The T.a.a. & N. R. R.--narrow-gauge

The work of preparing the road-bed of the Toledo, Aan Arbor and Northern Eailroad for the ties is nearly all done, and we supposo from whnt we hear that thero are good stock-subscriptions uncollected sufficiont to finish tho road for the auperstructure, that is the ties ind iron. ■Vhen the construction of the road was bcgnn, it was ivasonubly bclievud "that upon the oompletion of' the road-béd and bridges une or more of the great trunk liues oentering at Toledo woüld equip the road and opérate it. But the severe stringency in the inoney in'arket and the growiug distrust in Eurbpe of almost all classes of Amerioan railroad securitios have made it a difficult matter for even the large and prosperous roads to place bonds at fair rates, and makos it almost certaiu that tho Toledo and Anu Arbor road will not bo able to secure iron before another spring. In view of this probable delay, and with the highly encuuraging exhibits of most of the narrow gauge roads now in operation, will it not be well for the Directors of the Toledo and Ann Arbor railroad, and all otheis iuterested in its oompletion, to fully investigate the question of a narrow gmigo equipment for this line, with the view alike of early completion and profítable iuvestrnent. Narrow gauges are surely making their .way to public favor in this and other countries, and a united effbrt on the part of the people along the line of thü road would malee its equipmeiU and operation pomble within one hundred days. With a view to aid yonr readers in fonning b judgment I subiuit the foilowing facts, showing the cost of coiistructing and operating a narrow gaugo rond as compaied with a road of the usual gaugo of four feet eight inehes : The Denver and Eio Grande Railway commeJices at Denver, Colorado Territory, and runs south into Mexico. On the 15th of June, 1872, the track of the road was laid to Pueblo, a distance of 118 miles south from Denvor, lts gauge is kuown as the "narrow gauge," being three feet. What has been the cost of the construction and equipment of that road as compared with the cost of construction and equipment of a road óf the ordinary gauge? That question is answered by the following statement which is found nthe"Anuual Iteport" of the Board of _irectors of that coinpany made on the irst day of last April. " i he company has saved about 37 1-2 reícent, m the ürst oost oí the constructiou and equipment oí its ruad by reason oí tlio adoption üt' a gauge oí three feet instead üf four feet aud eight luches. This is a clean saving, because the oad is equally tcell built in every respect, and iis apaoity as great as though it had been of the wide gauge." Touohing its freightiug capacity the report says : " With concentrated or lieavy freight, which constitutea on this as 011 neariy all railroads the great bulk of the toimage to be transported, the advautage reaiized lias been 38 per cent. That ia to say thirty-ñve-huiidredths more freight hiw been tegulariy carned on tlie narro w-gauge rolling stock, with the same total weight oi cars and load as on the btoad-gauge. Thia eau be most readily neen by observing a train of sixteen loaded cars (which weigh say 8 l-2tons each when enipty) arriving at Denvei on the broad-gauge roads, and thuir coiit'nts transferred to tlie Denver and liio Gronde üaihvay. The same freight is placed in t onty uorrow-gaugö curs, the empty weight of which is büinething iess than three tons each. The compansun will theu stand ai foUowa : 16 wide-gaugo cars ; empty weight 8 1-2 tons each ; paying load, 10 tons each ; total dead weight, 138 tons ; total paying load, 100 tons ; total weight cars and load,"2lJB tons. 20 uarrow-gauge uars ; empty weigbt less than three tons eaoh ; paying load, tons each ; total dead weight, 60" tons ; total paying load, 160 tona ; total weight cara and load, 220 tons. Saving in total weight 7ü tons. Which is equivalent, after allowing for tlie weight of cara necossary to carry it, to 68 tona of odditional freight, whioh tho aarrovr-gsuge train could take without any inorease ot weighl over the broad-guuge train. In other words, 35 per cont. raore, - this is on the presumption thai the cars on euch gauge are fully loadsd. But it very often happens in the ordinary course of railroad business tliat cars are very frequently not loaded to their capacity, in wlncn even! tho narrow-gauge reoeive a proportionately greater Ijeneñt. For instance, the narrow-gauge car would weigh no more with this load than (iu broad-gauge car would eniireiy eimjty." By the report we find that tho narrow gauge cars stand the " wear and toar" o1 transportation as well as the broad gauge cars; and that they are as well adapted to carrying all kiuds of freigut. iuoluding horses and cattle, as the cars in general use. The report also says that the " cars are comfortable, well ventilated, handsomely fitted up, and the 2ó,00C passengers who passed over the road last year certainly rode as steadily, and, as far as could be judged, altogether as satisfactorily as on any wido gauge road." The tirst-class narrow gauge car is 7 feet 2 3-4 inches wide inside, 35 feet,4 1-2 inches long, weighs 7 1-2 tons net, and seats 36 passongers, an average of' 417 pounds of car weight to one passenger. The brond gauge day-car weighs 19 1-2 tons, and can seat 56 passengers, an average of (96 pounds of car weight to one person. Trains are run at the usual speed of all western roads ; in soine cases trains have been run 30 and even 40 miles an hour, while the safety of the trains is equal to tho safety on the broad gauge roads. Is the power of tbe locomotivo affooted 'i The experienee had on the Denver and Itio Grande Railway, as that on the muoh narrower Festiniog Railroad, shows that it is certainly not diminished by the narrowing of the gauge ; but is increased at least by the diininishiug of the dead weight. By the abovo statement of facts it oan truly bo said that the Donver and Kio Grande ltailway bas dmnonstrated the advantages of the nariow gauge road over the broad gauge road. IXVESTIGATOÏt.