ROAD-RAIL TRANSPORT.

Waikato Times, Volume 98, Issue 16153, 1 December 1924, Page 6

ROAD-RAIL TRANSPORT.

80UTH AFRICAN EXPERIMENT. An attempt to solve the problem of economical road transport has been inaugurated at Naboomsprult by the South African Minister of Railways, who recently opened the first roadrailway constructed in South Africa. Situated on the Pietersburg main railway line, 108 miles north of Pretoria, the "road-rail," which is 20£ miles in length, marks the culminating point in the history of a number of experiments. The "road-rail" is essentially a farmers' railway, and its advent must largely influence transport conditions in the Union. Experiments based on the adhesive possibilities of rubber and its gripping power led to the conception of a combined road-rail. The idea was conceived in 1916 of letting the earth carry the tractive power and using rails to carry the rolling load. This leads to such economies in construction that it is possible to build a road-rail at the rate of £llOO per mile, using 161 b mine tram track, and building roadways to take the wheels of the tractors. No heavy sleepers are required. The road bed on either side of the rails is prepared as a wheelway for the tractors, which' a~re converted railway locomotives. The front wheels of the tractor are placed on a pair of bogie wheels, which run on the rails for guiding purposes only, the weight of the engine being borne by large rubber-tired wheels. The tractors can leave the rails and call at various farms, delivering supplies and collecting produce, subsequently remounting the road-rail line and returning to the main railway line. The charges are the same as those on the ordinary railway system. At the opening ceremony two tractors were used, each drawing eight trucks carrying passengers. The construction of the road-rail has excited keen interest among Transvaal farmers, who say it should encourage and permit of more intensive development. ;;