'''''''" 0/ 7?../..., ,/./;,. TOPICS OF THE MONTH. 



CONVERSIONFROM 3fT. 6 IN. AND OFT. 3,N. TO 4 FT. 8ilN. GaUGE. 



691 



Item. 



Track Mileage. 



N.S.W ^ Victoria. Q'land. .S. Aust. W. Aust. 



o,.'ioO 



C wealth . 



100 



5,148 



1 . Alteration to Perma- 

 nent Way 



2 Alteration" to Struc- 

 tures 



3. E X pe nd i tare on 



Transfer Yards and 

 Transhipment of 

 goods durinij; al- 

 terations ... 



4. Oonver.sion of exist- 



ing and provi.sion 

 of new Rolling 

 Stock 



Total 



2,021 



4,225 



645 



£ 



i-2n,fK)() 



£ £ £ £ £ 



l,7-21.(l(>;) 7.!)I8.()()() 2.f)74,(Kl() 9,()50,0U0 1.120,000 



14;{.()(l<l l.(f2().()(H) 432.0(X) .-)44,0!J0 — 



1.705.000 3()f).000 l.()05,(K)0 241.000 — 



2,548,000 3,340,000 2,117.000 1,005,(XX) 101.000 



120,000 6,117,000 12.578,(K}0 6.228,000 10.840,000 1,281,000 



Conversion from 3 ft. 6 in. and 4 ft. SJ in. to 5 ft. 3 in. Gauge. 



Ite. 



■m. 



Track Mileage. 



-V.S. W. Victo ria. Q'land. S. Au.st. W. Aust. C'rtealth. 



1.111 



6,099 



5,148 



5,. 3.50 



4.225 



645 



1. Alterations to Per- 



manent Way 



2. Alteratioms to Struc- 



tures 



3. E X p e n d i ture on 



Transfer Yards and 

 Tran.shipment oif 

 goods during al- 

 terations 



4. Conversion of exist- 



ing and provision 

 of new Rolling 



Stock ■; 



9. ().")(), 000 

 72 7, 0: HI 



2,904,000 



6.632,000 



£ £ £ £ 



8.84().0;iO 2.402.00:) 8.728.000 1 .31().(M)0 



1.0()8.0(MI 2()4.O00 



3(K).0(>:) 



370, (KK) 



158.000 



242. (fOO — 



3,817.000 2,134,0(X) 1,130,000 171,000 



Total 19,319,000 



14,025,000 5,170,000 11.658,000 1,487,000 



Cerlain remarkable facls appear on 

 analysis of these figures. The estimate 

 for converting" the railways of New 

 South W'alos from 4 ft. 8.^ in. to 5 ft. 

 3 in. is based upon the alteration of 

 6099 miles of track ; although, accord- 

 ing to t'le last report, these railways 

 only had 45 10 miles of track and 3831 

 miles of line. The cost of conversion 

 would thus be about ^^^5043 per route 

 mile, or, taking the larger figure of 

 6099, about £ji/0 per mile of track. Of 

 the 19 millions, over 9 millions is allo- 

 cated to conversion of permanent way, 

 or an allowance of ^^1500 per track mile. 

 Many miles of line have been con- 

 structed, with all appliances and build- 

 ings, for ^,3500 per route mile, so that 

 the figure appears high. It is only about 

 ;£'ioo less per track mile than is allowed 

 for the conversion of the 3 ft. 6 in. lines 

 of Queensland to 5 ft. 3 in. 



The total estimate for converting: 

 9576 miles of the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge in 

 Queensland and West Australia to 5 ft. 

 3 in. is i^2S,683,coo, of converting 3477 

 fewer miles of the 4 ft. 8.1 in. gauge in 

 New South Wales is ^^19,3 19,000, a dif- 

 ference of only ^,"6,364,000, although in 

 the case of the narrow gauge, neither 

 sleeiiers nor metals can be used, whereas 

 l)oth can be utilised when the 4 ft. 8.'. 

 in. IS converted. 



In 1897 a commission reported on the 

 cost of conversion. Its estimate for 

 alteruig the lines in New South Wales 

 to 5 ft. 3 in. was ^,4,260.000. It is true 

 that great de\elopment has taken place 

 sini'e then. The total amount spent in 

 railwa\' conslructiiui in the mother 

 .Stale during the last eighteen years 

 was i, 15,781,000. riie extraordinar\- 

 thing, though, is that the present esti- 

 mate for con\ersion exceeds thai made 



