"ee oa 
240 DISCUSSION ON 
narrow gauge; nor could any saving be effected in the fences, 
which would be the same length in each case. In the bridges 
(timber in this case) and culverts there would be no saving on 
the longitudinal beams, or vertical timbers, or iron-work, and 
very little on the transverse timbers. There would admittedly 
be a saving on earthwork, but not so great as would appear at 
first glance, because the great bulk of the cost of a cutting was 
the opening of the gullet so that waggons could be taken through, 
when its width could be amplified at a cheaper rate. There would 
be saving in cubic measurement of earthwork, but the rate must 
be higher in order to compensate for the smallness of the payable 
cutting. The course would be longer, owing to its tortuousness, 
on the narrow than on the broad gauge, entailing more length of 
way and therefore increased cost for rails, sleepers, and main- 
tenance. The saving in length of sleepers and transverse timbers 
on bridges was but trifling. These arguments, added to the very 
weighty ones of the interruption to passenger and freight traffic 
by break of gauge, and the difficulty of sending damaged rolling 
stock to central repairing shops, totally reversed public opinion, 
and the Minister heartily adopted this view and sanctioned the 
five feet three inches gauge, He was of opinion that the reasons 
just enumerated, added to the numerous and weighty ones adduced 
in the paper, left no room for the advocacy of the narrow gauge, 
excepting such arguments as have already been referred to. It 
was to be regretted that, in view of the intention to make light 
locomotives and rolling stock generally, and to run at low speeds, 
the first light lines in Victoria were made with fifty pound rails. 
Probably, if the low speeds had been maintained, the rails would 
have carried the traffic for a long time, but the exigencies of the 
traffic soon over-rode the instruction. The station accommodation 
was indifferent, the number of hands on an economical scale en 
tailed long delays at the stations, and therefore greater speed in 
the intermediate spaces to make up for lost time; so that ina 
very short time a message came from the resident engineer that 
the rails were too light, and recommending that nothing less than 
