THE HISTORY OF RAILROADS.
In making inquiry into those inventions and improvements which were the
precursors of the modern railroad, we meet early the desire to render
the movement of wagons easier by a smooth roadway. Traces of this may be
found even in ancient times. The Romans constructed tracks consisting of
two lines of cut stones, and in the older Italian cities stone tracks
may still be seen in the streets, corresponding to wagon tracks, and
evidently designed for the purpose of rendering the movement of the
wheels easier.
The first rail tracks of which we have any knowledge were constructed at
the end of the sixteenth century. These rails, which were made of wood,
appear to have been an invention of miners in the Hartz Mountains. They
were the result of pressing necessity, for, as mines were usually so
situated that roads could only with great difficulty and expense have
been built to them, some cheaper sort of communication with the high
road had to be contrived.
After various experiments the wooden railway was adopted, and the
product of the mine was carried upon them to the place of shipment by
means of small cars. Queen Elizabeth had miners brought into England, to
develop the English mines, and through them the rail track was
introduced into Great Britain. Later the wooden rail was covered with an
iron strap to prevent the rapid wear of the wood, and about the year
1768 cast-iron rails commenced to be used. At the end of the last
century wheels were constructed with flanges, to prevent derailing.
More attention was also paid to the substructure, wood, iron and stone
being used for this purpose. Wrought-iron rails were patented in 1820.
The first authentic account of heat or steam engines is found in the
"Pneumatica" of Hero of Alexandria, who lived in the second century
before Christ. Hero describes a number of contrivances by which steam
was utilized as a source of power. Although these contrivances were at
the time of very little practical value, they are interesting as the
prototypes of the modern steam engine. The attempts to move wheels by
steam date back to the seventeenth century, when a number of experiments
were made, but their exact nature is not known, because they were all
soon abandoned, either on account of unsuccessful results or lack of
means. At the beginning of the eighteenth century Denis Papin
constructed a small steamboat, upon which he sailed in 1707 on the Fulda
River from Cassel to Munden, a distance of about fifteen miles.
The construction of locomotives engaged the attention of ingenious minds
a century and a half ago. It is claimed that Newton experimented with a
steam motor in 1680. Dr. Robinson described in 1759, in his "Mechanical
Philosophy," a steam vehicle. The Glasgow engineer James Watt devoted
himself from 1769 to 1785, with great energy, to the development of the
steam engine, and succeeded in inventing the system which became the
parent of the modern engine. An American, Oliver Evans, constructed at
the beginning of the present century a carriage propelled by steam, and
exhibited it, in 1804, in the streets of Philadelphia, before twenty
thousand spectators. While Evans' invention was never put to any
practical use, he prophesied that the time would come when steam cars
would be considered the most perfect means of transportation. On
Christmas eve, 1801, Richard Trevithick exhibited at Camborne, England,
a steam coach, and soon afterwards he and his cousin, A. Vivian,
obtained an English patent on a "steam engine for propelling carriages."
Seven years later a Mr. Blinkensop, of Middleton Colliery, near Leeds,
constructed another locomotive engine, upon which he obtained a patent
in 1811. These and a number of other inventors of steam engines vainly
expended great ingenuity in attempting to overcome a purely imaginary
difficulty. They believed that the adhesion between the face of the
wheel and the surface of the road was so slight that a considerable
portion of the propelling power would be lost by the slipping of the
wheels. It was not until about the year 1813 that the important fact was
ascertained that the friction of the wheels with the rails was
sufficient to propel the locomotive and even drag after it a load of
considerable weight. On the other hand these inventors failed to provide
in their engines adequate heating-power for the production of steam. In
1814 George Stephenson commenced to apply himself to the construction of
an improved locomotive. When, owing to his invention of the tubular
boiler, he saw, after fifteen years of arduous toil, his labors crowned
with success, the civilized world entered upon a new era of social,
industrial and commercial life. The first line upon which Stephenson's
invention was used was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In the year
1821, a number of Liverpool merchants formulated a plan for the
construction of a tramway between their city and Manchester. The
question of motive power was left open as between horses and the steam
engine, with which Mr. Stephenson was then experimenting. After much
opposition on the part of Parliament and the public a charter was
obtained in 1826. When the construction of the road was nearly
completed, the directors of the company, after having determined upon
the use of steam engines, offered a prize of L500 for the best
locomotive engine to run at a public trial on the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway. This proposal was announced in the spring of 1829,
and the trial took place at Rainhill on the 6th of October of that year.
The competing engines were the Rocket, constructed by Mr. Stephenson;
the Sanspareil, by Hackworth; the Perseverance, by Burstall, and the
Novelty, by Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson. Both Braithwaite and
Ericsson became subsequently residents of the United States, and the
latter achieved immortal fame as the inventor of the screw propeller and
the builder of the Monitor. The Rocket was the only engine that
performed the complete journey proposed, and obtained the prize. It is
claimed by the biographers of John Ericsson that he had really built a
much faster locomotive than Stephenson, and that, although it had to be
constructed very hastily and therefore broke down during the trial, the
superiority of the principle involved in it was universally recognized
by the engineers of that time. The Stephenson engines became the motive
power of the Liverpool and Manchester road, which was opened for public
traffic on the 16th of September, 1830. This line was, however, neither
the first public railway nor even the first steam railway. The first
railway or tramway act was passed in England in 1758, and in 1824 no
less than thirty-three private railway or tramway companies had been
chartered. In 1824 a charter was granted by Parliament authorizing the
construction of the Darlington and Stockton Railway, to be worked with
"men and horses, or otherwise." By a subsequent act the company was
empowered to work its railway with locomotive engines. The road was
opened in September, 1825, and was practically the first public carrier
of goods and passengers. The Monklands Railway in Scotland, opened in
1826, and several other small lines soon followed the example of the
Darlington and Stockton line and adopted steam traction, but the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first to convince the world
that a revolution in traveling had taken place.
The road was from the very first successful, its traffic and income
greatly exceeding the expectations of its managers. It should also be
noted here that the cost of construction fell largely below the
elaborate estimates made by several distinguished engineers. The company
had expected to earn about L10,000 a year from passenger traffic, and
the very first year the receipts from that source were L101,829. The
gross annual receipts from freight had been estimated at L50,000, but
were L80,000 in 1833. From the first the stockholders obtained a
dividend of eight per cent., which soon rose to nine and to ten per
cent. It has since been demonstrated that the revenues of new roads
almost always exceed expectations.
The success of this railway stimulated railway enterprise throughout
Europe and America. But while railroad projects created much enthusiasm
on one side, they also met with bitter opposition on the other. The
prejudice of the short-sighted and the avarice of those whose interests
were threatened by a change in the mode of transportation used every
weapon in their power against the proposed innovation. The arguments
used were often most absurd. It was said that the smoke of the engine
was injurious to both man and beast, and that the sparks escaping from
it would set fire to the buildings along the line of road, the cows
would be scared and would cease to give their milk, that horses would
depreciate in value, and that their race would finally become extinct.
Nor did many of the European governments favor the new system of
transportation. Some openly opposed it as revolutionary and productive
of infinitely more evil than good. The Austrian court and statesmen
especially looked upon the new contrivance with undisguised distrust;
and from their point of view this distrust was perhaps well founded. The
rapid movement of the iron horse seemed to savor of dangerous
radicalism, not to say revolution. When the Emperor finally, in 1836,
concluded to sign a railroad charter, he based his action upon the
dubious ground that "the thing cannot maintain itself, anyhow." It may
be said that the history of the railroad is a conspicuous illustration
of human short-sightedness. The Prussian Postmaster-General Von Nagler
opposed the construction of a railroad between Berlin and Potsdam upon
the ground that the passenger business between those two cities was not
sufficient to keep even the stage-coach always full. It never occurred
to the Postmaster-General, as it does not occur to many railroad men of
to-day, that new and cheaper means of transportation increase the
traffic. Even so wise a statesman as Thiers said when railroad
construction was first agitated in France: "I do not see how railroads
can compete with our stage-coaches." M. Thiers also opposed for years
the building of a railroad between Paris and Versailles, declaring that
on account of a railroad not one passenger more would make the journey
between these two places.
But railroads came whether monarchical governments liked them or not.
The success of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad stimulated railroad
building in England to a marvelous extent. Between 1830 and 1843 no
less than seventy-one different companies were organized, representing
about 2,100 miles. During the next four years 637 more roads, with an
authorized length of 9,400 miles, were chartered. The construction of
each new road required a special act of Parliament. These early roads
averaged only fifteen to thirty miles in length. The competition which
ensued soon led to the consolidation of roads, which continued until now
the 14,000 miles of railway in England and Wales are practically owned
by only a dozen companies. The total number of miles of railroad in
Great Britain and Ireland is at present over 20,000.
The news of the opening of the first steam railway in England spread
through Europe comparatively slowly. There were in those days but few
newspapers printed on the continent, and these were read very sparingly.
Railroad discussions were confined to merchants and manufacturers. Even
after the success of the railroad was assured in England, a large number
of people would not believe that, except between the largest cities,
railroads on the continent could ever be profitable. But few railroads
have ever been built which with honest, efficient and economical
management would not pay a fair rate of interest on actual cost of
construction. But in spite of this we have to this day a large number of
otherwise well-informed people who question the financial success of
every new railroad that is proposed.
In those days it occurred only to the most sagacious minds that with
increased facilities commerce would expand. The missionaries of railroad
enterprise found it therefore a difficult matter to interest capital in
their projects. Railroad committees were in time formed in all cities of
any importance, but, with capital cowardly, as usual, and governments
distrustful, their task was often a thankless one. Railroad projects
matured very slowly, and, when matured, were often wrecked by jealous
and short-sighted governments. After the formation of a company five and
even ten years would often pass away before a charter could be secured
and the work of construction commenced. It is true, there were some
laudable exceptions to this rule. Thus the governments of France and
Belgium led the people in railroad construction; but upon the whole it
can be said that the railroad forced itself by its intrinsic merit upon
monarchical governments. It soon became evident even to the most stupid
of autocratic ministries that it was a choice between the new mode of
transportation and national atrophy.
The first German line was built between the cities of Nuremberg and
Furth in 1835. It was only about four miles long, but the success of the
experiment gave an impetus to railroad building in other parts of
Germany. The Leipzig and Dresden line followed in 1837, and the
Berlin-Potsdam and Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel lines in 1838. At the end of
1840 Germany had 360 miles of railroad. In that year Frederick William
IV. succeeded to the throne of Prussia and inaugurated a new and
exceedingly liberal railroad policy in his realm. In 1843 the Prussian
government concluded to guarantee certain railroad companies a dividend
of 3-1/2 per cent. on the capital actually invested. The state also
secured considerable influence in the administration of the roads as
well as in the right to assume the management of the various lines under
certain conditions. The governments of the states of Southern Germany
now commenced to build state roads, and their example was, chiefly for
strategic reasons, soon imitated by Prussia. The system has since grown
to over 26,000 miles, and no less than eighty-seven per cent. of the
mileage is under state control. In all the states and provinces of the
empire, except Bavaria, the rates for transportation of passengers and
freight on all lines are controlled absolutely by the government.
In Austria, as has already been indicated, the building of railways was
greatly discouraged by the government until 1836. In that year the
Emperor rather reluctantly granted Baron Rothschild a charter for a
railway from Vienna into the province of Galicia. Another charter was
granted to a Baron Sina for a line from Vienna to Raab and Gloggnitz.
The policy then adopted in Austria guaranteed to each railroad company a
monopoly in its own district during the period for which the charter was
granted. Soon after the state also commenced building lines, but the
growth of the Austrian system was slow until after the war of 1866. An
era of railroad speculation was then inaugurated, which ended with the
crisis of 1873. The total length of the railroads of Austria-Hungary was
10,790 miles in 1875. At present that monarchy has nearly 16,400 miles
of railway, 8,600 of which are owned by private companies.
It has been the policy of Austria to reduce rates, and several roads,
especially those built in mountainous districts, have a certain revenue
guaranteed to them by the government.
The zone system recently adopted in Hungary reduced both the passenger
and freight rates of the government roads at least one-third, and this
reduction has, contrary to expectation, greatly increased their net
revenues.
In France railroad agitation commenced in 1832. A few short lines were
opened, as those from Paris to St. Germain and to Versailles; but,
owing to the conservatism of French capitalists, but little more was
done until the state took the matter in hand. Thiers proposed a scheme
by which the state was to furnish about half the cost while private
companies were to build the lines and operate them. The Western
Railroad, the first line of any great extent, was opened in 1837 between
Paris and Rouen, and the Eastern Railroad was opened two years later.
There were in 1859 six large companies operating their lines with
profit, but, to induce them to build additional lines that were needed,
the state guaranteed the interest on the capital required to make their
improvements. In 1884 there were about 17,000 miles of railroad in
operation. To bring about the construction of another 7,000 miles of
road, and to thus complete the railroad system of the country, the
government now guaranteed each company a dividend equal to the average
of recent years, but not to exceed seven per cent. It is doubtful
whether this system of monopoly has in all respects been favorable to
the encouragement of enterprise in the railroad circles of France. In
granting charters the state has, however, reserved valuable rights which
at a future period it will have an opportunity to assert for the public
benefit. The railroad companies have generally a lease for ninety-nine
years, and their lines become the property of the state after the
expiration of that period. To extinguish the bonded debt and stock, a
sinking fund has been created, from which a certain portion of the
shares and outstanding bonds is annually paid off and canceled. The
government requires of the companies the free carriage of the mails and
the transportation of military and other employes at very low rates.
Besides this the state levies upon the traffic of the railroads a duty
of ten per cent. of their gross earnings from passengers and from all
goods carried by fast trains. These facts are usually overlooked by our
railroad men when they indulge in making comparisons between the
railroad rates of this country and those of France. The French Republic
had 13,400 miles of road in 1875, and 22,600 in 1890. When all of the
proposed lines are completed, the total mileage of that country will be
over 25,000.
Belgium has the best-developed track system on the continent. The state
commenced the construction of railroads as early as 1834, and the first
line (Brussels Malines) was opened May 5th, 1835. Four great state lines
were constructed in different directions, and between these lines
private roads were permitted to be built. Between 1850 and 1870 the
private lines increased from 200 to 1,400 miles, and competition between
them and the state lines became so active as to reduce rates to the
lowest possible point. In 1870 the government decided to buy a large
number of competing lines. In 1874 it had acquired more than half, and
at present, with a few exceptions, they are all owned and controlled by
the state. The exceptions to this are a few short lines that were built
in the early days of railroad construction. The total mileage is now
3,210. Rates have, however, not been increased since this consolidation,
and they are still lower than any other country in Europe. The
transportation of mails is free, and troops, military materials and
prison vans are carried at reduced rates.
Railroads were originally built in Switzerland merely for the
accommodation of tourists and the local traffic. The first line, between
Zurich and Aarau, was completed in 1847, but general railroad enterprise
did not develop until after 1860. The St. Gothard route was then
projected, which opened a direct through line between Italy and
Germany. The roads are all owned by private companies, but are under
strict government control. Great publicity of their affairs is required.
The total mileage of Switzerland was 2,043 in 1891.
In Italy railroad enterprises have received attention since 1853. The
first roads were those of Lombardy, being commenced while that province
was still under Austrian rule. The treaties of Zurich in 1859 and of
Vienna in 1866 delivered these roads and the Venetian lines to the
kingdom of Italy. Between 1860 and 1870 the systematic construction of a
railroad net was commenced which connected the various lines with each
other and with Rome. Nearly all the railroads of Italy fell into the
hands of the government, but in 1885 they were leased for a term of
sixty years to three companies, terminable at the end of twenty or forty
years by either party upon two years' notice. Under the lease the state
received two per cent. of the gross receipts. The tariffs are fixed by
the state, are uniform and can be reduced by the state. A Council of
Tariffs, composed of delegates for the government, for agriculture,
commerce and industry, and for the railroad companies, all elected by
their own boards, has been instituted to study the wants and best
interests of the country. The total number of miles of railroad in Italy
was 8,110 in 1889.
The first road in Spain was opened in 1848 between Barcelona and Mataro.
The government greatly encouraged railroad construction by subsidies,
and during the decade following 1855 the development of the railway
system of the country was rapid. More than thirty companies have been
formed, which have built about twenty main lines, aggregating 6,200
miles.
In Portugal very little railroad building was done previous to 1863,
when a little over three hundred miles of road was constructed. The
government owns nearly half of the roads of the country, the remaining
lines being the property of private companies. The total number of miles
operated in the kingdom in 1889 was 1,280. The service and the financial
condition of the roads of Portugal are far from being satisfactory.
In Denmark the first railroad was built on the island of Seeland in
1847. Previous to 1880 the larger part of the roads of the kingdom was
owned by private companies. Since then several of the most important
private roads have been purchased by the state, which in 1889 owned 963
miles, while only 251 miles remained in private control. Only about
thirty miles more have since been constructed. The roads are well
managed, but their net earnings are less than two per cent. of the
capital invested.
On the Scandinavian Peninsula the railroad system has developed rather
slowly. Norway built the first line from Christiana to Eidsvold in 1854,
and Sweden commenced railroad building two years later. The narrow-gauge
system is fully developed here. While in Norway the greater part of the
lines is owned by the state, the roads of Sweden are chiefly in the
hands of private companies which on an average control but little more
than twenty-five miles each. The total mileage of Sweden is 5,970, and
that of Norway 970.
The first line of railroad in the Russian Empire was constructed from
St. Petersburg, sixteen miles, to Tsarskoji-Sielo, in 1842. The St.
Petersburg and Moscow line was opened in 1851. Railroad building then
stagnated until after the Crimean War, when a large number of lines
were constructed at once. The roads were surveyed by the government, but
constructed and operated by private companies.
State aid was, however, freely given. During the past ten years the
Russian government has directed its attention to the development of the
railroad system in its Asiatic possessions. A railway between the Black
and Caspian seas was completed in 1883, and the Siberian railroad is
extended as fast as the financial condition of the empire permits. There
are now about 20,000 miles of road in the Russian Empire operated by
private companies. The construction of a large number of the Russian
railways was dictated by military rather than commercial considerations.
Maximum rates are specified in charter, and every change of rates must
be approved by the Minister of Finance.
In the Balkan Peninsula railroad facilities are still ill provided for.
A few lines have been built, but these are, as a rule, badly managed.
Trains are slow, and rates often so high as to be prohibitory. Roumania
has undoubtedly the best railroad system of any of the Balkan states,
the government controlling 1,000 miles of road. Greece is also making
some progress and has at the present time 610 miles of railway. There is
reason to believe that through communication will soon be established in
these countries on a larger scale.
The introduction of the railway into Asia has been, except in the
Russian and English possessions, a very difficult task. The conservatism
or ignorance of the governments and the superstition of the people
combined to throw numberless obstacles before those who proposed to pave
the way for the iron horse. British India opened her first railway for
public traffic between Bombay and Tannah on November 18, 1852. In 1855
she had 841 miles of road, which increased to 6,515 miles in 1875 and to
15,828 miles in 1889, of which 8,423 miles were owned and operated by
the state. The total cost of these roads was $880,000,000.
In Asiatic Turkey the first line was opened between Smyrna and Trianda
on the 24th day of December, 1860. This line was in 1866 extended to
Aiden, and in 1882 to Sarakio. There are at present five lines with a
total extent of 446 miles, all owned by English companies. New lines,
covering in all 3,952 miles, have recently been projected.
The first line in Persia, only seven miles long, and extending from
Teheran to Schah-Abdal-Azzim, was opened on the 25th day of June, 1888.
Another line, from the Caspian Sea to Amol, is now in process of
construction. A line was opened last September between Joppa and
Jerusalem. It is 53 miles in length.
Japan may be said to be already thoroughly familiar with the European
system. The first and principal line was opened on the island of Napon,
between Tokio and Yokohama, on the 14th of October, 1872. Two other
short lines followed in 1874 and 1876, when the total extent of the
Japanese roads was about 135 miles. In 1883 the construction of the
Grand Trunk Railroad, from Tokio to Kioto, was commenced, which line has
been in operation for the past five years. Other lines, aggregating over
400 miles, will soon be opened for traffic. The total extent of road in
operation in 1888 was 580 miles, 310 of which were controlled by the
state, and the remainder by private companies. In 1890 the total number
of miles exceeded 900. The total average cost per mile was $58,000.
No nation has probably opposed the introduction of the railway as
stubbornly as the Chinese. The first railroad, scarcely seven miles
long, was built by an English company near Kaiping to facilitate the
transportation of coal from the mines in that vicinity. In 1886 a
Chinese company purchased this line and has since extended it to
Tientsin, making its present length about eighty-four miles. The Chinese
government has recently authorized the further extension of this line to
Yangchou, a place but a few miles distant from Pekin.
Of the Asiatic islands Java has the largest and oldest railroad system.
On the 10th of August, 1867, the first line was opened between Samarang
and Tangveng. Other coast lines have since been constructed, but
communication is still sadly neglected in the interior. In 1889 there
were operated on the island nearly 800 miles of road, the greater part
being the property of private companies.
A road was opened upon the island of Ceylon between Colombo and Kandy in
1867, to which several branch lines and extensions have since been
added. The total system comprises at present about 180 miles.
Short lines have also been built in Burmah (1889); in the Malay
Peninsula (1885), in Sumatra (1876), and in Cochin China (1885). A line
from Bangkok to Bianghsen, in Siam, is being projected at the present
time.
In Africa, if we except its northern coast, the construction of
railroads has only kept pace with the slow development of the resources
of that continent. Its European colonies are still but thinly inhabited,
and their industrial and commercial life still resembles much that of
the American colonies of the seventeenth century. There can be little
doubt, however, that with the increasing immigration the growing demand
for better transportation facilities will speedily be met by European
capital.
The first railroad upon African soil was built by the Egyptian
government from Alexandria to Cairo, and from there through the desert
to Suez. A part of this line, 130 miles long, was opened to traffic in
1856, and the remaining ninety miles the year following. Nothing further
was done until after Ismail Pasha ascended the throne, in 1863. The
railroad system of Lower Egypt, between Alexandria in the west, Cairo in
the south, and Ismaila in the east, was then greatly extended and the
service materially improved.
After the opening of the Suez Canal the line through the desert to Suez
was abandoned. The railroad system of Egypt comprises at present about
1,250 miles, all of which belongs to the government except two short
lines which are private property.
The beginning of the railroad system of Algiers dates back to 1860, when
the French government gave a charter to the Companie des Chemins de Fer
Algerians, authorizing it to build a number of lines connecting the
principal cities of the province with the Mediterranean. The line from
Algiers to Blidah, thirty-two miles long, was opened on September 8,
1862. Further construction was then delayed until 1863, when the charter
of the original company was transferred to the Paris, Lyons and
Mediterranean Railroad Company. The original plans were then in the main
carried out, until the disturbances caused by the Franco-Prussian war
again put an end to railroad enterprises. In 1874 three new companies
were chartered and railroad building was resumed. In 1888 the Algerian
railroad system comprised 1,350 miles.
The first road in Tunis was built in 1872 from the city of Tunis to
Bardo and Gouletta by English capitalists. It was, in 1880, sold to an
Italian company to which the Italian government for political reasons
had seen fit to guarantee certain dividends. Other small lines have
since been constructed, and more important ones have been prospected.
The number of miles at present in operation is 153.
The French colony on the Senegal River has a number of short lines, of
which the first was opened in July, 1883. These lines aggregate at
present about 200 miles. It is now contemplated to extend this system to
the upper Niger. This would necessitate the construction of 240
additional miles of road.
The Cape Colony has the largest mileage of any of the European colonies
in Africa, the absence of navigable rivers rendering railroads here more
necessary than elsewhere. The first line was opened on the 13th of
February, 1862. It then extended from Cape Town to Earste River, but was
extended to Wellington the following year. The number of miles of road
in operation in 1875 was 906, and in 1891 it had increased to 2,067. All
the roads of the colony, excepting a line of 93 miles belonging to the
Cape Copper Mining Company, are operated by the colonial government.
Their net revenue in 1886 was 2.84 per cent. of the capital actually
invested.
Port Natal built her first railroad in 1860. It was only two miles long
and extended from the city of Durban to its harbor. Since then several
inland lines, aggregating over four hundred miles, have been constructed
at a cost of twenty-two million dollars. The roads are operated by the
colonial government and yielded in 1891 a net revenue of 4.4 per cent.
on the capital expended.
Short lines have also been built on Mauritius and Reunion, and there is
now every indication that Portuguese Africa and the Congo State will be
provided with railroad facilities in the near future.
The introduction of railroads into Australia dates back to the sixth
decade of the present century. The total number of miles of road
reported in 1889 by the several colonies was 8,883. If we estimate the
population of the continent at 3,000,000 for that year it will be seen
that Australia has more miles of road per capita than any other grand
division of the globe, save North America.
New South Wales, the mother colony of the Australian continent, opened
its first road on September 26, 1855, between Sydney and Paramalta. This
road was built by a private company, but was soon after its completion
purchased by the colonial government, and was in 1869 extended to
Goulbourn. In 1875 the colony had only 436 miles of road in operation.
The mountains, however, which separated the wide plains of the interior
from the coast had been surmounted, and the government commenced to push
the construction of new roads with great vigor. At the end of the year
1886 New South Wales had no less than 1,888 miles of road in operation,
for which the colony had expended $113,000,000. The net revenue during
that year was 2.9 per cent. on the capital invested. The total number of
miles of railroad in this colony was 2,247 in 1889.
Victoria, the smallest of the colonies, has made by far the greatest
progress in railroad building. The first road in the colony, and, in
fact, the first road upon the Australian continent, was built in 1854
between the city of Melbourne and its port, a distance of two and
one-half miles. Within the next five years four other lines were
constructed, connecting Melbourne with Williamstown, St. Kilda,
Brighton and Echuca, respectively. In 1870 there were in the colony 275
miles of railroad, which had increased to 1,198 miles in 1880, and to
2,283 miles in 1889. Several of the roads were originally owned by
private companies, but all of them were in time acquired by the colonial
government, the last one in 1878. The total capital invested in 1887 was
$125,000,000, which yielded a net revenue of $5,800,000. All lines are
under the control of a board so constituted as to be entirely removed
from political influence.
In South Australia a short line was built in 1856 from the city of
Adelaide to Port Adelaide. Another line was constructed in 1857 from
Adelaide to Salisbury, which three years later was extended to Kapunda.
The colony had then forty miles of road. The increase during the next
decade was only ninety-three miles. Since then the development has been
much more rapid, the whole system of railroads comprising 1,752 miles in
1889. All the roads save a few suburban lines are owned and operated by
the colony. Their total cost is not far from $60,000,000, and their net
annual revenue is about two and one-half per cent. of the capital
invested.
The colony of Queensland has only a system of narrow-gauge roads, with
the construction of which it commenced in 1865. Up to September, 1887,
the colonial government had constructed 1,641 miles of road at a total
cost of $47,700,000. The total number of miles has since been increased
to 2,058. The net revenue of the roads was a little over one million
dollars in 1886.
The transportation facilities of West Australia are still far behind
those of her sister colonies. The first line was opened in 1873, and the
total number of miles of road operated in the colony in 1889 was only
496. The government controls nearly all the railroads of the colony.
Of the islands of Australasia, Tasmania and New Zealand are as yet the
only ones that have railroad communication. The former built its first
road in 1870 and had at the end of the year 1890 about 1,900 miles in
operation. New Zealand opened its first railroad between Christchurch
and Lyttleton on December 1, 1863. The development of the system was
slow at first, there being but 25 miles of road in operation in 1870. In
1891 the number of miles of road had increased to 1,916, all but 92
miles being operated by the colonial government. The total amount
expended by the government for railroads is $55,000,000. The net revenue
in 1887 was about 2-1/2 per cent of the amount invested.
In South America railroad building is of comparatively recent date. The
first road was built in 1851, but the line was short and remained the
only one for several years. With thirty million people the South
American states have at present but little more than 16,000 miles of
railroad, a condition which must at least in part be ascribed to the
peculiar conservatism of the Latin race.
The United States of Colombia possesses less than 250 miles of road. Its
first line was the Panama Railroad, from Colon to Aspinwall. It connects
the Pacific with the Atlantic ocean, is 48 miles long and was
constructed in 1855. This, as well as the several other roads of
Colombia, is the property of private companies. A number of new roads
have recently been surveyed.
Venezuela opened in 1866 a road, 56 miles long, from Puerto Caballo to
Palito, which in 1870 was extended to Aroa. A number of other short
roads, aggregating about 350 miles, have since been constructed. The
total extent of railroad in Venezuela was 432 miles in 1889, of which
the greater part was operated by private companies. Several important
lines are in the process of construction, and will connect Caracas with
Carabobo, San Carlos and the port of La Guayra.
The Republic of Ecuador constructed in 1876 a road from Jaguachi to
Puente de Chimbo, a distance of 43 miles. This line was recently
extended to Siambe, and has now a total length of 94 miles. In 1886 a
charter was granted to a North American company, authorizing the
construction of a road from San Lorenzo to Esmeraldas and guaranteeing
certain dividends on the investment. At the close of the year 1889
Ecuador had 167 miles of road.
The first railroad in Peru was built in 1851, connecting the seaport
Callao with the capital, Lima. After this but little was done for more
than twenty years. At the beginning of the seventies an extensive
railroad system was projected at the instigation of President Don Manuel
Pardo, and the construction of the principal road of the system from
Mollendo on the Pacific Ocean to Santa Rosa was at once entered upon.
This road ascends the Western Cordillera, crosses a number of prodigious
mountain passes, reaches Lake Titicaca, and then proceeds in a
northwesterly direction to Santa Rosa. It is over 300 miles long, and
reaches near Puna an altitude of 14,700 feet. An extension of this line
from Santa Rosa to the old Inca city Cuzco was opened in 1875, but was
subsequently destroyed in the war with Chile, and has not been reopened.
Another road, extending from Callao to San Mateo, was opened in 1876. It
is eighty-seven miles long, and reaches with its enormous grades a
height of over 13,000 feet. It belongs, with the Santa Rosa road, to the
boldest creations of railroad engineering. Since the war with Chile
railroad enterprise has been checked. The number of miles of road in
operation rose from 962 in 1875 to 1,615 in 1880, but was, owing to the
abandonment of certain lines, diminished to 813 in 1884. Since that time
about 400 miles of new road have been opened.
In the Republic of Bolivia the first railroad was built about twenty
years ago from Antofogasta to Solar. After the cession of the province
of Antofogasta to Chile there remained but thirty-five miles of road in
Bolivia. More than 200 miles have since been added by the construction
of several short roads, chiefly the property of mining companies.
The Republic of Chile was the first of the South American states to
initiate the construction of railways. The building of a line from the
seaport Caldera to Copiapo was commenced in May, 1850, and was completed
on January 2, 1852. This line was constructed and operated by a private
company. The first state road, extending from Valparaiso to Santiago,
was opened on the 15th of September, 1865. To this road has since been
added an extension to Talcahuana, as well as several branch lines. The
total amount that has been expended by the Chilean government for the
construction of railroads is $43,000,000. The total number of miles of
road operated in Chile in 1887 was 1,674, of which 992 were the property
of private companies and 682 miles were owned by the state. Two hundred
and fifty miles of road have since been constructed, and the
construction of 700 additional miles of railroad has been authorized by
the government.
The Argentine Republic opened its first road, extending from Buenos
Ayres to Belgrano, in December, 1862. Several other lines soon
followed, and in 1870 over 600 miles of road had been constructed. This
number had increased to 1,440 in 1880 and to 5,100 in 1889. Since then
several new lines have been completed, aggregating over 600 miles. Among
the principal lines of the Argentine Republic is the transcontinental
road which connects the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean. The whole line
is 880 miles long, of which 665 miles are in the Argentine Republic and
the remaining 115 miles in Chile. Of the 3,705 miles of road which were
in operation at the beginning of the year 1887 the republic owned 1,148,
the province of Buenos Ayres 572, the province of Santa Fe 102, and
private companies 1,888 miles. The total amount invested in railroads
was $154,000,000 in 1887, which yielded an average dividend of 3.9 per
cent.
The oldest railroad in Brazil is the Petropolis road. It was built by a
private company and opened on December 16, 1856. In 1881 the total
number of miles in operation was 2,422, and in 1889 it had increased to
5,766. Furthermore charters had been granted for the additional
construction of 2,271 miles of road. Of the lines in operation about
1,200 miles are the property of the state, yielding a revenue of nearly
3 per cent. on the capital invested. The state gives aid, besides, to
several private roads. The most important road of Brazil is the state
road Dom Pedro I., which connects the three richest provinces of the
country, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerals and Sao Paolo, with the national
capital. It was opened in 1883, and has a total extent of 544 miles.
The principal roads of Uruguay were built between 1865 and 1875. In the
latter year the total number of miles in operation in Uruguay was 190,
which in 1880 had increased to 230, and in 1889 to 469 miles.
In the remaining political divisions of South America the railroad
extended its dominion still more slowly. Paraguay opened as early as
1863 a line 45 miles long from Asuncion to Itangua, and in 1892 her
railroad system had increased to 159 miles in extent. British Guiana
completed in 1866 a line from Georgetown to New Amsterdam, but not one
mile of railroad has been built in that colony since. Of the islands of
South America Trinidad is the only one into which the railroad has been
introduced. The island has at present 50 miles of road, to 16 in 1878.
Central America has less than 600 miles of railway. The causes which
have retarded the development of the railroad system in South America
are also operative here. Of the five republics of Central America Costa
Rica has the largest number of miles of railroad, viz.: 161. It has
three different lines, of which the Limon and Carillo line, seventy
miles long, is the most important. This road, which connects with a New
York line of steamers at Limon, has greatly furthered the cultivation of
bananas in the Santa Clara valley.
Nicaragua completed its first road in 1880 between Corinto and
Chinandega, and has at present about 100 miles of railway in operation.
The Nicaragua Canal Company is constructing a road from Juan del Norte
to Ochoa, a distance of thirty-two miles, to be used in the construction
of the canal.
Honduras opened in 1871 its only line, thirty-seven miles long, between
Puerto Caballo and San Jago. In recent years an extension of nine miles
has been added to it.
San Salvador has, besides a street-car line between the cities of San
Salvador and Santa Tecla, only one line of railroad between Acajutla
and Armea, which was constructed with public funds and opened for
traffic on July 15, 1882.
Guatemala was the last of the Central American States to introduce the
railroad. Its first road, seventy-four miles long, and extending from
San Jose on the Pacific Ocean to the capital, Guatemala, was built by a
San Francisco company and opened on August 20, 1884. The state has at
the present time about 100 miles of road, with several short but quite
important lines under construction.
The West Indies have between 1,200 and 1,400 miles of railway, of which
more than 1,000 are in Cuba. The first road upon this island, 179 miles
long and extending from Habana to Guanajay, was opened as early as 1837.
The next ten years developed almost the whole of the railroad system of
the western half of Cuba. A number of important roads have since been
opened in the central and eastern portions of the island, whose railroad
mileage is at present larger per capita than that of any other political
division of the Western Hemisphere save that of Canada and the United
States. The second of the West India islands to construct a railroad was
Jamaica. A line connecting Kingston and Spanishtown was opened on the
21st of November, 1845. Two branch lines have since been added, making
the total number of miles of road on this island seventy-six at the
present time. About twenty-five miles more are now in the process of
construction. San Domingo and Hayti have also recently commenced to
build railroads. In the former republic a line from Sanchez to LaVega,
sixty-two and one-half miles long, is now open to traffic, and Hayti is
constructing a line from Gonaives, on the western coast, to Porte de
Paix, on the eastern coast of the island. The Spanish government in
1888 also granted a charter for the construction of a railroad on the
island of Porto Rica.
Of our neighbors on the North American continent, Mexico and Canada, the
former has been by far the slower to avail herself of the advantages of
railroad communication. The slow growth of the railroad system of Mexico
must be ascribed chiefly to the frequent political disturbances of the
country as well as to the many topographical obstacles which presented
themselves to the railroad engineer. The first Mexican railway,
excepting tramways, was the one which connects the capital with the city
of Vera Cruz. It was constructed by an English company and was opened on
the first day of January, 1873. In 1875 the total number of miles of
road in Mexico was 327, and five years later somewhat less than 700.
Since then the development of the system has been much more rapid. In
1880 several companies were formed for the purpose of building a system
of roads which would connect the Mexican capital with the United States
as well as with the most important harbors of the gulfs of Mexico and
California. The projectors of these lines, who were citizens of the
United States, received the hearty cooperation of the Mexican
government, and the work was at once pushed very vigorously. At the end
of the year 1885 more than 2,500 miles of new road were open for
traffic, and a thousand miles more at the end of the following year. In
1889 Mexico had 5,332 miles of road. The principal one of the newly
constructed roads is the Mexican Central, which connects Paso del Norte
with the City of Mexico. This line will also, when its branches are
completed, form a through route between the Gulf of Mexico and the
Pacific Ocean. Another scarcely less important through line north and
south is the National Mexican Railway, which is 722 miles long and
connects Laredo, on the Rio Grande, with the capital and the southern
states. Another line has recently been opened from Torreon to Durango.
The number of miles of road at present in operation in the Republic of
Mexico is about 6,800, with a number of new lines rapidly nearing
completion. The development of Mexico's resources has, during the past
decade, kept pace with the rapid expansion of its railroad system.
In the Dominion of Canada about fifteen miles of railroad line were
built as early as 1837, but only forty-three miles was added during the
next ten years. In 1852 there was still only 212 miles of railroad in
all of the British possessions in North America. At that time the
construction of the Grand Trunk system was commenced, the first section
of the system, Portland-Montreal, being opened in 1853. After this
railroads increased very rapidly in Canada, reaching an extent of 2,087
miles in 1860, 4,826 miles in 1875, 6,891 miles in 1880, and 10,150
miles in 1890. The majority of Canadian railroads are in the hands of
private companies, some of which have been very materially aided by the
government. One of the conditions upon which the union of the several
British provinces, except Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, was
effected in 1867, was the construction of a railroad by the Dominion
government connecting the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick. This road, the main line of which extends from Point
Levis, opposite Quebec, to Halifax, was accordingly built, and is still
operated by the Canadian government. Its cost was about 46,000,000.
But the most important enterprise in which the government is interested
is the Canadian Pacific Railway. Like the intercolonial railway, this
line was a result of the political union of the colonies. Its
construction was commenced by the government, but was subsequently
assigned to a private corporation, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company,
all that had been done by the government being turned over to the
company as a gift. It is estimated that the direct gifts of money, the
land grant and other privileges conferred by the Dominion government
upon the Pacific Railway Company exceed $100,000,000 in value, and that,
with the amount of bonds and stock guaranteed by the government, the par
value of its various aids amounts to $215,000,000, or $48,000,000 more
than the cost of the road, as will be shown by the following table,
taken from the report of the Interstate Commerce Committee of the Senate
of the Fifty-first Congress:
Subsidy granted by the act of Parliament of
February 13, 1881 $25,000,000
Seven hundred and fourteen miles of railroad
constructed by the Dominion Government, original
cost and interest 36,760,785
Capital stock guaranteed 65,000,000
Loan to the company authorized by Parliament of
1884, in part 29,880,912
Balance of above loan 15,000 000
Bonds, interest guaranteed by the Dominion for
50 years at 3-1/2 per cent 15,000,000
Land grant bonds 25,000,000
Subsidy of $186,000 a year, for 20 years 3,720,000
------------
Total $215,361,697
Total cost of road, according to the company's
balance sheet of December, 1888 $131,350,019
The Dominion Government owns and operates four railways, the cost of
which up to June 30, 1890, was $52,800,000. It has also granted to
railroad companies cash subsidies which to June 30, 1889, amounted to
over $46,000,000. The total number of miles of railroad in Canada was
14,004 in 1890. The people of Canada have, since the political union of
the colonies, pursued an exceedingly liberal policy toward their
railroads, but it appears that the great indulgence of the government
only bred license in railroad circles. The evil increased from year to
year, until the many complaints on the part of the public against
railroad management caused Parliament in 1886 to appoint a commission to
examine into the alleged abuses and to report as to the advisability of
the adoption of a general railroad law, and the appointment of a Board
of Railroad Commissioners. The committee reported to the
Governor-General of Canada on the 14th of January, 1888, and, acting
upon its recommendation, Parliament passed the Railway Act of May 22,
1888. This act, containing 309 paragraphs, provides for the complete
regulation of railroad affairs, and for this purpose creates a Board of
Railroad Commissioners, consisting of the Minister for Railroads and
Canals, the Minister of Justice and two or more members of the Privy
Council. The act also repeals all former railroad laws. Though it has
been in force less than five years, its beneficial effects are already
extensively felt by the Canadian public.