LIGHT RAILWAYS FOR NEW SOUTH WALES. 257 
by the adoption of a flexible type of locomotive, great economy in 
railway construction would result, and even if the type were more 
costly and the repairs heavier, it was a question whether this 
disadvantage could be said to weigh against the saving in interest 
on construction, especially when on the other hand the advantage 
of using the whole weight of the locomotive for adhesion was 
borne in mind. It seemed to him that only by the adoption of 
some such type of locomotive could the principles of light railways 
be extended to rough countries. 
Mr. C. O. BurGe in reply, said the discussion had displayed an 
interest in the subject which had justified him in taking it up, 
and had amply repaid the trouble taken over it. Messrs. Parkinson 
and Cowdery both regarded the proposed spacing of sleepers as 
too wide, the characteristic of the proposed permanent way being» 
comparatively heavy rails and wide spacing. Mr. Parkinson said 
very truly, that, as the road was weakened in proportion to the 
cube of the spacing, but only to the square of the weight of rail, 
economy would point rather to reverse the process, increasing the 
sleepers, and reducing weight of rail. Now, looking into this 
matter in its practical light, which Mr. Parkinson apparently had 
not done; with two thousand five hundred sleepers, as he suggests, 
he could have the same stiffness as proposed in the paper with 
twenty-nine pound rails, and the cost would be reduced by £100 
per mile, justifying his theory so far, but, having put the £100 in 
his pocket, he would find that during the ordinary life of a sleeper, 
he would have to renew nine hundred and sixty more sleepers, 
the capitalized cost of which would amount to over £200, so he 
would have made a loss, so to say, to begin with; then he would 
have only half of the material for rail head wear and tear, and 
lose the easiest means of strengthening the road afterwards, 
according to increase of traffic, which should be one of the main 
eharacteristics of any proposal for light lines. 
Mr. Cowdery followed by stating that he had found, presumably 
with the same axle wéight and rails and other conditions, that a 
saving of mamtenance took place with more sleepers. Of course 
Q—July 5, 1898, 
