TV \va. ~s ~~~

\S&\\ (s
... ...A.A.A.A.- : ***
tºniºutity of ºuge.

* * †
RAILWAYS.
**sºm-ºsmºs
THE GAUGE QUESTION.
EWILS OF DIVERSITY OF GAUGE,
AND A REMEDY.
BY
WYNDHAM HARDING.
&ättö a flap.
FOURTH EDITION.
LONDON :
JOHN WEALE, 59 HIGH HOLBORN.
*
M.D.ccc.xLv1.
Price One Shilling.
*a**a*****
† f º à 2 r > #T
*gº. * -se-ºº-º-º/-a.e.
1,ONDON :
C. F. HODGSON, PRINTER, 1 Gough SQUARE, FLEET STREET,
Transportation
Library
TP
2.4%
, H & e
/3 */(2
PR EFACE TO FOURTH EDITION.
THE question of the best system of Gauge, and the evils
attending a stoppage in the free circulation of Railway
Traffic from a break of Gauge, had, when this pamphlet was
written,* only attracted attention in the West of England:
Gloucester was (and is as yet) the only place at which such a
break of Gauge had occurred, and the Traders between
Bristol and Birmingham, who had been first affected by the
evil, had alone at that time brought the matter before the
public and the Board of Trade.
In the Session of 1845, however, these questions being
incidentally involved in the cases of the competing lines North
of Oxford, both Houses of Parliament recognized the essential
importance of ascertaining from competent authority whether
the 7 feet, or the 4 feet 8% inch, or some intermediate Gauge,
was best calculated to develop the advantages promised by
the Railway system, and whether or not uniformity of Gauge
was essential to the perfection of that system.
The subject was accordingly referred to a Special Commis-
sion, consisting of Sir F. Smith, R.E., late Inspector General
of Railways, Professor Airey, the Astronomer Royal, and
Professor Barlow, of Woolwich. Two of the Commissioners
were familiar with the working of the Railway system. All
were selected with a view not less to their impartiality than
* It was not printed until some months afterwards, as explained in the
Preface to the first edition, in July, 1845.
4
to their ability, and it is believed that no Royal Commission
has been appointed for many years composed of three men of
equal eminence. The Commission thus constituted elicited the
views of the most experienced persons in the country engaged
in the construction and management of Railways, and the
result has been to convince the Commissioners that the evils
of diversity of Gauge could scarcely be exaggerated, when
the rapid development of the Railway system, and the conse-
quent necessity for the freest possible intercommunication
between all parts of the country, whether for purposes of
commerce, convenience, or defence, were taken into account.
In the Report—in the evidence taken by-and in the facts
laid before the Gauge Commissioners, all now possess ample
means of testing the soundness of the conclusions arrived at
by them, both in favour of THE NARRow GAUGE as THE
NATIONAL GAUGE, and of NATIONAL UNIFORMITY of
GAUGE.
The following pages can only claim attention as containing
the results of the Writer's personal experience of the compara-
tive advantages of the working of Railways of the two widths
of Gauge, and of his personal observation, as a Railway Ma-
nager, of the evils of diversity of Gauge, at the first, and as
yet the only, point at which the break of Gauge has occurred,
recorded before the excitement of the late parliamentary
contest and the proceedings consequent upon it. They are
reprinted because the former editions are exhausted, and
another edition is called for.
Some trifling alterations, principally in the arrangement
of the matter, have been made. *
§.
APRIL 6, 1846.
P. R. E. F. A. C. E.
*
THE Railway Station at Gloucester is the only point at
which two Railways, the one of the Broad and the other of
the Narrow Gauge, have hitherto met.
The Bristol and Gloucester Railway is of the Broad Gauge,
and was, until lately, in the possession of a distinct company
..of proprietors, during which time I was the manager of the
line. The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, using the
same Station at Gloucester, is of the Narrow Gauge; my
attention was thus necessarily directed to the evils of a diver-
sity of Gauge, as they were daily brought under my notice in
a practical form. --
I had managed a Narrow Gauge Railway, and was familiar
with the mode of working the Narrow Gauge lines, before I
undertook the control of the Bristol and Gloucester, a Broad
Gauge line. I was therefore able to institute a comparison
between the practical advantages of the Narrow and Broad
Gauge systems, as affecting the different descriptions of
traffic which Railways convey.
These circumstances led me, some months ago, to write a
memoir on the subject of the present remarks, which I did not
then publish, because at that time, from the great excitement
which prevailed in reference to the Railway schemes about to
come before Parliament, there seemed little probability of
arresting attention on such a topic.
vi PR EFACE.
The session of Parliament is now nearly concluded, and
attention is at length directed to the fast-approaching evils of
diversity of Gauge. I now, therefore, venture to state the
views on the subject to which, after much consideration, I
have arrived, and to explain as clearly and as briefly as the
technical nature of the question will allow me, the principal
reasons which have led me to these opinions.
I should perhaps add, that I am solely responsible for the
statements and arguments adduced, and that I have not the
slightest personal interest, direct or indirect, in the decision
of the question, either as it may affect the extension of any
particular Gauge, or the success or failure of any particular
Railway company.
WYNDHAM HARDING.
July 1, 1845.
t
CON TENT S.
age
DIVISION of the subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *
Description of various Gauges adopted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Table of comparative length of lines of different Gauges. . . . . . 3
Broad Gauge —arguments of its advocates in 1838 . . . . . . . . 4
Fallacy in those arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–8
Contrivances to overcome the difficulty attending a diversity of
Gauge—classed under two heads. . . . . . . . . . 11
First Class;–Vehicles of peculiar construction . . . . . . 12
Reasons why this class of contrivances is inap-
plicable to a Goods Traffic, Coal Traffic, and
Passenger Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13—17
Second Class;–Double Gauge arrangements: objec-
tions to the same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Description of the effects of a change of Gauge upon various
descriptions of traffic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Examination of the commercial traffic which will suffer from a
change of Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Change of Gauge regarded in a military point of view . . . . . . 25
Enumeration of three modes of attaining uniformity of Gauge 28
Examination of
First method; adoption of an Intermediate Gauge . . 28
Second method; alteration of Narrow Gauge lines to the
Broad Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Comparison of Broad and Narrow Gauge systems .... 34
As regards Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Speed, with table of speed on various Railways 35
Comfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 I
Economy, with table of cost of locomotive
power on various lines . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
viii CONTENTS.
* * e
Third method; alteration of Broad Gauge lines to the pag
Narrow Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Mode of accomplishing uniformity of Gauge by the Third Method
financially and mechanically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50–54
Concluding Remarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
APPENDIX.
Suggestion of financial arrangements for altering the Great
Western, and Bristol and Exeter Railways............ (1)
Expense of altering the Broad Gauge to the Narrow Gaug . . (6)
ſ' (ſº
ºrdertadº Jo-
M A P
Shewing the Districts occupied by the
|}|{{PA) & NAR}{}W {, , Aſ4}} {{A}|_WAYS,
- - º | .." - Z/, //a/rºof rºom oºz// º, ſ/º. Yºu'ro.
ºrdracºar!
C. O *g, * */// Blue.
S //, //afrº ºr ºf A //, /w/
- ºn a rºorºº Pink.
o/humºrs -
7%, ſº woºd' ºr ſº wº
a/º tºoge º nº ºvº.
/*rºarº tº º *Yana The Narrow Guage District (Blue) contains
º - - --- -
º a Population of about 11%. Millions (exclusive
§§ MB E
N of London,) and includes the principal
Whitwa, º Manufacturing Towns.
ſº the Zºº /ø on Zºe Zºroazºº or
of"/o/, /wages are a/anza, º, øy ſº
//strº // &/orº, ºvº º ſº
of ºr mºſ, & Zºº /* *
7%e &age &/orºzoº ºwe ſhe
///, o/, //wa/ Guay, Zºº cº-
2/… ſo ſe 2% Aſº, &e Zºº
o/Mºrrow &aye Zoº com/…/
49/27 M//º3.
Nº. § *
N º
ºn 1 N. c. o L N
-
N --
N
N N º
º º
º |
- clincoln
S. H. L. R. E.
Bºston, ºr Thº
generottº "...
Nºnº
º § -
sº.º.º.
ºrn
A ſº - -
s H 1 R - N-º
- -
-- - - - - - -->
º, rumowa ºl Cºa.
Q 7%rºmow, º
º
C.F. Chaffins, Lithog, Southampton Buildings, Holborn.






























































THE GAUGE QUESTION.
It may conduce to clearness to state the order in
which I purpose to arrange the following remarks; it
is briefly this:—
First.—To consider the actual state of the Railway
System of this country, in reference to diversity of
Gauge, and to glance at the origin of that diversity.
Secondly.—To inquire, if, as long as this diversity re-
mains, there is a prospect that the difficulties attending
a change of Gauge may be removed, or mitigated, by
mechanical arrangements, to such an extent as that
they shall be commercially inappreciable; and, if it
- appears that this is an impossible result, to consider
what the consequences of such diversity are, and must
be, upon the internal commerce of the country.
Thirdly.—If it appear necessary to establish one uni-
form Gauge in order to obviate the continually increas-
ing difficulties attending a diversity of Gauge, to deter-
mine which of the three modes of attaining this object
which present themselves should be preferred.
Should the existing Narrow Gauge lines be altered
to the Broad Gauge 2
Should the existing Broad Gauge lines be altered to
the Narrow Gauge? or,
B
2
Can a third Gauge be discovered so superior to both
those now in use, that it will be most expedient to alter
both the existing Gauges to this third Gauge 2
Fourthly.—Having determined which of these three
plans it is most expedient to adopt, to see how it can be
best carried into execution, financially and mechanically.
I. The passenger Railways of England were com-
menced on a Gauge of 4 ft. 8% in., (commonly called
the Narrow Gauge when speaking of it in reference to
the Broad, or 7-feet Gauge ;) that is to say, the width
between the rails was adjusted to a measure of that
length. After a time, two other Gauges were adopted;
namely, on the Northern and Eastern and Eastern
Counties Railways, a Gauge of 5 feet; and on the Great
Western Railway, a Gauge of 7 feet, commonly called
the Broad Gauge.”
The two former lines were only laid for a length of
about eighty miles, when it became obvious that their
peculiarity of Gauge would place them in an insulated
position, and would be, therefore, disadvantageous.
The 5-feet Gauge was accordingly altered in 1844, and
the Narrow Gauge (4 ft. 8% in.) substituted for it,
without hindrance to the traffic.t
* Some short railways in the neighbourhood of Dundee, in Scot-
land, were laid to a Gauge of 5 ft. 6 in., but they are, according to the
statement of the engineer who laid them down, (Mr. Miller), on the
point of being altered, in order to enable them to be joined to lines
of the Gauge of 4 ft. 8% in., which are projected in the neighbourhood.
+ Although, from peculiar circumstances, the 5-feet Gauge has
been altered without the intervention of the legislature, it is scarcely
3
There are, therefore, now only two Gauges in use,
viz., the Broad, 7 feet, and the Narrow, 4 ft. 8% in.
The relative length of the lines constructed, in pro-
gress, and projected, of each Gauge, are set forth in the
subjoined Table.
Warrow Gauge Railways. Broad Gauge Railways.
Miles. Miles.
Completed. . . . . . . . . . . . 1844 Completed: Great Western; 278
Bristol and Exeter; Chel-
tenham & Great Western,
(just completed); Bris-
tol and Gloucester.
In progress . . . . . . . . . . 614 In progress . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Projected” . . . . . . . . . . 6918 Projected” . . . . . . . . . . . . 1311
9376 1641
or as 5% to 1.
The Gauge of the Great Western Railway was the
project of Mr. Brunel, the engineer of that Company.
necessary to say, that there is not the most remote probability of the
Companies now existing establishing uniformity of Gauge generally,
of their own accord. Not only would it be a difficult thing to do,
but party feeling is roused with regard to the relative advantages of
the Gauges; and the break of Gauge is considered a sort of protection
from competition by the London and Birmingham Company, the
Great Western Company, and some railway interests, though others
view it differently. It is, of course, a mode of protection most dis-
advantageous to the public.
* Omitting one line in all cases of duplicate competing lines,
except North of Oxford, where both Broad and Narrow Gauge lines
are projected. Of the projected lines included in the above Table,
the prosecution of about 650 miles of Narrow Gauge railway, and
about 400 miles of Broad Gauge railway, may be held to depend on
whether or not the Broad Gauge is allowed to come North of Oxford.
This table was compiled in June 1845. Of what length the projected
lines should now be considered, it is difficult to say.
B 3
4.
It was strongly opposed by a body of the proprietors
of the Company when the line was being constructed.
Engineers were called in to advise, even after a portion
of the line was open for traffic, and they reported against
the Broad Gauge; the majority, however, of the pro-
prietors supported it, on the plea that it would be so
decidedly superior to other railways in point of safety,
rapidity, comfort, and economy, that it would attract
an enormous traffic, and, in short, would “pay” as
a commercial arrangement.
It also appeared to be their impression, that, by
adopting a peculiar arrangement, such as the Broad
Gauge on a trunk line such as the Great Western
Railway, they would secure to themselves the trade of
a large district, including the whole West of England.
Thus arose the diversity of Gauge, with which we
have now to deal.
It will be proper here to glance at the arguments
with which the advocates of the Broad Gauge met the
objections raised by some of the proprietors against
introducing a new and peculiar Gauge, in order to
see how far they are applicable to present circum-
stances.
The advocates of the Broad Gauge maintained that
the railways of one “district,” as they termed it, never
could have any connection with the railways of ano-
ther. They did not explain what were the boundaries
of these “districts,” but assumed that the Great
Western Railway commanded such a “ district.”
“Such,” says Mr. Brunel, (the able representative of the advocates
5
of the Broad Gauge),” “is the position of the Great Western Rail-
way: it could have no connection with any other of the main lines,
and the principal branches likely to be made were well considered, and
almost formed part of the original plan. Nor can they be dependant
on any of the existing lines for the traffic which they will bring to the
main line.”
That is to say, there will be no traffic coming from
a Narrow Gauge line and passing over a Broad Gauge,
such Broad Gauge line being a branch of the Great
Western, or vice versá.
Again : after stating that no railwayst will have
any connection with each other at their London
extremities, Mr. Brunel goes on to say,f
“The Great Western was therefore free to adopt its own dimen-
sions, and none of the difficulties, which would entirely prevent such
a course in the North of England, had any existence in the West;
and, consequently, all the general arguments advanced, and the com-
parisons made, on the supposition of such difficulties occurring—
* Mr. Brunel's Report to Directors of the Great Western Rail-
way, Oct. 1838, written in reply to the Reports of the Engineers
appointed to inquire into the expediency of altering the Gauge of the
Great Western Railway, which was not then open for traffic through-
out. I quote Mr. Brunel's opinion on this subject as that of the
representative of the advocates of the Broad Gauge, he himself being
the projector of the Broad Gauge, and its most able and ingenious
supporter.
t Wote to 4th Edition.—It is to be remarked, that as the West
London Railway already connects the Great Western, and London
and Birmingham Railways, (although, while the diversity of Gauge
continues, it seems likely to be of little use) and as numerous schemes
for connecting all the other Railways entering London, are on foot,
and a Royal commission has just been appointed to consider them, it
is improbable that this prediction will be verified.
f Report to Great Western Directors, Oct. 1838, before quoted.
6
all excellent in case they did—are totally inapplicable to the case
of the Great Western Railway, to which they have no reference
whatever.”
It is scarcely necessary to say, that these views of
laying out railways are proved, by the events of the
last eight years, to be entirely fallacious.
The Map, with the Railways constructed, in pro-
gress, and projected, marked upon it, including the
branches of the Great Western Railway itself, is the
best answer to them—it is there evident that railways
are spreading themselves over the face of the country
like a net-work, and are intersecting each other at a
hundred different points.
Where then shall we fix the boundaries of the
districts, the railways in which are to have no connec-
tion with those in any other?
The completed or projected branches of the Great
Western Railway itself—which was expected, as we
have seen, to have no connection with any other exist-
ing line—now join it to most of the other main lines
in the country. For instance :-
To the Grand Junction, and to the projected
Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railways, at Wolver-
hampton.
To the Grand Junction, London and Birmingham,
and Midland Railways, at Birmingham.
To the London and Birmingham, the Midland, and
the proposed Trent Valley and Churnet Valley Lines,
at Rugby.
To the London and Birmingham Railway again, at
Warwick.
7
To the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, at
Cheltenham and Worcester.
To the South-Western Railway, at Basingstoke and
Salisbury. º
To the projected Dorchester and Southampton
Railway, at Dorchester.
To the proposed Welsh Midland Line, at Hereford
and Swansea.
To the Bristol and Gloucester Line, with which it
is already connected, at Bristol and Stonehouse.”
And if the Great Western Railway, with its Broad
Gauge branches, does not go to these lines, they with
their Narrow Gauge branches will come to the Great
Western.f Thus connecting by railway almost every
county and town in the kingdom with every other.
What are all these branches projected for except to
bring traffic from the lines and districts with which
they communicate, or to take traffic to them from one
extremity of the country to another? and therefore
over the Narrow Gauge on to the Broad Gauge, or
over the Broad Gauge on to the Narrow Gauge? The
difficulties attending a change of Gauge then, which,
* All these are Narrow Gauge limes, with the exception of the last,
which is a Broad Gauge line at present; but its proprietors have
announced their desire and intention of obtaining powers to convert
it into a Narrow Gauge line.
t Note to 4th Edition.—The projected lines on the Map, excluding
all directly competing lines, give rise to about twenty points of break
of Gauge, beyond those mentioned above : in all, then, about thirty
points of break of Gauge, similar to that at , Gloucester, will be
established in the course of the next five years, if Government does
not interfere to prevent it.
8
as was admitted, would in 1888 “have entirely pre-
vented in the North such a course” as one railway
adopting different dimensions from the rest, now have
“existence in the West.”
To support the theory of isolated districts, the ad-
vocates of the Broad Gauge also brought forward views
regarding the mode in which railways would be worked
as well as laid out, which experience has proved to be
entirely mistaken ; for, in reply to the objection, that
they (the Great Western Railway Company) were
acting like a Canal Company, who, in a country of
canals, were to construct their locks of such dimensions
as would totally shut out the boats of all the canals
that surrounded them, they said,
“The cases are not similar, because railway waggons and carriages
must belong to the particular line on which they run, and except in
such cases as the Grand Junction and Birmingham Railways, which
form in fact one line, although they happen to be made by two
Companies, it will never pay to trust them into the hands of
others.”*
Now, it is a well-known fact to all who are conver-
sant with the working of the Narrow Gauge railways,
that the carrying stock of all Narrow Gauge lines is
used very much in common by the different Com-
panies; that carriages and waggons, the property of
one Company, are sent over other Companies' lines
according to the destination of the passengers or goods
with which they are laden; thus you may continually
find Darlington and Hull waggons at Gloucester, and
the reverse.
* Report to the Directors of the Great Western Railway, before
quoted, Oct. 1838.
9
To facilitate this interchange, there is a central
office, called the Railway Clearing-House, established
in London, to which daily returns from the stations -
in the Narrow Gauge district are made, and each com-
pany is there charged for the use it has made of the
carrying stock of the neighbouring lines.
In order to obviate the delay, expense, annoyance,
and frequent injury to goods, horses, cattle, and private
carriages, which would occur were the carriage changed
(as at a point of break of Gauge) at the junction of one
line with another, it appears that the interchange of
loaded vehicles shewn by the returns of the Clearing-
House between one Company’s line and another's, is
now going on at the following rate per annum :
Goods waggons (containing goods and cattle)—
THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY THOUSAND ;*
Passenger carriages (containing passengers)—ONE
HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND ;
Horse boxes (containing horses)—EIGHTEEN THou-
SAND ;
Carriage trucks (conveying private carriages) —
Twelve THousAND.
This interchange is daily increasing as railway
traffic is developed.
The system is evidently the correct one; and it
was stated before the Committee of the House of
Commons on the contending schemes for the country
immediately north of Oxford, that to the facilities
* Note to 4th Edition.—This does not include the waggons be-
longing to private collieries, as these do not go through the Clearing-
House; they are, however, extremely numerous.
10
which it affords, the vast increase in the goods traffic
upon railways which has taken place within the last
three or four years, is mainly attributable.
It appears, then, that the party who introduced the
7-feet Gauge after the 4 ft. 8% in. Gauge had been in
operation for some time over a large district of country,
were, like many others, mistaken in their anticipations
of the mode in which railways would be laid out and
worked in connection with each other as the system
extended itself. It is necesssary to shew this, not only
in order to satisfy ourselves that the arguments used
to justify the introduction of a distinct and peculiar
Gauge are not applicable to the present state of cir-
cumstances, but also in order to prove that the evils of
a diversity of Gauge have long been foreseen by those
experienced in railways; and that the attention which
is now being directed to the subject does not arise
from the arguments which parties contending for lines
before Parliament may find it convenient to advance,
but from the circumstance that the difficulties attending
a change of Gauge have just begun to make themselves
felt at Gloucester, where the Gauges have for the first
time met, and that the schemes now before Parliament
involve many other such points of meeting.
We have seen how diversity of Gauge arose, and on
what grounds the objections to it were set aside, as well
as to what extent it now exists. It is evident that if
this diversity occasion every passenger or article of
carriage arriving in a vehicle of one Gauge to be moved
into one of the other Gauge, in order to be conveyed
forward, great inconvenience will be the result ; but
11
we will not stop here to consider the degree of this in-
convenience, or its extent and consequences, as it may
be said that by mechanical arrangements these may be
avoided, and no change of vehicle rendered necessary.
Let us therefore see what mechanical arrangement can
accomplish in reference to this object, and what it cannot.
II. All such contrivances can be ranged under two
heads.
They must either consist of new vehicles, the bodies
of which shall be so constructed as that, either upon the
same axles and wheels, (these being so made as to be
capable of adjustment to different Gauges), or upon
others to which they shall be shifted at the point of
junction of the Gauges, they shall be capable of run-
ning upon a railway of either Gauge.”
Or they must be arragements of the lines of rails by
the introduction of additional rails; so that a Broad
Gauge railway and a Narrow Gauge railway shall co-
exist on the same track.f
*
* Mr. Brunel's machine, now exhibited at Paddington, is part of
an arrangement of this character. It is a hoisting machine, worked
by hydrostatic pressure, which lifts an iron-box containing coke from
a Broad Gauge truck, and places it on a Narrow Gauge truck.
It is precisely one of those ingenious contrivances against which
the objections I state, apply; it appears to overcome the difficulty
of a change of Gauge to a great extent, but in practice, and as
applied to a general goods traffic, it would be worse than useless.
t I do not allude to the plan of laying down two railways, one
a Broad Gauge railway, and the other a Narrow Gauge railway, side
by side, and distinct from each other; the double expense of such
an arrangement, without regard to other objections, I conceive to
be conclusive against it.
Lest it should be supposed that I had omitted to consider the
12
With regard to the first class of these contrivances.
The present railways are generally well furnished with
carriages and waggons; so well, indeed, as usually to
be able to work branch lines of considerable length,
idea which has been thrown out, that the ordinary Narrow Gauge
waggon itself, with the ordinary Narrow Gauge wheels and axles,
might be lifted on to a Broad Gauge truck, and the goods it contained
might be thus conveyed over the Broad Gauge lines without the
necessity of unloading them, in the same sort of way that a
gentleman's carriage is put upon a truck; I will state the reasons
why this arrangement would not be feasible in itself, or effectual in
diminishing the difficulties of a change of Gauge, premising that there
would, in my opinion, be little difficulty in transferring the Narrow
Gauge waggon to a Broad Gauge truck; and that if this were the
only objection to the arrangement, I should pay little regard to it,
but the objections are of a different character.
When the Narrow Gauge waggon was hoisted on to the Broad
Gauge truck, its loading must be kept down, in order to enable it to
get under the bridges with safety, and even then the centre of gravity
of the mass would often be higher than was desirable.
When it arrived at a Broad Gauge Station, the Narrow Gauge
waggom, owing to its being elevated on to a Broad Gauge truck, would
be above all the platforms; it could not be got at in order to be
loaded or unloaded by the ordinary means: the Narrow Gauge waggon
moreover would not be close up to the platform as it should be, but
more than a foot off it, owing to the difference of Gauge.
There would be a very great loss of dead weight by the arrange-
ment, equivalent to an increase of expense, in conveying goods in
any considerable quantities, for you would be hauling a Broad Gauge
truck and a Narrow Gauge waggon, in order to convey the maximum
net or profitable load of only a Narrow Gauge truck partially loaded.
The arrangement would not be perfectly safe in practice ; a
gentleman's carriage or a cart is taken well enough on a railway
truck, but a train of Narrow Gauge goods waggons, each weighing
with its load from six to seven tons, perched on Broad Gauge trucks,
would be a very different matter.
For these and other reasons the arrangement is not a proper or
13
without additional carrying stock;” their aggregate
stock is of great value ; but unless the existing lines of
the Broad and Narrow Gauge will consent to destroy
their present stock, and to build in lieu of it the newly
contrived stock capable of running on both Gauges, no
contrivance of this class will remove the difficulties of
a change of Gauge. For if, comparatively, only a few
of the new vehicles are introduced, they will be
scattered throughout the country, and not available
when wanted for the purpose for which they are in-
tended; and the contrivance will thus fail to effect its
object, of remedying the evil of a change of convey-
ance. To make this clear: Take the case of the gene-
ral goods trade;f the arrangement we are considering
involves the keeping up throughout the country of
three distinct descriptions of waggons; namely, the
ordinary Narrow Gauge, the ordinary Broad Gauge
waggon, and the new and peculiarly constructed wag-
gon, capable of running on both Gauges, to be used
exclusively for traffic going beyond the point of meet-
ing of the Gauges, and therefore having to pass over
feasible one; and were it so, it would not be effectual in removing the
difficulties of a change of Gauge, because even if you could place
Narrow Gauge waggons on Broad Gauge trucks, you could not place
Broad Gauge waggons on Narrow Gauge trucks in return ; and there-
fore the difficulty of a change of Gauge would still remain.
* Carrying-stock implies carriages, waggons, horse-boxes, &c.,
and their accessaries.
+ The terms “goods trade” and “goods” include merchandise of
every description, as distinguished from passengers and parcels; cattle
and pigs are included among the articles of the “goods trade,” except
where the contrary is expressed.
14
lines of both Gauges; these waggons we will call, for
the sake of distinction, “shifting waggons;” and we
will call traffic which has to go over lines of both
Gauges, and consequently to pass the point of a change
of Gauge, “thorough traffic :”—a ton of wool, for
instance, going from Bristol to Birmingham, and
having to pass the point of meeting of the Gauges at
Gloucester, would be “thorough traffic.”
Now in practice it would be found that “through
goods” would come to a station at times when the new
“shifting waggons” were not there;* at another time
the new “shifting waggons” would be there when there
were no “thorough goods” to be conveyed.
It must be so by the very nature of a goods trade;
at any given Station they may have no goods to a cer-
tain locality for a week, or a month; and then some
morning a turn of the market takes place, or a ship
comes in, and they have fifty tons to be forwarded
immediately: they have probably none of the new
shifting waggons at the Station, and do not know where
to send for a certain supply of them; they therefore
pack off the goods in such ordinary waggons as they have
at their command, and what follows 2 The fifty tons
of goods arrive at the place of meeting of the Gauges,
* The waggons adapted to both Gauges might even be in the
Station, and it might be very inconvenient to get at them. The
introduction of two different sorts of carrying stock into a Goods
Station would embarrass the working of the Station in many other
ways, which space does not allow me to point out; but which would
occur at once to any person practically conversant with the intricate
arrangements of a large railway Goods Station.
15
and instead of running on to the other Gauge at once
in the “shifting waggons” without being unpacked, as
theoretically they are intended to do, they have, owing
to their arriving in an ordinary waggon, to be un-
packed and shifted by hand, article by article, there
being, in all probability, no arrangements at the Station
for getting through this unexpected influx of business
even with ordinary dispatch.
It would then be a delusion to suppose that the
difficulty of a change of Gauge as regards the goods
trade could be overcome, by having only a certain
number of vehicles capable of running on both
Gauges; on the contrary, the evil would often be
aggravated ; and for this reason. Arrangements on a
large scale for shifting the goods themselves from one
vehicle to another at the point of meeting of the
Gauges, would not be made if the goods were expected
to arrive at this place of meeting of the Gauges in the
new “shifting waggons,” constructed for the express
purpose of obviating the necessity of shifting the goods
themselves from the ordinary waggons of the one
Gauge to the ordinary waggons of the other; and,
therefore, if the goods did arrive, not in such “shifting
waggons,” but, contrary to expectation, in the ordinary
waggons, and consequently had to be transhipped article
by article, the arrangements necessary to effect this
transference would be wanting, and the result would be
greater delay in such a case than would have taken place
if there had been no such things as shifting waggons.
In the case of a tolerably steady traffic, such as a
16
coal traffic, the waggons for which would regularly
return empty, we can conceive a vehicle capable of
running on both Gauges being introduced with
advantage; still the arrangement would not be popular
with the coal-owner. The “shifting stock” would
be more expensive (probably very much more so,
when the spare stock he would have to keep at the
meeting of the Gauges was taken into account) than
his ordinary stock; and the waggons at a colliery are
a source of great expense as it is. The two sorts of
stock having to be kept separate, would require more
siding length,” and different arrangements at the
collieries; and the expense of maintenance of the
“shifting waggons” would probably be greater than
that of ordinary waggons. The coal-owner would there-
fore probably seek other markets for his coal, or he
would put on a considerably higher price on the coal
he sold in the district beyond the point of meeting of
the Gauges.
In the case of passenger traffic, the introduction
of a certain number of vehicles capable of running
upon railways of both Gauges, would not obviate (for
the same reasons as have been given with respect to
the goods trade) the necessity of passengers having
frequently to change their vehicles at the point of
meeting of the Gauges;–this would of course be of
little consequence as compared to the difficulty and
delay attending the shifting of merchandise. Still the
objections attending a change of Gauge, as regards
* Standing-room not upon the main line of railway.
17
passengers, carriages, and horses, would not be remov-
ed by the arrangement we are considering, but would
be frequently increased.
In the foregoing remarks, I have assumed that
vehicles may be constructed so that they can be bodily
shifted, either with or without the wheels and axles,
from one Gauge to another, without disturbing the
persons, or injuring the animals or goods, which may
be in them. I have made no mention of the increased
dead-weight, or of the insecure construction of the
vehicles adapted to this shifting process, or of the risk
of casualties, attending a large machine for the pur-
pose of lifting the body of the vehicle from one Gauge
to the other, if the transference is effected in that way,
or of the time which the shifting, and the operations
contingent upon it, will occupy. All the modes of
shifting vehicles bodily which have yet been suggested
involve these objections; but I am desirous to address
myself solely to the principle of the arrangement, which
no ingenuity can alter; and am willing to assume that,
in carrying out this principle, all that mechanical skill
can do will be done, and that it may be successful in
diminishing some of these difficulties.
This principle is faulty; for it is certain that the
existing Railway Companies will not, for many reasons,
change all their carrying-stock to suit the convenience,
as they would say, of those Railway Companies who
have to encounter the difficulty of a change of Gauge;
and the partial introduction of vehicles capable of
running on both Gauges, cannot, as we have seen,
C
18
afford a remedy for the evils attending a change of
Gauge, or even diminish those evils, except to some
one or two branches of traffic.
We have now to consider the second class of con-
trivances for the purpose of removing the difficulty
attending diversity of Gauge. They have been
described as arrangements of the lines of rails by the
introduction of additional rails, so that a Broad and
Narrow Gauge railway shall co-exist on the same track.
The following are objections to all such arrangements.
They do not allow of reciprocal working as between
the Broad and Narrow Gauges; for though they allow
Narrow Gauge carrying stock to come on the Broad
Gauge lines, Broad Gauge vehicles cannot, in return,
go on to the Narrow Gauge lines.” They could never,
therefore, be more than very imperfect remedies for a
difference of Gauge.
They introduce two descriptions of carrying stock
into the Broad Gauge Stations, which, as we have seen,
would be a source of the greatest inconvenience; so
much so, that in most cases it would be found better
to build two Stations, the one for the Broad Gauge,
and the other for the Narrow Gauge. This would
probably require two establishments, and more police-
men, and would be objectionable in several ways.
They increase the difficulty and expense of main-
taining the line; and from this cause, as well as from
•ºt
* The Double Gauge arrangement is impracticable on Narrow
Gauge lines, because the width of the works will not allow the passage
of Broad Gauge vehicles.
19
the frequent intersection of the rails” which they
involve, they affect injuriously the comfort of travel-
ling ; and what is of more importance, materially
increase the risk of accident.
They add enormously to the expense of a Broad
Gauge railway, (which is already very great), not only
by the additional iron and timber incidental to the
additional rails (be they two or four) required for the
Narrow Gauge, but by the necessity they will often
entail of double Stations.
Other objections may be urged to these Double
Gauge arrangements, but it is presumed that any one
of the objections mentioned would be sufficient to
prohibit their general introduction; for were any such
arrangement introduced, it would seem likely to
entail as many evils as those it would be designed to
obviate.
It appears, then, that from the defects in principle
inherent in all mechanical arrangements for obviating
the difficulties of a change of Gauge, we cannot
anticipate relief from this source; we must, therefore,
* Where one rail intersects another, it is necessary to cut two
openings, one in each of the rails so intersecting, to allow of the
passage of the wheel. At each of such places, there are, therefore,
two gaps in the rails. At these places it is not unusual for an
engine or carriage to get off the rails, and they always cause a
jolt; by the most complete Double Gauge arrangements, there are
more than twice as many of such crossings for the trains to pass
over as are necessary in an ordinary railway, adapted for carriages of
one Gauge only; the risk of accident, and certainty of annoyance
from this cause, are therefore more than doubled by the Double
Gauge arrangement.
C 3
20
regard the evil as it exists, and suppose that the
passengers, on arriving at the point of meeting of
the Gauges, move with their luggage into different
carriages running upon the railway of different Gauge,
and that cattle and merchandise are moved from vehicles
of one Gauge to those of the other, by the ordinary
means adopted on railways for unloading and loading.
At each point of meeting of the Gauges, it would be
necessary then, that the passengers alight, produce their
luggage,” see that it is replaced in the proper vehicle
on the other Gauge. The passengers themselves, with
all the accompaniments of travellers,t must move into
another carriage; if a private carriage or horses have
to be shifted, the risk of injury in shifting must be
undergone ; goods in various but sometimes enormous
quantities must be unsheeted, unpacked, over-hauled
package by package, (in order that the precise condi-
tion of each article turned over from the Narrow
Gauge Company’s keeping to the Broad Gauge Com-
pany, or vice versá, may be noted by the responsible offi-
cers of each Company ;) an inventory must be taken of
the whole, and they must then be re-loaded into another
vehicle. This proceeding will often have to take place
at night, and in a hurry; and mistakes and injury to
the goods are sure to occur continually.
* Which would probably have to be weighed, in order to satisfy
the regulations of the New Company into whose keeping it was about
to be transferred.
t In the shape of hats, great coats, cloaks, shawls, sticks, umbrellas,
small parcels, &c.
21
The goods will arrive in varying quantities, five or
even ten times more on one day than on another; the
number of clerks, and porters, and the premises, would
be only adapted to the shifting of a certain average
quantity of goods in a given time; when, therefore,
as would continually happen in practice, such a sudden
influx of business took place, the goods would have to
wait at the Station for an indefinite time, until they
could be shifted.
This would give rise to constant irregularity in the
time of conveyance of merchandise to its destination;
which is now found to be the case at Gloucester, so
that the carrier is unable to tell the sender of goods
how long his goods will be in reaching any place lying
beyond the point of the meeting of the Gauges;
whereas he is able to give this information accurately
in all other cases when the goods go over railways of
one Gauge. It is a matter of the greatest practical
importance in the operations of commerce; for punc-
tuality in the arrival of goods at the expected time, is
even more desirable than speed of conveyance. It was
the want of this punctuality which was so seriously felt
in canal conveyance; and it is this which constitutes
the great superiority of railway conveyance for the
carriage of merchandise. * At the meeting of the
merchants at Birmingham in October last, to com-
plain of the irregularity in the conveyance of goods
between Bristol and Birmingham, owing to the break
of the Gauge at Gloucester, it was this want of
punctuality which was the principal subject of com-
22
plaint; and it was urged on the meeting as a most
weighty grievance by every one who spoke.
It is evident that the delaying of goods at the point
of meeting of the Gauges, arising, as I have explained,
from the fluctuations which are characteristic of the
goods traffic, may be of the most serious consequence:
the goods delayed may, for instance, comprise a part of
the stores or cargo of a ship waiting to sail, which may
miss the tide or wind by the delay; they may consist
of the material of manufacture for a mill, which may
be brought to a stand, with all its hands, for want of
them. Every person conversant with the mode of
transacting business at the present day will, I am sure,
confirm the statement, that fearful loss and inconve-
nience must arise from irregularities in the time occu-
pied in the conveyance of merchandise.
The evils of a change of Gauge really seem to be
analogous to what would take place, were a cordon
of Custom-houses established at all the points of
meeting of the Broad and Narrow Gauges, which will
extend across England, from Fishguard, West, to
London, East.
Before concluding this part of the subject, it is
necessary to glance at the character of the traffic which
will be impeded by the change of Gauge.
The break of Gauge" will separatef the Southern
* See Map.
+ By the term “separate,” I mean to say, that the break of Gauge
occurs in the direct railway route between the points mentioned; in
some of the cases cited the break may be avoided by a long circuit:
in others it cannot.
23
maritime coast of England, with its numerous ports
and its packet-stations, between Portsmouth and the
Land's End,” from the central Northern and Eastern
counties of England, including the principal manufac-
turing and mineral districts, and a population of more
than ten millions of persons.
It will place the Southern agricultural counties,
West of the London and Southampton Railway, rela-
tively further, so to speak, from the markets of the
manufacturing districts; while the course of legislation
and the improvement of the modes of conveyance
are bringing other agricultural districts, at home and
abroad, nearer to the manufacturing consumers.
It will separate those Southern counties which stand
so much in need of coal from the rich supplies of
Leicestershire and Derbyshire.
If a good communication with Ireland is established
by way of Fishguard, (as seems probable), the break of
Gauge will interfere with the distribution of the Irish
traffic by this channel in the central manufacturing
counties.
It cannot but be injurious to Cornwall, with its
active population and mineral wealth, to have its
communication by railway, with the seats of manufac-
ture in the centre of England, impeded by the change
of Gauge.
* Portsmouth; Gosport; Southampton; Cowes; Yarmouth and
Newport; Poole; Weymouth; Bridport; Exmouth; Dartmouth;
Plymouth ; Devonport; Falmouth ; Truro ; and many other smaller
ports, some of which may grow into importance at a future day.
24
With regard to the district of Glamorganshire, with
its great coal-field, and its iron, copper, and tin-plate
works, which cause it to be rising rapidly in importance;
a Company” is now before Parliament for powers to
run a Broad Gauge Railway through it from East to
West ; and if this is to be the route from Glamor-
ganshire to the Northern and Midland districts of
England, the break of Gauge will interfere with
the communication. Accordingly, we find another
Company f has come forward with the enormous
capital of £4,000,000, in order to make a North and
South communication with Glamorganshire. - One of
the principal reasons for the formation of this Com-
pany being stated in its prospectus, to be “the insu-
perable difficulty of the difference of Gauge,”—i. e.
between the South Wales Railway, which is to be a
Broad Gauge line, and the Midland and Northern
lines, which are on the Narrow Gauge.
It is clear that even with the proposed vast outlay of
capital, the railway communications of South Wales
will be very imperfect, intersected as the country will
be by a Broad Gauge line communicating East and
West, and by a Narrow Gauge line communicating
North and South.
The local intercommunication throughout the coun-
try in the neighbourhood of the points where the changes
of Gauge are proposed to occur, will be afforded
no accommodation by the railways adjacent to them,
* The South Wales Railway Company.
+ The Welsh Midland Railway Company.
25
inasmuch as the delay and inconvenience of a change
of Gauge in a short traffic will render railway con-
veyance not superior to the present modes of travel-
ling.
Such is an outline of the traffic which will be affected,
in commercial respects, by the evils attending the
change of Gauge.
But the subject deserves consideration in a military *
as well as in a commercial point of view. The appli-
cation of railway conveyance and steam navigation to
military purposes is yet in its infancy; but the most
* In the possible case of the invasion of this country, or of its
becoming the seat of war, let any person, particularly any one con-
versant with military operations, imagine the difficulty, delay, confu.
sion, and casualties which must infallibly arise, if it be attempted to
shift, under circumstances of great haste and excitement, a battering
or pontoon train, camp equipage, heavy shot and shells, sick or
wounded men, ammunition and provisions. In many cases these
obstacles would be found so serious in practice, as almost, if not
altogether, to neutralize the anticipated advantages of railways as a
means of military communication.
Take for instance the case of an invading army suddenly landing
in force on the coast of Norfolk; it becomes of the last importance
to bring troops and material from the South of Ireland, (where a
large force has always been stationed,) and we will assume that the
termini of the Metropolitan Railways are connected by railway, as they
shortly will be. The troops and stores are conveyed from Waterford
to London by the Great Western Railway, (say in twenty-four hours);
on arriving in London, instead of being carried on to the place required
in two hours more, every thing has to be shifted into other vehicles—a
process which would occupy, even a single division, a space of time, to
say the least of it, much greater than would be sufficient with a
uniform Gauge, to place the troops on the spot where they were
required.
26
obvious and important advantages will be derived from
the facility afforded by them, of moving not only large
bodies of men, but that without which men are in
modern warfare useless—artillery, ammunition, bag-
gage, and matériel. It should, moreover, be borne in
mind, that it is in the rapid and easy conveyance of the
matériel of war that the advantages of railway commu-
nication are, in a military point of view, most obvious;
and this is especially important in relation to the great
military and naval arsenals and establishments. But
here the serious impediments offered by a change
of Gauge are at once apparent;” such a change has
* Note to 4th Edition.—The real importance of this view of the
subject in connexion with the introduction of steam-boats in aggressive
warfare, and the consequent necessity of corresponding celerity of
movement in defensive warfare, is established by the concurrent
testimony of the Quarter-Master General, Sir Willoughby Gordon,
and the Inspector of Fortifications, Sir John Burgoyne, (the witnesses
examined on this point by the Gauge Commissioners,) who described
the delay and danger, if an enemy were near, of the changing from
one set of vehicles to another of a large body of men, with military
matériel, to be an operation analogous to crossing a ferry.
The evidence of these distinguished officers, which is confirmed by
a Report on the Military Uses of Railways, lately laid before the Prus-
sian Government, also points out that the principal difficulty in making
railway conveyance available for the rapid conveyance of large bodies
of troops and matériel, would lie in the assembling a sufficient num-
ber of vehicles and engines. It is clear, that the stock available in
such an emergency will be less if, from the diversity of Gauge, the
carrying stock of railways is of two descriptions, neither of which can
be used on the line of the other Gauge, instead of one description
only, available on every line of railway in the country, as would be
the case if uniformity of Gauge were established. It is equally clear
that the risk and difficulty of assembling any large quantity of carry-
27
the practical effect of adding a space of time of many
hours, or in other words, many miles of distance, to
every movement of men or transport of matériel.
In connexion with this view of the subject, it is
surely most undesirable that the South-Coast line of
railway, which will shortly be completed, from the
North Foreland to the Land’s End, should be broken
in two (see Map) by a change of Gauge ; and that the
communication between the dock-yards and arsenals
of the Thames, (Woolwich, Chatham, Sheerness, and
Deptford,) and Plymouth, Torbay, Falmouth, and
Milford-Haven, should be impeded from the same
cause, as well as the communication between Plymouth,
Falmouth, Milford-Haven, and the whole North and
East of England.
It may be attempted to be shewn that some of the
descriptions of traffic which have been mentioned as
among those which will be affected by the difficulties
attending a change of Gauge, are not at present con-
siderable; but it must be remembered, that the incon-
venience and delay attending a change of Gauge, will
more or less affect every ton of goods, and every pas-
senger passing the barrier of the change of Gauge, in
all time coming ; that if the present diversity of Gauge
be allowed to continue, the two Gauges will more and
more become interwoven, and the points of meeting of
the Gauge thereby more and more frequent; and that
ing stock would have to be encountered twice if a break of Gauge had
to be passed, instead of once only, as would be the case under unifor-
mity of Gauge.
28
with the development of the railway system, and the
increase of population and trade, the traffic between
every part of the country will increase most rapidly.
When these considerations are taken into account, I
think it must be admitted that the aggregate amount
of evil” to be apprehended from a change of Gauge is
most formidable.
We have already seen that no effectual relief can be
anticipated from mechanical arrangements, however
skilful in themselves they may be, while diversity of
Gauge continues to exist.
The only remedy to the evil, then, is to be found
in the establishment of uniformity of Gauge; and this
brings me to the third division of the subject.
III. Which of the three modes of attaining unifor-
mity is to be preferred 2
Should both the existing Gauges be altered to an
intermediate Gauge, and all lines of railway hereafter
be constructed according to this juste milieu Gauge?
Should the Narrow Gauge be altered to the Broad
Gauge 2
Or, thirdly, should the Broad Gauge be altered to
the Narrow Gauge 2
First then as to the advantage of an intermediate
Gauge, differing from both those at present in use.
The impression which prevails among many persons
that an intermediate Gauge would be the best, princi-
* To say nothing of the expence which, in some form or other,
must ultimately fall upon the public.
29
pally rests upon the opinion of engine-builders who
have from time to time been requested to give their
views on the subject.
These views are given at length in the correspond-
ence attached to General Pasley's Report on the
. Gauge of the Dublin and Drogheda Railway; by
referring to that correspondence, it will be seen that
these gentlemen generally appear to speak solely in
reference to their convenience as engine builders. Their
principal objection to the 4 ft. 84 in. Gauge seems to be
this; that with a cranked axle” there is little room left
on the Narrow Gauge for the gearing for working the
valves. This may be true; nevertheless their ingenuity
has enabled them to introduce four eccentrics on the
cranked axle instead of two, which number only was
applied to the first locomotives; it has not prevented
them lately from adopting expansive gearing when it
seemed desirable to do so, and, in short, from working
the valves by precisely the same mechanism as in use
on the 7 feet Gauge when they have seen fit to do so;
the difficulty has therefore been practically overcome,f
* Outside cylinders seem to be again coming into use ; with this
arrangement the difficulty of arranging the gearing disappears.
+ The Engines now in use on the Eastern Counties line, the Gauge
of which has been altered from 5 ft. 1 in. to 4 ft. 8% in., are the same
engines which were employed on the wider Gauge, the position of
the wheels having been altered. The change of Gauge did not make
it necessary to alter the size of the fire-box; they remain the same on
the 4 ft. 84 in. Gauge as they were on the 5 ft. Gauge; and where the
gearing was altered, which in the greater part of the engines it was
mot, it was for the purpose of improving it.
30
or it has not affected the improvements they desired to
introduce, although it may have cost them as mechanics,
and may still cost them, some trouble ; but the public
have only to look to large results in these matters, and
I think that it is evident, from considerations which I
proceed to explain, that neither in speed, safety, nor .
economy, would any appreciable result be found to
ensue from an alteration of the Gauge to an extent
varying from three to nine inches, as suggested by
engine builders.
As to speed, the engine builders themselves do not
seem to anticipate any material difference in this respect
from the additional width; nor, I may state generally,
without going into details, is there any good reason of
which I am aware (when the resistances are taken into
account) for expecting that there will be. Experience
confirms this view.
The speed of the fastest train on the
Northern and Eastern, when the Gauge
was five feet, was, per hour, . . . . . . . . . . . . 32% miles,
and of the ordinary trains, per hour, . . . . 233 miles.
Now that the Gauge is altered to 4 ft. 84 in.
the speed of the fastest train is, per hour, .. 43 miles,
and of the ordinary trains, with the same
number of stoppages, per hour, , , . . . . . . . 23% miles.
On the Dublin and Drogheda line, with a
Gauge of 5 ft. 3 in., the speed of the fastest
train is, per hour, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 miles,
and of the ordinary trains, per hour, . . . . . . 21% miles.
On the Glasgow and Greenock, a shorter
31
line, with a 4 ft. 8% in. Gauge, the speed of
the fastest train is, per hour, . . . . . . . . . . 30 miles,
and of the ordinary trains, per hour, . . . . . . 23% miles.
And so in the case of other Narrow Gauge lines, the
speed is decidedly superior to that upon the Inter-
mediate Guage. It is, I think, unnecessary to add any
thing to these facts.
As to safety, by far the most frequent cause of accident
on railways is collision, with which a slight increase of
Gauge has nothing to do. The next greatest danger
arises from the fracture of axles; if you widen the Gauge,
you lengthen the axle, and to increase the length of a
shaft exposed to torsion, as a railway axle is, certainly
does not seem the way to increase its strength. In
regard to safety, then, if there is any difference it is as
likely to be adverse to the wider Gauge, as compared
with the 4 ft. 84 in. Gauge, as in favour of it.
As to economy, to take a general view of the subject,
the average total cost of locomotive power on all the
railways in England, is about 10 per cent. of the receipts;
and the average receipts per mile about £2,800. ; the
average cost of locomotive power per mile per annum
is therefore about £280. Let us suppose, for the sake
of argument, that the introduction of the Intermediate
Gauge would effect a saving of 10 per cent. on loco-
motive power, although there seems to me no good
reason for supposing that it would effect any appreciable
saving; nor is there any proof that it has done so.
But even in such a case the saving would only
32
amount to £28 per annum, or Tào part of the receipts ;
this would only pay the interest at 4 per cent. on
£700. which would go a very little way towards the
expense of effecting the change of Gauge. It is there-
fore not only improbable, but impossible, that any
saving could result from the change when the expense
attending it is taken into account.
This expense would be very great ; the bridges
over the railway on the Narrow Gauge lines, the
tunnels and the stations, and in some cases the cut-
tings and embankments, would not admit of the
widening of the way" one foot with safety. New carry-
ing stock, if the alteration of the Gauge was fairly to
be carried out,t would have to be provided on both
Broad and Narrow Gauge railways, at an expense of
some millions: and it would be impracticable on the
Narrow Gauge line to alter the Gauge so little as 6
inches without obstructing, or, in some cases, actually
stopping, the traffic.f
In short, the proceeding would be fraught with
* That is, widening each line 6 inches, which is about the mean of
the various widths suggested.
+ To attempt to bring in usefully on the Intermediate Gauge the
existing carrying stock, or large parts of it—such, for instance, as
the bodies of the Narrow Gauge carriages, or the wheels and axles of
the Broad Gauge—would, in my opinion, be mere “botching;" it
would not be fair to the Intermediate Gauge, and would deprive you
of any chance of gaining in any respect by the alteration of Gauge.
f The difficulty in this respect is greater when the alteration is to
so small an extent as 6 inches, than if it were more,
33
frightful expense and difficulty, utterly disproportioned
to any practical advantages which could accrue from
it, and it must, in my opinion, be regarded as imprac-
ticable.
Should the Narrow Gauge lines then be altered to
the Broad Gauge 2
This alteration would no doubt involve a very large
expenditure ; it would be necessary to alter the bridges,
tunnels, and stations on more than 2000 miles of rail-
way; in other words, on seven-eighths of the length of the
railway completed, or in an advanced state of progress,
in this country ; in many cases to reconstruct them ;
portions of some lines” would probably have to be made
afresh, in order to adapt the curves to the Broad
Gauge carriages, which, in consequence of the length
of their axles, require flatter curves than the Narrow
Gauge carriages, to allow them to make a given circuit
with equal safety; cuttings and embankments, and
consequently culverts, would generally have to be
widened. The rails of the permanent way would in
many cases have to be superseded by heavier rails suited
to the heavier engines of the Broad Gauge, as would the
timbers, by longer and larger timbers. The existing
Narrow Gauge carrying stock, which has cost probably
more than four millions, would be nearly, if not quite,
useless, and new stock would have to be built. The
traffic of the Narrow Gauge districts (that is, of seven-
* The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, for instance.
D
$4.
eighths of the railways completed in the country) would
be greatly impeded for a considerable length of time,
and in some cases stopped. In short, the undertaking
would be of the most formidable character, involving
an enormous expense, and a delay of several years,
unless the new lines of railway, now about to be com-
menced, were stopped. For there would be no means
of getting Broad Gauge engines and carriages built in
less time for the new lines and for the existing Narrow
Gauge lines.
To set off against such objections, what advantage
would be obtained from the introduction of the Broad
Gauge in lieu of the Narrow? To answer this ques:
tion, it becomes necessary to institute a comparison
between the relative practical advantages of the Broad
and Narrow Gauges.
In order to do this, it is my intention to discard as
far as practicable all opinions which have been expressed
on this subject, and to regard solely the results which
the ordinary working” of the two systems exhibits, as
regards safety, speed, comfort, and economy.
First, then, as regards safety.
There is a motion prevalent with the public, that a
carriage with a wide base must be much safer than
one with a narrower base, because less liable to upset,
as a highly laden coach used to do. This fear, I need
* The Broad Gauge has now been in operation for seven years,
and the working of the Great Western Railway has been, during
that time, under the control of Mr. Brunel, the projector of the Broad
Gauge; we may be sure, therefore, the experiment has been fairly tried.
35
-*.
not say, is quite unfounded on a railway; it never hap-
pens, except in the possible case of a train getting alto-
gether off the rails when going at a high velocity, in
which event a carriage may be dashed to pieces, or
hurled over an embankment or bridge,” and the width
of Gauge will certainly not save it. Mr. Brunel says,
in speaking of the Narrow Gauge arrangement: “I
certainly never thought of the danger of upsetting from
the narrowness of the base.”f
As, however, only two persons were killed out of
48,000,000, carried in the years 1842-1843, out of
which number at least 45,000,000 were carried on
the Narrow Gauge, it is scarcely necessary to occupy
much time in discussing the comparative safety of the
Narrow and Broad Gauges.
It may, however, be as well to state, that out of 43
accidents to trains, occurring in the years 1842-1843,
20 were from collision, to which the Broad Gauge is at
least as subject as the Narrow Gauge (indeed the most
disastrous collision which has yet taken place, chanced
to occur on the Great Western Railway, when a slip
from the side of a cutting covered the rails); and out
of the remaining 23, three only were attended with
personal injury.
* As was the case in the accident near Slough a few weeks ago,
when the Broad Gauge carriages of the Express Train were hurled
over the edge of an embankment twelve feet high, into an adjoining
field, performing summer-saults as they fell.
+ Mr. Brunel's Report to the Directors of the Great Western
Railway, October 1838, before quoted.
D 3
36
No practical difference then, in point of safety, has
shewn itself in the working of the Broad and Narrow
Gauges. -
Secondly, as regards speed.
The first of the subjoined Tables shews the speed
on some of the principal lines of railway in March 1845,
before the racing commenced, consequent on the con-
test between the London and Birmingham and Great
Western Railways, in 1845. The second Table
shews the speed as advertised by the several Companies
on the 1st March 1846.
By Time Table published in March 1845.

FAST TRAINS.
Number
Miles per of Trains
Hour. daily at f
this Speed.
London and South Western ... Narrow Gauge 27, 4
Grand Junction ... tº gº e e e e * 24% 6
London and Brighton ... tº gº e */ 33; 4.
| Midland Counties tº e * c ſº */ 29; 2
Great North of England * † tº fº 28; 2
Great Western ... & ſº e ... Broad Gauge 26; 4
;
$3.

By Time Table published March 1, 1846.
FAST. EXPRESS.
Above 25 Miles per Hour.
g Numb s_ ] Number
;|&#|º];
Hour. this Speed. Hour. this Speed.
ft. in.
London & South Western ... Narrow Gauge 4 8, 27 6 39 2 Besides these there are six Trains
Grand Junction * * * tº dº e ditto &# 27 5 31% 6 daily, which run at 24-6 miles
London and Brighton tº ſº tº ditto f/ 25% 6 33 3 per hour.
Manchester & Birmingham... ditto £& 25; 3 33} 2
Great North of England ... ditto 4/ 26, 4. 30 2
Edinbro’ and Glasgow & tº & ditto dºw 27, 11
& * sº gº 36; 2
London and Birmingham ... ditto 4/ 26% 11 § } l } Ran last Summer, but were discon-
# tº tinued on a large portion of newly
(Northern and Eastern & & ditto &/ 27; l 43 2 ) constructed line being thrown open
for traffic last Autumn.
ft. in.
Dublin and Drogheda ... Intermediate Gauge 5 3 || 213 2 28 4
Great Western:— ft. in
London to Bristol" ... Broad Gauge 7 0 || 27, 10 43+ 2
* The run is taken from London to Bristol, as bearing a nearer resemblance, in distance and quantity of traffic, to the corres-
ponding runs on Narrow Gauge Lines, than the runs from London to Exeter, for 75 miles of which the traffic is comparatively very light.
f Average of up and down Trains.
38
In order to make a fair comparison, I have taken
in each case, trains with as nearly as may be the same
proportional number of stoppages.
It must be borne in mind, that the Great Western,
between Bristol and London, possesses the best gra-
dients and curves of any line of equal length in the
country, the only steep inclines being two short ones,
of 1 in 100, on the longer of which, an assistant engine
is always in readiness; and that the managers of that
railway have had a reputation to keep up for speed, in
order to justify the peculiarity of their Gauge, and the
expense which attended its introduction.”
With the ordinary Fast trains, the advantage seems
rather in favour of the Narrow Gauge lines, on several
of which trains of this class go as fast or faster than
upon the Broad Gauge lines.
The fastest or Express trains were brought into
vogue by the Broad Gauge railways, in order to shew
the superiority of the Broad Gauge in point of speed.
The Narrow Gauge railways soon came up to the Broad
Gauge in the rate of speed, whereupon the Broad
Gauge increased their pace. The Narrow Gauge
reached them again; the Express trains on the Eastern
Counties going at exactly the same speed as those on
the Great Western, namely 43 miles an hour: this
* Note to 4th Edition.—Especially since the evidence of all the
practical men not officers of the Great Western Railway Company,
examined by the Commissioners, shews the Broad Gauge system to
be not so well adapted as the Narrow Gauge system for the various
exigencies of railway construction and traffie.
39
express train, which on certain occasions completed
the run at 50 miles an hour from end to end, is at
present discontinued, owing to a long piece of newly-
constructed line being thrown open for traffic, over
which it would be improper to run at the highest
velocity.” It is worthy of remark, that the only Nar-
row Gauge line, the gradients of which are as good as
those of the Great Western line, is the Edinburgh and
Glasgow. On that line it will be seen that the Direc-
tors have not thought fit to adopt an Express speed,
but their Fast trains, of which they have eleven every
day, exceed in velocity those on the Great Western
line.
We have evidently least experience in regard to the
relative working upon the two Gauges in the extreme
case of Express trains running at rates of speed which,
up to this spring, it was considered inexpedient to
adopt,f the engineers of both the Broad and Narrow
Gauge lines telling us they have not yet constructed
such engines as they consider suitable to such velo-
* First and second class carriages are attached to the Express
trains on both these lines.
+ From the accident which has occurred lately on the Great
Western Railway, and which it would appear was twice nearly re-
curring, and from the fact that the resistance increases in a very rapid
rate as the velocity increases, it may be doubted if in the present
state of engines and railways it is judicious to drive Express trains at
the speed now in vogue—although neither the Broad Gauge nor the
Narrow Gauge party like to say so, lest it should appear as if they
were doubtful of their power to maintain such velocities. It may be
observed, that the power of sending an express with extraordinary
velocity—as, for instance, a government dispatch in time of war—
becomes of less importance as the electric telegraph is more generally
adopted.
40
cities;* whether or not the new Broad Gauge engines
turn out to be more powerful than the new Narrow
Gauge engines in relation to the load they will have
to convey, (which, from the greater proportion of dead
weight to profitable load on the Broad than the Nar-
row Gauge, will always be considerably more on the
Broad Gauge than the Narrow,) is very doubtful; but
there seems no reason to anticipate that there will
be any thing to prevent trains running upon the Nar-
row Gauge, either at 60 miles an hour, if it is found
desirable to attempt that speed, or at any other speed
which it may be found expedient to maintain.
To put an extreme case, in order to meet all cavil as
to the power of new engines which, in the heat of the
present contest, may be constructed to make a show of
attaining extraordinary velocities, the ultimate deter-
mination of the question of extreme speed may be thus
expressed: It seems to be admitted on all hands, that
* It appears that on the London and Birmingham Railway they
have engines of a different construction from those commonly in use
on Narrow Gauge lines, their engines having four wheels instead of six,
and being of somewhat less weight and power, as might be expected.
It was stated in evidence this Session before the Committee of the
House of Commons on the competing schemes north of Oxford, that
on the Narrow Gauge lines, engines were now in course of construc-
tion which would be as powerful, or more so, than the present Broad
Gauge passenger engines. As the Goods engines now in use on the
Narrow Gauge lines are, judging from their dimensions and perform-
ances, at least as powerful, if not more so, than any goods engines in
use on the Broad Gauge lines; and as goods engines are a more
powerful class of engines than passenger engines, there is said to be
no reason to doubt that the passenger engines now in the course of
construction on the Narrow Gauge lines will be as powerful as the
passenger engines now in use on the Broad Gauge.
41
the possibility of attaining greater speed with any load
depends on the possibility of attaining greater power
in proportion to that load—and in the locomotive
system, if that is to continue to prevail, it is always
open to you to diminish your load” by taking it at
twice, or to increase your power by attaching another
engine, which will probably be safer than attempting
to run with a monster engine at the highest velocities
on either Gauge. , -
If, on the other hand, the Atmospheric systemf is to
prevail, the principal argument which is adduced in
favour of the Broad Gauge—namely, the advantage,
real or supposed, which the greater width of base
gives you in the construction of the locomotive engine
—falls to the ground ; with the Atmospheric arrange-
ment, indeed, and its sharp curves, (the convenience
and economy of introducing which are among its re-
commendations) it would seem probable that greater
velocity and safety could be obtained were the atmos-
pheric piston drawing Narrow Gauge carriages, than if
it were drawing Broad Gauge carriages.
As to comfort and convenience, the first-class
carriages in use upon the Broad Gauge are roomy
and most luxurious. The second-class carriages have
hitherto been most uncomfortable and injurious to
health. Many of them are now covered in at the
* This would sometimes tend to increase the accommodation
afforded to the public, giving them two fast trains where otherwise
they would only have one, a position which is much insisted upon by
the advocates of the Atmospheric system.
+ Mr. Brunel, the inventor of the Broad Gauge, is the principal
advocate of the Atmospheric system.
42
sides, but they are still cold and draughty. The
roomy carriages can be given on the Narrow Gauge
as well as on the Broad by an equal sacrifice of dead
weight and resisting surface to each passenger, if such
were thought expedient; and I observe that the new
first-class carriages on some of the Narrow Gauge
railways are as roomy as appears desirable, even with a
view to the ease and comfort of the passenger only.
It should be remarked, that as the second-class
includes the majority of railway passengers, and as it
appears from the official returns that the second and
third-class passengers constitute more than four-fifths
of all railway travellers, we are taking a very par-
tial view of the subject when we regard merely the
shade of luxury which the first-class passengers enjoy,
who are less than one-fifth in number of the whole.
The goods traffic, moreover, by railway, now, is as
important, in a national point of view, as the passenger
traffic; and the balance of convenience as regards the
goods traffic would seem to be in favour of the Narrow
Gauge, especially in respect to the traffic at the
smaller class of stations; the goods for these stations
which are suitable to be placed together, are seldom in
sufficient quantity to fill a Broad Gauge waggon ; and
the consequence is, that on the Broad Gauge goods
which should be kept separate are necessarily placed
in the same vehicle, or you have to occupy a very large
waggon with a very small quantity of goods.” The
* To give an example of this. On the Bristol and Gloucester
Broad Gauge line, where there are several towns of from 1,000 to
43
weight” of the Broad Gauge waggons also renders them
inconvenient to move where you have not a strong
force of porters. On the other hand, under certain
circumstances, with a great quantity of the same sort
of goods to be moved at once, I can conceive the
larger vehicles of the Broad Gauge being the more
convenient.
Speaking from my own experience in the manage-
ment of Broad and Narrow Gauge railways, I think
the balance of convenience, as regards the goods traffic,
lies in favour of the Narrow Gauge, and I find carriers
generally entertain this opinion.
As to steadiness of motion of the carriages, or free-
5,000 inhabitants near the line, for the accommodation of which road
stations are established—the weight of the waggons themselves going
to and coming from these stations was, in the month of April, 1845,
283 tons, while the weight of the goods they conveyed was only 83
tons; or the dead weight was to the profitable weight as 34 to 10, a
disproportion which would certainly not have existed with the lighter
vehicles of the Narrow Gauge.
* Note to 4th Edition. — It has been clearly established at
Gloucester, by the most convincing mode of experiment, namely, by
transferring, as is done there daily, a certain weight of goods from a
set of waggons on one Gauge to a set of waggons on the other, that
the same useful load involves a greater dead weight by about 40 per
cent. on the Broad Gauge than the Narrow; and a similar result,
though still more against the Broad Gauge, shews itself in the
passenger trains. This peculiarity of the Broad Gauge makes
itself injuriously felt at every point in practice: it affects, for
instance, the command of power of the engines over their load, the
practicability of giving separate carriages for branch traffic, and so
saving passengers the annoyance of changing their carriages, (as
they are now obliged to do at Swindon and Didcot,) the wear and
tear of the carriages, engine, road, and the dispatch of business at
Stations.
44
dom from oscillation, we have already considered the
relative safety of the two Gauges, into which the
effects of oscillation must enter, in so far as they are
practically appreciable in respect to safety. We are
now regarding them in so far as they affect the com-
fort of travellers, more particularly of first-class
travellers.
It might seem natural to suppose that the greater
width of base of the carriages on the Broad Gauge,
and the fact of their having six wheels, while Narrow
Gauge carriages have generally (though not neces-
sarily) only four wheels, would result in less oscillation
when the carriage was in motion, for these circum-
stances undoubtedly tend to produce stability when the
carriage is at rest.
Nevertheless, the relative steadiness of the motion
of a carriage does not seem, in practice, to be deter-
mined by these circumstances.
When the road is consolidated, it is found to
depend on the arrangement and coupling of the car-
riages composing the train ; on the state of repair
of the carriages themselves, and of their various parts
—wheels, axles, and springs, which are brought into
action when the carriage is in rapid motion ; on the
relation of the length to the width of the carriage—the
longer carriage, relatively to the width, being the stea-
diest, and the Narrow Gauge consequently having here
an advantage; on the position of the particular car-
riage whose motion you may be observing in the train,
and on some other points of detail not connected with
the Gauge.
45
In going round sharp curves at a high speed, an
increase of oscillatory motion in Broad Gauge carriages
as compared with Narrow Gauge in the same circum-
stances, was found to arise on the Bristol and Gloucester
line where the curves were sharper than on the Great
Western line. It may from this be surmised that were
Broad Gauge rails laid on the sharper curves of the
existing Narrow Gauge lines on the same track as the
present Narrow Gauge rails, an increase of oscillatory
motion, as compared with what is now felt in the Narrow
Gauge carriages, would be experienced at those points.
As to economy.
The following are the locomotive expenses per train
per mile, for the average of recent periods on several
railways whose expenses I have been able to ascertain.
It is difficult to compare with nicety statements
of the expense of locomotive power per mile, made by
different locomotive superintendents. Not only do the
circumstances of the different lines differ, but the
superintendents frequently differ in their modes of
making out their accounts. The general results, how-
ever, may be relied on.
The price of coke on the Broad Gauge lines, is
moderate ;” but some of the Narrow Gauge lines run-
ning through coal fields, may save as much as one
penny per mile from the cheapness of their coke, as
compared with that of the Great Western Company.
* At the Bristol terminus they have easy access to the South Welsh
coal field.
46
Statement of the Cost of Locomotive Power, per Train per Mile, on
various Railways.
NARROW GAUGE. s, d.
Edinburgh & Glasgow (average of Passengers & Goods Trains) 0 11
Great North of England ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 7
Hull and Selby (Passengers Trains only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 9
Grand Junction ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , 1 0
Glasgow and Greenock ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 8
London and South Western, ditto . . . . . . 1 0}
Birmingham and Gloucester, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 9}
London & Birmingham Passengers Trains only):—
Engines with 12-inch cylinders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3
Engines with 13-inch cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 10%
Manchester and Leeds (Passengers Trains only). . . . . . . . . . 0 6
Sheffield and Manchester ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 6
Average. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 9}
BROAD GAUGE,
Great Western (Passengers Trains only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 10}
The general result of these figures perhaps is, that
there is no appreciable advantage in one Gauge over
the other, in expense of working ; there seems certainly
to be no advantage of the Broad Gauge over the
Narrow.
In the present case, when the cost of working is re-
garded in connexion with the alteration of all the Nar-
row Gauge lines to the Broad Gauge, it is, in one sense,
of little importance which way the balance lies; for from
what has been stated (p. 30) as to the average cost of lo-
comotive power per mile annually, and the actual amount
of a saving so large as even 10 per cent. of the whole
expense of locomotive power, it is clear that, assuming
for the sake of argument that a saving of 10 per cent, or
47
even 15 per cent. would be the result of the change of
Gauge, this amount of saving on all the existing lines of
railway, and on as many more lines of railway as now ex-
ist, would go a very little way even towards paying the
interest of the expense of altering the existing Narrow
Gauge lines to the Broad Gauge.
In the first cost of construction of the lines, the ad-
vantage has of course been in favour of the railways of
smaller dimensions; this in the long run must tell on
the fares, tending to make those on the Broad Gauge
higher than those on the Narrow; and will also tend
to prevent the ramifications of Broad Gauge railways
in districts promising but comparatively scanty traffic—
a circumstance of much importance in looking forward
to the development of the Railway system.
Looking then at the broad results shown in the ordi-
nary working of Narrow Gauge and Broad Gauge lines,
from which far more sound conclusions can generally be
derived, than by collecting the conflicting opinions of
engineers, who, as experience shews, have been con-
tinually mistaken in their predictions* in reference to
railways: I think the facts compel us to say, that no
appreciable advantages have yet shewn themselves either
in respect of safety, speed, or economy, in the Broad
Gauge arrangement per se, as compared with the
Narrow Gauge.
It follows, then, that while the alteration of the
* Thus we have seen some engineers doubting if ten miles an hour
could ever be attained by locomotive engines on railway; others
asserting that 100 miles an hour could be attained.
48
Narrow Gauge lines to the Broad Gauge, would be at-
tended by most weighty objections, and enormous ex-
pense, we have no ground to anticipate any decided,
or even appreciable, superiority of the working of the
lines,as Broad Gauge lines, to what that working
would have been, had they continued Narrow Gauge
lines.
Let us then examine the third method of obviating
diversity of Gauge, which presents itself, namely, by
altering the existing Broad Gauge lines to the Narrow
Gauge, and let us see if it appear feasible to effect this
change; for there can, I think, be no doubt, from our
experience of the working of the two systems, that the
advantages which would result to the whole country,
and to every part of it, from uniformity of Gauge,
would far outweigh any loss which that portion of the
country accommodated by the Broad Gauge, could
experience from the substitution of the Narrow for the
Broad Gauge ; further than this, it is not necessary to
press the argument.
The following circumstances are obviously in favour
of preferring this method of attaining uniformity of
Gauge.
THERE will BE only 278 MILEs of RAII,way to
ALTER, INSTEAD OF 2122 MILEs,” which would
BE REQUIRED TO BE ALTERED BY THE FIRST METHOD ;
or 1844. MILEs,f which would BE REQUIRED To BE
ALTERED BY THE SECOND METHOD WE HAVE BEEN EX-
* That is, by adopting an intermediate Gauge.
+ That is, by altering the Narrow Gauge lines to the Broad Gauge.
49
AMINING: IN OTHER WORDS, ONE-EIGHTH OF THE RAIL-
WAYS IN THE COUNTRY, INSTEAD OF SEVEN-EIGHTHs.
The seven-feet Gauge is so wide as to allow another
longitudinal bearer with a rail upon it, to be laid be-
tween the existing longitudinal bearers; and thus THE
whole PRocess of ALTERING THE GAUGE, with the
exception of the crossings at the stations (all of which
could be altered simultaneously along the line in one
night), could BE compleTED witHouT DISTURBING
THE or DINARY workING OF THE BROAD GAUGE, UNTIL
EVERY THING WAS READY TO ENABLE YOU TO COMMENCE
working AT oncE ON THE NARRow GAUGE.
The dimensions of the bridges, tunnels, and works
upon the Broad Gauge lines will of course admit a
railway of smaller dimensions; by the other methods
proposed, we should have to alter either 1844 or 2122
miles of railway, and to adapt works which had been
constructed to suit a railway of a certain width to a
wider railway, a totally different operation.
For these reasons, the expense of the alteration will
be reduced to comparatively a very small amount ;-
a sum not exceeding £1,000,000 will, as will be seen
from the details given in the Appendix, cover the whole
expense of altering the Broad Gauge line hitherto laid
down to the Narrow Gauge, and of providing them
with Narrow Gauge engines and carriages. And this
operation can be effected without obstructing the traffic
on those lines for a single day.*
* This is not a matter of theory, as the Gauge of the Eastern
Counties and Northern and Eastern Railway, 80 miles long, with a
E
50
The outline of the mode in which I propose to ac-
complish this, is as follows:–
To lay an additional longitudinal timber and rail
between the Broad Gauge rails, on both the up and
down lines.
The construction of the Great Western admits of
this being done, with perfect ease, and without the
smallest danger or impediment to the traffic ; it is
merely a matter of expense, and I have put down an
ample sum for it. w
When this is done, and the Narrow Gauge carrying
stock is ready, and ranged upon sidings adjacent to
the main line:
To remove the Broad Gauge stock into sheds and
sidings provided for the purpose, bring on the Narrow
Gauge carrying stock in its place, and commence
working on the Narrow Gauge at once.
I am prepared with the details of this plan ; and
having had some experience in operations of this
nature, I feel assured it is feasible; and I am confirmed
in this view by engineers to whom I have mentioned
it; they were also of opinion, that the prices in the
estimate of the expense of the alteration (amounting in
the total to £1,000,000), were ample.
terminal station in London, was altered from 5 feet to 4 feet 8%
inches, without losing the use of one station for a single day, or
stopping one passenger train. The difference between the 7 feet
and 4 feet 8% inch Gauges being much greater than between the 5
feet 1 inch Gauges and the 4 feet 8% inch, renders the operation more
easy, as regards the facility of executing it, without obstructing the
traffic.
51
It can scarcely be argued in the present day, when a
million is raised almost every week for some local rail-
way object, very often not an important one, and when
the increase of the National revenue from the direct
tax* on railways has been, and is, going on at the
rate of about £50,000 per annum, that a difficulty of
raising a single million should be allowed to stand in
the way of removing the grand flaw in the railway
system of this country, DIVERSITY OF GAUGE. It is
enough to say that the alteration of Gauge necessary,
in order to attain uniformity, can never be made nearly
so cheaply as it now can. It will, however, appear,
that this sum (£1,000,000) can be raised without even
a shilling expense to the Government ; and after award-
ing most ample compensation to the shareholders of the
Broad Gauge lines by the simple financial process ex-
plained in the Appendix, to which I have thought it
better to remove the brief calculations necessary to
elucidate it.
It has not been my purpose, in the foregoing re-
marks, to attempt to estimate precisely the abstract
mechanical advantages and disadvantages of the two
different Gauges to which railways are laid in this
country; I leave that to persons more competent than
I am, to deal with so difficult a question.
My object has been to bring under the consideration
of the public the evils which must ensue from a diver-
* The passenger tax.
59
sity of Gauge, in a small island such as England, de-
pendent, to a great extent, for its strength upon the
facility of intercommunication which exists between its
different parts, especially between the inland districts
and the sea. *
These evils are imminent, as the two Gauges are now
commencing to meet each other, and they must con-
tinue to increase and multiply themselves, if efficient
measures are not immediately taken to obviate them.
The Railway System of this wealthy country, whence
the invention of the modern form of railway emanated,
should be the most perfect in the world—if uniformity
of Gauge is not established, it will shortly be the most
imperfect which any thriving European country will
possess.
Modern art has put us in possession of a mode of
conveyance so superior to all others, that it is no
exaggeration to say, that if, from the fear of encoun-
tering a present difficulty, we allow a portion, and a
large portion, of the advantages which might result
from this new source of power to be lost—we are
wasting the resources of the country.
It is not now too late to remedy the evil, but if
measures are not immediately taken it will be too late.
Judging from the extraordinary rapidity with which
railways are now constructed,” in another year 1000
more miles of railway laid to different Gauges will be
completed or advancing to completion.
* The Scarborough Railway, the Act for which was only obtained
in 1844, is to be opened on July 7th, 1845.
53
The present then is, I submit, a case in which it is
absolutely necessary that Goverment should effectually
interfere.
A great evil is rapidly and certainly approaching. If
it is allowed once to fasten on the commerce of the
country, it will grow with its growth and strengthen
with its strength, impeding the one and diminishing
the other.
A needless burden on the country imposed at the
commencement of the commercial race with other
countries which is set before us, it will be regarded
as an approbrium on an Administration whose name
was indentified with commercial progress, and yet who
neglected to avert such a calamity when there was still
time to do so.
It is not individual interests which will directly
suffer by this obstruction to free intercommunication,
but national interests, and those as long as the railway
system lasts. The remedy is beyond the power of
individuals to apply; it is certainly not to be sought
among the wranglings of Railway Companies: but in
the hands of Government, it is easy of application, and
certain to be efficacious. In these remarks, I believe
I have pointed out one mode of applying such a
remedy, which will not, I think I have shewn, be
attended with the slightest pecuniary risk; and which
I venture to believe will, on examination, be found
the most feasible mode of attaining UNIFoRMITY of
GAUGE, AND ITs consequence,—FREE AND UNINTER-
RUPTED Railway INTERcomMUNICATION THRough-
out GREAT BRITAIN.
(1)
A P P E N DIX.
To alter the existing Broad Gauge lines to the Narrow Gauge, and
provide them completely with new Narrow Gauge stock, will cost
£1,000,000. See the detailed estimate (at page 6 of this Appendix),
the prices in which are all high.*
The question, then, we have now to discuss, is this : Which is the
best mode of raising this million of money :
It may be remarked, that nothing would, in all probability, so much
benefit the property of the Great Western Railway Company, as the
alteration of their Gauge to the Narrow Gauge; it would, in the first
place, relieve the Company from any prospect of having to adopt, in
the Branch and Extension limes, the more expensive mode of construc-
tion which the Broad Gauge requires, and which would be introduced
into districts peculiarly unsuited to it, such as Cornwall, South Wales,
and North Wales; and, in the next place, it would save them from be-
ing isolated by their peculiarity of Gauge from the general Railway sys-
tem of the country, and would thus put them in a position to recipro-
cate benefits and traffic with all other Railways, far more freely than
with their present peculiarity of Gauge they can ever do. For these and
other reasons, I believe that the Great Western Railway proprietors
could take no wiser step than forthwith to alter the Broad Gauge to
the Narrow Gauge. This is what the Eastern Counties, and Northern
and Eastern—what the Scotch lines of peculiar Gauge, have dome;
and what the Bristol and Gloucester are applying for powers this Ses-
sion to do. The Great Western Company, however, it may be said,
are peculiarly situated; their Engineers and Managers are pledged
to promote the Broad Gauge, they therefore will not alter their Gauge
voluntarily at their own expense, as others have done.
Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that this state of things
may arise; how is the million, requisite in order to enable the Gauge
to be altered, to be raised ?
* Note to 4th Edition.—Speaking of this estimate, the Gauge Commissioners
say, “We see no reason to dispute the general grounds of it.”
APPENDIX. * (2)
The most easy and simple manner of doing it, would, I conceive,
be, that Government should give the Great Western Railway Com-
pany the £1,000,000 required, and appropriate to the payment of
the interest and redemption of this sum, one year's increase only of
the passenger tax, which is steadily increasing at the rate of £50,000
per annum; £45,000 per annum would repay Government the
interest on the million at 3% per cent., and redeem the capital in 40
years.
I believe it will be admitted that a trifling portion of the revenue
derived from direct taxation on Railway income could not be better
or more appropriately devoted, than to attaining the important ob-
ject of uniformity of Gauge; at the present time especially, which is
exactly the moment when this object can be attained with infinitely
less cost and difficulty than it ever can be hereafter.
The mode just mentioned is, I submit, the simple and proper way
of settling the question. It would be a question for Government to
determine if any, or what, portion of the million required should be
borne by the Great Western Railway Company.
But clear as I believe it to be, and as I think most persons will
agree with me in thinking, that the interest of the Great Western
Railway proprietors is to change their Gauge, whether it be effected
at their own expense, or wholly or partly at the expense of Govern-
ment, it is possible that their Managers may recommend them
not to do so unless compelled by an Act of Parliament.
I will not stop here to inquire if this compulsion on the part of
Parliament, accompanied by an offer to relieve the Great Western
Railway Company from the whole or such proportion of the expense
of the alteration as shall appear fair to neutral persons, would not
be completely justifiable; because there is another way by which, I
think, Government might meet the question, which I proceed to
explain.
We suppose, then, the Great Western Railway Company to refuse
to alter the Gauge and allow of the attainment of an important public
object—uniformity of Gauge—unless compelled to do so. In this
state of things Government might either make the change of Gauge
compulsory, * fair compensation for the expense of the change being
* I have not thought it necessary to allude to the possible argument, that it
would not be fair to purchase the two Broad Gauge lines without previously ob-
taining the consent of the proprietors. In the first place, there seems to be no
(3) APPENDIX.
secured to the Great Western Railway Company; or it might say, If
you do not like to alter your Gauge, and as we have resolved that public
policy requires the alteration of your exceptional Gauge to the gene-
ral standard, we will take your Railway from you at a fair valuation
by impartial persons, and let or sell your line to another Company,
who will undertake to alter the Gauge.
That this transaction could be easily effected, and without risk or
loss to the revenue of the country, I will endeavour to explain.
Government security is better than that of any Railway Company
by—say 1% per cent. per annum.
This is certainly so in the case of the Great Western Railway Com-
pany; for half their capital is raised on Bonds, on which the average
amount of interest paid is more than 4+ per cent. ; and the price of
the shares to a purchaser produces 43 per cent.: whereas Govern-
ment can at the present time raise money at say 3% per cent.
Let us then assume that the Great Western Railway Company’s
Bondholders and Shareholders look to 4% per cent. on their money,
or rate their property as worth 22; years purchase, while persons
investing on Government Securities look to 3} per cent. on their
money, or regard the property as worth 30+ years purchase.
The net earnings of the Great Western and Bristol and Exeter
Companies now are, as nearly as may be, 36600,000 per annum.
At 22# years purchase this represents a capital of £13,333,333.
Let Government then accept the offer of the Great Western
Company, and take the concern off their hands at a valuation.
Let them (Government) lease it to a Company willing to work it
reason why the proprietors should object to selling their property at the present
time, as it stands well in the market, and as they will be allowed to bring for-
Ward proof of its real value if they see fit to do so, instead of taking the market
price at any given period. In the next place, Railway Companies themselves have
so familiarized us with the doctrine that private rights must give way to public
advantage, that it is scarcely to be anticipated that they will try to use in their
own favour the arguments they have so often opposed. That argument, more-
over, loses much of its point when used by a Railway Company, the difficulty
being, in the case of compulsory transfers of land and houses, to award just
compensation, since many of the injuries which are inflicted are either such as
money will not repair, or are exceedingly difficult to estimate in money; whereas
railway property is merely held for purposes of profit, and all the Broad Gauge
Companies would have to look to would be to obtain a fair price for their pro-
perty, the value of which in money can be easily ascertained,
APPENDIX. (4)
no the Narrow Gauge. In order to attain uniformity of
Gauge, let them furnish the lessees with the £1,000,000 (at
3} per cent. interest), which is amply sufficient, as has been shewn,
to alter the Gauge and provide the line with new carrying stock,-and
let them demand from the lessees only the present earnings of the
Great Western Railway, viz., 36600,000 per annum, plus 4:45,000
per annum, to repay the interest at 3% per cent, and capital of the
million expended in the alteration of the Gauge which will thus be
liquidated in 40 years, the proposed term of the lease.
The lessees will have the prospect of all future increase to the
traffic of the Great Western, which must arise from its extensions
and branches (especially if they are on the Narrow Gauge) as their
prospective profit; and there is no doubt that tenders from responsible
Companies, ready to lodge security, would pour in, if such a lease
were in the market.
The mode of effecting the purchase will be as follows:—
Government will have the rental, £645,000 per annum, in their
hands. They accordingly will have to create terminable annuities to
this amount; and in the shape of this security they will pay off, first
the Great Western and Bristol and Exeter Shareholders, and the
million raised to defray the expenses of the alteration of Gauge ; and
secondly, the Bondholders, as the Bonds become due in this security,
if the Bondolders prefer it; or if not, in cash raised on these annuities.
Taking money at 3% per cent, on Government security, £645,000
per annum would in 40 years pay off the value of the Great Western
and Bristol and Exeter Railways, and the additional million spent in
altering the same.
For the 26645,000 per annum rent, Government should take
ample security from the lessees, on which they might allow 3 or 3}
per cent. interest; but there would be no reason for apprehension as
to the security not being sufficient, for the whole Railway property of
the kingdom, for whose benefit and that of the nation this debt was
incurred, might fairly be regarded as pledged to make good this
amount of rent.
It is, however, supposed that a much higher rent than that named
would be obtained; and it may be remarked, that as the principle of this
operation lies in the difference between the security of Government
and that of a Railway Company being 1% per cent. per annum, if the
value of the Great Western Railway were assessed at a greater num-
F
(5) APPENDIX.
ber of years purchase than I have estimated (223), so also must
Government security be held to be worth a greater number of years
purchase than I have estimated (30%). The present value of the
annuities created to the extent of £645,000 per annum would there-
fore also be greater, and the operation would work itself outright.
I have assumed that Government would purchase the concern
through the medium of annuities, because in that mode the operation
of the principle of the mode suggested is most clearly shewn—there
would be no difficulty in varying the form of security, if it was thought
financially expedient to do so.
The value of the Great Western property would be fixed either by
a Jury, or by arbiters, as might be arranged between the parties.
In this manner, I believe, the Gauge might be altered without a
shilling expense to Government, and after awarding most ample re-
muneration to the Shareholders of the Great Western Company; and
the Government would have the property free from incumbrance in
their own hands at the end of 40 years.
The mode of effecting the transaction is analogous to that lately
adopted by Government in reference to the South Welsh Turnpike
Road; where in order to improve the administration of the Turnpike
Road Trusts of one district, Governmenthave substituted their security
for that of the Trustees on £200,000.
Surely to remedy a fatal mistake in the Railway system, Govern-
ment might allow use to be made of its name (for the risk is merely
nominal) on a larger sum.
Iventure to believe that the arrangement just proposed is feasible,
and that under certain circumstances it might appear to be the best
mode of attaining the object in view, especially to those persons who
think it would have been better if Railway property were held by
lease under Government; for it will be seen that this plan, while it
would attain certainly the immediate object—UNIFoRMITY OF
GAUGE—would include many of the advantages, real or supposed,
anticipated from Government being the owner of Railway property,
and leasing it periodically, under restrictions for a term of years, to
private parties to work; and this without several of the corresponding
disadvantages urged as objections to this mode of tenure of Railway
property.
Nevertheless I conceive the obvious mode first suggested is
decidedly preferable—namely, that the expense of alteration of the
APPENDIX, (6)
Gauge should be shared between the Great Western Company and
the State in such proportions as neutral persons shall decide to be
fair.
The fund properly applicable to the purpose by the State, is, I
think it will be admitted, a portion (and a small portion will suffice)
of the increase of revenue derived by the direet taxation of Railways;
and I think this is the more clear, when it is remembered that the
removal of diversity of Gauge, as in the case of the removal of other
hurtful restrictions to trade, will infallibly stimulate Railway traffic,
and thus indirectly, though certainly, be the means of bringing back
to the State a greater revenue than it would give up in order to avail
itself of the favourable moment for attaining NATIONAL UNIFoR-
MITY of GAUGE.
The loss of time and money at a break of Gauge is as complete a
tax as any duty which is paid to Government, with this difference,
that it benefits nobody.
\
(II.) Eapense of altering the Broad Gauge Railways to Narrow
Gauge Railways.
The method proposed is by laying a new and distinct longitudinal
bearer and rails between the existing rails laid to the Broad Gauge.
You have therefore to allow for a new single line of timber and
rails, the present outside timber and rails on each line being left to
you to be disposed of when the alteration is completed.
Expense of laying a single line of rails, with longitudinal bearings,
including materials, per mile :-
Timber, 150 loads, at 84s. per load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630
Rails, 70lbs. per yard, 110 tons, at £12 per ton . . . . . tº 1,320
Laying and fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Carriage of materials, felt, screws, &c. &c. . . . . . . . . . . 345
262,695
Deduct value of old materials, (iron and timber,) taken at
half price. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,005
(7) § is APPENDIX.
Main Line and Branches, 242 miles, at 261690 per mile, 38408,980
Alteration of switches, points, turntables, sidings, and
platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,000
Add for contingencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,000
Total expence of alteration of road. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26538,980
(III.) Eaſpense of New Stock of Engines and Carriages adapted
to the Narrow Gauge.
The locomotive stock on different lines has cost as follows, per mile –
North Midland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £3,357
Grand Junction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,441
London and South Western . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,049
Edinburgh and Glasgow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,987
Experience now enables us to fit up a railway with greater economy
than formerly, as we now know precisely what to order.
I take the expense of locomotive stock of all descriptions, including
engines, carriages, waggons, &c. to be—
For the Great Western . . . . . . . . . . 283,000 per mile.
For the Bristol and Exeter line, and branches
of the Great Western. . . . . . . . . .". . . . 262,000 ditto
1 19 miles at £3,000 per mile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #357,000
129 , , 2,000 ,, • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 258,000
26615,000
Deduct the value of old stock, say only 25 per cent.
of prime cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155,500
Total expense of altering locomotive stock . . . . . . £459,500
LONDON :
C. F. HoDGSON, PRINTER, 1 GOUGH SQUARE, FLEET STREET.
Dupbl Č º .nº
.*