396 
Secondary or Narrow Gauge Railways 
The cost of hauling these 2000 tons will be as fuUows : — ^ 
Interest on 1500?. at 5 per cent 75 
Renewal, repair of line and rolling stock, 
15 years life on 900/ 60 
Driver at 4s. per day, boy 2s. — 50 days .. 15 
Fuel and oil at 4s. per day — 50 days .. .. 10 
Cost of hauling 2000 tons 1 mile .. £1G0 
Cost per ton about Is. Id. 
If the engine be worked 2 days a week = 100 days a year, the expense will 
be much less, the interest on outlay being the same and the renewals but little 
increased. „ 
Interest 75 
Renewals, &c., 14 yrs. life on 900?., say .. 65 
Driver and boy, 100 days 30 
Fuel and oil ditto 20 
Cost of hauling 4000 tons £190 
Cost per ton about Is. 
Now, Is. per ton is about the cost of haulage by road, and therefore it would 
appear that, speaking generally, it requires two days' work per week (or say 
from 4000 to 5000 tons, or equal projwrtions of bulky goods) before the 
outlay on a railway will repay itself. And it will be seen that the railway 
here estimated has been denuded of all collateral expenditure, viz., such as 
might arise from way-leaves, having to keep drivers employed on other days, 
and so forth. Also horses and carts can be turned to other purposes when 
required ; and railways and rolling stock degenerate almost as fast when 
unused as when used, as the writer knows to his cost. 
Note. — Such a line as the above, worked full time, viz., 250 days per year, 
will haul at about bd. per ton per mile. 
The German publication, ' Organ Fiir die Fortschritte des 
Eisenbahnwesens,' has published this year an interesting account 
of the construction and working of light railways on common 
roads, by Herr Buresch of Oldenburg, which is translated in the 
Abstracts of the Institution of Civil Engineers : where also can 
be seen the Report of Mr. C. E. Spooner of Portmadoc, North 
Wales, on Narrow Gauges ; that of Captain Tyler on the 
Festiniog Railway ; and a pamphlet on Light Railways and 
Tramroads, by Arthur C. Pain, C.E. 
I wish to express my thanks to Monsieur Ernest Chabrier, C.E., 
Paris ; Monsieur Lavalard, Administrator of the Compagnie 
Generale des Omnibus, Paris ; Monsieur Orchampt, of Lille ; 
and Mr. James Forrest, the Secretary of the Institution of Civil 
Engineers. 
In conclusion, I venture to express the hope that the Council 
of the Royal Agricultural Society will see their way to offer a 
substantial prize for the best agricultural railway laid on a high 
road after two years at least successful working, and so stimulate 
the adoption of such railways as they did the cultivation of 
land by steam-power in 1861, 
