. An American engineer in China . Indian railways, on the other hand, have anassortment of gauges, one of 5 feet 6 inches, mis-called the standard gauge, being used on theprincipal lines to the extent of about 14,000 \gain, a gauge of i metre is in force on over 10,000miles, while odd gauges of 2 feet and 2 feet 6inches are found on a number of short lines, aggre-gating, however, nearly 1,000 miles. The Chineseauthorities on the Imperial system in the north, andon the Shanghai-Wu-sung line, have adopted theEuropean and American standard of 4 feet Sj4inches; and as the same dimension is
. An American engineer in China . Indian railways, on the other hand, have anassortment of gauges, one of 5 feet 6 inches, mis-called the standard gauge, being used on theprincipal lines to the extent of about 14,000 \gain, a gauge of i metre is in force on over 10,000miles, while odd gauges of 2 feet and 2 feet 6inches are found on a number of short lines, aggre-gating, however, nearly 1,000 miles. The Chineseauthorities on the Imperial system in the north, andon the Shanghai-Wu-sung line, have adopted theEuropean and American standard of 4 feet Sj4inches; and as the same dimension is being fol-lowed by the Belgians on their Hankow-Pekingline, and will be used on the English and Ameri-can concessions, a standard is thus formed thatwill ultimately dominate the Empire, and whichin the end the exigencies of traffic will compelthe Russian and Indian railways to adopt. The time will come, and perhaps at no very dis-tant day, when it will be possible for a travellerstarting, we may say, from Paris, to traverse North. ■3 aisO a■3 •oe 0) Chapter IX : Railways 283 Europe by way of Berlin and Moscow ; and toproceed thence through Siberia ; south to Pekingand China; across India, Persia, and Asia Minor ;by car-ferry over the Bosphorus ; and thencethrough Austria and the Tyrol back to his start-ing point, without changing cars. In style of construction the Chinese railwaysare a compromise between European and Ameri-can lines. They are all single-track lines, exceptthe division between Tien-tsin and Peking. Thetrack is of the American type ; the locomotivesare partly American and partly English; and thecars, both passenger and freight, are an adapta-tion of both the American and English patterns,made to conform with local conditions, and intheir construction to come within the facilities oflocal shops, for all the rolling stock, except theengines, is home-made. As a field for the future, China stands pre-eminent on account of its size, its population, andits well-k
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectrailroa, bookyear1900
