CHEAP RAILWAYS.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1908, 17 June 1869, Page 3

CHEAP RAILWAYS.

(From the Oaino.ru Times.) In a country like this where the first requirement is the opening up of communication and affording facilities for passenger traffic and the conveyance of merchandise, any information with regard to the easiest mode of effecting this is most welcome, and we therefore draw attention to a scheme for the construction of railways upon a very inexpensive scale, on a system proposed by Mr Joseph Dyer of Melbourne. This gentleman propounds a scheme, which, if only it be found thoroughly workable —and of that we have little doubt as we have recently read of a (similar .experiment having been successfully tried at home—will enable lines of railway or wipeway to be constructed at a less cost than is involved in the formation of an ordinary road, while giving far greater speed and requiring less expenditure in repairs. Mr Dyer’s railway or tramway is thus described by the Argus. It is proposed to “ have a single rail supported on piles, and along this rail is to run a series of grooved wheels, from the axles of which on either side are suspended, donkeypannierwise, the receptacles for goods or passengers, whose equal weight sustains the equilibrium of the whole. The friction being thus largely reduced, one horse will be enabled to draw an enormous number of tons weight, oscillation being prevented by friction rollers fixed at the sides of the longitudinal sleeper. It may be stated at this point that Mr Dyer now proposes an improvement, which by means of the lateral clip-wheels used in Fell’s system for climbing the steep gradients of the Mount Cenis transalpine railway,

will enable these carriages, when "drawn by a locomotive, to ascend or descend the steepest incline likely to be met with. And, further, it may be said that though Mr Dyer has not yet surmounted the difficulties attendant upon adapting a locomotive engine to this kind of transit, horse traction may nevertheless be applied.” We hardly see how locomotives can be used for this purpose, unless road traction engines be employed; and in either case, the new system could only be brought into use where roads already exist; but even so, the diminution of friction and the gain in speed would be very considerable, as one horse would easily draw ten times as much, and with greater rapidity, upon a tramway, than upon an ordinary road. As the expense of such a line as proposed by Mr Dyer would be only LI 000 a mile, the cost of constructing a line upon this principle between here and Dunedin would soon be recouped by the traffic receipts. But we think that the real key to the difficulty of opening up communication throughout the Province, lies in adopting the American plan of constructing railways. This is a more temporary principle than that adopted in the home country; but it has often struck us that we are doing too much for posterity in New Zealand, and too little for ourselves, by making our works too permanent. Take as an instance the Canterbury railway, which is constructed just as solidly and permanently as that of the Midland Counties. Now, we think that a narrower gauge, and lighter rails and sleepers, and less expensive rolling stock, would amply have sufficed for some years to come ; and then three miles of railway at least could have been made for one now laid down. That course would have made a vast difference to the receipts of the line, and would have opened up a far larger extent of country. In laying down lines in Otago we should steer clear of this mistake. Timber rails, of blue gum, or some other hard timber’, would amply suffice for the traffic for some years, and with a narrow gauge and inexpensive rolling stock—the engines need not be required to do more than ten miles an hour—would give ns railways for a little more outlay than ordinary roads, particularly if a metal centre rail were used, with clip-wheel locomotives, so as to dispense in a great measure with cuttings and embankments. By some such scheme as this we might soon have a network of railways throughout the Province, which would vastly promote the settlement of the country, and could be replaced by degrees, as the country could afford means, by a more permanent and substantial system. As things are now going on, we are making bits of railway in first-class style, with no connection with each other, and which can be at best but of local benefit; while less pretentious works would be an immediate benefit to the whole country, and would be the stepping stone to a further advance when circumstances should justify it. To use a good old saw, we should “ Creep before we gang.”