The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-01-13
MIRO -GluGE RdILWIYs nv ErRo,,

MIRO -GItGE RIILUIYs IN y,f,po,,
The Introduction Of narrow-gaupc ror.
ways Is attracting great deal uf attention, 80,
the part Of tho Paris press There arc NM
sccludcd districts in Franco which Womb m,,
Justify the construction Of an ordinary ,,'.
road. but which might yield fair return toy
more moderate outlay. Ono effect OF tho nra.
cnt discussion has been to make known o,h@.
has been done aIrcady in this direction. BON in
| France and other European countries
| The aggregate length Of the Frrn h narro,-
| gauge lines now in running order or undo,
way. is about three hundred kilomotros Ma
| longest of these runs some sixty Mills from
Anvin to Frcthun. in the Calais district. and
there Is another of considerable importance in
the Mouse region. connecting H6ronvillo with
! Triancourt. No French experiment. however
with the narrow gauge has been executed n
80 great a scale rs the Algerian line which
| spans II distance of one hundred and sixty miles
between Arzcn and zafda. Tho br ad,h n
| track is not uniform in all I'll, ~ cases but IA
rarely attains forty-shrcc. and novor falls short
! Of thirty inches. The width usually preferred
is lust one metre.
! 1t is in the scandinavian Kingdom that tho
narrow gaugc railway Is most frequently mt
with. The passenger lines in Sw den alone
have "A joint length of moro than live hundred
miles, while those now in course ol completion
aggregate nearly half rs much moro. In Nor
way there are half dozen iron roads uf tns
kind measuring in all over two hundred miles.
with an equal amount Of track under ounsirur-
tion. Austro- Hungary has seventy. five milos
of marrow rond. the greater part in running
order short line has been or"n,d IN prus-
STA. another in Italy, another in Grrcce Even
Belgium. scanned as it was at an early date with
railways oi tho normal width. has some thirty
miles of furly-twu-lnch track brtwlcn Antwerp
and Client III Great Britain the harrow gauge
has almost wholly failed to enlist the public
favor but, on the other hand. II j. udoptcd with
eagernoss in British India especially in tho
more mountainous and sparsely populated re-
gons. At least seven hundred miles Of track
are said t. be- finished. or in rapid progress
All the Indian roads have uniform length q
one metre bat the scandinavian i.nes prc,i-
ously mentioned. range from iny-nvo to
thirty inches.
The economics obtained underihl -ystnm ara
not confined 10 the diminished cost 80 roadtcd
and rolling stock. Much sharper curves and
higher .sradDarc practicable with the narrow
gauge. Thu-tho Algerian line. one yl the long,
est in opcrati II. admits Of curves having u ra-
dius Of loo metres. or say los wards. Tn" nar-
row roads OF Austria and Fru.-,a cxhilit
curves where the radius does mo- s.-cl fifty
south Of Franco which dcscrii, ulsos stl
sharper, whose radius in fact il only ,wcnly-
seven yards As regards the raj litf g. slopa
to hc compa-@cd 10y railways Of tl4Ie i,s. il may
be laid down that the stcepncss oi 10 lnr can
be varied in the inverse ratio of d., weight q
the train. A'curllngly, since ia, nn,trw gauge
has the effect 90 reducing tho dDaiw Hght 4
rolling stock. y IS found pos-ibl. O.. .sl,lnra-
lily augment thr grade of the roadl'' ~'riNrg
examples oi tl' kind may be- s'.N >. .asira
and in Norway as well lis in our eva stern
States. Bu, i'f. most nstouishiu- Iue'ru.c =
The French roll from Plyaux e. l'..- .ti,.Irt.
whore thor rs q rise of more tlliu aslf.,t.
every nil"
| The CO.'S, ~ roalbcd for nurrov b. age lines
seems a. ay le-' 81 500 in Franc. ia ltay no
/ suporstru iur has been laid for .to rn,is
than hall thai amount. and fur .;U hss
in Pus-ian experiment. A. tu Ma
expense of rolling stock W. io.fn uut
one French line which ue.s !, omotiycs
Of unn"co--ay weight IA tons las laid
out s2.3nn per- hlomctre for rum NJ ma.
tcral hut thi- is aaid to be. with oua ,NocIiion,
the maximum reached in Europe In respect
II this item the Norwegian lines nrycr touch
| $4,000 and nui seldom fail below $1,000. ON the
whole il may hc affirmed OF thu narrow gauge
| roads now running in Europcthat u" total out.
] lay for all PURPOSES Including stations freight
/ houses. and liked material Of every kind. need
/ not exceed sl2nOn per kilomctro. So mo in Nor.
/ way havin, been luilt for much l,--. and oua
/ in France for half that sum. ON the other hand.
We should bear IN mind that the minimum cost
/ of an ordinary railway in France I. 10000 Ger
/ klometro. and tint the minimum is not even
/ approached 10 the greater numbered instances.
/ Under these circumstances IL II natural that
French capitalists and engineer Should scan
with interest the figures above cited and tia
rapid progress II the narrow gauge -ysiem N
other Europ an countries. as well a. "a paI,s 4
! the United states.