The Railway Discussion 1902. 53 
In a country like British Guiana where railway construction has only just 
begun, it would be better, no doubt, to standardize the gauge of its light lines. 
The gauge which the majority of English railway engineers most strongly 
recommend for light lines is the 2 ft. 6 in. gauge, and might be made the 
standard for light railways in British Guiana. 
Mr. Calthrop in his paper read before the Society of Arts (Journal 1897, Vol., 
XLY., page 245) said :—‘‘ Thereis no doubt that as compared with all others 
it is the gauge possessing the greatest carrying capacity per cent. of cost of track. 
Tt has sufficient stability to carry goods of great weight and bulk, while the 
flexibility of its alignment is such that it can accommodate itself to country 
of mountainous and most difficult character at a fraction of the cost of a standard 
gauge line, negotiating similar difficulties.” A railway is a commercial under- 
taking pure and simple, and the principle to be followed, both in its design 
and working, should be the same as would be adopted in any mercantile con- 
cern. No merchant, forinstance, would dream of building or chartering a vessel 
capable of carrying 1,000 tons if his cargo was not likely to exceed for a given 
time 500 tons. A sugar planter would not erect machinery to manufacture 
5,000 tons of sugar if his crop could not produce more than 2,500 tons. 
In Great Britain, up to the year 1897, narrow-gauge lines were to be found only 
in‘ Wales and Ireland ; if we except those in the colliery districts in the north 
of England. Thereisno doubt, however, that the construction of light railways 
in England was retarded chiefly on account of the restrictions of the Board of 
Trade, by which high rates of speed were rendered necessary upon standard- 
gauge lines. The evidence given before the Commissioners appointed by 
Parliament, of which Mr. Bryce, M.P., was chairman, conclusively proved this. 
To be a success, light railways must be rid of all the traditions of the main 
lines, which are too extravagant for them. These restrictions were entirely 
removed by the passing ofthe Light Railways Act of 1897. The evidence given 
before the same commission, and the proceedings of the International Railway 
Congress of 1895, showed also that a great deal of the agricultural depression 
in England was due to the want of light railways to connect the agricultural 
districts to the main line. The Light Railways Bill of 1897 is a very liberal 
Act which has been very liberally interpreted by the “Light Railways” 
Commissioners, and a large number of schemes have been submitted and 
approved of. Since the passing of the Act, several light lines have been 
constructed, and I believe the first opened for traffic was the Lynton and 
Barnstaple, 193 miles. It is laid with 40 Ibs. rails in the 2 ft. 6 in. gauge. The 
majority of Irish railways and the Festiniog in Wales, although narrow-gauge 
lines cannot strictly be considered light lines, and the fact of the former not 
proving a financial success is not due to their being narrow-gauge lines but to 
the fact they were constructed on too pretentious a scale and, as was suggested 
by Mr. Balfour during the discussion in Parliament on Mr. Bryce’s Bill, to the 
incidence of fixed and management charges, or they were worked indepen- 
dently on the old traditions instead of being grouped under one administra- 
tion as obtained on the Continent. 
Public opinion has been educated by such men as Mr. Calthorp, Mr. Ack- 
worth, and Mr. Mackay to the fact that narrow-gauge railways are not the toys 
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