NARROW GUAGE RAILWAY.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1039, 21 January 1873, Page 2

NARROW GUAGE RAILWAY.

As the profitable working of the coal measures to the north of Westport must inevitably depend upon the construction of a cheap line of railway leading thereto, and connecting the mines with this place as the only port whence safe and uninterrupted communication with outer markets can be held, the following experiments will be read with interest, which a London paper informs us wero recently made : —At the South Camp Aldersliot, to test' the recently constructed narrow guage railway which has been laid down between the Field Stores Depot and the Barrack Stores, a large number of engineers were present. Mr J. B. Fell, the inventor of the system, explained the advantages. The line is upwards of one mile in length. About two thirJs is laid down on curves from three chains to seven chains radius, and there is a gradient of 1 in 50 for a length of 770 ft upon a viaduct of from 20ft to 25tt in height, the guage being 18in. The rails are laid on two longitudinal timber beams, supported at intervale of 10fc and 15ft by posts with lateral struts. The general plan of the structure of the locomotive which is used has been designed by Mr Fell; the working plau3 wero prepared and the engine built by Messrs Manning Wardle and Co., of Leeds. The engine weighs tons, and the tender 3 \ tons, with coals and water. There are three pairs of driving-whee.'s coupled, each 16in in diameter. There are also four horizontal wheels running upon guide rails fixed on the lower edges of the beams. The depth of the guide rails below the carrying rails is and this is equivalent to an extension of gauge, so that as regards stability and safety the gauge of 18in on this system of railway is equivalent to one of 3ft Gin on an ordinary rai'« way. The bodies of the waggons are Bft long, sft wide, 2ft deep, and are calculated to carry a load of three tons each, or from 300 to 400 cubic feet of bulky articles. The waggons are suspended from two pairs of wheels placed not under the body but at each end of it; the body of the waggon is thus brought down to about 3in abo"" the carrying rails, and a very lovrv centre of gravity is by this means obtained. The experiments referred to formed one of the series been held at Aldershot during the past three months, and the result fully justified all that its inventor has stated, respecting the scheme. The linos made on this principle are capable of carrying sufficient quantities of military stores, including field artillery and siege guns of seven tons weight.