Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-06-19
boston Transcript.
A Two-Foot-Gaugo Track.
A pOwS.rnr RAILWAY WONDER.


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A DowS.EAsr HALLWAY WONDER.
A queer Yankee notion !. this ne
conoeii. two-foo,.gauge railroad, al
ye, Il I. no, only q practical success, b.
jus, now there !. decidedly a boom
this same "bsby railroad" In fact.
,hi. very moment. there !. probabilii
Of two roads Of this Kind being built Z
an early day In Central aud South Amer
ica--One. one hundred and fifteen mil,
long; the other. one hundred and lei
miles. Within the las, two months. rep
re.enta,i,es Of New Orleans, Ceh,ral an
South American interests have come {
western Maine. personally to inspect an
observe the practical working Of the sy'
TEN. Letters Of inquiry have also bee
written TO the superintendent Of the roa
visited by these Southern gentlemen. fron
bushes. men 10 the we., Indies an
Florids. asking for details In regard TO Il
For myself. I have no financial OF person
al in,eresi in the system. further that
have such Of my fsllow.iown.men wh'
own no stock in the little 'ix,een.mil'
road. Of whieh our smart and sn,srpris
ing ,ovn--Bridgton. M.ine-i, the mor'
inland terminus. who have learned. Il
the Eve years Of iis existence, It's grea
convenience and bensfi to our entire com
muniiy. We h.ve tested the experiment,
and veil has II fulhlled h. promises
Toe little road has come 10 stay. W.
could not build aud operate = broad.
gauge 70 a. We could build aud oper
ate a t~o-too,.gauge road. since IL eo.'
OF construction I. only little over one.
half. and Il. running expenses only one'
bali ,ha, Of the other. and 20 We bull, Il
And l, !. no figure Of speech TO say thai
|, ha. proved 10 US golden rgo.y ol
riches, wsal-,he glad realization aud
gloriou. fVi,ion Of once seemingly Uio'
plan dream.
|, 90. only few days ago ,hs,a vet.
sran railroad man in New Eosl.nd told
your correspondent that, in hi' deliberate
Judgment. within = very few yesr The
two foo, road ~ill be adopted throughout
the county. No, TO take the place OF
trunk lines. by any means. bu, IN sparse
In settled regions where they cannot AZ.
ford ,hree.foo, OF a standard gauge, bat
where they are sble 10 build and m.in.
tain q smaller one. which is able 10 do
al the bu,inss. required Of IL This e.'
peei.lly where q ,hOr, "feeder" TO trunk
line is wanted.
And 80 propose briefly. in this sr'i'
Gle. TO give the general public few points
in regard TO ,hi. really wonderful little
road. abou, which there !, 90 much In
quiry. The road itself i' yeri,able Gu
riosi,y. and no, only do bushes. men,
Who have an ulterior in,errs, in the mat
ter. come . long va 10 this western part
Of the Land Of Sanrise. this good old
State Of Maine. to see IL and ride ovsr
IL. bu, summer tourists, from near and
afar. not inireqasn,ly manage 10 take Il
in on their journey TO the White lilIl''
Mt. Desert. OF other Of Maine and New
notable resorts.
The origin Of the ,wo-fcoi road !. Of
recent date. iis inventor. Mr. Geoige l.,
Of Boston, OILY fe- years
ago fr., demonstrated it, feasibility by a
road. little over one.
eighth ofa mile long. in Hyde Park,
Mass. .down whose .,raish, sections and
sharp curves. on little open cat. run
simply by grsvi,Aiion. which "ihs, crank,
q. he was then termed, safe.
IN carried member. Of the LssislA,ure. OF
the pre... and other representative men.
Next, the Bedford and Blllerica two.foo'
road. eighteen mile. long. the charter fo'
which was obtained after . prouaeied
struggle. which proved the entire prse'
Of the theory. For business
reason. purely, in year or two. the rails
and rolling stock were sold TO the Sandy
River Railroad Company. in Maine,
where they ate successfully used to-day
A. our nsuow.gsuge road. the Brids.
ton & S.eo River. which taps the Port
land and Osdshsburs (',sndard.gsuee) al
Hiram, sixteen miles ives, Of Bndg,ou
and forty mile. north Of Portland. Is .
representative. and one Of the bes, repre-
sen,A,iye., Of its Kind, I will take Il fo'
illustration. The general reader. as vel
q. railroad men. will readily note ia
unique, erriou. and interesting features.
The road was bull, in the summer oI
ISIS? and the winter Of lss?.s3. Thai
winter was notable q. one Of the mos'
severe on record. the mercury for week,
a, time registering from S degree. TO
20 degree. below zero. and the snow be.
ing deep; which. with the then higt
price Of maerial.. made the expense
much more than il would COS, 10 bulk
the same road a, the present time. Th'
exac, length Of the road ]. Il 9.lO miles
independent, Of siding.. The cost Of con
s,ruetion wa. sl69. .39j; of equipmen
s2G,i73; total cost, sl95.s6s. Th'
same kind Of steel rails can nov b
bought for so to IS per cent. less. .nc
other materials are cheaper 50 th.'
what then co., sbou, $1,000 per mile u
construct could row be done for 500
The rail. are Of steel. Cambridge pattern
are 80 feet long. and weigh so pounds
to the yard. Number Of ties used Pc
mile, 26iO. There are two engines
bull, a, the Hinkley Locomotive Works
Bos,on.-eseh weighing 26,O 900 pounds
with driving wheels 80 inches diameter
and heir power. considering their snisI
size and weight. is simply surpring. a
i. shown by the way they conquer .,esI
grade. with heavy loads, snd force ,bei
way with plough through deep snow
and huge drifts. by which they are sci
dom long detained. The two passsnee
cars (built at the Lsoonia Car Work
n. II. are each as by 6 l.2 feet; ese
seats so psssengeu-one person to
seat, there being two rows Of seats
flushed in solid mahogany and nicel
upholstered. Between the hoorings
each car, mineral wood three inches dee
renders them fire proof. prevents any col
air from passing aud deadsns the noi''
These car. are run with little jar or nOi'