Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1891-07-17
A SHIP RAILROAD.
AN IDEA OF CAPTAIN EAos RE
VivED.

Canadian Enterprise Undertakes 80
Garry Out Yankee Idea-Its sueeess
would De Away with ship Canals
Eminent Men PrORouncs It Practical.
When Captain Eads, the distinguished
protector Of the Tehuantepec ship rail-
road died his great undertakings did not
die with him. The enterprise was ar
rested by the removal Of its leading spirit;
but Captain Eads had succeeded in con-
vincing many capitalists and leading en-
eineers of the entire practicability of
ship railroad to carry vessels of 5000
tons overland betwesn the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans. Some eminent civil en-
gineers, it Is true, ridiculed the project
as Quixotic, but others, whose scientific
opinions are entitled to great weight.
gave il their hearty approval. Sir +. j.
Reed, late chief constructor of the Brit
ish navy, said: II have no words but
those of encouragement for ship rail-
way, regarded from my point of view as
a ship builder accustomed for life
time to the designing, building, repair
ing, and docking of both wood and iron
ships. The late Mr. Pearce, the builder
Of the Etruria and other famous ships,
said: II am of opinion that iron steam
ers of 1000 or 5000 tons displacement
may be docked and loaded without any
injury whatever, and that ship railway
Tor vessels of this size may be constructed
and worked successfully. provided the
land is solid and the line moderately
level" While Captain Eads was entirely
confident Of the feasibility of his project
he thus took care to fortify himself with
the most eminent authorities on the sub
ject
In the meantime, while the Tehuante-
pee project is in dormant state, ship
railway is in process of construction in
another part of the continent. This is the
Chignecto Marine transport Railway, of
which an interesting description, with
illustrations, is given in the Nineteenth
Century by Sir Benjamin Baker, one of
the engineers of the work. The object of
this undertaking is to enable ships to
pass directly from the Bay of Fundy to
tile Gulf Of st. Lawrence, and thus save
a voyage of 600 miles around the stormy
coast of Nova Scotia The railway runs
IN a perfectly straight line from the town
OF Amherst, in the Bay of Fundy, to lid
nsh. Bale Verte, part Of the Gulf Of st.
Lawrence, distance Of II miles. Much
Of the important part of this work, con-
sisting Of the construction Of basins for
the accommodation of ships at both ends
Of tho route, is rapidly approaching com
pletion. The railway itself, which is
matter Of minor consideration, is simply
"a double line Of ordinary gauge, but the
space between the two lines is five feet
wider than usual.
The completion of this Nova Scotia
project of a ship railway win be awaited
with great interest, especially where
similar undertakings have been long in
contemplation. Should it prove sue
cess the project Of Captain Eads would
soon be revived, and it is entirely within
the range of probability that railway
may carry ships across the narrow 18TH
mus Of Tehuantepec before ship canal
to unite the two oceans shall have been
completed. The engineering difficulties
once overcome, one great advantage of
the ship railway over the canal would be
in the cheapness of construction, mainte-
nance and repairs. While a tropical
earthquake or tornado might destroy
canal, the damage to a ship railway
might readily be repaired at a compara-
lively small expense. AS for the motive
power for transporting ships by rail from
ocean TO ocean, the Baldwin Works have
constructed locomotives weighing on
hundred tons and guaranteed to carry
load Of 5000 tons on level railroad, an.
there is no doubt that these works coul
provide for the Tehuantepec Ship Raj.
way all the motive power it might re
auire.