LIGHT RAILWAYS.* WE are so long accustomed in England to

railways of standard gauge with heavy rails and ponderous rolling-stock, that we have come to look upon this sort of railway as part of the scheme of the universe, and to consider the building of lines of leas substantial dimensions and equipment as a questionable innovation. This prejudice has been encouraged to a certain extent by engineers and contractors, who naturally prefer to build as they have always built, and may

be forgiven for wishing to discredit the introduction of rail- ways which would require less of their skill and be a source of less profit. Nevertheless it is time that the public should remodel its ideas on the subject, for the experience of other countries has amply proved that light railways can be of infinite service to the districts in which they ply, and can more than pay their way, where lines built according to our

accepted standard would have involved so great a loss to their projectors that they must needs have been abandoned. It is absurd to suppose that railways are not to be adapted in size, stability, and carrying-power to the wealth of the amount of traffic to be found in the neighbourhoods through which they pass,—it is a mere waste of money to build a Pickford's van to perform the functions of a perambulator.

Mr. Mackay's work on light railways appears very oppor- tunely at this time, when the extension of the system on a large scale to England is at last being mooted. In its pages we find all the information that the heart of man can desire on the subject,—the cost of construction, equipment, and working, the advantages of light railways over heavy, and the methods by which they can best be used to feed the trunk lines that are too unwieldy to extend feelers into poor and difficult districts ; from the financing of the light line at the outset to the moment when it has created so much traffic and so enriched and fertilised the district which it traverses, that it can no longer cope with the weight of the produce and merchandise to be forwarded, and has to be reconstructed on the " heavy " system, every detail in its story, founded on the experience of other countries and applied to the possibilities of England, is put before us. So beneficent is the influence of light railways, that they have caused even a Prussian Minister of Public Works to drop into poetry. In moving the third reading of the Light Railway Law (1892), he went so far as to say that "a traveller through North Italy, through Belgium, and through Holland can satisfy himself what a blessing these light railways have been. It is as though irri- gation canals have been carried through the fields, and every- thing was growing and flourishing under their fertilising streams." The Minister's metaphor is fully borne out by the facts of the case. Mr. Mackay says :—

" As showing what local lines can do for a district, we may take the South wold Railway, running between Halesworth and South- wold, on the Suffolk coast. This line cost about .88,000 per mile (the excessive cost due, perhaps, to financing), and is constructed nn a 8 ft. gauge. Before this railway was constructed, an omnibus used to run now and again between the two towns, whereas the railway now carries 90,000 passengers and 9,000 tons of goods and minerals annually. In the Easingwold district an omnibus, running three times a day each way, carried all the traffic, whereas by the railway upwards of 43,000 passengers and

12,500 tons of goods and minerals are conveyed annually It cannot be doubted that the traffic has immensely increased through the medium of the railway, and in much greater propor- tions than if the old carts, waggons, and omnibuses had still been in existence."

• Light Rnitwave f .1. the United Kingdom:, Indio, and the Colonies. By John

Charles Mackay. F G I.M.Inet0 E. London Crosby Lockwood and Son.• There seems to be no doubt that the establishment of a network of light railways in England would have highly beneficial effects. It would put an end to that isola-

tion of country districts which is so largely responsible for the drain of the rustic population into the large towns, and it would enable industries to flourish in out- of-the-way places, and thus prevent the congestion of the population in districts which are, under present circumstances, so favourably situated with regard to transport that they can defy competition elsewhere. The improvement that might be wrought in the position of agriculture, in some senses of the word, is almost incalculable, "by means," says Mr. Mackay, "of the lightest of light railways the farmers may be induced to cultivate poultry-farming and butter-making, and so prevent the importation of a large quantity of produce which annually comes to this country from abroad," and, moreover, "his mind will be strengthened and invigorated by being in daily contact with the outside world." With these

advantages to be gained, with millions of capital seeking for safe investments, with the languishing iron trade eager to supply the material, it seems at first sight wonderful that the work has been so long delayed. But apart from the prejudices against light railways to which we have already alluded, various considerations have hitherto obstructed the smooth running of

the project. Very careful financing and management is neces- sary to make such enterprises profitable, and though in some countries they are not expected to pay directly, but are carried on cheerfully at a loss in consideration of the collateral advantages that they secure for the communities that they serve, Englishmen are not fond of losing money even for the sake of benefits that may be capitalised at any figure according to the taste of the calculator. With regard to cost of inception and working, Mr. Mackay says :—

"The construction and working of light railways must be of the cheapest and simplest. In this country, over bridges and under bridges must be dispensed with; level-crossing gates, keepers' lodges, and signals will not be necessary. Except in especial cases, fencing must not be required, land must be pur- chased at its agricultural value, and the working hours of the employes must not be limited to an eight-hours' day. Expensive station buildings and goods sheds must not be erected ; the guard must give out the tickets in the trains, and all items of working must be reduced to the most rudimentary and economical system. The restrictions required by the Board of Trade as to interlocking points and signals, as to signals themselves, automatic brakes, and other items, will have to be considerably modified before light railways can hope to have any prospect of being a financial success. The tedious and expensive process of getting Parlia- mentary sanction for any railway will have to be simplified, and payments made for these services more in accordance with the work to be done."

This modest batch of preliminary reforms which Mr. Mackay considers to be essential before light railways can be expected to prosper in England, contains many points on which discussion and investigation had to educate public opinion. The modification of the Board of Trade restrictions might well be questioned on the score of public safety. But Mr. Mackay is ready with his examples to the contrary. We

find that the experiment has been made with complete success in the Isle of Man, "where the railway is worked on the staff system, the trains are not fitted with continuous brakes, signals are not used except in a very primitive fashion, there are no platforms at the stations, and all the usual require- ments of the Board of Trade are conspicuous by their absence. Yet with a traffic of six hundred and forty thousand passengers and twenty-two thousand tons of mer- chandise per annum, and passenger trains running with sixteen coaches at the rate of thirty miles an hour, there are

no accidents." And the canton of Geneva presents a still more remarkable example of the ability of people to take care of themselves without the help of Boards of Trade and other such bodies :-

"The line is placed on one side of the road, but without any foundation work or fence, just as with an ordinary street tram- way, and no inconvenience to horses or foot passengers has in any way resulted. Even on market days, the trains pass througn crowds of buyers and sellers, without the least trouble or acci- dent, the people drawing aside at the sound of the driver's horn, and reforming again behind the train ; and strangers are some- times surprised to meet in the crowded streets of Geneva—very narrow in some places—tramway-trains of this type, each com- posed of three or four vehicles, drawn by a locomotive."

The mountaineering feats that can be accomplished by light railways are exemplified by the Darjeeling Himalayan line, which Mr. Mackay describes as "unique in the adaptability of railway locomotion to practically inaccessible places." This line was laid on the side of a mountain road, and "by the aid of curves 70 ft. radius, by describing spirals on the spurs of the mountains, and by five reversing stations, it reaches a height of nearly 7,000 ft., or a rise of about MO ft. in 40 miles." Altogether the advantages of light railways seem to be so considerable that we shall have to overlook their unsightliness. Those who do not relish the prospect may find some comfort in Mr. Alackay's eulogy on the blessings of the system.