The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1876-02-17
Narrow Gauge Railroads.

oOOC' L" SlNOo Hoi IdCtS VI AH1SAc
concerning the economy of the mar
5 row gauge system of railroads.
To introduce our subject, all gaug
4 es have so far been experimental, as
; there is, believe, no known rule
fixing tie width between the rails,
: but the following facts will be ad-
, mitted, first, that every inch added
to the width of the track over what
is ABSOLUTELY necessary for traffic adds
to the cost of construction, increases
the proportion of dead weight, or
non-paying tonnage, increases the
operating expenses, consequently in
creases the tariffs to the people.
These facts being admitted, we have
other interesting facts that have dem
monstrated on more than 5000 miles
of the narrow gauge railways now in
the United States and Canadas.
They are, that less capitals required
sleeper grades and sharper curves
are admissible; that the non-paying
tonnage is greatly reduced, that the
capacity is equal to that of any gauge;
that even the break of gauge between;
the wide and narrow, necessitating
the transfer OF freight and passen-
gers, is less than the extra cost cf
transportation over the common
gauge.
The difference in cost of construc-
ton has been misstated. 1t is not
simply prism between the rails of
the difference of gauge only, but,
in addition to that quantity, it is the
difference in location. As the mod
ern gauge can use sharper curves
say as high as fifteen or twenty de-
grees-with safety, its line would be
located where the wider gauge could
not, as engineers usually avoid curves
of over six degrees on the
common roads. Here there is
great saving in construction, as the
modern gauge is more flexible,
hence can avoid heavy cuts and fills
by change of location. Add to this
the ability of the narrow gauge to use
sleeper grades, because the dead
weight being so much reduced, their
train will be less in weight. But to
illustrate, a train of 200 tons of
freight on the common roads requires
twenty cars, weighing ten tons
each, making the total weight of cars
and freight equal to 400 tons. AS
the narrowgauge cars weigh only
four tons, and carry eight tons, (as
done daily on the Cairo & st. Louis |
road it would require twenty-five
cars, weighing in the aggregate 100
tons, to carry the 200 tons offreight,
making the train on the narrow
gauge. 1t can, if necessary, use
sleeper grades.
The next item of cost is that of
cross ties. The common gauge ties
are usually 6 by s inches, by s IL
feet long, containing about 35 feet
board measure. The ties of mod
ern gauges are 5 by 7 inches, by 5
feet long, containing 17.5 feet board
measure. Here there is a reduction
of one half. The rails of the com
mon roads usually weigh 60 pounds
per yard. The rails used on the
narrow gauge weigh from 80 to 40
pounds per yard.-usually 35 pounds
per yard. Here, again, is large
reduction in the cost of construct
ion over that of the common gauge.
In the same ratio the cars, locomo-
tives, and fixtures cost less, redu-
cling the average cost of the narrow
gauge roads, fully equipped, to from
$4,000 to S25,000 per mile, while
that of common gauge averages from
S45,OOO to 100000 per mile. The
new system the people can build and
own and be no poorer, the other sys-
tenn a 10-100) has so far paid no re-
turns Tin general terms) to the people
on their investment. That the COM
mon-gauge roads have been and are
now, fgreat value to our country; that
they are doing the business of the
country at less rates than they can
afford, no one will deny. But the
question now to be solved is this,
can the new gauge serve the same
purpose, viz: that of carrying passen-
gers and freight as quickly, as cheap
ly, and as safely, at less rates in
proportion to the cost of construct
ing the two gauges? Should we find
nothing gained by the wide over the
narrow gauge, then we shall claim
that the modern gauge is the gauge
to adopt. More railroads will be
built, but no more money should be
expended than is absolutely necessa-
ry.
Transportation, equipment, and
cost of, will be the subject for my
next communication. NJ.
a Sample Reformer.
Sam Randall, the Democratic
]