IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2020 - 98

the satisfaction of the Kashmir government, that the scheme was feasible
and would not be overly expensive,
costing approximately US$1.5 million.
An arrangement was reached wherein the government would subscribe to
one-third of the equity. From Baramulla (an elevation of 5,150 ft) to Abbottabad, a distance of 75 mi, the cableway would mostly follow the Jhelum
gorge. An electric r a i lway wo u ld
con nect the capita l, Srinagar, to
Baramulla. The cableway would be
operated by electricity generated at
Mohra. All the cableway machinery
would be sourced from the United
States. The cableway would be constructed in long spans of roughly 800
yd, with cables held by iron pillars or
lattice towers, some of which would
be as high as 100 ft. Separate cables,
sectionalized every 5 mi, would stand
9 ft apart for the incoming and outgoing traffic.
The advantage of the aerial cableway was that all the dangerous parts
of the route would be avoided, as the
cars would move from hill to hill
above the gorges instead of along the

mountainsides. The towers would be
located where there could be no danger of slips. For safety reasons, the
cableway would initially be used only
for freight, and if the system worked
without accidents, it could be used for
passengers. It was estimated that the
travel time for freight would be reduced to 15 h from the 15 days that
bullock carts required under the most
favorable conditions. A proposal for
the system was put forward but could
not be favored by the state because
of political, financial, and technical
difficulties, and the project remained
shelved until the 1940s, when it again
came up for discussion.

Fertilizer (Nitrates
of Lime) Factory
There was a good possibility of utilizing Mohra electric power to manufacture artificial fertilizer. The Norwegians at Notodden had demonstrated
the application of electric currents to
obtain nitrates of lime, which could be
used for improving agricultural productivity. The precipices along the Jhelum were full of limestone. The idea

was investigated on behalf of Kashmir
state, and a conclusion was reached
that it was worth making an attempt.
Punjab, the rich grain-growing region
close to Kashmir, would be the natural
market for a cheap artificial fertilizer.
The proposed electric railway could
help to carry the large quantity of fertilizer to the plains of Punjab and, in
turn, add to its earnings.
Nearly 3 million acres of wheat
land were within a reachable distance
of the proposed nitrate-of-lime factory
in Kashmir. The output of that area
could be doubled by the use of fertilizer. One million acres would require 2
million maunds (1 maund = 82.286 lb) of
fertilizer, at two maunds to the acre. To
produce 20 maunds of nitrate of lime,
1 hp of electricity was required. The
profit on each horsepower of electricity was expected to be 15 rupees, and
the annual profit to Kashmir Durbar
would therefore be 15 lakh rupees
(US$500,000). This did not, however, include the profit accruing to the
Kashmir Electric Railway by the carriage of the nitrate. American manufacturers were invited to Kashmir but

figure 11. The official pose of the self-propelling Brennan monorail car. (From "The Brennan monorail system," The
Engineer, p. 510, Nov. 12, 1909.)
98

ieee power & energy magazine

september/october 2020

IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2020