Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4602611
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CHEAP RAILWAYS.
THE following circular has been published by Mr. Fitzgibbon, of New Zealand:
Description of Improved Railroad, suit-
able for the colonies, and for the branch lines, or feeders to main trunk-railroads.
It being very desirable that a system of
railroad be introduced, suitable for the re-
quirements of a moderate traffic conveyed at a low rate of speed, and which may be con- structed at a low cost within the means of our colonies, and of rural districts in Europe, the following description of improved rail- road, is submitted, as being found to fulfil the conditions desired, and which has re- ceived the approval of many eminent engi-
neers and capitalists.
In railroad construction the weight of the locomotive engine intended to be used, and the speed proposed to be maintained, governs the strength and cost of structure.
The engines in use upon most European and American railroads weigh from twenty- six to thirty-six tons, exclusive of the weight of the tender; and the running speed ranges from twenty-five to fifty miles an hour,
with gross loads of from eighty to three
hundred tons.
These weights and speeds involve the adoption of a permanent way (rails, sleepers, &c.) of great weight and solidity; the rails weighing from 65 lbs. to 100 lbs. per yard, and necessitating the construction of bridges and substructure of a correspondingly mas- sive and expensive character.
It needs no argument to prove that a rail- road so constructed, and suitable for carry- ing the enormous traffic existing between the large European and American cities, is more than is demanded by the requirements of an ordinary traffic and a thin population, such as is generally to be found in our colonies, and in our agricultural districts at
home.
It is found that, for the conveyance of a traffic beyond the capacity of ordinary mac- adamised roads, at a speed not exceeding twenty miles an hour, a locomotive engine,
weighing not more than eight tons, running upon light rails, is sufficient.
Engines of this kind have, of late years, been patented by various inventors, such as Bloydell, Bray, Taylor, and others, whose traction engines are constructed for running on ordinary macadamised roads, and have been adopted by several ship-builders and others, and by government for use in the national dockyards, and for service in India.
A locomotive engine, somewhat similar in principle to these, weighing eight tons, on four coupled wheels, with a gauge of 3 ft. to 3 ft. 6in., and capable of passing round curves of four to five chains radius, will draw, upon a level railroad, a gross load of 160 tons, at a speed of fifteen to twenty miles an hour; a gross load of sixty-five tons up an incline of one foot in 100; of thirty- five tons up an inline of one foot in forty;
and of twenty tons up an incline of one foot
in twenty.
The weight of engine being reduced to about one-fourth that of ordinary locomo- tives, the weight and strength of bridges and
permanent way can be reduced proportiona- bly; so that, instead of having a rail weigh- ing 65 lbs. to 100 lbs. to the yard, one of 30 lbs. to the lineal yard is ample.
The width between the rails (or guage) being only 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches, curves of four to five chains radius being admissible, and gradients so steep as one foot in twenty employed, the natural surface of the ground can be the
more readily followed; and heavy earth- works and viaducts being avoided, the for- mation of the road-bed, bridging, and all the work underneath the ballast usually denom- inated "the substructure," will be of an inexpensive character.
Tho road-bed, at formation level, need not be more than sixteen feet wide, including three feet on either side the ballasting for
side drains.
For light engines and trains used on these lines, the heaviest portions of which do not exceed 10 cwt. per foot run, wire suspension bridges, at a very low cost, such as those used in America, will answer every purpose; these are very durable, and are made up to spans of 1000 feet or more.
The permanent way, occupying a width of six feet, may be laid down along the sides of common roads, and the traffic worked by horses, where it is not sufficient to necessitate the use of locomo- tive engine power. The rail used is five inches in depth, and weighs 30lbs. per yard; it is fished at the joints, and secured between longitudinal timbers of hard wood, which give great vertical and horizontal stiffness; it is trenailed down to cross sleepers placed at intervals of nine feet.
The locomotive engine, used as before de- scribed, is adapted for speeds of fifteen to twenty miles an hour, and carries fuel and
water for that distance.
The engine, being about one-fourth the weight of ordinary locomotives, will not crush the rails, which are something over one-third the ordinary weight, while the bearing surface of the timber sleepers upon
the ballast is little less than the ordinary
area.
The sleepers may be laid upon six inches in depth of ballast; and, by proper attention to the drainage, the permanent way can be kept in perfect order at a small expense, as compared with the cost of upkeep of that of an ordinary railroad.
In economising traction, it is important so to construct the vehicles that they may be convertible to various uses; as for ex- ample, the conveyance of wool, cotton, passengers, &c.
It is also important that the weight of the vehicles should not exceed one-half of the weight of the load.
The vehicles, on this system, weigh one ton and a quarter, and the load is two tons
and a half.
Moveable seats are provided, so that the wagon becomes an open carriage, capable also of being covered in, and, by a peculiar construction of springs, it will carry a few passengers as easily as a heavy load of goods, the power of the springs varying with the load, and saving the road from damage. The axles run loose in their boxes, and the wheels of the carriages run independently upon their axles. One carriage will carry forty passengers. If required, first-class bodies can be mounted on the same frames. With a 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, the carriage bodies are seven feet wide. The weight of ten miles of line, in- cluding one engine, twenty carriages, rails sleepers, and fastenings, will not exceed 800 tons; equal to the transit, in one train, of 800 passengers, or fifty tons net, of goods:
so that the freight from England may be
calculated -
COST OF TEN MILES OF LINE. Rails, sleepers, one engine, and
twenty vehicles in England £14,000 Freight, insurance charges, unload-
ing and stacking rails and
sleepers, &c. 2500 Ballasting and boxing, £300 per mile 3000 Laying permanent way, including
haulage of materials, &c. 2000
£21,500
Or, say £2200 per mile, including rolling stock complete, if laid down along the side of existing roads.
If laid down in a locality where there are no roads in existence, forming and levelling
for a width of sixteen feet, and draining and bridging, fencing, &c., would be required, and the expense per mile added to the above
estimate.
The drains being adapted to sharp curves of four or five chains radius, inclinations of one foot in twenty capable of being as- cended, and the heaviest portion of the train not exceeding ten cwt. per foot run, the substructure for the line will not, except in very exceptional cases, exceed £1000 to £1500 per mile, exclusive of purchase of
land and fencing.
As compared with the cost of Australian railways (of £30,000 to £40,000 per mile), the foregoing estimate seems ridicu- lously low; yet the writer is able to state, from actual expe- rience of railway construction in Europe, America, Ceylon, and New Zealand that a line of the description given can be constructed and equipped for the estimate
mentioned.
The writer has been for some time engaged in setting out and in the construction of a railroad (the route for which was selected by Mr. Doyne) for the Dun Mountain Copper Mining Company (limited), from the port of Nelson, New Zealand, to the company's
mines in the interior.
Eleven miles of this line are constructed through a most difficult country, the rise in that distance being about 2800 feet. Five miles of the line have a gradient of one foot in eighteen, succeeded by four and a-half miles having a gradient of one foot in twenty.
The curves range from one chain to ten chains radius; and, of the eleven miles, not more than half a mile in the aggregate is straight.
The line is, at present, but six feet wide at formation level, and is cut out of the mountain sides the entire way, which are very steep, having an average inclination to the horizon of thirty-three degrees.
About two-thirds of the excavation is in rock, the remainder clay.
The gauge of the line is three feet, with a rail of 30lbs. to the yard, fished at the joints, supported by transverse sleepers of black birch timber, 8 inches by 4½ inches, placed three feet apart.
The sleepers rest on eight inches in thick- ness of broken stone ballast, and the space be- tween the sleepers is filled up with similar material, which, having two inches of gravel on top, forms a most excellent roadway for
the horses which work the traffic.
The cost of this line, as it is, including permanent way and rolling stock imported from England (say two wagons to the mile), has not exceeded £2000 per mile.
Tenders have been received for widening the road bed of the line to ten feet, for £600 per mile ; and if £400 per mile additional were expended in easing the curves, so that they should not be less than three chains radius, and £400 per mile in replacing the dry masonry in some of the culverts with rubble masonry in mortar, we should have, at a cost not exceeding £3600 per mile, a very substantial and good line, up which a traction engine might work, or a team of two horses could take a net load of two tons with ease; the net load now taken up by such a team being one and a quarter tons, at two miles per hour.
Considering the results which have been attained, under unusual difficulties, upon the Dun Mountain railroad, with a country to traverse somewhat similar to the Semering Pass in Austria, the Bore Ghauts near Bombay, or to the Kandian range in Ceylon, and with ordinary labor at ten shillings for eight hours' work; it is assumed that an esti- mate which has been found sufficient for railroad construction at Nelson, will more than suffice for localities where the difficul- ties of country are not so great, nor the state of the labor market and other condi- tions so unfavorable and so exceptional.
Wherever, after laying down the descrip- tion of permanent way referred to, the traffic so increases as to necessitate the use of
powerful and heavier engines and vehicles, a heavier kind of permanent way can be substituted, and that taken up can be relaid in extension of the main line and used as a feeder thereto, or for branch lines.
In many localities, where stone suitable for metalling ordinary roads, and timber for bridges, are difficult to procure, and where labor and haulage is expensive, the improved railroad will be cheaper in first cost, and in after cost of upkeep, than a macadamised road.
It may further be remarked that mineral and other regions, such, for instance, as that through which the Dun Mountain Railway passes, presenting such difficulties of country as to put the construction of ordinary roads for any useful purpose out of the question, may be traversed, easily, and inexpensively by lines of railroad made on the improved system described; and so districts abound- ing in mineral and other wealth may be opened up, which, otherwise, are practically
inaccessible.
Moreover, the railroad can be used in con- veying material for forming, bridging, and metalling the macadamised road, wherever it may be desirable to construct such alongside the railroad; the road being used for the purely local purposes re- quired by an agricultural community, and the railroad used for the through traffic
between the various settlements upon its
route.
American experience proves that many advantages are gained by having an ordi- nary road alongside a railroad; while the inconveniences sometimes supposed to result from having locomotive engines running alongside ordinary roads traversed by horses and vehicles, are found to be more imaginary
than real.
One of the chief advantages, however, of the improved railroad is, that it can be
worked either by engine or horse power at
pleasure, or by both.
A. C. FITZGIBBON, C.E.,
Engineer and Manager to the Dun
Mountain Copper Mining Com- pany, Nelson, New Zealand. October, 1861.
The master of the Bessio Seabright, arrived at tho Cape of Good Hope on the 4th of July from Mauritius, &o., shot a pigeon at sea just beforo arriving in port, which had apbial tied to its nock'containing a piece of paper with the following :?" The ship Lord Raglan, from Bombay, towards Liverpool, out 57 days ; lat. 37 S., long. 34
HS. All well."
A New Yomc correspondent says thal there is great competition among American coffin makers to got a oontract from tho War Department, to send homo, in sealed coftius, all tho officers that are killed, and to bury, when they full, the privates I
Mr. SKniiELL, a passenger from Liverpool, has boen arrested at New York, owing to his having ru ado himself unpleasantly con- spicuous during tho voyage by talking violently against the North. On his person was found £-10,000, in Bank of England notes, supposed to bo for the Southern government, tho amount of a loan ho had negociatcd in England.
The Princo do Joinville, thc Count do Paris, and tho Due do Chartres havo sailed for New York The visit of the French princes to Amorica has, it is rumored, some political significauco in connection with tho
secession movement.
The Pleasures op Newspaper Editing 1 ?We learn thaMhe offices of tho Eastern (Pennsylvania) Sentinel have been gutted, because the editor was opposed to tho war. Mr. Johnson, a representative in Congress from that district, was burnt in effigy, and he himself compelled to show his colors. Ambrose L. Kimball, nominal editor and proprietor of tho Essex County Democrat, has been taken from his house in Haverhill, by a mob of several hundred citizens, led down to tho centre of tho town, made to strip himself of his clothing, and then libe- rally coated with tar, and afterwards covered with feathers. He was then placed astrido a rail, ridden round town and over to Bradford, then brought back and made to kneel before tho crowd and promise that ho would print no more articles "against the North?so help mo God." He was then escorted home, and tho crowd giving three cheers, quietly dispersed.
We learn by a letter from Constantinople that a woman named Theresa, a Sicilian by birth, and keeper of a house of ill-fame, was somo time ago arrested for murdering a young man. During tho inquiry that fol-
lowed her arrest it was ascertained that she had murdered at least fourteen other per- sons'. , She was sentenced to bo strangled in front 'ofiher own house. ,: