XXX. , C. O. BUEGE. 



gravity, adapted to food, clothing, fuel, &c, averaging about 80 cubic feet 

 per ton weight, for which the 5Jft. gauge was in every respect most 

 suitable as regarded cost, stowage, safety, economy, the intricate elements of 

 military defence, and the power of adopting single track lines of railway for 

 the accommodation of a large amount of traffic. 



The reason ot the comparatively small excess of the running 

 expenses per train mile of the standard, over those of the 2ft. 

 gauge, 32d. as against 22d., is to be explained in this way : — As 

 regards locomotive expenses, as many men are employed on the 

 small train as on the large one, and, on account of the low speed, 

 they are longer doing the same work, so that this, to some extent, 

 compensates for the much lower fuel consumption, and repairs, 

 per mile. The 2ft. maintenance of road expenses deal with a 

 lighter permanent way, and lighter renewals, but per contra, the 

 road has to be kept in much better order than the wider one, to 

 ensure the same stability, with the greater lateral overhang of 

 the smaller rolling stock. 



Taking the 2ft. line with a small traffic, of the character 

 mentioned, about £88 per mile would be the extra annual 

 working charge, exclusive of that due to break of gauge. This, 

 capitalized, say £2,500 per mile, is therefore the amount of 

 saving in construction, which, owing alone to the unsuitability of 

 the small gauge to the character of the traffic, must be exceeded 

 to justify its adoption in country branches in N.S.W. Now, in 

 the easier country of this colony, many of the recent standard 

 gauge branches have already cost per mile, all told, if we except 

 items unaffected by gauge, considerably less than this, so it is 

 clearly impossible to save on them ; nor is it easy to conceive the 

 possibility of saving this £2,500 per mile on any line except 

 those of such magnitude, as regards works, as would put their con- 

 struction, even on the small gauge, out of the question, to earn 

 the moderate traffic which we are alone considering. 



The almost chance adoption of what has been amply proved, 

 since, to be the best gauge for their purposes, in England, the 

 Continent of Europe generally, and America, on grounds which 

 had been derived from little or no experience, is one of 



