A Ship Railway.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 260, 30 September 1884, Page 3

A Ship Railway.

■ Captain Eads is over here now, and slopping iv London for. the purpose of; promoting Ilia scheme for a ship - rail^av^cijpss theJßanajttiLJb'tlMMmThe captain islTrivHl of AJ. Le,ssep», ffad is his equaWn ninny respects, and his superior, m others, for though calling himself an engineer, it is well known that the celebrated Frenchv inan i» only such by courtesy, whereas Earls has constructed rome of the greatestand most important engineering works m the world. Captain Eads does not hesitate to throw cold water on the project of M. Lesseps, : which J he thinks, will never be accomplished satisfactorily. He has & confidence that it will be com- , pleted *> ithin ten or fifteen years, whilst he puts the cost at .£75,000, 000, and when finished it will require constant dredging to keep it open. On the other hand, a ship ' railway oan be built for £15,000.000, ' and can be opened m three or four years. The route selected by Captain Eads is about 1200 miles north of Panamaj at Tejhuantepec, and far iemove4 r irc'in the. region of earth, quakes. Tho gradients over the proposed course would not be more than lin 200. A/very costly model has been made here at an expense of /jg2ooo, r showing the general idea m -working order. The cradle will be of steel, running on 360 wheel?, and : it will be got under the vessel by a *' floating pontoon. A portion of a railway with four lines of rail* is attached to the cradle. As soon as the ship is carefully -adjusted the pontoon will be pumped dry, or until it rise*, carrying the ship, car and railway up to the level of the actual railway it- . • self, when locomotives will be brought up, and the cradle dragged over the line. At the opposite end the process will-be reversed ; the cradle wil 1 be run on to the pontoon, which will be lowered by admission of water, and the side supports having fallen away,^ „ .Ijhe ship will be free. The concession actual!* given by tho Mexican Goj !i verriinent w ' highly-favbi-able ; the land 'is granted free for ninety-nine years, and. a million acres is given to the company besides. The present 4 ; charge through the Suez Canal is . 8s a ton, but captain Eads thinks 5s ;;wonld return an ample dividend. The idea is a grand one, and, if carried gpg. will revolutionise the trade Jr^bs-iTi m&ny directions. Many etainent engineer here approve the upheme, and think it practicable. &JS. Tygm, London por respondent.