OCR Text |
Show A TWO FOOT GUAGE. Unique Features of a Maine Railroad. INTEREST TO RAILWAY PROJECTORS. The Oout of Construction. Its Perfect Safety. Aa our narrow gmio road, the Driilgtoo Mid Hauo River, which taps tho Portland and OgdeiiMburg (standard K"ug) at Ilinitu, bii-teen bii-teen milcti west of HriilKton and forty miles west of I'oi tliuid, is a repruseiittitive, nnd ono of tho bint ri-ii'owiiUiUvL'n, of Us kind, I will tuko it for illustration. The general reader, a well tui iiulroud iiii-a, will readily note ita unique, ciirioun and inlentiii features. Tho road wus built in tho summer of and the winter of INW-tvi. That winter waa uouiblu us ono cf tho most soveio oa record, the mercury for wi-eks aC a time registering from 5 de-s, to 'S di'KH- Id-low iit-ro, and tho suow being deep, which, with tho thou high price of imit-jriuU, made tho espouse much iuoro than it would cost to build tho same road at the present tiiuo. Tho exact length of tho road is 1 ',!) miles, iiulepeudent of BidmgH. Tho cost of count ruction was fltiO,-8U5; fltiO,-8U5; of equipment, lili,4TJ; total cost, $1U5,-80y. $1U5,-80y. The same kind of stool rails can now bo bought from Ii0 to So per cent, less, and other materials are cheaper; so that what then cost about $1,000 per uiilc to construct coul l now bo done for $700. Tho rails iue of steel, Cawbridgo pattern, are lUi feet long, and weigh ;w pounds to tho yard, Number of ties used per mile, 12,040. There are two engines built nt the Ilink-Jey Ilink-Jey Locomotive works, Boston each weigu-iniC weigu-iniC 2li,00U pounds, with driving wheels HQ ioches in diameter; and their power, con-nidering con-nidering their itmall size uud weight, is simply surprising, as is shown by the way they conquer con-quer steep grades with heavy louds, uud force their way with plows through deop snows and huge drifts, by which they are seldom long detained. Tho two passenger cars (built at the Luconia Car works, Now Hampshire) are each 4o by ti 1-1 feet. Each seats thirty passeugurs ono person to a seat, there being two rows of beats is finished in solid ma-hngoay, ma-hngoay, and nicely upholstered. Between the floorings of each car mineral wool three inches deep reuders thorn fire proof, prevents any cold air from passing, and deadens tho noise. These curs uro run with little jar or noise oa 18 Inch whools, are equipped with tho Miller platform and vacuum brakes, uro elegant, cozy, pleasant, comfortable, in short, aro every way satisfactory, and compare favorably with their more pretentious brethren. breth-ren. Tho freight cars, some twenty in number, num-ber, aro -0 by 0 1-3 feet, and carry oriUnarily a burden of eight tons, although having a capacity of twelvo tons. There aro also a Wggage moil oxpresa ear, a combination cor, three hand and three push ears, and a snow plow. All tho trains are mixed. They ordinarily ordi-narily take ono hour to accomplish tho sixteen six-teen miles of road, but have been run that distance in thirty-six minutes. Tho amount of coal required for tho round trip thirty-two thirty-two miles is Sou pounds. Tho heaviest grade (200 feet to tho mile) is uear tho Hiram terminus, ter-minus, and is on a half inilo '20 dog. curve. There is another curvo of 18 degs. one of 10, ono of 13, ouo of 11, four of IU each, and a considerable number of less degree. Tho Central and South American inspection inspec-tion parties learned sotuo, to them, surprising facts iu their forty minutes' rido from Hiram .to Bridgton. They learned that the Uttl yi,oo-imiinHuwinirt'i i u CTJiiitt tiraw a well loaded trian up a gtailo of 200 feet to tho mile; that it could easily round a 20 deg. curvo; that tho seeming recklessness of attempting at-tempting to rim a train on rails only two feet apart proved a thoroughly safe performance, so far us any danger of u tip over was concerned, con-cerned, on account of the nearness of tho cars to tho ground and consequent lowering of tho center of gravity; and that thrco essentials of safety, soed and comfort were abundantly abund-antly secured. Our road was built Ave years ago, and in all this time not a passenger has been Injured, not an engine nor car overturned over-turned nor derailed, not a smash up of any kind. What better record could bo had? There aro four other two foot gauge mads In Maine, tho Sandy River, the Monson, tho Franklin and Megantic, and another whoso namo I cannot now recall, varying from fifteen to eighteen miles in length. A few words, in conclusion, ia regard to tho two roads to be built in tho southern part of this continent, the possiblo adoption adop-tion by which of tbo plan of the littlo two foot road away down east draw theso emissaries from tho south hither. The Central American road is to be built by tho Honduras North Coast Railway and Im- i provemeut company, whose president, S. B, ; McCarnico, lately inspected our road, and will connect tho port of Truxillo with Puerto Cortez, in tho republic of Honduras, 115 miles long, for the development of the trade in tropical fruits and vegetables, native woods, medicinal plants, minerals, etc, in which that region abounds. Tho route of tho South American road is UO mdes long, and extends from San Lorenzo bay to Isborra, about forty miles from tho city of Quito, in Ecuador, tho city being tho capital of the republic, re-public, with a population of y0,UO0, and located lo-cated at aa elevation of nearly 8,000 feet abovo sea level among tho Andes mountains. It is tbo intention to complete tho road to Quito, in time, the name of tho road being the Pacific and Quito railway. There is not a railway in tho country, most of the trallic being done on the backs of mules, and it is proposed to build thin lino to help tho trade of that country with America, Charles O. Stickney in Boston Transcript. |