NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 May 1922, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

NARROW GAUGE AND SPEED. The latest issue of the New Zealand Journal of Science contains an article by Mr. S. H. Jenkinson on locomotive design, in- the course of which he discusses the bearing of track-guage on the efficiency of the New Zealand railways. “The 3ft. 6in. gauge, the one laid in New Zealand, is,” he says, “probably slightly better than any other for any class of line whatsoever, but no gauge has sufficient advantage over any other usual gauge to justify a break of gauge in any one country or railway system.” Gauge has. no practical influence on speed, and in New Zealand, as elsewhere, the speeds are "now limited by the rails and ballasting and not by the locomotive or the gauge. Wherever the standard of track construction and maintenance permits it, speeds of GO miles per hour can now be ea ily attained by modern engines on the New Zealand gauge, and if economic conditions called for or allowed it, locomotives could easily be designed to greatly exceed this speed. “Taking all points into consideration,” says Mr. Jenkinson, “I have no hesitation in saying that a gauge between 3ft. and 3ft. Gin. is suitable for the heaviest locomotives and largest rolling stock, while a gauge narrower than 3ft. offers no advantages whatever for light railways.” In a later paragraph, the writer observes that the limit of power of the present locomotives is seldom reached, being hindered by speed restrictions due to curves and light lines, load restrictions due to platform and siding length, or the presence of ruling grades combined with the limitations upon tractive effort imposed by the drawgear and under-frames of the present roiling stock.