Additional Memoranda As to the Swedish
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520 STATE RAILWAYS OF INDIA. TII.--ADDITIOYALMEMORANDA as to the Swedish Railway System, by Mr. C. P. SANDBERG,Assoc. Inst. C.E. In order to show the extent of the development of the Swedish railway system from a technical point of view, the tables annexed have been drawn up. They aredivided into Tables I., II., and III., and some of the figures thereinare taken from official sources, such as the recently published ‘ Nordisk Jernbane- Kdender.’ Table I. shows the cost, gauge, andspeed of the linesopen for traffic, the weight of rail per yard in use, the working results for 1871, and finally the working conditions. Table 11. deals with the cost, gauge, and speed of the lines actually in construction. Many new schemes are proposed, companies arein course of formation, and concessions are granted to carry out some of the projects; but they are not included in the table. Several of thedetails are wanting with respect to the lines mentioned in Table II., but the results given are sufficiently numerous to arrive at a practical conclusion with regard to each kind of gauge and construction. An abstract of the two foregoing tablesis given in Table IIL, which may now be more particularlyanalysed. The railways in Sweden are divided into two classes, those of 4 ft. 84 in. and those of a narrower gauge. The railways of the standard gauge are again subdivided into two classes, namely, those of heavy and of light construction. The narrow-gauge railwaysare divided into four classes, according to their widths, namely, 4 ft., 3 ft. 6 in., 3 ft., and 2 ft. 6 in. Thetotal lines open tothe end of last year, withtheir avcrage cost per mile as well as their mileage, as derived from Table I., arearranged for comparison with the speeds indicated at the head of the columns. These speeds are obtained by taking the averages recorded in the time-tables, and 50 per cent. is addcd to obtain amaximum, making allowances for delays, for working at lower speeds than average on up-hill gradienta, on curves, and at the stations. Similar figures are given for some of the lines in course of construction, assuming the speeds at which the trains are proposed to be worked, and taking thecost as catimated. Next follows the total mileage of the two classes taken together at a mean cost per mile, from which it will be seen that there are nearly 2,000 miles of stawlard gauge open and in construction, as compared with about 400 miles of narrow gnuge, or out of 2,400 miles of railways thereare only 17per cent. narrow-gauge lines as against 83 pcr cent. of broad gauge. Of these 17 per cent. 5 per cent. are unconnected, and 12 pcr cent. connected with the main system. Thc unconnected lines consist of nine separate short pieces in different parts of the country, 115 miles in all, principlly used for mineral and timber traffic between lakos and mines, where sledging was formerly employed in the nintcr. Thus the totalmileage, when completed, of the 12 per cent. of connected narrow- gaugc lines will be 258 miles, divided between eight branch lines. But at present there areonly 62 miles open, ant1llcnce there isonly onc instance of break of gnugs in all Sweden, namcly, at Herrljunga. As rcprds this solitary example of break of gauge from 4 ft. to 4 ft. 8; in., the line in question has been working aboutten years, andthe experience derived from it musthave greatly influenced the decision in respect tothe construction of other railways connected with the main lines, so much 80 that inthe llistory of nearly all thebranch lines WC find that llfter subscribing capital for thefirst estimated cost of :L 3 ft. or 3 ft. 6 in. narrow-gauge Downloaded by [ Purdue Univ Lib TSS] on [13/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. STATE RAILWAYS OF INDIA. 521 line, the next proceeding has been, in nearly all instances, to consider whether the gauge should notbe changed to 4 ft. 88 in; and in most cases therehas been an augmentation of capital to meetthe difference in cost in maintainingthe standard gauge. This was only a fewweeks ago the case with the Malmo-Ystad line. In one instance, the Norberg line-constructed about ten years ago-a widening to the standard gauge is now going on to meet the approaching main line.' However, there are instances where there is no more capital availabie, where railway communication is a necessity, and where the expected traffic is so small that itwould hardly pay even for a narrow-gauge line. Of this class there are six lines, averaging 20 miles each in length, which may be termed feeders to the main line, cheaply constructed for low speed and light agricultural traffic. The comparison between the relative mileage of the broad and narrow gauge lines shows that the narrow-gauge idea has of late met with very little encouragement in Sweden. In comparing the cost of the standard-gauge lines of heavy and light con- structionwith the cost of the narrow-gauge lines, itis essential to include the speed asa most important factor, for unless that is done whencom- paring the cost of the standard gauge of heavy constructiou with that of the narrow gauge, the advantage is all on the side of the latter, but taking thespeed in as a factor of the cost of making a line it seems to be more deserving of consideration than even the gauge. Thc Swedish State lines, costing nearly S7,OOO per mile, running at a maximum speed of 37 miles per hour, taken with the light linesof standard gauge at X4,OOO a mile, with a speed of 23 miles per hour, give an average cost of standard-gange lines anlounting to about S6,OOO per mile, capable of a general maximum speed of 33 miles. Agaimst this the narrow-gauge lines of different widths constructed at an average cost of 52,900 a mile, are capableof a maximum speed of, say, 15 miles per hour; but the reason why theyare so muchcheaper is that many of them are not adapted to passenger, but only for mineral and timber traffic. Finally, the two are set side by side in the table, so as to compare cost, speed, and gauge. It will be Been at once that the cost is nearly in direct proportion of the speed whatever may be the gauge, and of those comparing most favourably are the lig'.t stnn 'aid gauge and the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, wllich have an r~dvance4 per ccnt. of speed over that of cost, whereas the 4 ft. gauge has just so much less speed as compared with its cost. Singularlyenough, besides the 628 miles of heavy lines of standard gaugenow in construction, the two kinds of railways most in vogue in Sweden at the present time are the 400 miles of the light standard gauge, and the 88 miles of 3 ft. 6 in., but none of 4 ft. In couclusion, a8 far as the practice on the Swedish railways goes, it must be first stated that the information given in the tables is put down as nearly as can be ascertained, andas fairly as possible. It is manifest thatthe figures are liable to modification, especially with regard to lines in construction, but they are given as estimated and in accordance with practice already obtained, and for the sole purpose of technical comparison. Theseresults depending in great nmasurc on local circumstances in Sweden may not be applicable to other countries except on similar conditions. There is of course nothing to prevent a highcr speed 1 Since the above was written the Swedish mail brings news of a contemplated widening of the 3 ft. 6 in.-gauge Sundsvall-Torpshammar line, in view of the approaching extension of State lines inthat direction. This line,after careful consideration in Parliament, is tu be constructed as a ' light railway' on the 4 ft. S; in. gauge. Downloaded by [ Purdue Univ Lib TSS] on [13/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 522 RAILWAYSSTATE OF INDIA. being adopted on narrow-gauge railways than what is run on tllose in Sweden, but in such case they must be constructed for the purpose, with morc favourable gradients and curves, with stronger permanent way and rolling stock, and at a couscquently increased cost. So much so, that the conclusionMr. Elworth,the Director of the State lines in Swcden, arrived atthree years ago. as to the difference in cost between narrow gauge and broad gauge for the same kind of work done, sccms to guido railway constructioy in Sweden even now, at least judging from the tables. The cost of translading of goods and passengers, and the delay and incon- venience caused thereby, is unimportant when compared to the lossof time incurred by traveling over long distances at a low speed, but it should not bc lost sight of where time is of value. In Sweden, with thestandard gauge already esktbliuhed toa great extent, a cheaper andlighter construction seems to be preferred to break of gauge. This is at least the case with some of the private companies wl~ocannot afford to copy the hcavy system of broad gauge, of which the Governmcnt railways are the type. As there are a great many opponents to the construction of light standartl- gangc lines, worked in connection with the hcavy ones, owing to the apprehended destruction of the lighter rails in case the engines inuse on the heavily-constructccl linesshould run over them,the following calculations may possibly serve to obviate some of their objections :- 10 the irlstance of the Swedish State lines, with rails wcighing 66 lb.