LIGHT RAILWAYS FOR NEW SOUTH WALES, 255 
those he had already mentioned, viz., of ten chains radius, but 
using the term in a relative sense and calling a railway costing 
£6,000 or £8,000 per mile, a light railway compared with one 
costing double those amounts, a great deal could be said about 
methods by which this cheapness could be obtained. It had been 
said by the advocates of the Eden-Bega railway, that all they 
wanted was a light railway. Anyone who knew the district and 
had any railway engineering experience, was also aware that in 
such a country a cheap railway was impossible even with a two 
feet gauge. There were numerous important watercourses to cross 
and the spurs of the hills were so sharp and steep that it was not 
possible to go round them with anything like ordinary curves, and 
constructing with very sharp curves such as of two chains radius, 
would greatly increase the length of line. The connection of the 
coast with the tableland had been attempted in several places, 
but after the most careful surveys it had in all cases been shown 
that the connecting railways would cost from £12,000 to £20,000 
per mile. This was of course due to the rugged nature of the 
country traversed, and the heavy earthworks, tunnels and bridges 
necessitated. Were it possible to run curves of five or six chains 
radius the cost of construction would be greatly lessened, possibly 
in some cases by one-half, in others by one.third. Mr. Thow had 
told them how objectionable sharp curves were in the wear and 
tear they caused to the flanges of the wheels of the rolling stock, 
but granting this, might it not sometimes be worth while to risk 
such wear and let the cost of repairs go against the interest saved 
in construction. Suppose for instance, that by the adoption of 
sharp curves the cost of a heavy mountain section of a line fifty 
miles in length could be reduced by £4,000 per mile, thus affect- 
ing a saving on the whole length of £200,000, the interest on 
this sum at four per cent. would be £8,000 annnally, surely this 
would pay for the turning up of a good many worn out tyres and 
for keeping a stock of spare wheels in readiness to replace those 
worn, He thought that this was a matter which deserved much 
attention from locomotive engineers, especially in a country like 
