Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1917 — TO CHANGE RAILROAD GAUGE [ARTICLE]

TO CHANGE RAILROAD GAUGE

Japanese Roads Are Found to Be Sadly Behind the Times—Movement on Foot to Rebuild. When the railroads of Japan were .first planned,—the—■narrow--gauge—of 3 feet 6 inches was selected for them, because it was the cheapest to build and equip and was thought best suited to the country’s narrow highways and steep grades. Now the 6,000 miles of Japanese railroads, all of narrow gauge, are found to be sadly behind the times, and a movement is on foot to rebuild them to standard gauge, although the cost is estimated at nearly $450,000,000. At present the trains are slow, the fastest expresses making less than 30 miles an hour, the coaches are low and narrow, and the sleeping cars are cramped and inconvenient; while most of the railroad inventions of other nations cannot be used because of the difference in track gauge and size of cars. The director of the imperial railroads favors the change, in spite of the cost, and estimates that the main Tokaido line could be converted to broad gauge in 12 years.—Popular Mechanics.