropping the load from one TO the ether.
have thus shown, in my first communica-
/ ton, the cheaper construction Of the narrow
gauge over the wider gauge, and am prepared
20 prove that propurtiouate ratio OF cheap
/ ness does obtain IN respect 10 the Rolling Siock,
/ Equipment and Operating Of the same. The
| Passenger Cars, as per Report Of The jackson
| Sharp Car Company OF Wilmington. Delaware,
I are 80 feet long. ieet vile l0l feet high,
aud weigh Is, 600 lbs-each carrying 80 pas
/ sengers: being 416 lbs Of car, or dead weight,
| for each passenger carried, whilst the ordinary
passenger car, carrying % passengers, weighs
| 80 600 lbs, or 722 lbs per head FOR each pas
senger carried The sill the cars Of Narrow
( Guage being only u inches from the ground,
/ in other cars, il being 10 inches the Narrow
Gauge cara, it says, can be run at speed OF
| forty miles an hour, and then successfully de-
monstrates that the gloomy doubts entertained
by many minds respecting narrow gauge roll
! ling stock are utterly without foundation, and
worthy only Of a past age"
Again he says: "About one third Of the
COST Of fares and freishts is saved from the
small COS, Of hauling. This results, in a great
measure. from the gain in strength on smaller
cars, in consequence of which on the narrow
gauge road, one ton Of freight car will carry
one ton, or an equal amount Of freight, while
on the broad gauge -four feet eigh, and half
inches for every ton Of freight carried there is
hauled two and six,y-eght one hundred tons
fear. or over two and A half tons Of dead and
non-paying freight Mr. Edwerd NJ. Grant,
one Of the hest" Engineers in the South aud
constructor Of the luskegee r K in Alabama,
gives evidence through The Engineering and
MRing Journal Of New York, as carly as 1871
Of " the perfect success iB,eTery respect Of the
three foot ~ narrow gauge Road and Cars. -
Col Richard b. Osborn, an old and experienced