PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE.
along the coast. A traveller landing in Adelaide and wishing to proceed to Brisbane by rail would travel from Adelaide viâ Melbourne to Albury on the Victorian border, on the 5 ft. 3 in. gauge; from Albury viâ Sydney to Jennings on the Queensland border, on the 4 ft. 8½ in. gauge; from Jennings to Brisbane on the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge. These breaks of gauge are a great bar to inter-communication between the Colonies, and must lead to considerable loss of economy in working and equipment. It is certain that the breaks of gauge at Albury and Jennings divert a large portion of the passenger traffic between Melbourne and Sydney, and between Sydney and Brisbane from the railways to the steamers. It is satisfactory to know that the subject is engaging the attention of the most capable railway administrators in the Colonies.
Mr. Eddy's scheme of the unification of gaugesThe lines on which reform should proceed were laid down in a letter from Mr. Eddy to the Minister for Railways in New South Wales in 1889. The main principles of his scheme were: (1) That the cost of adopting a uniform gauge shall be borne by the whole of the Colonies affected; (2) the decision must be come to from the standpoint of which gauge (the 4 ft. 8½ in., or 5 ft. 3 in.) can be adopted at the least cost and inconvenience; (3) the whole of the railways in New South Wales and Victoria, the railways in South Australia now laid to the 5 ft. 3 in. gauge, as well as the line to Broken Hill, and all lines in Queensland, south of Brisbane, leading to New South Wales, shall be altered to the standard gauge.
Unprofitable linesA glance at the railway maps of the different Colonies, provided that the inquirer has some knowledge of the physical features and the productive possibilities222
