AN IRISH CHANNEL RAILWAY 341 



gow. Bailway traffic in Ireland would be further increased if a similar 

 line crossed the channel from England to France, making through rail 

 connection from Great Britain to the Continent. Under present con- 

 ditions, ocean traffic from America to Ireland frequently goes first to 

 Liverpool and thence back to Dublin or Belfast, with a corresponding 

 delay. For local commerce between Ireland and the east, the time of 

 transportation would be shortened by only two or three hours, and yet, 

 for improving railway facilities from England to the north, the great 

 Forth Bridge was built at a cost of $13,000,000. 



One of the difficulties in connecting the railway systems of the 

 Islands is the difference in their gauge, which is 4 feet 8^ inches, or 

 standard width in England, and 5 feet 3 inches in Ireland. This diffi- 

 culty could be overcome in some one of several ways, such as (1) trans- 

 ferring cargoes at the border, (2) changing all tracks to standard 

 gauge, or (3) laying a third rail on both systems. Any of these meth- 

 ods would be costly, but a change would necessarily follow the construc- 

 tion of a channel road. 



In selecting a location for the channel road, it will be found that 

 the shortest distance across is from Tor Point in Antrim to the Mull 

 of Cantyre, the length of which is fourteen miles, but this course would 

 involve other difficult water crossings in Scotland, and the line would 

 lead far to the northwest, making the course impracticable. A better 

 location further south is that from Whitehead on the Irish coast, north- 

 east of Belfast, to Port Patrick, the distance being twent}'-three miles. 

 An unfortunate feature of the latter course is the presence of a central 

 valley or depression known as Beaufort's Dyke, the bottom of which is 

 two or three hundred feet lower than other parts of the sea, which has 

 a normal depth of 400 to 500 feet, making a total depth of 600 to 800 

 feet in this depression. Geologists declare that at one time there was 

 no dividing sea, but only a central valley now known as Beaufort's 

 Dyke, and during the Pleistocene period the land was submerged, form- 

 ing the present Irish Sea and Channel. 



There are at least four possible methods of establishing a railway 

 across the channel: (1) a continuous embankment or causeway, (2) a 

 submarine tunnel, (3) a submerged floating tube or viaduct and (4) a 

 bridge. 



A continuous embankment across the channel would cost at least 

 $100,000,000, and possibly more, and it would interfere with shipping. 

 It could be used for a double-track line of railway and for developing 

 electric power from the strong northern current, which would be fifty 

 times more productive of power than the whole Falls of ISTiagara. 

 Such obstruction of the natural currents would, however, lower the 

 water in the harbors of Glasgow, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin, an 

 objection of rather serious moment. Since the proposed causeway 



