i7'8 



CHAPTER X 



The following data were obtained in Mauritius in 1904* : — The cost of 

 laying down a system of railways to feed a factory is very considerable. 

 The lowest cost per mile for a gauge of 2 ft. 6 in. is not less than £300, with 

 rails weighing 18 to 20 lbs. per yard. For a 3-foot gauge, with rails 25 lbs. 

 to the yard, an initial cost of £450 is the lowest which can be expected. 

 These figures do not, of course, include the cost of locomotives and rolling 

 stock. The cost of laying down the rails is entirely dependent on local 

 conditions ; where these are favourable, and no expensive cuttings or bridges 

 have to be made, a minimum cost of £100 per mile may be sufficient, an esti- 

 mate to be greatly increased with unfavourable local conditions. 



The following figures, taken from actual practice, will give much informa- 

 tion regarding light railway transport : — 



Acreage served 



Miles of permanent track 



Gauge 



Number of locomotives 



Weight of locomotive 



Number of wagons . . 



Size of wagons 



Load of wagon 



Number of wagons per train 



Cane tianspoited per 24 hours 



Average distance of transport 



Cane transported during crop 



Coal burned per ton-mile 



Maintenance of line and rolling stock per 



Fuel per ton-mile 



Stores per ton-mile . . 



Labour per ton-mile 



Total cost of transport per ton mile 



On all the larger plantations in the Hawaiian Islands 30 -ton locomotives 

 are used, capable of drawing a load of 300 tons of cane ; a typical cane train 

 is shown in Plate XX. 



Transport on Public Railroads. — In certain districts, notably Cuba and 

 Mauritius, much of the crop is transported on the public railroads. This 

 system is used very successfully in connection with cane farming, and allows 

 of a large number of farms or colonias existing a considerable distance from 

 the centrals. In Cuba the rates charged are expressed per metric ton per 

 kilometre: o-io kms., i-io cents; 11-25 kms., o-6 cent; 26-50 kms., 

 o • 45 cent ; 51 and upwards, o • 30 cent. There is also a charge of 3 • 75 cents 

 per day per ton capacity of the car. In Mauritius the rates were (1904) 

 10 cents of a rupee per ton per mile for the first, 8 cents for the second, and 

 6 cents for the third and following miles. 



Aerial Ropeways. — As a means of transport in hilly or broken districts, 

 notably in Mauritius, ropeways find some use. The following description 

 of the ropeways often used in Mauritius is after Wallis-Tayler^ : — 



" The arrangement consists of a driving gear at one end or terminal of the 

 line fitted with a driving drum suitably geared to receive rotary motion which, 

 in this instance, is provided by the power of the cane mill, and a similar wheel 

 at the other end fitted with tightening gear, an endless band of wire rope being 

 mounted on these wheels. At intervals of about 200 ft. intermediately between 

 these terminals the rope is supported on pulleys mounted on posts at a suit- 

 able height to enable the carriers to clear all intervening obstacles, and to a 

 certain extent also to regulate the general level of the line. The carriers 

 hang from the rope and are enabled to pass the supporting pulleys by means of 



*Present-day figures will be very different from what obtained then, but this section is included as it appeared 

 in the first edition of this work, since some of the unaffected data are contained herein. 



