THE APPLICATION OF ROADS TO RAILWAYS.

Southland Times, Issue 1136, 5 April 1869, Page 3

THE APPLICATION OF ROADS TO RAILWAYS.

The following remarks by Mr W. Bridges Adams, appeared in the 'Daily News' of 20th December last : — It is now nineteen years since I first puolished my 6ystem in the ' Westminster Review,' and subsequently in a pamphlet form. At that time railway! proper were emerging from the slough of despond into which they had fallen when Caledonians were almost given away, and new railways and branches were rife again. Capitalists and contractors, as was quite natural, preferred the construction of new lines at at a large cost to the conversion of old roads at a very small cost, the latter leaving less margin for profit. So the roads remained in obeyance, and railway branches have been made in abundance, which in many cases, instead of feeders, have proved to be mere ■ackers. Again the railways have fallen on evil times, and the large outlay of capital has caluminated in the raising of fares, and that has reacted in turning the public attention to a possibly cheaper j system of transit, by what are called " tramways " in the suburbs of towns. At first sight this would appear to be a rivalry with railways) but no truth is more certain than that the more i passengers there are carried by these supplementary lines, the more traffic will incidentally accrue to the railways proper. The items of cost in a new line of railway, saying nothing of cost of permission in the form of law and parliamentary i expenses, are land, cuttings, embankments, ballast, i fences, bridges, viaducts, approaches, stations, hotels, and many other necessary sources of outlay. The real road, i.e., the permanent way and the moving machinery, are but a small part of the total, and even that might he much smaller but for the neglect of the available mechanical appliances for the avoidance of friction. With steam. for a serving giant, resistances have been overcome by brute force instead of skill, and rails and sleepers and ballast have been crushed out by engines of monster weights aggravating the destructive power of long-sliding parallelograms, forcing sharper curves, with constant risk of getting off the rails ; the accidents that happen are the natural sequence of cause and effect. In I converting the highways and turnpike roads to the uses of railways, the only outlay needed is for permanent way, engines, and vehicles. There is no land to buy ; no cuttings or embankments are needed, unless improved gradients are required from time to time, as they are at present, for ordinary use. The fences are made, as well as the bridges ; the approaches are there, as well as inns and hotels, which served the coaches in the olden time. Even the solidified ballast is there, ready to receive the rails. All that is wanted is a different structure of rail, that need not wear out steel, and a plan of keeping it in position simply, and without costly labour, which has not yet been obtained on the railway proper. The coaditions I required are, first that the rail be flush with the surface so as to permit any ordinary vehicles to run over it when needed, though not along it, and with provision to prevent carts or waggons running close to it, and cutting grooves. Secondly, that the gauge of way be distinct from that of the j railways proper, in order to prevent the chance of any heavy engine or waggon running on it and crushing it. Probably a 3 foot 6 inch gauge | would be the best, for that would permit the use | of engines and vehicles 7 feet at width, or 7 feet 6 inches, where the road might be wide enough ; that would be equivalent to four paesengere abreast. Thirdly, that the rails should follow the course of the roads on one side or the other, avoiding the middle wkere practicable, and with passing places for trains going in opposite directions. With regard to the rolling stock, no engine should exceed in weight three tone per driving wheel, and it should carry its water on a single frame without a tender, so as to run with equal facility either end foremost, and it should carry an ample supply of water and fuel for say fifty miles, for it is a leas evil to carry the extra weight than to have frequent stoppages. Moreover, the engine should run without surplus friction round curves of fifty feet radius. It may not be needful for the general roads it has to traverse, but on entering the outskirts of a town to get to its resting-place it will have to pass round the same corners as other vehicles, and of course the carriages and waggons, must follow the same curves. Such a train would pass without difficulty through any ordinary streets, if required. And the seats must ol course be accessible from the street level, as omnibuses are, without the paraphernalia of railway platforms. Constructed on the general principle of omnibuses, with passengers inside and on the roof, the vehicles would carry 54 passengers each, and there would be the facility of taking the fares by the conductors Seated sideways, a vehicle usually only carries half the number it can crossways. If roof seats were a difficulty on any road from bridges, then the came number might be carried inside. In a train ' of this class 250 passengers could be carried up gradients of I in 30 at 15 to 20 miles per hour,

and with liquid fuel there would be no mow trouble than with a Jarge lamp, neither spurtf nor smoke. If would therefore be quite practicable to use open rehiales in the summer time To convert 5,000 miles of turnpike road into practical railways would cost about seven millions. Taking the sparse and populous country together an average halfpoany pur mile per head would pay for rou 1 rail ways. Street railways demand other considerations.