An Odd Irish Railway.
(Photograph supplied by courtesy of Mr. D. Wright, Rotorua.)
This picture illustrates the only example of a railway on the Lartigue principle which exists in the United Kingdom. The line runs from Ballybunnion to Listowel, and has a single line of rail only. The engine and carriages are mounted astride the rail, the carriages and the two boilers of the locomotive hanging down like a pair of saddle-bags on either side of the central rail. Two small lateral guard-rails near the ground serve to steady the carriages in case of any oscillation. It is claimed for the system that it is economical, owing to the use of a single rail, and that it favours simplicity of construction, because by lengthening or shortening the supports of the rail, irregularities of surface may be overcome without recourse to embankment or cutting.