Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1912-12-20
TOY ROAD PAYS DIVIDENDS
Miniature Engine Has Remained Ir
Service for Forty-Three Years
In Wales.

IN wales.
The Festiniog railroad is not much
larger than one which might have
been constructed to amuse the chill.
dren OF a royal household. yet 1t has
taken its place among the most sue
cessful lines in Wales. In operation
for over seventy years, 1t is distinc-
lively profitable and pays satisfactory
dividends.
The Festiniog is one OF the toy rail.
roads OF the world and was the first
OF Its kind ever constructed. II was
built in 1889 to facilitate the trans
portation OF slate from the Welsh
quarries to Portmadoc. The long in
clines then would carry the cars to
their destination by gravity. while
horses would haul back the empties
In 1868, after twenty-three years Of
service for the quarries, C. z. Spoon
er. an engineer, suggested that the
steam engine be introduced and the
railroad reconstructed to carry pas
sengers and freight. The suggestion
was adopted and in that year its
period OF business and finance began.
The Festiniog railroad is 1871 miles
long Its gauge is 23A inches. From
terminus to terminus 1t ascends or
descends the inclines along which the
old gravitation equipment once rolled.
On the journey northward the differ
ence In the altitude of the two termi-
nails is 700 feet, which means con-
slant climb from Portmadoc. In
many places train of the usual num-
Der Of cars winds around two or three
curves within its own length.
Its first locomotive was called the
Little Wonder and 1t has won its
title, for after almost forty-three
years on the rails 1t Is still in efficient
service. 1t was built In 1859. Its
height is about that of the average
man. Notwithstanding its size 1t can
haul train of seven passenger cars,
ten box cars, caboose and hundred
or more empty slate trucks-a string
measuring more than 1000 feet in
length and weighing 10 tons. 1t
makes the grades without difficulty,
and on the more favorable stretches
1t can attain a speed Of thirty miles
an hour.
The railroad possesses several fea-
lures Of technical interest. for being
one-track road, 1t is equipped with
passing sidings, spurs and the neces-
sary telegraphic and signal equip
ment to render the operation of the
road perfectly safe. There Is little
or no danger to passengers, in fact, it
Is not known that collision or de-
railment has ever occurred.
The engineer and fireman face what
is practically the only danger on the
road-the tunnels When the tunnels
were built little or no clearance was
allowed above the tops Of the cars,
for the possibility Of the steam en-
CINE and crew was not then consid-
cred. When standing on the deck the
heads of the fireman and engineer ex-
tend above the entrances of the tun-
nels, and serious accidents might re-
suit If they failed to lower their heads
when running into one of the passage
ways
Though the passenger cars are
small they furnish comfortable &C.
commodation for fifty passengers. In
1911 over $4,000 tourists rode on the
Festiniog. It's success has encouraged
others to construct miniature narrow
gauge railroads. In North Wales the
North Wales Narrow Gauge railroad
is being operated, but the most ia,
nous Of the worlds toy railroads Is
the Otavi line in South Africa. 1t is
the longest little railroad in the
world, extending 1858 miles from
Swapkomund, on the coast of German
Southwest Africa. to Tsumeb, in the
heart of the wilderness. It's gauge
is two feet.-Railroad Mans Maya.
zine.