104 
The Journal of the Royal 
able fact that although it was introduced 25 years ago 
the Listowell and Ballybunnion is the only line that 
was ever constructed. It has never found favour with 
engineers. I do not agree with Mr. Dorman that a 3 ft. 
6 in. gauge railway could be built in the interior of 
British Guiana for £1,500 per mile. I consider £2,500 
for a 3 ft. 6 in. and £1,800 for a 2 ft. 6 in. gauge to be 
nearer the mark. A standard-gauge line from Bartica 
as suggested by Mr. Hill would not cost less than 
£6,000 a mile. 
In a few hurried words at a subsequent meeting of 
the Agricultural Society, Mr. Hill casually referred to 
what he termed a wheel-barrow railway. As the 
monorail might, in my opinion, be of considerable 
advantage in British Guiana in facilitating the means of 
transport where the construction of the lightest of 
railways could not be undertaken for financial reasons, 
a short description might be interesting. 
This type of railway is a monorail in the true sense 
of the word, and is designed as a forerunner of the 
double-rail system. 
It is adapted to both animal and hand-traction. It 
consists of a single rail laid on a sole-plate, resting 
directly on the surface of the ground. It requires no 
surfacing of the road-bed, and no special alignment. 
The cars for passengers' traffic resemble the ordinary 
tramway cars, and the trucks are constructed for loads 
of all kinds from one ton to five tons. Timber cars 
and other special cars are mounted on bougies. Over 
swamps, the rails are usually laid on a longitudinal 
baulk cut in the adjoining forest, resting on a bed 
