Narrow Gauge Railroads

Written for the Aeciui. If the following tatémente berewith given are trim, has thcre not boni a great mistako made in the oonttruotion oi' toads on the 4tt. K 1-2 inch gaugo, and would it not, in iiiany instanccs, be better tbr corporatidns tn reconstroot tbeir roads and run thein n a redooed gauge ? 1 hall not in this article endeavor to mswer these questions, but simply give theopinions of severa"! Civil and Meclianic.al Engineers who have given tliis subject their attention, and leavo thu ronder to form liis own conchiMons. Mr. Farlie, a oelebrated English Mu chanical Enginoer, saya: "It ougbt to be engravod upon the luind of every engineer tbat every iuch added to the width of a gauge, beyond what is abHolutely necessary for the traffio, adils to the cost of üonstrnction, increases the proportion of dead weight, increases the cost of working, and in consequenco increueg the tariffa to the public, and by so much reduces the usefulness of the railway." He further adds : " In moderate températe climates, gauges of two feet six inches will be found aniplo for any tvaffic in any part of the world, and will sustain a speed of thirty miles an hour ; while three feet ia suffinien t f or either very hot or very cold climates, and will sustain a speed of forty miles au hour." And he follows it up by majting a eomparison between the Xorth western Railroad of England, the best uiunaged road in the world as it now is, with 4ft. 8 1-2 inch gauge, and what it would have been had it been made a tb ree feet gaugeproving that there would have been a saving of one-hp.lf in the expense of running the road. In the economy of working and running a road on the two gauges, I give a comparison instituted by Howard Schuyler, Engineer of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, an engineer of large experience and fine scientific aequirements. The comparison is made between the Penusylvania Central Railroad, broad gauge, and the D. & R. G. R., which has a three feet gauge : Passenger engine of the P. C. R. has a weight on ita drivers oí 20 tons ; the aggregate weight of engine and tender is 52 1-2 tons. Passenger engine on the D. & R. G. R. has a weight on drivers of 10 tons; aggregate weight of engiue and tender is 1" 1-2 tons. The usual local passenger tram on P. C. R. nonsists of 4 passenger curs, each seatmg 5i passengers, and weigïring each 19 tons, " 7d Tons. One baggage car, 1 4 One engine and tender, ,V2. 1-2 " Total train weight, ■ 1 Í2 1-2 " or 285,000 lbs The train will seat 212 passengers 285,000 divided by 212 gives about 1,344 lbs. oï train weight for each passenger. To carry the same uumber oí passengers on the D. & R. O. R. will require fa passenger cars, each seating 35 passengers, and each weighing 8 tons, 48 Tons. One baggage car, 4 " One engine and tender, 15 1-2 " Total train weight, 67 1-2 " or 135,000 lbs. 135,000 divided by 212 gives about 637 lbs, train weight for each passenger. It will be seen that the D. & R. G. R. has less than one-half the train weight of the P. C. R., which load it is obvious the smaller engine, having half the power (weight on drivers) will take anywhere the larger engine can carry its load. In the freight trains the comparison is about as follows : Freight engine 4ft. 8 1-2 inch gauge ; weight on drivers 30 tons ; total weight oi engine and tender is 57 1-2 tons ; its load on a level, exclusive oí eugine and tender, is 1,440 tons. D. & R. G. K., 3 feet gauge : weight on drivers is 15 tons ; total weight oí engine and tender is 20 1-2 tons ; load on level, exclusive of engine and tender, is 722 tons. Of this load on broad gauge, the proportionate weight of cars benig 1 to 1 of freight, there will be : Weight of cars, 720 Tons. Weight of freight, 720 " On the three feet gauge, the proportionate weight of cars being 1 to 2 1-2 of freight, we have : Weight of cars, 208 Tons. Weight of freight, 516 " or nearly two-thirds the paying matter hauled by the large engine. This would be a good show, if, as has been assnmed, the cars always run full ; but unfortunately this is far froin being the case. Statistics show that on all broad gauge roads the proportion of dead to paying weight is as 4 to 1. In other words the average load carried in each car is but one-fourth its capacity. It is not unreasonable to expect from the small size of the cars, which should lessan this tendency at least fifty per cent., that this would not occur on the 3 feet gauge ; but allow that it will, we still havöi the following result : V ' On full gauge with load as above, we get: weight of cars, 1,102 Tons. Weight of freight, 288 On 3 feet gauge with load as above, 722 tons, we get , weight of cars, 441 " Weight of freight, 278 ' or within 10 tons of the paying freight hnuled by an engiue of twice the power. If coinparisons of gross tonnage are now made, the immense sa ving in cost of operiting such roads can be readily percoived, 'or the above is not merely theory. The following will suggest how great conomy in construction is efïected : The weight of irou is regulated by the ïeaviest weight on any single wheel, vhich is invariably on the driving whoel of engines. Conditions of speed, eto. remaining the same, if half this weight be taken from the driving wheels, the same actual duty will be performed, and the weight of iron eau be reduoed one-half and still retain as great or greater proportionate strength. The heigtt of rail being reduced but one-fourth, the head and flange reniaining of pioportionate weight (one-hal fof the broad gauge rail), the greatest reduction is made in the thickness of web, where weight counts for little in supporting strength. The weight of rail most couitnonly used on the broad gauge road is 561bs. to the yard , which gives 88 tona gross per mile. The weight of rail used on the D. & E. Q. E., which ia 3 feet gauge, is 30 Iba. to the yard, which gives 47 tons gross per ruilo. Cost of bridging will be to a certain extent regulatad by the weight of the trains that are to pass over thein. Grading in I level orcomparatively smooth countries is reduced 30 per cent. ; in rough countries, 50 per cent. I think it will be plain from this that these roads are adapted not uierely aa branches or feeders to broad gauge lines, but may, in themselves, and will in time forin. trunk lines, owing to the sinall amount of capital required to construct them, and the great economy they possess over the comiuon gauge in working. The great objection urged against the j construction of narrow gauge roads is, tliat as the main linea are four feet, eight and one-half inch gauge if the branch lines are of a narrower gauge the freight must all be reshipped at a large cost. This is a disadvantage, but the amount of cost of transferring freight is greatly over-estimated. In the report made by the D. & E. G. E. directors to their stookholders, in speaking of transhipment of freight from one gauge to another, they aay : " Up to the time of making this re. port, without any particular arrangement being marte for it, and with labor at $2.00 pet day, the oot to tfae oompany at Denver Iihs been 10 uents per tou on coal, iron, lumber, etc, and 15 cents ou miscellaneona ruerchandise, and it oonld proba1)1)- be ruduced 30 pur ctmt." W hen tin; faeilities for trenshipment are at hand, it is olaimed that all mineral, such as coal and i-on could be reshipped for 2 cent per ton, and lamber Deed not, exoeed 10 cents per ton. In a lettur lately received trom Oen. Palmer, President of the I). & II. G. 11., be says for the h'rst two nionths, May and June, the running expenses have not exceeded 40 per cent. of its earning8. According to the report of the Kailroad Comiuissioner of this State, the running expenses of the roads in the State average about 08 per cent. of their eamings. And I would add, in this conneetion, that, according to this report, the average oost of the railroads in this State is $.'i9,9S:. The highest is the Michigan Central, which stands at $91,0fió, and the lowost is the Saginaw and St. Louis, which stands $16,608.91. The country botweon Saginaw and St. Louis is similar in surface to that between Ann Arbor and Toledo. A narrow gauge could have been prabubly built on this line for at least 40 per cent less than the broad gauge has been, which would have placed it $9,965.25 per mile. G. T. C.