The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-12-17

| the wheel Of an American locomotive
III which was cut a groove 50 deep and
wild that / could lay my three nm
gers in il. rs an example OF how the
sands ruin our car wheels. The desert
Is covered with grains as hard as fhHt-
They blow over the rails, ana as the
cars move they grind out the steer
as though they were emery powder AS
a result a wheels life is short, and
We have to cut down its tire every few
months. MorcoyeryRthe sand gets into
the bearings, and there is q continuous
wearing which necessitates almost con-
slant repair.
"How about your sandstorms Are
| they serious obstacles to traffic.?
cat times. yes. They come with
/ such violence that they cover the
tracks; they darken the sun so that
| when you are in one o cannot see
your hand before your face. They often
| spring up afar off, and you can watch
them coming. At such times the SAND
! gets into everything and grinds its way
through all parts Of the machinery.
Another thing we have to contend
with continued the railway manager,
is the extraordinary drvness OF the
air. This shrinks everything connect
ed with the road. Our rolling stock
has to be frightened up again and
again. one of our passenger cars will
shrink as much as eighteen inches in
one wall alone, and we have to put In
extra boards to fill up. This Is 50 as
to all sorts of woodwork.
The destructive Ant.
another trouble is the white ant"
Capt. MidWinter continued. THAT lit
tie termite eats anything wooden. 1t
chews up the insides Of our cars n
even attacks the furniture. Where
there is the least moisture the ants
VIII go for the railroad ties. and they
will also chew out the insides Of the
wood telegraph poles. They always
work in the dark. leaving q thin she'll
Of wood outside. The result Is that a
tie or pole may look sound, but all
at once il ~crunbles to pieces We
have to inspect the road very care
fully at regular intervals and watch
out for weak points. We are now
using steel shells as ties. They do
not make SO smooth a road as the
Wooden ties. but the ants cannot eat
them. We are also using steel tele-
graph poles"
american vs.. British Locomotives.
Il understand that you have some
American locomotives. How do they
COMPARE with those from Great Brit
ain ~
Not Well" replied the railroad di-
rector I'VE have some of your en-
gines which we bought seven years
ago. We are still using them, but
most of them have been repaired and
made over. You people make loco
motives, expecting to run them to their
full capacity for four or five years and
then brow them on the scrap heap.
This is not advisable out here in the
desert, where freight costs so much
and the trouble Of getting our rolling
stock is so great. We want machinery
that will stand al sorts of trials, in
Guiding the climate. We want it rust
proof and rOtprOOf and heavily made
all around. We have here not only the
( dry air y nd the sand 10 contend with.
but in the n~eighbOrhOod of the Red
sea also tho salt air and n alkall
water. The latter ruin our boilers, and
more so. in some respects than the
sand. Take a look at this English loco
motive which has just been sent in
for repairs. Its boiler is full of holes.
That comes from the alkali water"
Desert Water Stations.
II suppose the lack Of water Is one
of your chief difficulties, is it not?"
Eyes. This railroad is over three
hundred miles long and the track Is
laid through the sand. For about
one-third of the distance inland from
the Red sea the country is mountain
ous, but the rest is flat. There are no
streams. and we have to rely on arte-
sian wells for our water supply. We
nave bored a number, but we find that
the water in many places is salt. We
struck one which had three per cent
Of salt in it, and another in which the
water was one per cent salt. VI
course such water is useless for our
locomotives.
1--WE are having trouble also in get
ting a good water supply at Port Su-
dan. We sank one we'll to a depth of
eight hundred feet and struck a good
flow Of fresh water. We had hardly
completed It, however, before the salt
water from the Red sea began to seep
in, and we are now drilling again.
There are some stretches along the
route where there is no water what
yer. In such places we have to carry
our supply with us. For this we have
tanks Of galvanized iron, each Of which
Will hold about fifteen hundred gal
lans."
Travel on the Red Sea Railroad.
with all this, Capt. Midwinter, can
you make your road pay?"
Il think so. 1t is the short cut to
the Sudan and Central Africa. and it
VIII have the most of the carrying
trade of that region. The country is
vast, and it is just now on the edge of
its development. Goods will be
brought over the Red Sea road to
White and Blue Niles. We shall have
new roads going out from Khartum
connecting the Nile with all parts Of
the country. and both the rivers and
the road will be feeders for this line
Of ours"
The SiTdar on Railroad Building.
Speaking of the railroads Of the Su-
dan, during a conversation with Sir
Reginald Wingate, the governor gen
eral at khartum, [ asked him several
questions as to their possible future.
He said:
The development of the country
depends largely upon railroad build
ing. The road from the Nile to the
Red Sea is already increasing our
trade, and it Will do more as soon as
we & bring the cars right into
Khartum and Omdurman. We are
building a bridge across the Blue Nile,
which Will carry the road into Khan
ttum, and in the near future, I hope
we shall have a bridge across the
White Nile. which will take it doW.l
to Omdurman. The road will prob
ably be soon extended into the Gezi-
reh, the plain which lies between the
White and Blue Niles. and we shall
have another extension running off
into kordolan.
How about railroads from the SUI
dan to Abyssinia? p
They Will come some time. but
whether their building will start from
the Sudan or from Abyssinia remains
to be seen. There is talk now of ex-
tending the railroad which runs from
D1lbouti to neal Harar clear across