CHAPTER I.
Location of a line of railway—Government regulations—Questions for consideration in connection with gauge, gradients, and curves.
Location.—The locating of a line of railway, or the determination of its exact route, is influenced by many circumstances. In a rich country, with thickly populated districts and large industrial enterprises, there are towns to be served, manufacturing centres to be accommodated, and harbours to be brought into connection; while, at the same time, there may be important estates which must be avoided and private properties which must not be entered. Each point will present its own individual claim for consideration when selecting the route which promises the greatest amount of public convenience and commercial success.
In new countries—in our colonies, and especially out in the far west of Canada and the United States—railways have to be laid out in almost uninhabited districts, where there is but little population or commerce to serve, and where the principal object is to obtain the best and most direct route through the vast territories, leaving colonists and settlers to choose afterwards the most convenient sites for towns and villages. Untrammelled by the network of public and private roads and properties which are met with at home, it might appear that the locating of such a line would be comparatively light; but even in such countries, which at first sight seem to present unlimited freedom for selecting a route, much can be done, and should be done, by taking a course through those plains and districts which possess the best natural resources for future agricultural, manufacturing, or mineral development.
In addition to the motives of convenience and policy, the route of every line of railway must be influenced by the natural features of the country—the mountains, valleys, and rivers. These physical obstacles are in some cases on such an enormous
scale as to compel long detours in the formation of a more suitable opening; and in others, although the difficulties are not insurmountable, they may involve works of great magnitude and expense.
In a comparatively rich country, with a prospect of large and remunerative traffic, a succession of heavy works, bridges, and tunnels may be admissible and expedient; but in new countries economy of outlay has to be considered, and costly works avoided as much as possible.
Every one of the heavy works on a line, whether lofty bridges, long viaducts, or costly tunnels, not only enormously increase the original expenditure of the undertaking, but also entail large annual outlay in the necessary constant supervision and maintenance.