BACK RAILWAYS. 97 



" After having thoroughly studied this subject, we have come to 

 the final conclusion, (1) That rack railways offer an excellent 

 means of overcoming steep inclines, which are beyond the limit 

 of adhesion, and that they make railway communication profitably 

 possible in mountainous regions, where adhesion lines would 

 require the investment of too much capital, and would not pay. 



"(2) That the slow speed of the rack locomotives is favourable 

 for working the engines economically, and that the speed, though 

 in itself slow, is relatively considered, about the same as the 

 average speed on adhesion lines. 



"(3) That it is practicable, considered from a mechanical stand 

 point, for cog-wheel locomotives to ascend grades from 3^ to 25 

 per cent. (1 in 40 to 1 in 4) but that from an economical stand 

 point considered, the grade on combination rack railways with 

 large traffic should not exceed 7 per cent. (1 in 14-28). 



"(4) That the Abt system, for lines with large passenger and 

 goods traffic is preferable to any other rack system. 



"(5) That the efficiency of a rack railway, even on very steep 

 grades is considerable, but on grades of 6 to 7 per cent. (1 in 16*66 

 to 1 in 14-28) its efficiency is equal to that of an adhesion line of 

 2J per cent. (1 in 40). 



"(6) That the total operating expenses of a combination rack 

 railway are smaller than those of an adhesion one between the 

 same points, hence that rack systems can favorably compete- with 

 adhesive lines. 



"(7) That Italy contains many locations where the application 

 of the Abt system would be advisable from a technical as well as 

 from an economical point of view." 



G— Aug. 8, 1900. 



