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Transportation by Rail 
 
 AN ANALYSIS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION 
 OF RAILROADS, 
 
 Showing the Character and Cost of the Service Performed by 
 Railway Companies in the Maintenance of Highways for Com- 
 merce, AND as Common Carriers of Passengers, Freight, and 
 THE United States Mails over such Highways. 
 
 BY 
 T. M. R. TALCOTT, C. E. 
 
 ^ 
 
 RICHMOND, VA.. 
 
 Whittet & Shepperson, Publishers and Printers. 
 
 1904. 
 
COPYEIGHT, 1904, 
 BY 
 
 T. M. R. TALCOTT, C. E. 
 
 \^V 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This monograph is based on the experience of the writer in the construction, 
 . maintenance and operation of railways for many years, during a large part of 
 which he had the accounts kept to suit his special method of analyzing the cost of 
 maintenance and operation. 
 
 The present method of accounting, as established by the Interstate Commerce 
 Commission, does not admit of the application of this method of analyzing oper- 
 ating expenses, and therefore the present cost of the several units of service cannot 
 be accurately stated ; but general managers who wish to know the exact cost of 
 each unit of service on their roads can no doubt have their accounts kept so as to 
 admit of the application of the method of analysis indicated in the following pages. 
 
 This method of analysis was applied to a number of Southern roads for 
 periods of from three to ten years, and the units of cost ascertained naturally 
 differed somewhat for the same service, owing to different conditions on the 
 different roads, such as different standards of construdtion and equipment, varying 
 rates of pay for the service of similar classes of employees, and diversity in the 
 cost of material and supplies during different periods and in different localities, 
 but the variations in cost per unit of service were within comparatively narrow 
 limits. The road, of which statistics are given in the following pages, was selected 
 for illustration because it seemed to fairly represent the general average of South- 
 ern roads, which (had been in operaltion a number of years, and were of the same 
 general standard of construction and equipment. 
 
 If this book stimulates investigation of the economic questions to which it 
 directs attention, the writer will not have labored in vain. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. P^GE. 
 
 Changes in Physical Conditions and Methods of Operating Railways, 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Diversity of Service Rendered to the Public, and Methods of Reducing its Cost, .... 9 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Relations of the Different Kinds of Service Rendered, to the Cost of Transporta- 
 tion by Rail, 12 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Cost of the Different Classes of Service which are Included in the Maintenance 
 
 AND Operation of a Railway, 16 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Cost of the Different Classes of Service Performed by Revenue Trains, 27 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Consumption of Fuel by Locomotives, 31 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Repairs and Renewals oi Track, 43 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Estimating the Cost of Transportation under Different Circumstances and Con- 
 ditions, 49 
 
 CHAPTER. IX. 
 How Increased Traffic Decreases the Cost of Transportation, 56 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. Page. 
 
 The Proper Utilization of Motive Power^ 59 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Efficient Handling of Cars, and Estimating Freight Equipment^ 62 
 
 CHAPTER XH. 
 The Relative Adjustment of Rates with Reference to the Cost of Transportation^ 66 
 
 CHAPTER XHI. 
 Economy in Operation to be Considered in the Location of a Line of Railway, ^^ 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 Useful Effect of Locomotives on Grades, 84 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Changes in Physical Conditions and Methods of Operating Railways. 
 
 THE first railTioad'S were more of a novelty in transportation thian a means of 
 cheapening its cost. The superstructure of some of the earlier ones was 
 made by placing ithin flat bars of iron on longitudinal timbers, which rested on 
 stone blocks bedded on broken stone ballast to prevent their displacement by frost. 
 In some cases the iron bars were supported by continuous stone sills. Subsequently 
 iron bars of greater thickness were used, and then the H-rail, of fifty pounds per 
 linear yard, resting on longitudinal sills, the weight of the rails being gradually 
 increased to sixty, seventy and seventy-five pounds per yard. Then cross-ties were 
 introduced, resting on longitudinail sills, and finally the sills were removed, and 
 gravel ballast substituted for them. 
 
 The first cars used were coach bodies of the ordinary form, placed on frames 
 with four wheels, but they were gradually enlarged, and the form changed until 
 their Capacity was increased to sixty passengers, two trucks being used with each 
 car body which could adjust themselves to the curves in the track. 
 
 The first locomotive engines weighed only six tons ; but they were succes- 
 sively increased in weight to ten, sixteen, twenty arid twenty-six tons, and on some 
 of the "freighting roads" locomotive engines of forty tons were used as early as 
 1854. 
 
 An official investigation made about that time to determine the cost of trans- 
 porting piassengers and freight by rail resulted in what would seem noiw to be an 
 absurd conclusion, that the cost of transporting a passenger or a ton of freight one 
 mile wSLS the same ; but it "was probably not far wrong then, for at that time the 
 average number of passengers and the average number of tons of freight per train 
 was very nearly the same, and there was little, if any, difference in the gross 
 weight of passenger and freight trains. Since that time the average number of 
 passengers per train has decreased, and the average number of tons of freight per 
 train has increased, making the gross load per passenger much greater,.and the 
 
8 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 gross load per ton of freight much less, than it was formerly. As an instance of 
 this, it may be stated that in 1854 the average train loads in the State of New York 
 were: 
 
 Passenger trains, 68 passengers. Freight trains, 69 tons. 
 
 While, according to the Interstate Commerce report, the average train loads for 
 Group II, which includes the State of New York, in 1898 were: 
 
 Passenger trains, ... .43 passengers. Freight trains, . . . .282 tons. 
 
 The requirements of the passenger service have 'tended to increase the frequency 
 of trains, as well as their speed, with more elaborate provision for the safety, 
 ease and comfort of passengers, resulting in more dead weight per passenger mile ; 
 while, on the other hand, the tendency of the freight service has been in the direc- 
 tion of heavier train loads, and less dead weight in proportion to paying loads. 
 
 Whilst competition has been a controlling influence in the development of 
 facilities for the modern passenger service, and has compelled attention to eco- 
 nomic methods in the transportation of freight, the improvements in the freight 
 service have resulted largely from broad-minded and intelligent efforts to make 
 possible the handling of products which were formerly not worth the cost of trans- 
 porting them to market by rail. 
 
 One of the earliest attempts to ascertain the cost of transportation by rail was 
 on a coal road in Pennsylvania, and resulted .in showing that heavy mineral traffic 
 could be handled at about one cent per ton per mile. This was probably the first 
 illustration of the effect of a large volume of traffic and heavy train loads on the 
 cost of transportation. 
 
 In order to appreciate the methods by which the cost of railway transportation 
 has been so greatly reduced that canals are almost out of date, and the great river 
 routes are successfully paralleled by rail lines, it will be necessary to understand 
 the several kinds of service involved in the maintenance and operation of a modern 
 railway, and their relations to the cost of transportation. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Diversity of Service Rendered to the Public and Methods of Reducing 
 
 ITS Cost. 
 
 The Highway. 
 
 THE most obvious diversity of service performed by a railway is found in 
 the fact that it not only maintains a hig'hway over which persons and 
 property are transported, but also furnishes the means of transportation over such 
 highways, thereby performing the service of both a common carrier and ware- 
 houseman. 
 
 The highway is separate and distinct from the transportation service, and, 
 with the exception of the, abrasion of 'the rails, frogs and switches, its maintenance 
 is practically the same, whefher the traffic done over it is much or little. The 
 maintenance of the roadbed structures and cross-ties which support the rails may 
 cost more or less, according to the standard of excellence adopted in constructing 
 the highway, but whatever the cost may be, it will be practically a fixed expense. 
 
 Terminal and Station Service. 
 The transportation of passengers and freight over the highway is not a single 
 operation, for it is necessary to make provision for receiving and ticketing passen- 
 gers, handling and checking Dheir baggage, and for receiving, loading, mani- 
 festing, switching, unloading and delivering freight, in addition to hauling them 
 from initial point to destination. This terminal or station service is about the 
 same for each passenger or for each ton of freight, whether they are hauled a long 
 or a short distance, and its cost depends upon the number of passengers or the 
 number of tons of freight, and not upon the distance travelled by passengers, or 
 the distance freight is hauled. 
 
 Transportation Service. 
 The 'hauling of passengers and freight after they are in the cars is an addi- 
 tional service, represented by the number of miles travelled by passengers and the 
 ton miles of freight hauled; but the cost is not directly in proportion to the 
 
10 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 aggregate number of passenger miles or the ton miles of freight. One reason for 
 this is that a large proportion of the work done is in the transportation of "dead 
 load," or the cars which carry the passengers and freig-ht. The dead and paying 
 load together represent the work done, and not the paying load only, and conse- 
 quently the gross ton mileage is an impontant factor in the cost of transportation. 
 It may be stated here, however, that while the number of gross ton miles resulting 
 from the movement of trains represents the work done in weig'ht and distance, the 
 cost of transportation is not necessarily in proportion thereto, for the power 
 required depends not only upon the gross weight of the trains and the distance, 
 which is expressed in gross ton miles, but also on the resistance due to gravity in 
 ascending grades, the resistance due to speed, and the resistance due to curvature. 
 
 Tlie power required to haul one gross ton one mile depends, primarily, upon 
 the alignment and grades of the road ; but the proportion of paying load included 
 in the gross ton mileage depends largely upon the intelligence and skill of the 
 operating department in dispensing with unnecessary car mileage, which is always 
 the surest economy. 
 
 The great reduction which has been made in the cost of transportation, 
 whereby the railway companies have been able to meet competition and enlarge 
 their usefulness in the development of trade, is accounted for as follows : 
 
 First. Reductions in grades and curvature, stronger bridges, heavy rails and 
 more perfect alignment and surface of track have not only reduced train resist- 
 ances, but made practicable the use of heavier locomotives, and have increased the 
 carrying capacity of the railways without a corresponding increase in train mile- 
 age. 
 
 Second. Increased volume of traffic has reduced the cost of transportation 
 per passenger and per ton of freight per mile by reason of the fact that a con- 
 siderable part of the cost of operating railways is the same whether the traffic is 
 great or small. 
 
 Third. Heavier trains have reduced the cost of transportation, because the 
 more cars there are in one train the less it costs to haul each car, which is due to 
 the fact that a considerable part of the cost of running trains is the same whether 
 the trains are heavy or light. 
 
 Fourth. Increased loading of cars has reduced the cost of transportation, be- 
 cause it increased the proportion of paying load included in the total weight of 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. ii 
 
 trains, and the total weiglit or gross tonnage determines a considerable proportion 
 of the transportation service and its cost. 
 
 These are the general principles on which the cost of transportation by rail 
 has been reduced during the past fifty years, and on which further reductions 
 may yet be effected. 
 
 It is unfortunate that it has not been the custom of all railway companies to 
 keep an accurate account of their gross tonnage, as well as of their train mileage 
 and car mileage. The work done by locomotives is generally s'hown on the "loco- 
 motive performance" sheets by the number of loaded cars hauled, counting two 
 empties as equivalent to one loaded car, which has been found so unsatisfactory 
 that a strong effort is being made to have the ton mile, or gross tonnage, basis 
 generally adopted. Hereafter we may have accurate statements of gross tonnage, 
 but now we can only estimate it from the engine and car mileage and the statistics 
 of traffic reported, except for a few roads, which have heretofore appreciated the 
 value of such information as a means of ascertaining the actual work done by 
 locomotives in liauling passengers and freight. 
 
 Another difficulty arises from the fact that in operating railways, as in other 
 business dependent upon the patronage of the public, it is often deemed necessary 
 or advisable to make more or less liberal expenditures for extras that contribute 
 nothing to the efficiency of the service rendered, and cannot be considered an 
 essential part of cost of operation, but rather as accessories to please patrons. 
 However much we may admire parterres of flowers at a railway station, we cannot 
 regard the cost of them as a necess/ary part of the station expenses ; but it is not 
 so easy to discriminate in all cases between essentials and mere accessories to the 
 transportation service. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Relations of Different Kinds of Service Rendered to the Cost of Trans- 
 portation BY Rail. 
 
 IT tias been sho^vn in the preceding dhapter that the railway has assumed the 
 functions of three of its predecessors, in that it not only maintains a highway 
 for commerce, but also performs the duties of both the warehouseman and the 
 common carrier ; but we have not yet carried the analysis far enough to see the 
 complexity of its operations in detail. 
 
 Administration. 
 
 To conduct any business intelligently, with efficiency and proper economy 
 there must be proper supervision and direction by competently trained managers, 
 who do not necessarily participate in the actual work done, but are, nevertheless, 
 an essential part of the organization and important factors in the results to be 
 attained. The general officers and heads of departments perform these functions 
 on a railway which may be termed the "administration" of its affairs. Adminis- 
 tration being neither a part of nor proportionate to the "transportation service," 
 the necessary cost of it may properly be considered a fixed expense proportionate 
 to the length of the road, and the number of its tracks. 
 
 Maintenance of Roadway, Structures and Buildings. 
 
 After establishing the highway over Which the transportation service is to 
 be performed, and making provision at convenient intervals for the receipt and 
 delivery of passengers and freight, the substructure for the track, which includes 
 the roadbed, bridges, culverts, cattle-guards, road-crossings, ballast and cross-ties, 
 and also the station building, houses for employees, signals, mile-posts, etc., must 
 be kept in repair and renewed. These repairs and renewals are included in the 
 "maintenance of roadway, structures and buildings," the cost of which, including 
 premiums paid for fire insurance, may properly be considered a fixed expense 
 proportionate to the length of the road, but will be more or less per mile according 
 to the number of tracks and character of construction. 
 
 The deterioration of rails, frogs and switches results in part, no doubt, from 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 13 
 
 natural causes, and they would not last forever, even if no trains passed over them. 
 It has been said that rails show the greatest abrasion where they are subjected to 
 the most frequent alternations of moisture and dryness, and there can be no ques- 
 tion that near the seacoast exposure to the salt air produces rapid oxidation of iron 
 and steel. Nevertheless, the deterioration of rails is practically due to abrasion 
 from the wheels of locomotives and cars passing over them. The better the align- 
 ment and surface the less the abrasion will be, but every ton of engines, cars and 
 loads makes its impression on the rails, frogs and switches, and, therefore, it 
 necessarily follows that their deterioration is proportionate to the gross ton mileage 
 more nearly than to the train mileage or the car mileage. 
 
 Taxes. 
 
 In the statements required by the Interstate Commerce Commission taxes are 
 made a deduction from income, and they may with equal propriety be considered a 
 part of the "fixed charges" to be paid out of income, but they may also be treated 
 as fixed expenses proportionate to the length of the road, and number of tracks. 
 
 Terminal and Station Service. 
 
 Terminal and station service includes the work which necessarily precedes 
 the transportation of passengers and freight, and also that whith follows and 
 completes the service rendered in transporting them, but this service is not the 
 same for every passenger or for every ton of freight. Competition for through 
 traffic makes it necessary to maintain outside agencies which are distinct from the 
 local agencies, and it is advisable to separate the two, for which reason I subdivide 
 the terminal and station service into two classes : "Ordinary," to include service 
 rendered at terminal points and intermediate stations, and "Special," to include all 
 outside agencies. 
 
 Such part of this service as pertains to passengers will be regulated by the 
 number of passengers provided for, and such part of it as pertains to freight by 
 the number of tons of freight handled. The cost, therefore, should be nearly pro- 
 portionate to the number of passengers provided for, and the number of tons of 
 freig'ht handled, without regard to the distance the passengers and the freight may 
 be hauled. 
 
14 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 Transportation Service. 
 
 The movement of passengers and freight is effected by means of trains com- 
 posed of a locomotive engine, which furnishes the necessary motive power and 
 cars for passengers, mail and express, or for freight traffic. Only one locomotive 
 engine is absolutely necessary to the make-up of a train, but the number of cars 
 in one train is limited only by the capacity of the engine to haul more or less ; and 
 each car hauled constitutes a separate unit of service. This fact alone would 
 require us to regard the running of trains as a dual operation, but we must further 
 consider that in order to run trains properly there must be a train crew for each 
 train in addition to the engine crew, and that each train must be equipped with 
 signals and necessary supplies. 
 
 It is customary to pay the engine and train crews for the number of miles they 
 run, measuring their service by the train mileage ; and the train supplies used are 
 generally proportionate to the train mileage, but repairs of engines, stores, fuel 
 and water are more nearly proportionate to the gross ton mileage than to either 
 train or car mileage. The maintenance of home cars, hire of foreign cars, and 
 supplies used in operating them, are proportionate to the use made of them, or to 
 car mileage. 
 
 For the reasons above stated, we cannot consider the transportation service a 
 single operation, the cost of which is proportionate to either the train mileage or 
 car mileage ; nor is it dependent wholly upon the gross ton mileage. It includes 
 three classes of service in varying proportions, viz. : 
 
 Train mileage. 
 Car mileage. 
 
 Gross ton mileage. 
 
 The different kinds of transportation required of railways make it necessary 
 for them to run trains of different classes of cars, and cars of different classes in 
 the same train, which still further differentiates the transportation service into 
 two classes: 
 
 Passenger train service. 
 Freight train service. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 15 
 
 Both classes of trains use the same highway, are run under the same general 
 administration, and contribute to the expenses of conducting transportation and 
 the cost of maintenance of equipment. It is necessary, therefore, for a proper 
 understanding of the relative service performed by these two different classes of 
 trains, that accounts should be kept of the train miles, car miles and gross ton 
 miles of each, so that the cost of the different kinds of transportation service may 
 be ascertained as nearly as practicable, for without at least approximate knowledge 
 of what each class of service costs there can be no intelligent understanding of the 
 results of operation. 
 
 On roads of light traffic it is customary to combine the passenger and freight 
 service, making a mixed train of cars, and it is also not unusual to allow a few 
 passengers to travel on freight trains without proper cars for their accommodation ; 
 but the trains are, nevertheless, freight trains, though entitled to a credit for such 
 reasonable proportion of the cost of running them as may be fairly chargeable to 
 passenger train service. 
 
 Recapitulating the foregoing, we have different kinds of service classified in 
 relation to conditions which influence their cost, as follows : 
 
 First. Service the cost of which is not materially influenced, if at all, by the 
 volume of the traffic or the distance it is hauled, viz. : ■ 
 
 Administration. 
 
 Maintenance of Roadway, Structures and Buildings. 
 
 Second. Service the cost of which depends upon the volume of the traffic, but not 
 upon the distance it is hauled, viz. : 
 
 Terminal and Station Expenses — Passenger. 
 Terminal and Station Expenses — Freight. 
 
 Third. Service the cost of which depends on both the volume of the traffic and 
 the distance it is hauled, viz. : 
 
 Train Mileage — Passenger. Car Mileage — Freight. 
 
 Train Mileage — Freight. Gross Ton Mileage — Passenger. 
 
 Car Mileage — Passenger. Gross Ton Mileage — Freight. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Cost of the Different Classes of Service which are Included in the 
 Maintenance and Operation of Railways. 
 
 BOOK-KEEPING may 'be simple or complex, according to the information it 
 is desired to obtain therefrom, and the primary object in keeping the ac- 
 counts of a corporation is no doubt to show the amount of money received and the 
 proper application of what is paid out ; but both individuals and corporations want 
 to know more than this, and the best method of keeping accounts is that which 
 will at any and all times give the operator such thorough and practical knowledge 
 of the details of his operations as will enable him to manage his business intelli- 
 gently. 
 
 It may not be practicable to determine the exact source of every dollar of 
 income, or to charge every dollar of expense to the particular transaction which 
 made the expenditure of such dollar necessary, or precisely the net results of each 
 transaction, but the nearer the accounts approximate to such a showing the better 
 the operator will understand the result of what he has done, and the more intelli- 
 gently he can conduct his subsequent operations. 
 
 The more frequently and the more accurately comparisons can be made of 
 expenses incurred in similar operations, the better they will be understood, and 
 the more intelligent will be the efforts for better results ; but much time and labor 
 can be saved by grouping together such expenses as result from similar operations, 
 service or transactions, and comparing them in the aggregate, instead of in detail. 
 This is the object of ithe groupings made of the expenses incurred in operating 
 railways, and it would be most convenient and satisfactory if there was always 
 a definite relation between each group of expenses and certain operations from 
 which they result. 
 
 To determine whether an increase in certain expenses is reasonable and 
 proper, we must know whether there was a proportional increase in the work, and 
 to ascertain this, we must be able to compare the work done in each case by some 
 definite unit, such as a train mile, a car mile or a gross ton mile. Hence, the 
 importance of keeping account of the units of service and separating the expenses 
 resulting from each class of work done in operating railways, if only to facilitate 
 comparisons. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 17 
 
 While it is of great importance that a railway manager should know what the 
 comparative cost of maintenance and operation has been, such comparisons will 
 not be useful in determining how to secure better results in the future unless they 
 show how the service can be better adjusted to the requirements of the traffic to 
 save unnecessary work. The lessons of the past are useful only to the extent that 
 the information acquired can be used to influence future results. It is not enough 
 to know that the total operating expenses are out of proportion to the total earn- 
 ings, for it may be that the profits in one class of traffic are neutralized by losses 
 on another class. Passenger business may be done at a loss that will absorb all or 
 a large part of the profits of freight traffic, and part of the freight traffic may be 
 done at a loss, and detract from the profits of the remainder. There is a strong 
 and abiding impression in some quarters that railway companies charge high rates 
 on local freight traffic to make up for losses on competitive traffic ; and how are 
 we to say that such is not the case if we do not know the cost of doing either local 
 or competitive business? Railways will never be able to make proper defence 
 against this and other charges until they can show with some degree of accuracy 
 what each and every class of business does cost thetn. 
 
 We have already considered the relations of t)he different kinds of service per- 
 formed by railways to the cost of transportation, but the actual cost of each class 
 of service is what each railway company ought, if possible, to know, and I will 
 endeavor to show how it can be ascertained with sufficient accuracy for all practical 
 purposes, if accounts are kept with that abject in view. 
 
 Fixed Expenses. 
 
 It is evident that if a road were operated for passenger traffic alone, all of the 
 fixed expenses would be chargeable to the passenger traffic, and if for freight 
 traffic alone, they would in like manner be all dhargeable to the freight traffic ; but 
 as there are several kinds of traffic on the same road, the fixed expenses must be 
 distributed equitably amongst them. 
 
 If a railway w^ere maintained as an open highway, to be used alike by the 
 trains of any common carrier, tolls would be charged, as on a turnpike or canal, 
 and the assessment of the different classes of traffic to cover the fixed expenses 
 may therefore be made on any fair basis of tolls. It has been customary with rail- 
 ways to distribute these expenses in proportion to the mileage of passenger and 
 
i8 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 freight trains, which seemed reasonable when there was little diflference in the 
 weight of such trains, but the disproportion is now so great that some other and 
 more equitable basis must be found. 
 
 The relative use of the highway for each class of trafific must be determined 
 by some common unit of measure ; but neither the train mileage nor the car mile- 
 age will fairly represent the relative amount of the different kinds of transportation 
 for which the highway is used. The gross ton mile would seem to be the only 
 common unit of measure for all classes of traffic,. and, therefore, the distribution 
 of fixed expenses between the several classes of traffic should be made on the basis 
 of their relative gross ton mileage. 
 
 Terminal and Station Expenses. 
 
 The terminal and station expenses are to a great extent incurred for either 
 passenger or freight business, and not for both together, and to that extent they 
 can be charged directly to one or the other class of service, and such as are for 
 purposes in common can always be apportioned on some equitable basis. 
 
 Train Expenses. 
 
 There is no difficulty in keeping the expenses of each class of trains separate, 
 and it should always be done, as there is a material difference in their cost per mile 
 run. They include motive power (except fuel and water), the wages of train 
 crews, train supplies and expenses of an accidental nature, such as personal in- 
 juries, stock killed, clearing wrecks, and other casualties resulting from the run- 
 ning of trains. 
 
 Car Expenses. 
 
 Car expenses include the cost of maintenance, or repairs and renewals of cars, 
 the cost of lubricating them, and other expenses incident to their use. The cost 
 of lighting and heating cars on passenger trains is proportionate to the number of 
 cars in the train, and, therefore, properly a part of the car expenses ; but when 
 they are heated by steam from the locomotive it is an additional tax on the motive 
 power, which must add to the consumption of fuel, but will not otherwise increase 
 the motive power expenses. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 19 
 
 Gross Tonnage Expenses. 
 
 The expenses which are necessarily dependent upon the gross ton mileage are 
 the cost of fuel and water, by means of which power is produced, and what it costs 
 to make good the wear and tear of track which results from the power exerted in 
 hauling trains over it. Accounts should be kept of the cost of fuel consumed by 
 each class of trains, and as the evaporation of water is in proportion to the fuel 
 consumed, its cost should be charged in the same proportion as the fuel. If such 
 accounts have not been kept, a distribution of the fuel and water on the basis of 
 the relative gross ton miles of passenger and freight trains will be approximately 
 correct, due allowance being made for the relative speed of passenger and freight 
 trains. The annual wear and tear of track is necessarily to be estimated, for 
 renewals never keep exact pace with it ; but whatever is charged for deterioration 
 of rails should be apportioned to passenger and freight trains on the basis of their 
 relative weight and speed. 
 
 Should motive power expenses hereafter be determined on a ton mile basis, 
 they may all be treated as gross tonnage expenses, although the wages of engineers 
 and firemen, being based on train mileage, that expense belongs properly in Train 
 Expenses. 
 
 Accounts kept as above indicated will give the actual distribution of probably 
 not less than seventy-five per cent, of the expenses, and there can be no reasonable 
 objection to allotting the other twenty-five per cent, or less, which are expenses in 
 common for both passenger and freight, in proportion to the gross ton mileage of 
 each, for the gross ton mile is the nearest approximation to an absolute unit of 
 service in transportation. 
 
 The statistical results of this method of analysis, as appHed to one hundred 
 and eighty-nine miles of railway in the South for a period of ten years, from 1875 
 to 1884, may prove interesting, not only as an illustration of the method, but also 
 as indicating approximately the cost of eadh unit of service : 
 
20 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 STATISTICS OF PASSENGER TRAINS. 
 
 Train Mileage^ Car Mileage and Gross Tonnage : 
 
 Miks run by passenger trains, 3,094,441 
 
 '■ " passenger coaches, 5,990,107 
 
 " " baggage cars, 1,740,289 
 
 " " express cars, 1,630,857 
 
 " " mail cars 1,430,596 
 
 " " sleeping cars, 2,161,167 
 
 " " special foreign cars, 17,851 
 
 12,970,867 
 
 Gross ton miles of passenger engines, 159,480,981 
 
 " " cars with passengers 212,801,483 
 
 " " " express, 32,634,932 
 
 mail, 29,880,699 
 
 Dead and Paying Load : Gross ton miles. 
 
 Cars for passengers 96.91 % 206,219,403 
 
 Passengers and baggage, 3.09% 6,582,080 
 
 Cars for express 89.95 % 29,355,426 
 
 Express freight, 10.05% 3,279,506 
 
 Cars for mail, 90.97% 27,181,324 
 
 Mail matter, 9.03% 2,699,375 
 
 434,798,09s 
 
 77.30% 212,801,483 
 11.85% 32,634,932 
 
 10.85% 29,880,699 
 
 Total cars aad loads, passenger trains, 275,317,114 
 
 Average Weights : 
 
 Passenger train engines, 51,538 tons 
 
 Cars with passengers 21.330 " 
 
 Cars with express, 20,011 " 
 
 Cars with mail, 21,887 " 
 
 Average weight of passenger trains, 140,509 " 
 
 Passenger Train Traffic. 
 
 Number of passengers, 1,414,419 
 
 Passenger miles, 78,634,224 
 
 Ton miles of express, 3,279 506 
 
 Ton miles of mail, 2,699,375 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 21 
 
 Average Load of Passenger Trains : 
 Number of passengers, 25.412, . . . 
 
 Express freight, 
 
 Mail matter, 
 
 2.127 
 
 tons. 
 
 1.060 
 
 " 
 
 0.872 
 
 ct 
 
 Total load of passenger trains, 
 
 4-059 
 
 STATISTICS OF FREIGHT TRAINS. 
 Train Mileage: 
 
 Miles run by general tonnage trains, 4,292,868 
 
 150,577 
 
 coal and stone trains. 
 
 switching trains. 
 
 47,693 
 
 Car Mileage : 
 
 Loaded. 
 
 General tonnage 57,250,333 
 
 Coal and stone, 372,948 
 
 Switching 95,671 
 
 Totals, 57,718,952 
 
 Gross Ton Mileage: Engines 
 
 General tonnage, 251,082,053 
 
 Coal and stone, 6,554,042 
 
 Switching, 1,982,742 
 
 Empty. 
 
 Caboose. 
 
 Total. 
 
 12,624,801 
 
 3,974,720 
 
 73,849,854 
 
 348,651 
 
 1,283 
 
 722,882 
 
 66,212 
 
 
 161,883 
 
 13,039,664 
 
 3,976,003 
 
 74,734,619 
 
 Cars. 
 
 Loads. 
 
 Total. 
 
 750,412,961 
 
 377,128,870 
 
 1,378,623,884 
 
 4,958,201 
 
 2,762,031 
 
 14,274,274 
 
 1,089,219 
 
 755,144 
 
 3,827,105 
 
 756,460,381 
 
 380,646,045 
 
 1,396,725,263 
 
 Totals, 259,618,837 
 
 Dead and Paying Load: 
 
 Cars for general tonnage, 66.55% 750,412,961 
 
 General tonnage, 33-45% 377,128,870 
 
 Cars for coal and stone, 64.22% 
 
 Coal and stone tonnage, 35-78% 
 
 Cars for switching tonnage, S9-o6%' 
 
 Switching tonnage, 40.94% 
 
 4,958,201 
 2,762,031 
 
 1,089,219 
 
 755,144 
 
 1,127,541,831 
 
 7,720,232 
 
 1,844,363 
 
 Total cars and loads freight trains, 1,137,106,426 
 
22 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 Average Weights in tons : Engines. Cars. Loads. Total. 
 
 General tonnage train 58.488 174.805 87.850 321-143 
 
 Coal and stone trains, 43-526 32.928 18.343 94-797 
 
 Switching trains, 41-573 22.838 lS-834 80.245 
 
 General average, 57-8o7 168.434 84.755 310-996 
 
 Freight Traffic : Tons. Ton miles. Av'ge haul. 
 
 General tonnage through, 1,130,047 188,309,268 166.6 
 
 General tonnage local, 1,719,794 188,819,602 109.8 
 
 Coal and stone tonnage, 337,837 2,762,031 8.2 
 
 Switching tonnaige, 362,842 755,144 2.1 
 
 Total, 3,550,520 380,646,045 107.2 
 
 OPERATING EXPENSES. 
 
 Total. Passenger, Freight 
 
 Administration, $ 405,163 $ 96,184 $308,979 
 
 Taxes and insurance, 68,465 16,254 52,211 
 
 Maintenance of roadway, etc., 1,067,215 253,353 813,862 
 
 Total fixed expenses, $1,540,843 $365,791 $1,175,052 
 
 Ordinary station and terminal expenses, $749,821 $179,646 $570,175 
 
 Special terminal expenses, 201,618 124,602 77,oi6 
 
 Total station and terminal expenses, $951,439 $304,248 $647,191 
 
 Motive power, $908,633 $259,177 $649,456 
 
 Train service and supplies, 451,163 124,835 326,328 
 
 Casualties, 162,322 51,649 110,673 
 
 Total train expenses, $1,522,118 $435,661 $1,086,457 
 
 Maintenance of cars, $697,203 $226,325 $470,878 
 
 Car service and supplies, 157,860 86,475 71,385 
 
 Total car expenses $855,063 $312,800 $542,263 
 
 Fuel and water, $782,379 $214,979 $567,400 
 
 Repairs of track, 299,729 99,845 199,884 
 
 Renewals of track, 464,753 154,817 309,936 
 
 Betterments of track, 254,178 84,671 169,507 
 
 Total gross tonnage expenses $1,801,039 $554,312 $1,246,727 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 23 
 
 RECAPITULATION OF EXPENSES. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Fixed expenses, $1,540,843 
 
 Station and terminal expenses, 9Sii439 
 
 Train expenses, 1,522,118 
 
 Car expenses, 855,063 
 
 Gross tonnage expenses, 1,801,039 
 
 Total operating' expenses, $6,670,502 
 
 Passenger. 
 
 Freight. 
 
 $365,791 
 
 $1,175,052 
 
 304,248 
 
 647,191 
 
 435,661 
 
 1,086,457 
 
 312,800 
 
 542,263 
 
 554,312 
 
 1,246,727 
 
 $1,972,812 $4,697,690 
 
 UNITS OF COST OF PASSENGER AND FREIGHT SERVICE. 
 
 AVERAGE FOR TEN YEARS. 
 
 Per Mile of Road, Per Annum. 
 
 Passenger. Freight. 
 
 Fixed Expenses. 
 
 Administration, $ 50.89 $163.48 
 
 Taxes and insurance, 8.60 27.62 
 
 Maintenance of road, i34-05 430.62 
 
 Total, $193.54 $621.72 
 
 Per passenger. Per ton. 
 
 Terminal and Station Expenses : Cents. Cents. 
 
 Ordinary, 12.701 16.059 
 
 Special, 8.809 2.169 
 
 Total, 21.510 18.228 
 
 Per Gross Ton Mile. 
 
 Passenger. 
 
 Freight. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 0,022122 
 
 0.022122 
 
 0.003738 
 
 0.003738 
 
 0.058269 
 
 0.058269 
 
 0.084129 0.084129 
 
 0.04I3I7 
 0.028657 
 
 0.040822 
 0.005514 
 
 0.069974 0.046336 
 
 Per Train Mile. 
 
 Passenger. Freight. 
 
 Train Expenses : (;ents. Cents. 
 
 Motive power, 8.376 14.461 
 
 Train service and supplies, 4034 7.266 
 
 Casualties, i.66g 2.464 
 
 Total 14079 24.191 
 
 0.059609 
 0.02871 1 
 0.011878 
 
 0.046497 
 0.02336s 
 0.007924 
 
 0.100198 0.077786 
 
24 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 Per Car Mile. 
 Passenger. Freight. 
 
 Car Expenses : Cents. Cents. 
 
 Maintenance of cars, 1.74488 0.63007 0.052053 0.033713 
 
 Car service and supplies, 0.66669 0.09552 0.019888 0.005 no 
 
 Total, 2.41157 0.72559 0.071941 0.038823 
 
 Per Gross Ton Mile. 
 
 Passenger. Freight. 
 
 Gross Tonnage Expenses : Cents. Cents. 
 
 Fuel and water, 0.049444 0.040624 
 
 Repairs of track, 0.022963 0.014311 
 
 Renewal of rails,* 0.035607 0.022190 
 
 Total, 0.108014 0.07712s 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Fixed .expenses, 0.084129 0.084129 
 
 Terminal and station expenses 0.069974 0.046336 
 
 Train expenses, 0.100198 0.077786 
 
 Car expenses, 0.071941 0.038823 
 
 Gross tonnage expenses, 0.108014 0.077125 
 
 Total, 0.434256 0.324199 
 
 * Betterm'ents to. track, which cost $254,178, not included' in cost of Renewals of Rails. 
 
 The above are the actual averages for ten years on the road in question, but 
 during that period the gross tonnage expenses were to some extent abnormal for 
 two reasons: 
 
 First. By reason of the gradual substitution of coal for wood as fuel for locomo- 
 tives, which was begun as soon as the cost of coal per ton approximated to 
 the cost of an equivalent amount of wood. This made the actual expenditure 
 for fuel for ten years somewhat more than it would have been if coal had been 
 available during the whole period, at a reasonable price. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 25 
 
 Second. The iron rails in the track at the beginning of the ten years were much 
 worn, and the substitution of steel rails during that period not only constituted 
 in part a betterment which is so charged above, but after giving this credit 
 the cost of maintenance of track was more than it would have been if steel 
 rails, with their greater endurance, had been used exclusively. The above 
 ascertained cost of "renewal of rails," being for mixed iron and steel rails, is 
 therefore in excess of what it should be for 60-lb. steel rails. 
 
 Similar accounts were kept of the expenses of other roads during the same 
 and a subsequent period, the results of which, compared with the foregoing, lead 
 to the conclusion that under generally similar conditions, and especially during 
 the same period under similar conditions, there is little variation in the cost of the 
 same class of service on different roads. General averages of cost were ascer- 
 tained from a number of different southern roads for from three to ten years, but 
 the averages given above differ little therefrom, and are believed to be more reli- 
 able, on account of the greater care with which the accounts were kept on this 
 particular road. 
 
 Fixed Charges. 
 
 Interest and rentals, while not classed as expenses, are nevertheless an obliga- 
 tion to be provided for out of earnings. 
 
 The profits of the farmer depend upon the cost of producing his crops and 
 the prices at which he can market them ; the profits of the manufacturer, upon 
 what he pays for the raw material, the cost of manufacturing it, and the prices he 
 can get for his finished product. In either case there is money invested in the 
 business, the interest on which is taken into account in determining the cost of 
 production. 
 
 Transportation is the product of a railway, and interest on the capital invested 
 in the business is not only a part of the cost of transportation, but is an obtrusive 
 element of cost, for the reason that railways are largely, if not exclusively, built 
 with borrowed capital, evidenced by securities, the holders of whidh want their 
 interest with great regularity, and failing to get it, are prompt to inaugurate fore- 
 closure proceedings. 
 
 In order to keep down the interest charges on a railway, cheapness in con- 
 struction is often resorted to, but not so often for this purpose as to swell the 
 
26 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 profits of a construction company. After a railway is built, if its traffic develops 
 satisfactorily, and net earnings are large in proportion to the capital originally 
 invested, the output of bonds or other evidence of indebtedness may be increased, 
 if only for the purpose of properly capitaHzing the earning capacity of the prop- 
 erty, and interest obligations may or may not remain fixed ; but if they should be 
 swelled out of proportion to the earning capacity of the road, reorganization or 
 foreclosure intervenes to readjust them. 
 
 Whatever the fixed charges on a railway may be, the manager is expected to 
 make the net earnings suffice to meet them, and to him they are an element in the 
 cost of transportation, of more or less per mile of road operated, to rneet which he 
 must, if necessary, forego much needed improvements, and keep down operating 
 expenses to the minimum. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 Cost of Different Classes of Service Performed by Revenue Trains. 
 
 IF we have successfully resolved the operations of the railway in question into 
 the elements of service performed, and ascertained the cost of each unit of 
 service, we can determine the relative cost, not only of the passenger and freight 
 traffic, but off each of the several classes of tonnage, as follows : 
 
 UNITS OF COST OF FREIGHT SERVICE. cents. 
 
 Terminal expenses per ton of freight, 18.228 
 
 Train expenses per train mile, 24.191 
 
 Car expenses per car mile, 0.72559 
 
 Fuel and water per gross ton mile, 0.040624 
 
 Repairs of track per grossi tion, mile, 0.014311 
 
 Renewal of rails,* per gross ton mile, 0.022190 
 
 Fixed expenses per gross ton mile, 0.084129 
 
 * Exclusive of betterments to track. ' ^'* 
 
 UNITS OF FREIGHT SERVICE. 
 
 Tons. Train miles. Car miles. Gross ton miles. 
 
 General tonnage, 2,849,841 4,292,868 73,849,854 1,378,623,884 
 
 Coal and stone '. 337,837 150,577 722,882 14,274,274 
 
 Switching, 362,842 47,693 161,883 3,827,105 
 
 3,550,520 4,491,138 74,734.619 1,396,725,263 
 
 Applying the above units of cost to the service performed for each class of 
 tonnage, we have as the cost of each — 
 
 COST OF FREIGHT SERVICE DISTRIBUTED. 
 
 General tonnage. Stone and coal. Switching. Total. 
 
 Terminal expenses, $ 5i9,47i $61,581 $66,139 $ 647,191 
 
 Train expenses, 1,038,492 36,427 ii,538 1,086,457 
 
 Car expenses, 535,843 5,245 i,i75 542,263 
 
 Gross tonnage and fixed expenses, 2,223,083 23,018 6,171 2,252,272 
 
 $4,316,889 $126,271 $85,023 $4,528,183 
 
28 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 General tonnage. Stone & coal. Switching. 
 
 Gents. Cents. Cents. 
 
 Per ton, iSi-48 37-38 23.43 
 
 Per train mile, 100.56 83.86 178.27 
 
 Per car mile, S-84SS 17-4677 52.5212 
 
 Per gross ton mile, 0.31311 0.884605 2.221601 
 
 Per ton mile freight, 1.14467 4-S7i67 11.25917 
 
 Average haul, in miles, 132.33 8.18 2.08 
 
 No' better illustration could be made of the effect oi improved conditionis oa 
 Souithem Railways than by a comparison of the above cost of transporting freight 
 with recent re'sults. 
 
 A new era in railroad transportation in the South began very nearly at the 
 expiration oif the ten years during which the above statistics were obtained, for 
 prior to that time steel rails were costly, and only roads with great density of traffic 
 could afford to use the heavier sections, which have made it practicable to double 
 the weight of locomotives, and greatly increase the weight and capacity of freight 
 cars. Since that time the railways have not only kept pace with the industrial 
 enterprises in the South, but, by improving the transportation service in advance 
 of actual requirements, made practicable the industrial development of which they 
 are now reaping the benefits. 
 
 We have no statistics for any subsequent period with which to make a com- 
 parison in detail, but with such as we have, it will not be difficult to show that, with 
 steel rails, ballasted track, heavy locomotives, cars of larger capacity, and more, 
 perhaps than all else, a large increase in the density of freight traffic, great reduc- 
 tion in the cost of conducting transportation would necessarily follow. 
 
 SUBDIVISION OF PASSENGER TRAIN EXPENSES. 
 The train, car and gross tonnage expenses of passenger trains include the cost 
 of hauling Express and Mail, as well as passengers, and they may be subdivided 
 on the following basis. 
 
 First. Train expenses, being common to the three classes of service on passenger 
 trains, may be distributed in proportion to the relative gross ton mileage of 
 the cars and their loads. 
 
 Second. Car Expenses may be distributed in proportion to the relative car mileage, 
 taking into consideration the fact that three cents per mile was paid for the 
 use of Pullman Sleepers, and included in the cost of "Maintenance of Cars." 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 29 
 
 Third. Gross Tonnage Expenses are necessarily in proportion to the gross ton 
 mileage of the three classes of service, and must be distributed on that basis. 
 
 The relative proportion of car mileage in the three classes of service, exclu- 
 sive of Sleepers, was as follows : 
 
 Car mileage. Per cent. 
 
 For pass-engers, 7,748,247 .... 71.67 
 
 For express, 1,630,857 15.09 
 
 For mail, 1,430,596 13.24 
 
 10,809,700 .... 100.00 
 
 The relative proportion of gross ton mlileage of the three classes of service 
 was as follows : 
 
 Ton miles. Per cent. 
 
 For passenger, 212,801,483 77.29 
 
 For express, 32,634,932 11.86 
 
 For mail, 29,880,699 10.85 
 
 Total, 275,317,114 100.00 
 
 The "Fixed Expenses" are also chargeable on the basis of the gross ton 
 mileage, but the Station and Terminal expenses pertain to the paJssenger traffic 
 alone, and, merging such expenBes as are distributable on the same basis, we have — 
 
 Fixed expenses, $36s,79i 
 
 Train expenses, 435.66i 
 
 Gross tonnage expenses, SS4.3I2 
 
 $1,355,764 
 
 Passenger, 77-29% ■ • • ■ $1,047,870 
 
 Express, 11.86% .... 160,794 
 
 Mail, 10.85% • • • . i47>ioo 
 
 From the car expenses we must first dedtict the three cents per mile for sleep- 
 ing cars, and distriibute the remainder as follows : 
 
 Total car expenses, $312,800 
 
 Less 2,161,167 X 3, 64,835 
 
 $247,965 
 
30 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 Passenger, " 71-67 I77-7I7 
 
 Express, IS-OP 37-4i8 
 
 Mail, 13-24 32-830 
 
 Consolidating the foregoing, we have — 
 
 Passenger: 
 
 Fixed train and gross tonnage expenses, $1,047,870 
 
 Station and terminal expenses, 304,248 
 
 Car expenses, passenger and baggage, I77i7i7 
 
 Sleepers, 64,835 
 
 242,552 
 
 $1,594,670 
 
 Express : 
 
 Fixed train and gross tonnage expenses, . . . , $160,794 
 
 Car expenses, 37,4i8 
 
 Mail: 
 
 Fixed train and gross tonnage expenses, $147,100 
 
 Car expenses, 32,830 
 
 198,212 
 
 179,930 
 
 Total expenses passenger trains, $1,972,812 
 
 Passengers, cost per train mile, SI-S33 cents 
 
 Express, cost per train mile, 6.405 " 
 
 Mail, cost per train mile, S-8i5 " 
 
 Total per passenger train mile, 63.753 " 
 
 Passenger cost per car mile, 16.092 cents 
 
 Express' cost per car mile, ; 12.154 " 
 
 Mail cost per car mile, 12.577 " 
 
 Average cost per car mile, 15.210 " 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Consumption of Fuel by Locomotives. 
 
 THE consumption of coal by locomotives on the same road for a period of 
 one year was as follows : 
 
 Passenger. Freight. Switching. Service. 
 
 Tons of coal 7,303 25,134 2,508 1,287 
 
 Traill miles, 311,294 664,718 171,165 46,685 
 
 Car miles, 1,393,694 12,510,571 764,450 374,202 
 
 Gross weight of train, 162.13 361.76 112.69 167.31 
 
 Pounds coal per train mile, 46.920 75.623 29.305 55-135 
 
 Pounds coal per car mile, 10.481 4.018 6.562 6.878 
 
 Pounds coal per gross ton mile, 0.28942 0.20904 0.26005 0.32954 
 
 The average speed of passenger and freight trains was, as nearly as could be 
 ascertained at the time, as follows : 
 
 Passenger trains, 26 miles per hour. 
 Freight trains, 16 miles per hour. 
 
 In order to ascertain the useful effect obtained from the above consumption 
 of coal, we must take into consideration the characteristics of the road as follows : 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF ROAD. 
 
 Length of level track in miles, 38.576 
 
 Length of grades ascending west, 88.386 
 
 Length of grades descending west, 62.038 
 
 Total length of road, 189.000 
 
 Length of straight line, 125.0 
 
 Length of curves, ; 64.0 
 
 189.0 
 
 Total curvature in degrees, 7,905.00 
 
 Average curvature in degrees, 2.34 
 
 Degrees per mile of curved line, 123.52 
 
 Average degrees of curvature per mile of road, 41.82 
 
32 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 Ascending Grades Going West : Miles. Ascent. Per mile. 
 
 20 feet per mile and less, 21.161 184.4 8.71 
 
 20.82 feet to 26.93 feet per mile, 4236 102.1 24.10 
 
 27.26 feet per mile and over 62.989 3081.5 48.92 
 
 Total, 88.386 3368.0 38.10 
 
 Average ascent per mile for 189 miles going west, 17.82 feet. 
 
 Ascending Grades Going East: 
 
 20 feet per mile and less, 12.105 152.0 12.55 
 
 20.82 feet to 26.93 feet per mile, 2.897 75-5 26.06 
 
 27.26 feet per mile and over, 47.036 2333.5 49-61 
 
 Total, 62.038 2561.0 41.28 
 
 Average ascent per mile for 189 miles going east, 13.55 feet. 
 
 Tractive Power of Locomotives. 
 
 The tractive power of a locomotive is limited 'by the w^eight on its driving 
 wheels, and the ratio of their adhesion to the rails, while the tractive force of a 
 locomotive depends upon the diameter of the cylinders, length of stroke, diameter 
 of driving wheels, and steam pressure on the boiler. 
 
 If a locomotive engine were raised above the rails instead of its wheels resting 
 on them, the power required to revolve its driving wheels would be such as is 
 necessary to overcome its internal resistance while working as a stationary engine 
 without any load, and this resistance must be overcome before any power is avail- 
 able at the periphery of the driving wheels. There is also a loss of effective steam 
 pressure between the boiler and the cylinders ; and to make proper allowance for 
 both internal resistance and loss of steam pressure it is usual, in calculating tractive 
 force, to assume that only 85 per cent, of the pressure of steam in the boiler will 
 be available in the cylinders. This is generally provided for by the builders of 
 locomotives, so that the tractive force will overcome the greatest resistance which 
 the weig'ht on the drivers and their adhesion to the rails under favorable conditions 
 will oppose to it. This done, the weight on the driving wheels, and the ratio of 
 their adhesion to the rails, practically determines the tractive power of the loco- 
 motive, so long as the proper pressure of steam is maintained. The steam pressure 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 33 
 
 should, so far as practicable, be regulated so as to furnish no more tractive force 
 than can be made available at the time, as tractive power ; for any excess means a 
 waste of fuel. 
 
 The tractive power exerted by a locomotive is partly expended in moving 
 itself, for the effective work done includes the movement of the locomotive and 
 tender as well as the train hauled, and if we know the gross ton miles moved, the 
 average resistance per gross ton mile, and the consumption of coal, we can de- 
 termine the tractive power exerted by the locomotive per unit of coal consumed. 
 
 Train Resistances. 
 
 The resistance due to friction is directly in proportion to the distance, and 
 has been ascertained to be 6 pounds per ton, or 31,680 foot pounds per gross ton 
 mile. 
 
 The resistance due to speed increases as the square of the speed divided by 
 172, and is 7,858 foot pounds per gross ton mile at 16 miles per hour, and 20,751 
 foot pounds per gross ton mile at 26 miles per hour. 
 
 The resistance per gross ton mile due to curvature is in proportion to the 
 number of degrees of curvature per mile, at one-half a pound for each degree of 
 deflection per 100 feet, and in this case averages 2,091 foot pounds per gross ton 
 mile for the whole length of the road, and per mile of curved line 6,176 foot 
 pounds. 
 
 Relative Consumption of Fuel. 
 
 The consumption of fuel should be less on descending grades than on a level ; 
 but there can be no absolute cessation of its consumption, for the fires must be 
 maintained, and when the boiler pressure has been reduced in overcoming ascents 
 it must be restored before the next ascent is reached. Thus it becomes necessary 
 to keep up the fires on descending grades, unless the descent is continuous for so 
 long a distance as to admit of "banking" them for a part of it, which was not the 
 case on the road in question. 
 
 With passenger trains about 29 per cent., and with freight trains about 31 
 per cent, of the round trips lequired no steam power to move the train, but coal 
 was being consumed to accumulate steam while none was being used, and the 
 question is how much fuel was so consumed. This 'would depend largely upon 
 
34 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 what proportion of the steam necessary to provide power requisite to overcome 
 ascents could be generated during the time ascents were being overcome, and w'hat 
 proportion must be accumulated during the intervals between ascents, to overcome 
 which called for more steam than the boiler would furnish during 'the time the 
 heavy work was being done in overcoming ascents. 
 
 In the case under consideration the locomotives used were, it would seem, 
 worked nearly to the full steam-making power of their boilers for their schedule 
 time, and the consumption of fuel was very nearly at the maximum for the area 
 of their grate surface all the time they were running. In other words, it required 
 all the steam they could generate moving down grade to help them over the next 
 ascent. This conclusion is sustained by the fact that the average consumption of 
 coal per hour was nearly the same by passenger trains of 162 tons at 26 miles per 
 hour, and freigtit trains of 362 tons at 16 miles per hour. 
 
 There seems to be little doubt, if any, that the consumption of coal is less in 
 proportion to the work done, when the locomotive has boiler capacity and steaming 
 qualities that enable it to overcome the heaviest resistance without materially re- 
 ducing the steam pressure in the boiler ; or, in other words, when it is not forced 
 beyond the legitimate capacity of the boiler. 
 
 Resistance per Gross Ton Mile. 
 The resistances opposed to the movement of trains, at 26 and 16 miles per 
 hour, over the 189 miles in both directions, and the power used to overcome them, 
 were as follows, per gross ton mile : 
 
 Going West at 26 miles per hour : j,„„^ p„^„j3. 
 
 189 miles (friction and speed), at 52,431 foot pounds, 9,909,459 
 
 64 miles (curvature), at 6,176 foot pounds, 395,264 
 
 Sum of ascents, 3,368 feet, at 2,000 pounds, 6,736,000 
 
 Total resistance per gross ton mile, 17,040,723 
 
 Less gravity utilized on 15.002 miles, 227.5 feet, at 2,000 pounds, 455,000 
 
 Less gravity utilized on 47.036 miles, at 52,431 foot pounds, 2,466,145 
 
 2,921,14s 
 
 Power supplied by locomotive, 14,1 19,578 
 
 Gravity power neutralized by brakes, ,,..,,,, 2,200,855 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 35 
 
 Going East at 26 miles per hour : p^ot pounds. 
 
 189 miles (friction and speed), at 52,431 foot pounds, 9,909,459 
 
 64 miles (curvature), at 6,176 foot pounds, 395,264 
 
 Sum of ascents, 2,561 feet, at 2,000 pounds, 5,122,000 
 
 Total resistance per gross ton mile, 15,426,723 
 
 Less gravity utilized on 25.397 miles, 286.5 feet, at 2,000 pounds, . . . 573,000 
 Less gravity utilized on 62.989 miles, at 52,431 foot pounds, 3,302,576 
 
 3,875,576 
 
 Power supplied by locomotive, 11,551,147 
 
 Gravity power neutralized by brakes, 2,860,424 
 
 Going West at 16 miles per hour : 
 
 189 miles (friction and speed), at 39,538 foot pounds, 7,472,682 
 
 64 miles (curvature), at 6,176 foot pounds, 395,264 
 
 Sum of ascents, 3,368 feet, at 2,000 pounds, 6,736,000 
 
 Total resistance per gross ton mile, 14,603,946 
 
 Less, gravity utilized on 12.105 miles, 152.0 feet, at 2,000 pounds, ... 304,000 
 Less gravity utilized on 49.933 miles, at 39,538 foot pounds, 1,974,251 
 
 2,278,251 
 
 Power supplied by locomotive, 12,325,695 
 
 Gravity power neutralized by brakes, 2,843,749 
 
 Going East at 16 miles per hour : 
 
 189 miles (friction and speed), at 39,538 foot pounds, 7,472,682 
 
 64 miles (curvature), at 6,176 foot pounds, 395,264 
 
 Sum of ascents, 2,561 feet, at 2,000 pounds, 5,122,000 
 
 Total resistance per gross ton mile, 12,989,946 
 
 Less gravity utilized on 21. 161 miles, 184.4 feet, at 2,000 pounds, ... 368,800 
 Less gravity utilized on 67.225 miles, at 39,538 foot pounds, 2,657,942 
 
 3,026,742 
 
 Power supplied by locomotive, 9,963,204 
 
 Gravity neutralized by brakes, 3,709,258 
 
36 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 Passenger Trains : Footpounds. 
 
 Power supplied by locomotives going west, 14,119,578 
 
 Power supplied by locomotives going east, 11,551,147 
 
 25,670,725 
 
 Gravity utilized going west, 2,921,145 
 
 Gravity utilized going east, 3,875,576 
 
 6,796,721 
 
 Total resistance both ways per gross ton mile, 32,467,446 
 
 Excess of available gravity going west, 2,200,855 
 
 Excess of available gravity going east, 2,860,424 
 
 5,061,279 
 
 Ratio of gravity utilized to steam power going west, 20.69 PC cent. 
 
 " " " going east, 33.55 " " 
 
 both ways, 26.48 " " 
 
 " " wasted " going west, 15.58 " " 
 
 " " " " going east, 24.76 " " 
 
 both ways 19.72 " 
 
 Freight Trains: Footpounds. 
 
 Power supplied by locomotives going west 12,325,695 
 
 Power supplied by locomotives going east, 9,963,204 
 
 22,288,899 
 
 Gravity utilized going west, 2,278,251 
 
 Gravity utilized going east, 3,026,742 
 
 5,304.993 
 
 Total resistance both ways per gross ton mile, 27,593,892 
 
 Excess of available gravity going west, 2,843,749 
 
 Excess of available gravity going east, 3,709,258 
 
 6,553,007 
 
 Ratio of gravity utilized to steam power going west, 18.48 per cent. 
 
 " " going east, 30.38 " " 
 
 both ways, 23.80 " 
 
 " " wasted " going west, 23.07 " " 
 
 " " " " going east, 37.23 " 
 
 " both ways, 29.40 " " 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 37 
 
 The ratio of additions to locomotive power from tlie utilization of gravity to 
 propel both passenger and freight trains on descending grades, and of the excess 
 of gravity pov^^er wasted, were as follows : 
 
 Utilized. Wasted. 
 
 Going west, 19.66 per cent. 19.08 per cent. 
 
 Going east, 32.08 " " 30.53 " 
 
 Both ways, 25.23 " " 24.22 " " 
 
 This shows that, as the result of every one hundred foot pounds of energy 
 exerted 'by locomotives, 49.45 foot fX)unds of kinetic force were stored, and the 
 ina.rimuni of useful effect would have been obtained if all of it could have 
 been made available to move trains on descending grades. Owing, however, to 
 the characteristics of the road, only 25.23 foot pounds of this kinetic force was 
 utilized as an addition to each 100 foot pounds of energy furnished by the loco- 
 motive, and the ratio of useful effect was as 149.45 to 125.23 or 83.79 P^f cent., the 
 maximum of useful effect not being attainable with grades of over 25 to 30 feet 
 per mile. 
 
 Resistance per Train Mile. 
 
 Passenger trains averaged 162.13 tons, and were about the same each way; 
 but freight trains were heavier going west, on account of a preponderance of 
 traffic in that direction. Their average weight was 361.76 tons, of which 269.23 
 was dead load, and their relative weight in each direction was as follows : 
 
 Going West. Going East. 
 
 Dead load, 269.23 tons. 269.23 tons. 
 
 Paying load, 121.40 " 63.66 " 
 
 Total, 390.63 " 332.89 " 
 
 If we multiply the weight of each class of trains in tons by the above ascer- 
 tained resistance per gross ton mile in each direction, we will have the work done 
 in foot pounds per train mile by each as follows : 
 
 Passenger trains west, 162.13 X 14,119,578 = 2,289,207,181 
 
 Passenger trains east, 162.13 X ii,55i,i47 = 1,872,787,463 
 
 Total foot pounds, 4,161,994,644 
 
 Average per train mile for a round trip of 378 miles, 11,010,568 foot pounds. 
 
38 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 Freight trains west, 390.63 X 12,325,695 = 4,814,786,238 
 
 Freight trains east, 332.89 X 9,963,204 = 3,316,650,980 
 
 Total foot pounds, 8,131,437,218 
 
 Average per train mile for a round trip of 378 miles, 21,511,739 foot pounds. 
 
 Available Power from One Pound of Coal. 
 
 The average power required per train mile, and the consumption of coal per 
 train mile having been ascertained as above for both passenger and freight trains, 
 the power from one pound of coal made available in moving trains was as follows : 
 
 On passenger trains, 11,010,568 -i- 46.920 = 234,667 foot pounds. 
 
 On freight trains, 21,511,739-^75.623^284,460 foot pounds. 
 
 Coal per Horse Power Hour. 
 
 The coal consumed per hour, the horse power hours of energy produced and 
 pounds of coal per horse power hour were as follows : 
 
 Coal per hour. H. P. hours of energy. Coal per H. P. hour. 
 
 On passenger locomotives, 1,220 pounds. 144.S9 .... 8.438 pounds. 
 
 On freight locomotives, 1,210 " 173.83 .... 6.961 " 
 
 It is usual I believe to compare the consumption of coal by locomotives on the 
 basis of the total train resistances, assuming that they are all overcome by steam 
 power without any assistance from gravity, and on this basis we would have — 
 
 Passenger. Freight. 
 
 Resistance per gross ton mile, in foot pounds, 32,467,446 27,593,892 
 
 Average per train mile, in foot pounds, 13,925,786 26,531,647 
 
 Foot pounds per pound of coal, 296,780 350,841 
 
 Horse power hours of energy, 182.86 214.40 
 
 Pounds of coal per horse power hour, 6.67 5.64 
 
 The total resistance per gross ton mile overcome by passenger trains was 17.66 
 per cent, more than on freight trains, but the coal consumed per gross ton mile 
 was 38.45 more at the higher speed. This was apparently due to a waste of steam 
 resulting from the fires being forced; and if we take into account the gravity 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 39 
 
 utilized, the power supplied by the passenger locomotives was only 15.17 per cent, 
 more per gross ton mile, with 38.45 per cent, more coal consumed per gross ton 
 mile. 
 
 Recent Trial Runs. 
 
 The following are the results of some recent trial runs with heavy modern 
 locomotives, showing the consumption of coal in proportion to the total train 
 resistance (exclusive of curvature), no account being taken of gravity utilized on 
 descending grades. It is evident from the profiles that gravity was utilized to a 
 considerable extent, but details, necessary to ascertain the extent to which gravity 
 assisted in the movement of the trains are lacking. 
 
 On a run of 172 miles, with an average ascent of 5.32 feet per mile,, a pas- 
 senger train of 550 tons, at a speed of 40.5 miles per hour, consumed 109.4 pounds 
 of coal per train mile, or 4,430.7 pounds per hour. The average resistance was 
 92,670 foot pounds per gross ton mile, and 50,968,500 foot pounds per train mile. 
 From this it would appear that one pound of coal produced power enough to over- 
 come 465,891 foot pounds of resistance, and that 4,430.7 pounds of coal produced 
 the equivalent of 1,042.54 horse power hours of work, which is at the rate of 4.25 
 pounds of coal per horse power hour. Coal consumed, per gross ton mile, was 
 0.1989 pounds. 
 
 A freight train of 2,000 tons, running over the same track at a speed of 20 
 miles per hour, consumed 237 pounds of coal per train mile, or 4,740 pounds per 
 hour. The average resistance was 54,599 foot pounds per gross ton mile, and 
 109,198,000 foot pounds per train mile, from which it would appear that one 
 pound of coal produced power enough to overcome 460,751 foot pounds of resist- 
 ance, and that 4,740 pounds of coal produced the equivalent of 1,103.02 horse 
 power hours of work, which is at the rate of 4.297 pounds of coal per horse power 
 hour. Coal consumed, per gross ton mile, was 0.1185 pounds. 
 
 On another part of the same railway system, with an average ascent of 13.06 
 feet per mile, a passenger train of 325 tons, at a speed of 31 miles per hour, con- 
 sumed 60 pounds of coal per train mile, or 1,860 pounds per hour. The average 
 resistance was 87,300 foot pounds per gross ton mile, and 28,372,500 foot pounds 
 per train mile, from which it would appear that one pound of coal produced power 
 enough to overcome 472,875 foot pounds of resistance, and that 1,860 pounds of 
 
46 TRANSPORTATION 6Y RAIL. 
 
 coal produced the equivalent of 444.22 horse power hours of work, whidh is at the 
 rate of 4.187 pounds of coal per horse power hour. Coal consumed per gross ton 
 mile was 0.1846 pounds. 
 
 A freight train of 2,000 tons, over the last mentioned road, at a speed of 20 
 miles per hour, consumed 304.6 pounds of coal per train mile, or 6,092 pounds per 
 hour. The average resistance was 70,079 foot pounds per gross ton mile, and 
 140,158,000 foot pounds per train mile, from which it would appear that one pound 
 of coal produced power enough to overcome 460,138 foot pounds of resistance, 
 and that 6,092 pounds of coal produced the equivalent of 1415.74 horse power 
 hours of work, Which is at the rate of 4.303 pounds of coal per horse power hour. 
 Coal consumed per gross ton mile was 0.1523 pounds. 
 
 Recapitulating the foregoing results we have — 
 
 Goal consumed. 
 Av'ge Ascent Per horse- Per gross 
 
 Class of trains. Speed per hour. per mile. power hour. ton mile. 
 
 Miles. Feet. Pounds. Pounds. 
 
 Passenger, 40.5 5.32 4.250 0.1989 
 
 Freight 20.0 5.32 4.297 0.1185 
 
 Passenger, 31.0 .... 13.06 .... 4.187 .... 0.1846 
 
 Freight, 20.0 13.06 4.303 .... 0.1523 
 
 Comparing the consumption of coal per gross ton mile on the two freight 
 runs at the same speed, but different rates of ascent per mile, we have 0.0338 
 pounds of additional coal consumed to overcome 7.74 feet more ascent per mile 
 with one ton of weight, which is at the rate of 458,000 foot pounds per pound of 
 coal, about the same that we have ascertained for the two freight trains above, and 
 the greater ascent overcome accounts for the increased consumption of coal per 
 gross ton mile. 
 
 If we assume that the same amount of coal per ton was consumed by the pas- 
 senger trains to overcome the additional ascent of 7.74 feet per mile, the relative 
 consumption at the two speeds of 40.5 and 31 miles per hour, with the same rate 
 of ascent per mile, would have been 0.1989 and 0.1508 pounds per gross ton mile, 
 an increase of 31.89 per cent, in coal per gross ton mile to attain 30.65 per cent, 
 more speed. 
 
 The relative resistances per gross ton mile, at 31 and 40.5 miles per hour, for 
 the ascent of 5.32 feet per mile, are as follows : 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 41 
 
 At 31 miles. At 40.5 miles. 
 
 Friction, 31,680 foot pounds. 31,680 foot pounds. 
 
 Speed, 29,500 " " 50,350 " 
 
 Gravity, 10,640 " " 10,640 " " 
 
 Total, 71,820 " " 92,670 " 
 
 Ratio, 100.00 129.03 
 
 We are unable to ascertain to what extent gravity assisted in the movement of 
 trains, or to w'hat extent resistance may have been increased by more curvature, 
 but more of the force of gravity was undoubtedly available at the higher rate of 
 speed, for some descending grades exceeded 30 feet per mile, and we may safely 
 assume that the additional resistance, at the higher speed, could not have been 
 more than 29 per cent., to overcome which it required 31.83 per cent, more coal. 
 This indicates some waste of steam power at higher speeds. 
 
 Available Power Derived from One Pound of Coal. 
 We have ascertained that the average power derived from one pound of coal 
 in operating passenger trains on a road of undulating grades was 234,652 foot 
 pounds, and that an average of 284,460 foot pounds of power have been developed 
 from one pound of coal in the regular operation of freight trains. In estimating 
 the cost of power required to operate a projected line of railway, it would not be 
 safe to assume, even with improved locomotives, that an average of more than 
 400,000 foot pounds of available power can be obtained from one pound of coal 
 in the regular operation of the road, and probably not over 350,000. 
 
 Relative Cost of Fuel for Locomotives at Different Periods. 
 As has already been stated, a change was made in the character of fuel for 
 locomotives during the ten years of operation of the road in question, and it may 
 be interesting to note the relative cost of fuel, per gross ton mile, for each of the 
 ten years. During the first seven years wood was used almost exclusively, the first 
 coal burning engine 'having been put on the road during the third year, and for 
 several years following the price of wood was so low, and the price of coal so high, 
 that there was no inducement to substitute coal for wood, until the eighth year, 
 when the advanced price of wood, and a reduction in the price of coal, made it 
 
42 
 
 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 advisable to change all locomotives to coal burners. This was accomplished in two 
 years, so that during the tenth year no wood was used on either passenger or 
 freight trains, except for kindling fires. 
 
 STATEMENT SHOWING COST OF FUEL PER GROSS TON MILE. 
 
 Years. Gross tonnage. 
 
 First, 37,991,916 
 
 Second, 29,831,986 
 
 Third, 30,493,36o 
 
 Fourth, 36,209,338 
 
 Fifth, 40,578,216 
 
 Sixth, 47,553,995 
 
 Seventh, 59,398,954- 
 
 Eighth, 52,244,304 
 
 Ninth, 50,026,420 
 
 Tenth, 50,469,606 
 
 Total, . .434,798,095 
 
 Passenger Trains. 
 
 
 
 Freight Trains. 
 
 
 Cost of fuel. 
 
 Per gross 
 ton mile. 
 
 Gross tonnage. 
 
 Cost of fuel. 
 
 Per gross 
 ton mile. 
 
 $20,655.21 
 
 0.05437 
 
 57,759,476 
 
 $32,305.59 
 
 0.05593 
 
 16,634.98 
 
 0.05576 
 
 62,647,611 
 
 37,439-43 
 
 0.05976 
 
 12,469.47 
 
 0.04089 
 
 74,285,426 
 
 35,714.88 
 
 0.04808 
 
 13,098.62 
 
 0.03618 
 
 81,575,86s 
 
 33,552.24 
 
 0.041 13 
 
 12,979-95 
 
 0.03199 
 
 125,223,028 
 
 33,966.19 
 
 0.02712 
 
 14,109.27 
 
 0.02966 
 
 151,144,796 
 
 37,939-77 
 
 0.02510 
 
 22,742.21 
 
 0.03829 
 
 164,823,07s 
 
 46,361.39 
 
 0.02812 
 
 24,310.34 
 
 0.04653 
 
 209,295,238 
 
 69,070.29 
 
 0.03300 
 
 28,260.61 
 
 0.05649 
 
 229,500,991 
 
 91,473-30 
 
 0.03986 
 
 22,776.69 
 
 0.04513 
 
 240,469,757 
 
 88,383.92 
 
 0.03676 
 
 $188,037.35 
 
 0.0432s 
 
 1,396,725,263 
 
 $506,207.00 
 
 0.03624 
 
 Cost of Water for Locomotives. 
 The water supply for locomotives was obtained almost entirely by pumping 
 from streams and wells, and its cost per gross ton mile averaged 12.6 per cent, of 
 the cost of fuel for revenue trains as follows : 
 
 Passenger Trains. 
 
 Per gross 
 Cost. ton mile. 
 
 Fuel, $188,037 0.04325 
 
 Water, 26,942 0.00619 
 
 Total, $214,979 
 
 0.04944 
 
 Freight 
 
 Trains. 
 
 
 
 Per gross 
 
 Total 
 
 Cost. 
 
 ton mile. 
 
 Cost. 
 
 $506,207 
 
 0.03624 
 
 $694,244 
 
 61,193 
 
 0.00438 
 
 88,135 
 
 $567,400 
 
 0.04062 
 
 $782,379 
 
 Ratio of water to fuel — passenger, 14-33 per cent. 
 
 freight, 12.09 " 
 
 " " " revenue trains, 12.60 " " 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 Repairs and Renewals of Track. 
 
 THE repairs and renewals of track represent, in the long run, the wear and 
 tear caused by trains moving over it, and damages from derailments, etc. ; 
 but it is impossible to make good the wear and tear as it occurs, and unless we 
 can estimate the effect on the rails of the traffic passing over them, there is no way 
 to ascertain to what extent they have deteriorated in any given period of time, or 
 by any given train service, until they are worn out. 
 
 The only practical basis for estimating the deterioration of rails is by the 
 weigbt which passes over them, or the gross ton mileage of engines, cars and 
 contents of cars; and if we know how many gross ton miles passing over one 
 mile*of track, at an average speed, will wear it out, and what it costs to renew it, 
 then we can determine what proportion of the life of the rails has been destroyed, 
 and what proportion of the cost of renewing them is chargeable to any given 
 volume of gross ton mileage which has passed over them. This is what we ought 
 to know in order that we may charge as expenses an amount which represents as 
 nearly as possible the actual depreciation of track for the period of time covered 
 by the gross ton mileage. 
 
 We have seen in Chapter IV. that the expenditure of $1,018,660 for the main- 
 tenance of track in ten years was abnormal, in that it included the renewal of the 
 old rails, which were in the track at the beginniiig of that period. 
 
 The cost of new rails and joint fastenings for the period stated was $718,931, 
 and for current repairs, including spikes, frogs, switches, labor and tools $299,729, 
 both of which together represent the expenditures in ten years, to make good 
 previous deterioration, as well as the wear and tear due to 1,831,523,358 gross 
 ton miles of revenue trains during that period. 
 
 At the beginning of this period there were 189 miles of iron rails in the track, 
 of various patterns and weights, all of which were renewed within seven years. 
 Renewals for the first two years were made with 58-pound iron rails, none of 
 which remained in the track at the expiration of the ten years. For the next two 
 years about one-half of the renewals were with 60-pound iron rails, and the other 
 
44 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 half with 6o-pound steel rails, after which all renewals were with 6o-pound steel 
 rails. 
 
 The number of miles of each class of rails in service during the period of ten 
 years, and the gross tonnage of revenue trains which passed over them, was as 
 follows : 
 
 Miles in service Average gross tons per mile Total gross tonnage 
 per annum. per annum. in ten years. 
 
 Old iron rails, 189.00 2,445,570 462,212,655 
 
 58-lb. iron rails, 32.81 .... 6,591,612 216,270,790 
 
 60-lb. iron rails, 28.94 8,191,357 237,057,882 
 
 60-lb. steel rails, 160.06 5,722,741 915,982,031 
 
 Total, 410.81 4,458,330 1,831,523,358 
 
 The cost of the 32.81 miles of s8-pound iron rails and joint fastenings was 
 $104,934.98, or $3,198.26 per mile, and when 216,270,790 gross ton miles of rev- 
 enue trains had passed over them, they were taken up as unfit for further use in 
 the main track, and the best rails were used to repair sidings. The cost per gross 
 ton mile of revenue trains for these rails was 0.4852020 mills. 
 
 The cost of 28.94 miles of 60-pound iron rails and joint fastenings was 
 $74,891.39, or at the rate of $2,587.82 per mile, and the gross tonnage of revenue 
 trains which passed over each mile of these rails in eig'ht of the ten years was 
 8,191,357 ton miles, but they were not entirely worn out in that period, and the 
 additional tonnage that they were capable of carrying was about 2,309,034 ton 
 miles per mile of track, or one and a half years longer service with the gross ton- 
 nage as of the tenth year. This makes the life of the 6o-pound iron rails equivalent 
 to 10,500,491 gross ton miles, and their cost per gross ton mile of revenue trains 
 was 0.2464475 mills. 
 
 The cost of the 160.06 miles of 60-pound steel rails was $539,103.96 over 
 which 915,982,031 gross ton miles of revenue trains had passed; but as it would 
 require at least 40,000,000 gross ton miles to wear out one mile of such rails, and 
 only 5,722,741 ton miles per mile of road had passed over them, they had depre- 
 ciated $77,128.89 or about 14.3 per cent, of their value, making the cost per gross 
 ton mile of revenue trains 0.0842035 mills. 
 
 We do not know the original cost of the old iron rails, or the tonnage which 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 45 
 
 had passed over them prior to the ten years, but putting them on a par with the 
 58-pound iron rails, we have for the depreciation in value of rails during the ten 
 years : 
 
 Gross ton miles. Mills, Dollars. 
 
 Old iron rails, 462,212,655 at 0.4852020 $224,266.50 
 
 S8-lb. iron rails, 216,270,690 " 0.4852020 104,934.98 
 
 60-lb. iron rails, 237,057,882 " 0.2464475 58,422.32 
 
 60-lb. steel rails, 915,982,031 " 0.0842035 77,128.89 
 
 Total depreciation for, 1,831,523,358 " 0.25375198 $464,752.69 
 
 Betterments in ten years, 254,177.64 
 
 Total expended on rails and joint fastenings $718,930.33 
 
 The depreciation in value per ton per annum, of course, depends upon the 
 density of the traffic, as well as the cost and endurance of the rails. For the dif- 
 ferent classes of rails on this 189 miles of road it was as follows : 
 
 Depreciation per ton 
 Depreciation per ton. Average years. per annum. 
 
 58-lb. iron rails, $35-09 .... 7.10 .... $4.94 
 
 60-lb. iron rails, 21.41 .... 7.10 .... 3.01 
 
 60-lb. steel rails, 5.11 .... 4.45 .... 1.14 
 
 Note.- — Some railroad accountants estimate the depreciation of steel rails at one dollar per 
 ton per annum, but this is mere guess-work unless the gross tonnage is known, for at the 
 present cost of renewing 60-lb. steel rails (of, say, $16.00 per ton) it would require a gross 
 tonnage of 2,500,000 ton miles per mile of road per annum to make such a depreciation, and 
 the majority of railroads have either more or less than that amount of gross tonnage. 
 
 ,This, however, was not all that it cost to keep up the track during the ten 
 years, for there was an expenditure of $105,051.12 for frogs and switches, spikes 
 and track tools, and $194,678.26 for labor, making a total of $299,729.38 for 
 repairs of track, which was at the rate of 0.163650 mills per gross ton mile of 
 revenue trains. This cost per gross ton mile was not uniform for the whole period 
 of ten years, being heaviest for the years in which a large part of the old iron rails 
 were being renewed, much lighter for the eighth and ninth years, when all the old 
 rails had been replaced, and lightest for the tenth year, when nearly 80 per cent, 
 of the rails were steel. 
 
46 
 
 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 REPAIRS OF TRACK. 
 
 Gross tonnage. 
 
 First year, 95,751,392 
 
 Second year, 92,479,597 
 
 Third year, 104,778,786 
 
 Fourth year, 117,785,203 
 
 Fifth year, 165,801,244 
 
 Sixth year, 198,698,791 
 
 Seventh year, 224,222,029 
 
 Eighth year, 261,539,542 
 
 Ninth year, 279,527,411 
 
 Tenth year, 290,939,363 
 
 Total, 1,831,523,358 
 
 Cost. 
 $28,787.82 
 25,476.01 
 28,926.99 
 30,477-63 
 34,994,60 
 28,612.84 
 
 44,246.34 
 38,707.27 
 
 23,03373 
 16,496.15 
 
 $299,729.38 
 
 Per gross ton mile — mills. 
 0.300652 
 
 0.275477 
 0.276077 
 0.258756 
 0.2 1 1 064 
 O.I44OOI 
 0.197333 
 0.147998 
 0.082402 
 0.056699 
 
 0.163650 
 
 TOTAL COST OF MAINTENANCE OF TRACK. 
 Per Gross Ton Mile. 
 General average for ten years : Mills. 
 
 Renewals, 0.253752 
 
 Repairs, 0.163650 
 
 With 60-pound steel rails : 
 
 Renewals, 0.084203 
 
 Repairs, 0.056699 
 
 0.417402 
 
 0.140902 
 
 Heavier Rail Sections. 
 
 To what extent the endurance of steel rails is increased by adding to their 
 weight we do not know, but we do know that the very heavy locomotives and cars 
 now in use concentrate more weight on each wheel, which, with the higher speed at 
 which trains are run, must increase the wear of rails per gross ton mile of trains 
 passing over them. It is claimed that 90-pound steel rails have withstood a service 
 of 60,000,000 of gross ton miles per mile of track, which, as compared with 
 40,000,000 for 6o-pound steel rails, would be in proportion to their increased 
 weight. 
 
 Cost in Proportion to Speed. 
 
 In the above analysis of renewal of rails and repairs of track, we have taken 
 into consideration the gross ton mileage of revenue trains only, omitting that 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 47 
 
 resulting from the engine and car mileage of work trains and switching service, 
 but in distributing the cost of maintenance and renewal of track to passenger and 
 freight trains (in Chapter IV.) all of the gross ton mileage was taken into account. 
 It was assumed that the wear and tear of tracks by the different classes of 
 trains is in proportion to their weight and speed, or their relative gross ton mileage, 
 at a speed of one mile per hour. The ascertained gross ton mileage of work 
 trains, at an equivalent speed of one mile per hour was to some extent estimated 
 and divided between passenger and freight service, in proportion to the weight 
 and speed of passenger and freight trains. Account was kept of the mileage of 
 engines switching for passenger and freight service on the usual basis, from which 
 the gross ton mileage of switching engines was ascertained, but the gross tonnage 
 of cars switched was estimated monthly. In order to show how much of the gross 
 tonnage was ascertained by accounts kept of weight and distance, and how much 
 was estimated in part, the figures are given as follows : 
 
 Trains. Gross ton miles. 
 
 Passenger, 434,798,09s 
 
 Freight, 1,396,725,263 
 
 Work, 84,055,621 
 
 Switching Passenger, 12,566,408 
 
 Switching Freight, 103,437,216 
 
 
 Equivalent gross ton miles 
 
 Speed. 
 
 at one mile per hour. 
 
 25.52 
 
 11,531,729,173 
 
 16.29 
 
 22,746,956,498 
 
 11.86 
 
 996,615,024 
 
 5-9 
 
 74,141,208 
 
 5.6 
 
 577,706,516 
 
 17.68 
 
 35,927,148,419 
 
 Total, 2,031,582,603 
 
 The gross ton miles at one mile per hour, w'hich resulted from switching pas- 
 senger and freight was charged to each respectively, and the gross ton miles of 
 work trains was divided proportionately between passenger and freight monthly, 
 making the distribution between passenger and freight at equivalent speed as 
 follows : 
 
 Passenger, 11,531,729,173 
 
 Switching, 74,141,208 
 
 Work trains, 362,071,469 
 
 11,967,941,850 
 
 Freight trains, 22,746,956,498 
 
 Switching, 577,706,516 
 
 Work trains, 634,543,555 23,959,206,569 
 
 Total, 35,927,148,419 
 
 33-31% 
 
 66.69% 
 
 100.00% 
 
48 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 While the average speed at which the total gross tonnage was moved was 
 17.68 miles per hour, the equivalent speed for revenue trains to include switching 
 and work trains, and make the total of 35,927,148,419 gross ton miles, at one mile 
 per hour, was 19.616 miles per hour, and the relative speed of passenger and 
 freight gross ton miles was as follows : 
 
 Passenger, 27.526 miles per hour. 
 
 Freight, I7-I54 miles per hour. 
 
 We can differentiate the cost of repairs and renewals of track for dififerent 
 speeds with 60-pound steel rails as follows : 
 
 Miles per hour. Per gross ton mile— mills. 
 
 Speed, 19.616 0.140902 
 
 10 0.071830 
 
 20 0.143660 
 
 30 0.215490 
 
 40 0.287320 
 
 SO 0.359150 
 
 Note. — The cost of renewals is on the basis of $35.70 per ton as the net cost of steel rails 
 and joint-fastenings, after crediting the amount realized from the sale of the old iron rails 
 taken up. 
 
 It has been claimed that the wear of rails increases in a greater ratio than the 
 speed, and it might be assumed that the wear of rails increases in proportion to 
 resistance due to speed, instead of directly as the speed. 
 
 In the absence of exact data it is safer to assume that the wear of rails in- 
 creases directly in proportion to the increase of speed, which is the basis of the 
 above distribution of the cost of maintenance of track between passenger and 
 freight service. 
 
STATEMENT OF RAIL RENEWALS, 
 
 AND OF THE RELATIVE PROPORTION OF GROSS TONNAGE ON EACH CLASS OF RAILS. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Old 
 
 Miles. 
 
 First, 
 
 184 
 
 Second, 168 
 
 Third, 135 
 
 Fourth, 100 
 
 Fifth, .. 
 Sixth, . . 
 Seventh, 
 Eighth, . 
 Ninth, . . 
 Tenth, . 
 
 75 
 50 
 24 
 
 00 
 
 44 
 33 
 93 
 
 S3 
 44 
 71 
 
 Iron Rails. 
 
 58 1b. 
 Miles. 
 
 4-59 
 19-74 
 32.81 
 32.81 
 32.81 
 32.81 
 32.81 
 29.56 
 
 11.49 
 3-58 
 
 60 lb. 
 Miles. 
 
 8 
 
 32 
 
 24 
 
 05 
 
 28 
 
 94 
 
 28 
 
 94 
 
 28 
 
 94 
 
 28 
 
 94 
 
 28 
 
 94 
 
 28 
 
 94 
 
 739-38 233.01 206.01 
 
 steel 
 Rails 
 Miles. 
 
 0.41 
 0.82 
 
 12.54 
 31.21 
 
 51-72 
 76.81 
 102.54 
 130-50 
 148.57 
 156.48 
 
 711.60 
 
 Gross 
 Tonnage 
 per Mile. 
 
 506,621 
 
 489,310 
 
 554,385 
 623,202 
 
 877,255 
 1,051,316 
 1,186,360 
 
 1,383,807 
 1,478,981 
 
 1,539,356 
 
 Gross Tonnage of Revenue Trains. 
 
 Over 
 Old Rails. 
 
 93,218,283 
 
 82,424,276 
 75,030,481 
 62,906,024 
 66,267,863 
 53,038,910 
 29,326,818 
 
 Over 
 58-lb. Rails. 
 
 2,325,394 
 9,654,087 
 18,189,377 
 20,447,262 
 28,782,744 
 34,493,689 
 38,924,470 
 40,919,175 
 17,008,282 
 5,526,310 
 
 Over 
 60-lb. Rails. 
 
 4,606,939 
 14,981,779 
 
 25,378,995 
 30,414,582 
 
 34,321,393 
 
 40,033,538 
 
 42,786,920 
 
 44,533,736 
 
 Over 
 
 60-lb. Steel. 
 
 207,715 
 401,234 
 
 6,951,989 
 19,450,138 
 
 45,371,642 
 80,751,610 
 121,649,348 
 180,586,829 
 219,732,209 
 240,879,317 
 
 Total. 
 
 95,751,392 
 92,479,597 
 104,778,786 
 117,785,203 
 165,801,244 
 198,698,791 
 224,222,029 
 261,539,542 
 279,527,411 
 290,939,363 
 
 462,212,655 216,270,790 237,057,882 915,982,031 1,831,523,358 
 
 NoTE.-The gross tonnage of revenue trains only is included in this statement. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Estimating the Cost of Transportation under Different Circumstances 
 
 and con.ditions. 
 
 THE better a railway manager is informed as to what each class of service 
 should cost, the easier it will be to discern where any possible saving in 
 expenses can be made, and the more conveniently expenses are grouped for com- 
 parison, the more readily he can see and correct errors in the previous conduct of 
 the business. 
 
 It was for the purpose of facilitating comparisons that the grouping of ex- 
 penses, shown in Chapter IV., was the first used, instead of mixing up parts of 
 train, car and gross tonnage expenses with station expenses and others, under one 
 general heading, in utter disregard of the principle that no comparison can be 
 made between dissimilar things except as to their dissimilarity. 
 
 If the operating expenses increased, it was desiraJble to know why, and this 
 could be ascertained only by comparing them with the service performed, to do 
 which there must be a unit of measure for the service, such as the dollar is for the 
 expenses ; but there is no absolute unit of service in the operation of a railway, 
 and therefore no basis for comparing its expenses in the aggregate, for which 
 reason both service and expenses must be subdivided into at least as many classes 
 as there are different kinds of service. It is customary to subdivide the expenses 
 into many more classes than the service can be divided, and then group them under 
 general headings to facilitate comparison ; but unless they are grouped with refer- 
 ence to the classes of service performed it does not facilitate comparison. 
 
 Estimating Cost of Passenger Trains. 
 In view of the oft-recurring demand of the travelling public for additional 
 passenger trains, it is important to know, as nearly as practicable, what it costs 
 per mile to run such trains. This will depend primarily upon the weight of the 
 train, its speed, and the number of cars of which it is composed. Take, for in- 
 stance, a light train of three cars, with a total weight of 160 tons, at 30 miles per 
 hour, and we have as its cost, on the road we have been considering, after its track 
 bad been laid with 60-pound steel rails — 
 
50 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 *Train expenses per train mile, 14.08 cents. 
 
 *Car expenses 3-car miles at 2.412 cents, 7.24 " 
 
 *Fuel and water 160 ton miles at 0.049444, 7-9i 
 
 tMaintenance of track i6o ton miles at 0.021549, 3-4S " 
 
 Total running expenses per train mile, 32.68 
 
 This would provide tiie minimum accommodation for a day run with an 
 average of 20 passengers per train mile, and light mail and express. The estimated 
 cost of the train is exclusive of terminal and fixed expenses. 
 
 For a train of five cars weighing 280 tons at 40 miles per hour, the probable 
 cost would be — 
 
 *Train expenses per train mile, 14.08 cents. 
 
 *Car expenses S-car miles at 2.412 cents, 12.06 " 
 
 *Fuel and water 280 ton miles at 0.049444, 13.84 " 
 
 tMaintenance of track 280 ton miles at 0.028732, 8.04 " 
 
 Total running expenses per train mile, 48.02 
 
 This would provide accommodation, on a day run, for an average of 30 pas- 
 sengers per train mile, with a 50-foot postal car and space for a light express 
 business. The estimated cost of this train is also exclusive of terminals and fixed 
 expenses. 
 
 For an express train of seven cars (vestibuled) including two sleepers, which 
 would weigh 425 tons, at a speed of 40 miles per hour, the probable cost would be — 
 
 *Train expenses per train mile, 14.08 cents. 
 
 *Car expenses 5-car miles at 2.412 cents, 12.06 " 
 
 *Car expenses 2-car miles at 3.667 cents, 7.33 " 
 
 *Fuel and water 425 ton miles, 0.049444, 21.01 " 
 
 tMaintenance of track 425 ton miles at 0.028732, 12.22 " 
 
 Total running expenses per train mile, 66.70 " 
 
 This train would provide full accommodation for an average of at least 40 
 passengers per train mile, with a 60-foot postal car, and a 60-foot car for express. 
 The estimated cost of this train is exclusive of terminal and fixed expenses. 
 * Chapter IV. t Chapter VII. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 51 
 
 To ascertain the terminal expenses per train mile we must know the number 
 of passengers on each train, which we will estimate as follows : 
 
 The first train would probably carry only local passengers, who travel an 
 average distance of 40 miles, and it would require 50 passengers to make an 
 average of 20 per train mile for every 100 miles run by the train. 
 
 The second train would accommodate the same local travel of 20 passengers 
 per train mile, and, in addition thereto, it would require 10 through passengers to 
 make an average of 30 per train mile for every 100 miles run by the train. 
 
 The third train would require 20 through passengers, in addition to 20 local, 
 per train mile, making a total of 70 passengers for every 100 miles run by the 
 train. 
 
 The ordinary terminal expenses on the road we have been considering were 
 12.07 cents per passenger, and on this basis we have, for the three trains — 
 
 Terminal expenses 
 Number of passengers. per train mile. 
 
 First train, SO at 12.07 cents 6.03 cents. 
 
 Second train, 60 " .... 7.24 
 
 Third train, 70 " 8.45 " 
 
 We have seen that, with a density of gross tonnage of 969.060 ton miles per 
 mile of road per annum, the tolls necessary to pay fixed expenses were 0.084129 of 
 one cent per gross ton mile, which, for the above trains, would be — 
 
 First train, 160 tons 13.46 cents per train mile. 
 
 Second train, 280 " 23.56 
 
 Third train, 425 " 35-75 
 
 Adding these terminal and fixed expenses to the running expenses per train 
 mile ascertained above, we have, as the total cost per train mile and per car mile of 
 each train — 
 
 ^ Per train mile. Per car mile. 
 
 Cents. Cents. 
 
 Train of 3 cars, 32.68 + 6.03 + 13.46, 52.17 17-39 
 
 5 cars, 48,02 + 7.24 + 23.56, 78.82 .... 15.76 
 
 7 cars, 66.70 + 8.45 + 35-75, "O-PO .... 15-84 
 
52 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 On the first train of three cars at least two would be for passengers and their 
 ''aggage, on the train of five cars, ^yi cars, and on the train of seven cars, 5 cars. 
 We have, therefore, as the approximate cost of transporting passengers and their 
 baggage— 
 
 Per train mile. Per passenger 
 
 Cents. mile — cents. 
 
 On train of 3 cars, 2 for passengers, 34.78 1.739 
 
 S cars, sYz for passengers, 55.16 .... 1.839 
 
 7 cars, s for passengers, 79.20 .... 1.980 
 
 Estimated Cost of Freight Trains. 
 
 With the above results before them, the management of the road we have been 
 considering could not fail to see that a great saving could be effected by the use 
 of heavier locomotives for freig'ht. In fact, attention had some years before been 
 officially called to the necessity for an entire renewal of rails, so as to admit of the 
 use of heavier locomotives ; and with the improvement in track, the time had come 
 when it was practicable to use "consolidation" engines, weighing from 50 to 60 
 tons, instead of eight-wheel and ten^wheel engines, w'hich weighed from 35 to 40 
 tons. 
 
 Such an increase in the efficiency of locomotives would make it practicable to 
 increase the average load of general tonnage trains from 87.85 to 146 tons, and 
 tjius reduce the train mileage for the same volume of tonnage 40 per cent, by 
 increasing the average number of cars per train from 17.2 to 28.5, and making the 
 average weight of trains 518 tons instead of 321 tons, in which case the compara- 
 tive cost of the two trains, at 20 miles per hour, would be, per train mile — 
 
 321 ton train. 51S ton train. 
 
 *Train expenses, i train mile, 24.19 24.19 
 
 *Car expenses, 17.2 car mile, 0.72559 12.48 28.5 at 0.72559 20.68 
 
 *Fuel and water, 321 ton miles, 0.040624 13.04 518 " 0.040624 21.04 
 
 fMaintenance of track, 321 ton miles, 0.014366 4.61 518 " 0.014366 7.44 
 
 Total running expenses, 54-32 ^ 73.35 
 
 * Chapter IV. t Chapter VII., page 48. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 53 
 
 As it would require five of the lighter trains to move the same number of cars 
 and the same revenue tonnage as three of the heavier trains, the relative cost of 
 movement would be — 
 
 With 321 ton train, 5 X 54.32 = 271.60 cents. 
 
 With 518 ton train, 3 X 73.35 = 220.05 " 
 
 Saving 19.0 per cent., 51.65 " 
 
 Heavier locomotives would thus reduce the cost of movement 19 per cent., but 
 increased capacity of cars, it was seen, would be a still greater economy; for if 
 the average loads of cars were increased, without a proportional increase in their 
 weight, the ratio of paying load to the total weight of trains would be increased. 
 With this end in view careful attention had for some years been paid to the 
 designs for both trucks and car bodies, with the result that, by the time the track 
 was relaid with 60-pound steel rails, a large proportion of the freight cars were of 
 what was then the maximum capacity of 60,000 pounds, and of increased capacity 
 for freight in bulk, and the average car load of freight was doubled, with an addi- 
 tion of about 25 per cent, to the average weight of cars. The new standard cars, 
 with double the former loads, would weigh 23 tons each, and with 20 per cent, run- 
 ning empty, the average weight of cars and loads would be about 21 tons ; and a 
 train of 20 cars, with loads of 8.16 tons, would give a paying load of 163 tons out 
 of a total weight of 500 tons, including weight of engine and tender, the cost of 
 running w'hich, at 20 miles per hour, would be, per train mile — 
 
 *Train expenses per train mile, 24.19 cents. 
 
 *Car expenses, 20 car miles at 0.72559 cents, I4-5I 
 
 *Fuel and water 500 ton miles at 0.040624 cents, 20.31 " 
 
 fMaintenance of track 500 ton miles at 0.014366 cents, 7.18 " 
 
 Total running expenses, 66.19 
 
 As it would require only 20 of such 500 ton trains to move the same tonnage 
 as 37 of the 321 ton trains, the relative cost of movement would be — 
 
 * Chapter IV. t Chapter VII., page 48. 
 
54 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 321 ton train, S4-32 X 37 = 2009.84 cents. 
 
 500 ton train, 66.19 X 20 = 132380 
 
 Saving 34 per cent., 686.04 
 
 Consolidation engines of from 50 to 60 tons are no longer the standard of 
 greatest efficiency in freight locomotives, the most recent development in loco- 
 motive building being a "Decapod" weighing 130 tons, with tractive power of over 
 57,000 pounds. 
 
 The size and capacity of freight cars has also been further increased, and 
 average car loads of 14 tons are not exceptional. The average weight of the 
 modern freight cars is not so easy to ascertain, but it is probably about 15 tons. 
 
 The "Decapod," above alluded to, would haul over the road in question a 
 train of 50 cars, the total weight of which, including engine and tender, would be 
 1,645 tons, the cost of running which, at 20 miles per hour, would be approxi- 
 mately — 
 
 *Train expenses per train mile, 24.19 cents. 
 
 *Car expenses 50 car miles at 0.72559 cents, 36.28 " 
 
 *Fuel and water 1645 ton miles at 0.040624 cents, 66.83 " 
 
 fMaintenance of track 1645 ton miles at 0.014366 cents, 23.63 " 
 
 Total running expenses, 1SO.93 " 
 
 Since the small roads have been aggregated into large systems, it is' a notable 
 fact that the transportation of company's freight has largely increased, and it 
 frequently amounts to as much as 15 per cent, of the total tonnage moved. The 
 effect of this is to increase the non-paying load of freight trains, and with average 
 car loads of 14 tons, about 12 are revenue tonnage. For this reason, and the 
 probability of 20 per cent, of the cars being empty, the paying load of 1,645 ton 
 trains would probably average 525 tons. 
 
 Such a train would carry six times as much tonnage as the actual load of the 
 521 ton train, and the relative cost of movement would be — 
 
 * Cliapter IV. t Chapter VII., page 48. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 55 
 
 321 ton train, 54.32 X 6 = 325.92 cents. 
 
 1645 ton train, 150.93 " 
 
 Saving 53.7 per cent., 174-99 " 
 
 Recapitulating the cost per train mile as estimated above, and deducing there- 
 from the cost per car mile and per ton mile of paying load, we have gradations in 
 the cost of movement by improvements in equipment as follow^s : 
 
 Cost per Cost per Cost per 
 
 train mile. car mile. ton mile. 
 
 Cents. Cents. Cents. 
 
 87.85 tons per train witli 17.2 old cars, 54-32 .... 3.158 .... 0.618 
 
 146.00 tons per train with 28.5 old cars, 73.45 .... 2.577 .... 0.503 
 
 163.00 tons per train with 20 new cars, 66.19 .... 3.310 .... 0.406 
 
 525.00 tons per train with 50 new cars, 150.93 .... 3.019 .... 0.287 
 
 All of the preceding freight estimates are for the cost of movement only, and 
 do not include terminal and fixed expenses, the cost of which depend upon the 
 volume of the traffic and other conditions ; terminal expenses per ton mile depend- 
 ing upon the number of tons handled, and fixed expenses per ton mile on the 
 density of gross ton mileage, and the ratio of revenue tonnage to total gross ton- 
 nage. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 How Increased Traffic Decreases the Cost of Transportation. 
 
 IF we refer back to the expenses of maintenance and operation, as classified and 
 distributed in Chapter IV., we find the relative proportions of the different 
 classes of expenses chargeable to freight were as follows : 
 
 Fixed expenses, $1,175,052 
 
 Terminal and station expenses, 647,191 
 
 Train expenses, 1,086,457 
 
 Car expenses, 542,263 
 
 Gross tonnage expenses, exclusive of betterment to track, . . . 1,077,220 
 
 25.95 pfir cent. 
 14,29 
 
 23-99 
 11.98 
 
 2379 
 
 Total, $4,528,183 100.00 
 
 The fixed expenses being such as are not influenced appreciably by increase 
 in traffic, it stands to reason that 25.95 P^^" cent, of the total expenses chargeable 
 to freight would remain practically the same if the freight traffic were doubled. 
 
 If twice the number of tons of freight were handled, 14.29 per cent, of the 
 expenses would be increased, but not necessarily in the same ratio, for increased 
 volume of freight to some extent decreases the cost per ton of 'handling it. 
 
 If double the revenue tonnage were moved by each train without increasing 
 the car loads, there would be no increase in fixed and train expenses ; but car 
 expenses, and possibly terminal expenses, would be doubled, while gross tonnage 
 expenses would be increased in proportion to the increase in revenue tonnage and 
 increased weight of locomotives. In the case before us it would involve an in- 
 crease in gross ton mileage, and consequently in the gross tonnage expenses, of 
 about 80 per cent., making a possible addition to total freight expenses — 
 
 For terminal and station expenses, 14.29 per cent. 
 
 For car expenses, 11.98 " 
 
 For gross tonnage expenses, 19.03 " 
 
 Total, 45.20 
 
 If the train loads were doubled, by doubling the load of each car, there would 
 be no appreciable increase in fixed train and car expenses, but to do this locomo- 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 57 
 
 tives and cars must be heavier, Which, with the increase in revenue tonnage, would 
 add about 45 per cent, to the gross ton mileage, making a probable addition to 
 total freight expenses — 
 
 For terminal and station expenses, 14-29 per cent. 
 
 For gross tonnage expenses, 10.71 " 
 
 Total, 25.00 " 
 
 It will be seen, therefore, that it was practicable to double the revenue tonnage 
 with an addition of from 25 to 45 per cent, to the cost of the freight service. 
 
 In the case of passenger trains, the fixed expenses, train expenses, and to a 
 great extent the gross tonnage expenses, are little influenced by the paying load. 
 It is primarily the number of passenger trains that determine the cost of the ser- 
 vice, and additional cars can be added at comparatively small cost, but ordinary 
 terminal expenses should increase very nearly in proportion to the number of 
 passengers ticketed. 
 
 When traffic is light, it may not suffice to make full train loads at such fre- 
 quent intervals as it is necessary to run trains to accommodate trade and travel, 
 for a certain number of trains must be run, whether there are full loads for them 
 or not ; and even if there are full loads in one direction they may be comparatively 
 light in the other direction. 
 
 Trains must be run in both directions, even if they are empty one way ; and 
 thus it happens that additional traffic, which requires no additional trains to accom- 
 modate it, can often be carried at very low rates with a reasonable profit ; and this 
 makes additional traffic at minimum rates desirable, provided it can be secured 
 without any reduction in the regular rates for traffic already controlled. 
 
 The facilities afiforded by railways, develop trade and travel in the region 
 traversed by them, and as traffic increases, the train loads are increased with but 
 little addition to the cost of operation. When additional trains become necessary, 
 they increase only a part of the expenses, and thus it happens that increased 
 volume of traffic naturally decreases the cost of transportation. 
 
 The consolidation of railways has been to some extent a factor in the reduc- 
 tion of the cost of operation, for it completes and makes more effective the combi- 
 nation of railways into through lines, which reach out beyond the territorial limits 
 
58 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 of a single road, and secure from a distance additional trafific, which is carried at a 
 minimum cost for the reasons already stated. It was claimed, and no doubt con- 
 fidently expected, that in combining a number of roads into a single system a large 
 saving would be made in the expenses of administration, but this expectation has 
 not been realized, for while consolidation has reduced the number of employees at 
 junction points, and perhaps to some extent elsewhere, it has generally resulted 
 in the multiplication of departments and bureaus, in charge of officials with high 
 pay, and general officers at salaries formerly unheard of, to say nothing of addi- 
 tional clerks and attendants in the enlarged general offices of the system, more 
 expensive office accommodations, and largely increased consumption of stationery 
 and other supplies. 
 
 There is necessarily a limit to the increase in train loads, which varies accord- 
 ing to the characteristics of the road, as originally constructed. This has led to 
 the reconstruction in part of many roads, and maximum grades have been reduced 
 and lines straightened to increase the efficiency of the motive power. Heavier 
 locomotives have been adopted, and the types changed to increase their tractive 
 power, thus still further increasing their efficiency; but locomotives of greater 
 capacity weigh more, and necessitate heavier rails and the strengthening of bridges 
 and other structures. The extent to which these improvements to the roadway 
 and track can be carried as a measure of economy, depends on the outlay of capital 
 which the volume of traffic will justify. If economy in operation has been taken 
 into consideration in the original construction of the road, there is little room for 
 improvement afterwards, and hence the importance of a careful location, and a 
 proper standard of construction, of whidh more will be said in a subsequent 
 chapter. 
 
 After all has been done to secure the greatest efficiency of motive power, and 
 make possible the movement of heavy trains, much depends upon the efforts of the 
 operating department to keep the train and car mileage down to the minimum 
 requirements of the traffic. Constant watchfulness is necessary to do this, and 
 the importance of having accurate statistics of the results of operation at frequent 
 intervals, to enable operating officers to see what they are doing cannot be over- 
 estimated. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 The Proper Utilization of Motive Power. 
 
 IN the early days of railways it was the custom to assign an engineer to each 
 locomotive, and regulate the daily service of the machine by the number of 
 hours which constituted a day's work for a man, with occasional exceptions when 
 tirgent demand for Motive Power made it necessary to tax the endurance of the 
 engineer and his fireman beyond the usual limit. So long as the engineer was 
 available, he alone was permitted to run his engine, and when it went into the 
 shops for repairs, he was generally employed in its renovation, for engineers were, 
 as a rule, competent machinists, and at home either on the "footboard" or in the 
 shop. 
 
 There were undoubtedly some advantages in this arrangement, but there 
 were at least two manifest disadvantages : 
 
 First. The mileage of locomotives being thus limited, the interest on their cost 
 was greater than necessary, in proportion to the service performed by them 
 annually. 
 
 Second. Their life was prolonged beyond the period of their usefulness, to such 
 an extent that they became antiquated long before they were retired from 
 service. 
 
 In 1875 there came on the road above referred to a sudden demand for a large 
 increase in its Motive Power, without adequate means to provide it, except by 
 increasing the mileage of the locomotives already in service far beyond the endur- 
 ance of single crews ; and it became necessary to try the experiment of increasing 
 the length of the engine runs. Engines that had formerly been run 140 miles per 
 day were given a straight run of 280 miles, and doubled back before they had time 
 to cool off; and so far from being dissatisfied with the result, the length of the 
 engine runs was increased subsequently as occasion required. 
 
 It was anticipated that the cost of repairs of locomotives per mile run would 
 be increased by changing crews, and to minimize this, what are now known as 
 ■"Travelling Engineers" (but were then called "Road Foremen of Engines"), were 
 charged with the duty of frequent inspections on the road. The result was an 
 
6o TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 agreeable surprise, for the cost of repairs of locomotives which made long runs 
 and changed crews was less than for such as had their own special crews. The 
 average cost of repairs of 17 locomotives so used running 38,556 miles per annum 
 tor four or five consecutive years, is shown in the following statement, and speaks 
 for itself, when compared with the general average of 3.44 cents per mile for seven 
 previous years. 
 
 Statement Showing the Service and Cost of Repairs of Seventeen Ten- 
 Wheel Freight Engines. 
 
 Service. Cost of Repairs. 
 
 Nos. Months. Miles run. Miles per month. Amount. Per mile — cents 
 
 1 71 197,986 2,788 $6,415-35 3240 
 
 2 71 225,537 3,176 4,930.57 2.186 
 
 3 62 212,419 3,426 3,642.65 1.71S 
 
 4 62 190,960 3,080 4,557-71 2.387 
 
 5 62 188,622 3,042 4,373-35 2-319 
 
 6 61 193,341 3,170 5,399-iS 2.793 
 
 7 61 182,439 2,991 4,834-21 2.647* 
 
 8 61 186,857 3,063 3,868.90 2,070 
 
 9 56 188,086 3,3S8 3,385-67 1-800 
 
 10 56 175,631 3,136 2,660.33 I-S14 
 
 11 55 167,283 3,042 4,190-23 2.505 
 
 12 55 163,352 2,970 4,586.86 2.808 
 
 13 55 184,577 3,356 4,543-54 2.461 
 
 14 54 190,586 3,529 3,198.06 1.678 
 
 15 54 179,973 3,333 3,259-56 1.811 
 
 16 37 143,236 3,871 2,279.20 1.591 
 
 17 37 145,825 3-941 3,175-36 2.177 
 
 Averages, .... 3,213 2.223 
 
 * Includes heavy damage by accident. 
 
 This is believed to have been the first experiment in changing crews, but since 
 that time it has become quite common to increase the mileage of locomotives by 
 several different methods of changing crews. 
 
 First. To have a regular crew for each locomotive, but also to have a number of 
 extra crews, which have no locomotives assigned to them, but take out those 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 6i 
 
 of regular crews during the interval allowed for rest, and in cases of sickness 
 or other disability. 
 
 Second. To have two or three regular crews assigned to one locomotive on certain 
 runs, according to the ability of the locomotive to make double or triple the 
 mileage of a single crew. 
 
 Third. To assign three or more crews to certain runs, and give tihem the number 
 of locomotives necessary to perform the same service, whether it be two or 
 more. 
 
 Fourth. To group together all the crews required for freight service, and all the 
 crews required for passenger service, or all required for both freight and pas- 
 senger service, and let them take the locomotives alternately in regular order. 
 
 By the second method each crew always gets the same locomotive, and by the 
 other three methods they do not. The fourth method, which is now called "pool- 
 ing," is the one by which the above results were obtained, and seems to have been 
 successful wherever it has been inaugurated, with proper precautions against the 
 careless handling of engines, which may occur by reason of the difficulty in fixing 
 responsibility on any one crew. There has been much discussion of the "pooling" 
 system, which would be out of place here, the intention of the writer being to give 
 only his own practice, and the reasons therefor, with due respect for the views of 
 others. 
 
 The same results practically can be obtained by the use of extra crews as by 
 pooling, for by either method the mileage of locomotives can be increased in any 
 desired proportion to meet the fluctuating demands of traffic ; but "pooling" seems 
 more equitable to the men than the use of extra crews, in that it puts all of them 
 on an equality as regards service and pay, while extra crews are allowed to do only 
 such service as the regular crews cannot perform, and are paid accordingly, which 
 often gives them light work and small pay, while the regular crews are getting all 
 the work they can do at full pay. The other two methods equalize the work and 
 pay, but admit of no adjustment of the runs to meet fluctuations in traffic, for cer- 
 tain engines and certain crews must be kepit together on the same runs, in order to 
 eflfect the purpose of always giving each crew the same engine, although the 
 engines are handled by two or more crews in succession. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 Efficient Handling of Cars and Estimating Freight Equipment. 
 
 WE have considered economy in operation as the resuh of increased density 
 ■of traffic, which affords the tonnage for heavier train loads, and greater 
 efficiency in Motive Power which makes it practicable to haul heavier trains, either 
 with or without additional car mileage; but we must not overlook the fact that 
 there is a limit to the earning capacity of a single car, which depends upon its 
 average mileage per annum, as well as the average loads it carries, and conse- 
 quently, the greater the average mileage of freight cars, the greater should be the 
 earnings per car per annum. 
 
 The preponderance of traffic in one direction makes it necessary that cars shall 
 be moved empty as well as loaded, and unless the movement of empties receives 
 the same careful attention as is given to the prompt dispatch of loaded cars, the 
 best results cannot be obtained, for there is no use in having freig'ht to haul if the 
 cars in which to haul it are not supplied when and where they are needed. It is 
 very desirable to increase tlie average freight train load, but if the prompt move- 
 ment of empties is neglected, by giving all the preference to loaded cars, it may 
 result in loss of revenue, and will certainly reduce the average mileage per freight 
 car. There is an old saying, that "Cars earn money only while their wheels are 
 turning," which is applicable to empties as well as loaded cars; for empty car 
 mileage is as necessary to accommodate the traffic as the movement of loaded cars, 
 unless the tonnage is always the same in both directions, which very rarely hap- 
 pens. 
 
 If the Motive Power of a railway is sufficient to haul the tonnage offered, it 
 necessarily follows that it is sufficient to haul the empties back for reloading ; but 
 if the Motive Power is not properly distributed to meet the demands of traffic, the 
 tonnage may be congested for want of power on one part of a large system, while 
 there is a surplus elsewhere. 
 
 Competition for freight is often the cause of failure to move empties from 
 points where they are not needed immediately, to points where loads are waiting 
 for them. It is easier to hold empties when freight is promised in a day or two, 
 than to risk the chance of losing such freight by failure to get more by the time 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 63 
 
 they will be needed, in which case the cars are not placed for loading until wanted ; 
 and in like manner, loaded cars are held in yards before delivery for unloading, 
 thus lying idle without even a claim for demurrage charges. Competition also 
 prevents the collection of demurrage charges which have been assessed for the 
 detention of cars placed either for loading or unloading. 
 
 The great difference in car load and less than car load rates gives a margin 
 for freight brokerage, and induces the aggregation of a number of small con- 
 signments into a car load, which is shipped "to order," with a draft for the value 
 of the consignment attached to the bill of lading, necessitating the holding of the 
 cars until the agent for the consignees collects the money from them, pays the 
 draft, gets the bill of lading and presents it. In such cases there s'hould be, and 
 probably there is, a demurrage charge, but that is scant pay for the loss of mileage, 
 while the cars are being used as a warehouse, to say nothing of the loss in revenue 
 by evasion of the rates on less than car load shipments, by their conversion into 
 car loads. The obvious remedies for such difficulties as I have noted are : 
 
 First. The careful and intelligent direction of the daily movement and distribu- 
 tion of empties to meet the requirements of traffic. 
 
 Second. A sufficiency of Motive Power, and the proper distribution of it to meet 
 the varying demands as they occur. 
 
 Third. The making and enforcement of proper rules to prevent the unnecessary 
 detention of cars, made effective by the invariable collection of demurrage 
 charges, which are at least high enough to stimulate shippers and consignees 
 to expedite the release of cars. 
 
 The proper handling of cars is a matter for daily and hourly attention, the 
 results of which should appear in the records of car movement ; and the more in 
 detail such records are kept, and the more promptly the results can be shown the 
 better. 
 
 We have seen that average car loads were small on the road we have been 
 considering, which was largely due to the preponderance of traffic in one direction, 
 not only the annual excess of tonnage one way, but for shorter periods, sometimes 
 in one direction and sometimes in the other, necessitating a much larger mileage 
 of empties than the annual excess one way would indicate. This disadvantage 
 
64 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 was, however, compensated for, in part at least, by what would now be considered 
 an extraordinary average mileage per car, an exhibit of which will be useful for 
 comparison with the average freight car mileage of the present time, which is so 
 small as to force itself on the attention of railway managers. 
 
 Average Number of Cars in Service foe Ten Years. 
 
 Box and stock cars, 818.3 
 
 Flats and gondolas, 268.9 
 
 Total, 1087.2 
 
 Classified Mileage Including Foreign Cars. 
 
 Box and stock cars, 1 10,667,214 
 
 Flats and gondolas, 12,641,900 
 
 Unclassified Mileage of Cars Owned. 
 
 Reported by foreign roads, 69,358,248 
 
 Home mileage not classified, 155,536 
 
 123,309,114 
 
 69,513,784 
 
 Total car mileage, 192,822,898 
 
 Deduct mileage of foreign cars, 27,834,126 
 
 Total car mileage by cars of 189 miles of road, 164,988,772 
 
 Average mileage per freight car owned per annum at home and on foreign roads, 15,176 
 
 Assuming that the unclassified mileage included the same proportion of each 
 class of cars as that which was classified, we have — 
 
 1087.2 box and stock cars, 148,073,790 miles. 
 
 268.9 flats and gondolas, 16,914,982 " 
 
 164,988,772 " 
 
 Box and stock cars each per annum 18,095 '* 
 
 Flats and gondolas each per annum, 6,328 " 
 
 This mileage was made on revenue trains, and additional mileage was made 
 by flats and gondolas in road service, which is not taken into this account. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 65 
 
 Estimating Freight Equipment. 
 The freight equipment required to meet the demands of traffic depends upon 
 the density of the freight traffic, the average mileage per car per annum, and the 
 average load per car. Thus, with a density of 300,000 ton miles per mile of road 
 per annum, average loads of ten tons per car, and an average of 15,176 miles per 
 car per annum as above, two freight cars per mile of road would suffice, unless the 
 interchange of cars with foreign roads necessitated the ownership of cars in excess 
 
 of home requirements, for — ^-^ = i.qS cars per mile of road. 
 
 10X15.176 
 
 If, however, a larger proportion of flats and gondolas was required than above, 
 more cars would be needed, on account of the smaller average mileage made by 
 such cars, in which case we would divide the density of traffic to be carried by each 
 class of cars, by their annual carrying capacity, which is their average loads multi- 
 plied by their average mileage f>er annum, as, for instance, if one-half of a total 
 tonnage of 300,000 ton miles was to be carried in box cars with nine ton loads, and 
 the other half on flats and gondolas with eleven-ton loads, we would have — 
 
 Box cars per mile of road, ,^ ' = 0.021 
 
 9 X 18,095 
 
 Flats and gondolas per mile of road, . . — ^-^ = 2.155 
 
 II X 0.328 
 
 Total cars per mile of road, 3.076 
 
 In like manner, the number miles of road for which one freight locomotive 
 is required may be estimated by multiplying the average mileage per locomotive 
 per annum by the average train load, and dividing the product by the density of 
 the freight traffic, as, for instance, with an average of 36,000 miles per annum for 
 freight locomotives, average train loads of 150 tons, and density of freight traffic 
 
 as above, — ^ =18, and one freight locomotive for every eighteen miles 
 
 300,000 
 
 of road should suffice. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Relative Adjustment of Rates with Reference to the Cost of Trans- 
 portation. 
 
 TRANSPORTATION by old methods was a commodity the value of which 
 depended upon the natural law of supply and demand, and the conditions 
 as regards transportation by railways differ only in one respect, which is that 
 railway companies enjoy a monopoly in the use of highways, the right to con- 
 struct and operate which, to the exclusion of other common carriers, is derived 
 from the State, which exercises supervision and control over the railway in its 
 relations to the public, and requires that its rates shall be just and reasonable, with- 
 out discrimination as regards individuals or localities, except in so far as such 
 discrimination may result from natural conditions or legitimate competition. 
 
 Reasonable rates include a fair profit on the cost of the service performed, 
 and compensation for risks incurred, which makes it important that we should at 
 least know the relative cost of the service under different circumstances and con- 
 ditions, although we may not be able to determine the cost in any particular case 
 except approximately. 
 
 All rates of transportation are for a specified weight or bulk, and distance; 
 but carriers are practically the insurers of goods transported by them, and are 
 entitled to compensation for the risk, so that the relative value of the goods, as 
 well as their relative bulk, differentiates the rates of the carriers for the same 
 ■vftighi carried the same distance. 
 
 The relations of bulk and value to weight should be taken into consideration 
 in the classification of freight, and the rates can then be made in the same relative 
 proportions for each class as regards weight and distance, but not at a uniform 
 rate per ton per mile for all distances, for the cost of transportation is not in pro- 
 portion to distance only ; and this leads us to consider to what extent weight and 
 distance influence the expenses of maintenance and operation. 
 
 First. Fixed Expenses do not depend upon either the weight of the trains or the 
 distance they are run, but the traffic must pay them, and the most equitable 
 method of apportioning them seems to be in proportion to the relative gross 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 67 
 
 ton mileage resulting from each kind of traffic. This takes into account both 
 weight and distance, and differentiates the cost per ton mile of freight accord- 
 ing to the relative proportion of dead and paying load. 
 
 Second. Terminal and Station Expenses depend upon the weight of the freight, 
 without regard to the distance it is hauled, and are necessarily less per ton 
 mile for longer than for shorter hauls. 
 
 Third. Train Expenses depend upon the distance trains are run, and not on the 
 distance the cars or their contents are hauled. The longer, therefore, the 
 average haul of freight, in proportion to the distance run by the trains wliich 
 carry it, the less the train expenses are per ton mile of freig'ht. 
 
 Fourth. Car Expenses depend upon distance only (except in so far as the cost 
 of repairs may be sHghtly influenced by the weight of their contents), and 
 the heavier the loads they carry the less such expenses are per ton mile of 
 freig'ht. 
 
 Fifth. Gross Tonnage Expenses are proportionate to gross weight and distance, 
 and the larger the proportion of paying loads the less they are per ton mile of 
 freight. 
 
 From the foregoing it will be seen that none of the expenses of transporting 
 freight are in proportion to the distance freight is hauled. 
 
 The average haul of freight is the resultant of a number of different hauls of 
 car loads, and parts of car loads, on the same or different trains ; and while there 
 is no fixed relation between it and the train mileage, car mileage, or gross ton 
 mileage, in all of which distance is a factor, it has a material influence on the 
 average train loads, the average car loads, and the proportion of dead and paying 
 load, which are factors in the cost of transportation. 
 
 To make this more clear I will state the following general propositions : 
 
 First. The shorter the average haul of a given number of tons of freight, the less 
 ton mileage they produce, and the greater the cost of terminal and station 
 expenses per ton mile of paying load. 
 
 Second. The shorter the average haul of the freight, in proportion to the distance 
 run by trains which carry it, the less effective the train service in producing 
 ton mileage, and the greater the train expenses per ton mile of paying load. 
 
68 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 Third. The shorter the average haul of parts of car loads, the lighter the average 
 load per car, and the greater the car mileage and car expenses per ton mile 
 of paying load. 
 
 Fourth. The shorter the average haul of freight in proportion to the distance run 
 by trains which carry it, the greater the gross tonnage, and the gross tonnage 
 expenses per ton mile of paying freight. 
 
 Fifth. The shorter the average haul of parts of car loads the lighter the average 
 load per car and the greater the gross tonnage and gross tonnage expenses 
 per ton mile of paying load. 
 
 To understand how the length of the haul affects the average train loads, 
 car loads and gross tonnage, we must consider in detail how the local freight is 
 distributed and collected. 
 
 Before the days of railways the markets at which the agricultural products of 
 the country were sold, and the wants of farmers were supplied could be reached 
 only by wagon transportation or ifiterior navigation, and the first railways built 
 merely took the place of these elementary transportation facilities. Local freight 
 trains loaded at a terminal point distributed the freight as they progressed, taking 
 on little or none at intermediate points, and arrived at the other terminus with 
 their loads greatly depleted. On their return trip they started with very hght 
 loads gathering up the produce of the country, and accumulated a train load to be 
 delivered at the terminus from which they originally started. The gradual dis- 
 tribution of train loads going one way and the gradual accumulation of them going 
 in the other direction made the average haul of freight much less than the distance 
 the trains were run, and reduced the average train loads far below the number of 
 tons with which they began and ended their round trips. Approximately one-half 
 of the train service was non-effective in producing ton mileage of freight, and it 
 was therefore impracticable to make the rates for transportation in proportion to 
 the weight of the freight and the distance it was hauled, without making the long 
 haul rates excessive as compared with the short haul rates. This fact, no doubt, 
 influenced the first adjustment of local rates, but we find economic principles which 
 justify the charging of higher rates per ton mile for short than for longer dis- 
 tances. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 69 
 
 When traffic was almost exclusively local, the average haul of freight was 
 seldom much more than one-half of the distance the trains were run, and some- 
 times less; but as industries developed and interior markets were opened for 
 agricultural and other products, the local traffic, from being set in one direction, 
 became diverse, so that when a train dropped some of its cars, or a part of their 
 contents, there might be freight in car loads, or less than car loads, going in the 
 same direction to replace it. This additional intermediate tonnage, being for com- 
 paratively short hauls, did not increase the ton mileage in proportion to the addi- 
 tional number of tons taken on, but it made both the train and car mileage more 
 effective in the movement of freight. 
 
 We have, in the case of the road under consideration, two classes of general 
 tonnage of comparatively long hauls, and three classes of special tonnage of very 
 short hauls, the relative volume of which for ten years was as follows : 
 
 Tons. Ton miles. Av'ge haul. 
 
 General through tonnage, 1,130,047 188,309,268 166.6 
 
 General local tonnage, 1,719,794 188,819,602 109.8 
 
 Special coal tonnage 137,352 1,640,376 11.9 
 
 Special stone tonnage, 200,485 1,121,655 5.6 
 
 Special switching tonnage, 362,842 755,144 2.1 
 
 Totals and average haul, 3,S50,S20 380,646,045 107.2 
 
 The general tonnage trains were necessarily run over the whole length of the 
 road, or 189 miles, and the average haul of the general tonnage, both through and 
 local, was 132.3 miles, or 70 per cent, of the distance run by the trains w'hich 
 hauled it. 
 
 The average haul of the general local tonnage was the resultant of an infinite 
 number of different lengths of hauls, and we have no means of determining the 
 relative proportion of local freight hauled shorter or longer distances than the 
 general average of 109.8 miles. The tonnage classed as "through," was not all 
 between termini, part of it being through intermediate junction points, which 
 made the average haul of this class of freight less than the distance between 
 termini of 189 miles. 
 
 We have already shown (in Chapter V.) the cost of the "general tonnage," 
 which includes both "throug*h" and "local" freight, the average hauls of which 
 
70 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 were respectively 166.6 and 109.8 miles ; and if we can determine the relative cost 
 of the "through" and "local," it may serve to illustrate to what extent the cost of 
 transporting freight is influenced by the length of the haul, even if we cannot 
 ascertain the exact cost of each. 
 
 The relative number of trains, train miles, car miles, and gross ton miles of 
 throug'h and local tonnage was not recorded, but we have the aggregate number 
 of trains and the total train mileage, car mileage and gross ton mileage, for the 
 general tonnage for a period of ten years as follows : 
 
 Number of trains, 22,714 
 
 train miles, 4,292,868 
 
 car miles, 73.849,8S4 
 
 " gross ton miles, 1,378,623,884 
 
 The relative number of tons per train, and the average number of cars per 
 train, may or may not have been the same for both through and local trains, and 
 we have, therefore, four possible combinations that would affect the relative train 
 mileage, car mileage and gross ton mileage : 
 
 First. With the same number of tons and the same average number of cars per 
 
 train. 
 Second. With the same average number of cars but a different number of tons 
 
 per train. 
 Third. With a different average number of cars, but the same number of tons 
 
 per train. 
 Fourth. With a different number of tons and a different average number of cars 
 
 per train. 
 
 If now we ascertain the relative cost of through and local freight service on 
 these four 'combinations of the number of tons, and the average number of cars 
 per train, we will have, within certain limits, the relative cost of the through and 
 local freight, the average hauls of which are known. 
 
 In the first place, we must fix such limitations on the variation in train loads 
 and average cars per train as could reasonably be considered possible; and in 
 doing this we may assume that, with an average train load of 125 tons, the local 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 71 
 
 trains could not have handled more than 135 tons per train, in which case the 
 through trains 'handled only 113 tons per train. We may also assume that the 
 extreme difference in the average number of cars per train could not be less 
 than the difference in the average ton miles of through and local freight, or 
 about 28 per cent., which would give the local trains about 15.3 and the through 
 trains about 19.6 cars per train. We will then have, as the units of service for 
 the four combinations — 
 
 UNITS OF SERVICE. 
 
 Through. First. Second. Third. Fourth. 
 
 Number of tons, 1,130,047 1,130,047 1,130,047 1,130,047 
 
 Train miles, 1,702,297 1,885,241 1,702,297 1,885,241 
 
 Car miles, 29,284,475 32,431,645 36,875,095 36,875,095 
 
 Gross ton miles, 585,432,765 628,122,337 663,639,125 674,339,153 
 
 Local. 
 
 Number of tons, 1,719,794 1,719,794 1,719,794 1,719,794 
 
 Train miles, 2,590,571 2,407,627 2,590,571 2,407,627 
 
 Car miles, 44,565,379 41,418,209 36,974,759 36,974,759 
 
 Gross ton miles, 793,191,119 750,Soi,S47 7^4,9^4,759 704,284,731 
 
 If we take a mean of these units of service of the general tonnage, both 
 through and local, we have — 
 
 Through. Local. Total. 
 
 Number of tons, 1,130,047 1,719,794 2,849,841 
 
 train miles, 1,793,769 2,499,099 4,292,868 
 
 car miles, 33,919,081 39,930,773 73,849,854 
 
 gross ton miles, 637,883,345 740,740,539 1,378,623,884 
 
 Taking these units of service, we have as the cost of the through and local 
 tonnage, and the average of both, in cents per ton — 
 
 Through. Fixed. Terminal. Train. Car. Gross tonnage. Total. 
 
 First, 43.58 18.23 36.44 * 18.80 39.95 157-00 
 
 Second, 46.76 18.23 40.36 20.82 42.87 169.04 
 
 Third, 49.41 18.23 36.44 23.68 45.29 173-11 
 
 Fourth, 50.20 18.23 40.36 23.68 46.02 178.55 
 
 Mean, 47.49 18.23 38.40 21.78 43.53 169.43 
 
72 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 Local. Fixed. Terminal. Train. Car. Gross tonnage. Total. 
 
 First, 38.80 18.23 36.44 18.80 35-57 147-84 
 
 Second, 36-71 18.23 33.87 17.47 33-66 139-94 
 
 Third, 34-97 18.23 36.44 iS-6o 32-06 137-26 
 
 Fourth, 34-45 18.23 33-87 i5-6o 31-S8 133-69 
 
 Mean, 36.23 18.23 35.15 16.85 33-22 139-68 
 
 Average of both, 40.70 18.23 36.44 18.80 37.31 151-48 
 
 From the foregoing figures we can deduce the following conclusions as to the 
 relative cost per ton of freight hauled on through and local trains, running over 
 the same road, with locomotives of the same capacity. 
 
 A. If the number of tons of freight handled by each train is the same, and the 
 average load of one of them is reduced during its run, without reduction in the 
 average number of cars per train, the terminal, train and car expenses are the same 
 per ton, notwithstanding the difference in the average haul, and only the fixed and 
 gross tonnage expenses are variable per ton mile. 
 
 B. If the number of tons handled by each train is the same, and not only the, 
 average load, but also the number of cars, is reduced during the run, the terminal 
 and train expenses are the same per ton, notwithstanding the difference in the 
 average haul of the freight, and the fixed, car and gross tonnage expenses are 
 variable per ton mile. 
 
 C. If the number of tons handled by each train is not the same, whether the 
 number of cars is the same or not, only the terminal expenses are the same per ton, 
 and the fixed, 'train, car and gross tonnage expenses are variable per ton mile. 
 
 These conclusions hold good where a train accumulates its load, as well as 
 where it distributes it, in the course of its progress. 
 
 Under the conditions covered by the four combinations of train loads and cars 
 per train, we find invariably a constant or initial cost per ton, wtiich is the same 
 for the longer and the shorter haul, but varies according to the relative number of 
 tons and cars per train, a^ follows : 
 
 For the first combination, 73-47 cents per ton. 
 
 For the second combination, 18.23 " " 
 
 For the third combination, 54-67 " " 
 
 For the fourth combination, 18.23 " " 
 
 Mean of all four combinations, 4i.i5 " 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 73 
 
 As the average cost was 151.48 cents per ton, and the average haul 132.3 miles 
 for general tonnage, it is evident that, for each of the constants above stated, and 
 for the mean of all of them, we have as variables per ton mile, and the cost per 
 ton for 132.3 and 189 miles — 
 
 Variables 
 
 Cost Per Ton. 
 
 per ton mile. 
 
 132.3 miles. 
 
 i8g miles 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 . . . . 0.5896 
 
 . . . 151.48 . . 
 
 184.91 
 
 . . . . 1.0072 
 
 ... 151.48 .. 
 
 . . 208.59 
 
 .... 0.7317 
 
 ... 151.48 .. 
 
 • . I9I-S3 
 
 . . . . 1.0072 
 
 . . . 151.48 . . 
 
 . . 208.59 
 
 .... 0.8339 
 
 ... 151.48 .. 
 
 . . 198.76 
 
 Constants 
 per ton. 
 Cents. 
 
 First 73.47 
 
 Second, 18.23 
 
 Third, 54.67 
 
 Pourth, 18.23 
 
 Mean, 41.15 
 
 When we consider the character of the local freight service, the frequency 
 and regularity with which local freight trains must be run, whether the traffic is 
 heavy or light, steady or fluctuating; the loss of efficiency in train service which 
 results from the short hauls, and the limitation it puts on the use of cars as com- 
 pared with solid cars of long haul freight, it cannot be deemed unreasonable to 
 regard the train expenses per ton as a constant or initial cost, without regard to 
 the distance the freight is hauled, in which case the third combination of train 
 loads and cars per train would fairly represent the average cost per ton for the 
 through and the local tonnage. It may be, however, that a mean of all four of the 
 above is a nearer approximation to the actual cost. 
 
 In order that we may see what the relative cost per ton and per ton mile for 
 different distances would be by these two scales, they are given below as follows : 
 
 54.67 Cents. 
 
 41.15 Cents. 
 
 Constants. Per ton. 
 
 10 Miles, 61.98 
 
 20 " 69.30 
 
 30 " 76.62 
 
 40 " 83.93 
 
 so " 91-25 
 
 60 " 98.57 
 
 70 " 105.88 
 
 80 " 113-19 
 
 go " 120.51 
 
 100 " 127.83 
 
 Per ton mile. 
 6.198 
 3-465 
 
 2-554 
 2.098 
 1.82s 
 1-643 
 I-512 
 I-415 
 1-339 
 1-279 
 
 Per ton. 
 
 49.48 
 
 57-82 
 
 66.16 
 
 74-50 
 
 82,84 
 
 91-18 
 
 99-52 
 
 107.86 
 
 116.20 
 
 124-54 
 
 Per ton mile 
 
 4-948 
 2.891 
 2.205 
 1.862 
 1-657 
 1-S19 
 1.422 
 1.348 
 1. 29 1 
 
 1-245 
 
74 
 
 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 Constants, 
 
 110 
 120 
 130 
 140 
 ISO 
 160 
 170 
 180 
 189 
 
 Miles, 13514 
 
 54 
 
 67 Cents. 
 
 Per ton. 
 
 Per ton mile. 
 
 13514 
 
 1.229 
 
 142.46 
 
 1. 187 
 
 149.78 
 
 1.152 
 
 157-10 
 
 1. 122 
 
 164.41 
 
 1.096 
 
 171 73 
 
 1.073 
 
 179-05 
 
 I.0S3 
 
 186.36 
 
 1.035 
 
 192-95 
 
 1.021 
 
 41.15 Cents. 
 
 Per ton. 
 132.87 
 141.22 
 149-56 
 157-90 
 166.23 
 
 174-57 
 182.91 
 191.2s 
 198.76 
 
 Per ton mile. 
 1.207 
 1.177 
 
 I.I5I 
 1. 128. 
 1. 108 
 I.09I 
 1.076 
 1.062 
 1.051 
 
 The one fact that seems to be established beyond controversy is that, under 
 any and all circumstances, the cost of transporting freight is not in proportion ta 
 the distance it is hauled, but greater per ton mile for short than for long distances. 
 
 It is not always practicable to charge a reasonable profit on the cost of trans- 
 portation, for there is a commercial regulation of rates, not only by competition- 
 between transportation lines, but by the natural laws of trade, such as supply and 
 demand, and the cost of production as compared with the market value of the 
 products ; but the fundamental principle on which tariffs of rates should be framed 
 is that no rate should be made so low as to involve an actual loss in transporting 
 the freight. 
 
 Here the question arises as to what latitude may be allowed in the adjustment 
 of rates to meet competition or other commercial requirement, without making- 
 unjust discrimination in the distribution of profit on the long and short haul 
 freight. 
 
 It is seldom possible to charge as high a percentage of profit on the cost of 
 hauling freight long distances as on the cost of hauling it short distances, without 
 making the rate for long distances disproportionate to the value of the goods ; for 
 while a given percentage of profit * on the cost of transporting freight a short 
 distance may be insignificant as compared with the market value of the goods, the 
 same percentage of profit added to the cost of hauling the same goods a long dis- 
 tance may equal, or even exceed, their market value. 
 
 * The term ''profit," in this and the preceding paragraphs, means earnings in excess of 
 actual outlay for service performed, out of which interest charges and rentals must be paid 
 before there is any real profit. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 75 
 
 Prima facie, the cost of any given service includes a relative proportion of all 
 classes of expenses of maintenance and operation, but any freight which pays more 
 than the actual cost of transporting it contributes to the cost of maintaining the 
 highway and other fixed expenses, arid cannot, therefore, be said to entail a loss 
 which must be made up by higher charges on other freight ; for although it may 
 not contribute its full proportion to fixed expenses, whatever it does contribute is 
 that much less to be obtained from other sources of revenue. For this reason 
 additional traffic is desirable, at rates which could not be considered remunerative 
 if it was not an addition to existing traffic. 
 
 Additional freight which does not involve additional train service, but only 
 increases the average loads of trains, can be carried at a profit at rates far below 
 the average cost of transportation, for it increases only terminal, car and gross 
 tonnage expenses, which in the case before us were 50 per cent, of the total cost 
 per ton of general tonnage. If additional freight increased the average train loads 
 without additional car mileage only 38 per cent, of the expenses were in- 
 creased, but it would not be safe to base regular rates on such exceptional con- 
 ditions. 
 
 In making tariffs of local rates, competition at junction points cannot be dis- 
 regarded, and it is often the case that such competition influences rates for a con- 
 siderable distance from the points of contact between transportation lines. In the 
 same manner, rates for short distances from the termini of railways cannot gen- 
 erally be made proportionate to the average cost per ton for very short hauls, and 
 in rural districts wagons may compete with railways for short distances if rates 
 are high enough to pay any profit on the cost of transportation. 
 
 It is desirable that we should have a scale for the adjustment of relative rates 
 for local traffic, which is based, as nearly as practicable, on the relative cost of 
 transportation, including both maintenance and operating expenses, but not too 
 high for very short hauls ; and the simplest and best one that I have found is to 
 make the rate per ton, or per 100 pounds, proportionate to the square root of the 
 distance. 
 
 By reference to the diagram at the end of this chapter, it will be seen that the 
 horizontal lines represent distance, and the vertical lines values in cents. In other 
 words, we have a horizontal scale of miles and a vertical scale of cents per ton, 
 which enables us to indicate, by means of diagonal lines, the cost per ton under the 
 
76 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 different conditions above indicated, and also a probable mean of them, indicated 
 as "Talcott's Scale." 
 
 The minimum cost at which any freight could have 'been moved on the road 
 in question was 0.4897 cents per ton mile, for if we exclude fixed and terminal 
 expenses, we have — 
 
 Train expenses, 24.19 cents per train mile. 
 
 Car expenses, 17.2 car miles @ 0.72559, 12.48 " " 
 
 Gross tonnage expenses, 321.14 @ 0.077125, 24.77 " " 
 
 Cost of moving 125.47 tons of freight one mile, 61.44 " " 
 
 Cost of moving one ton one mile, 0.4897 cents. 
 
 It is important to note this, for whatever scale we accept as best representing 
 the rela;tive cost for different distances, the increment for distance cannot properly 
 be less than the cost of movement. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Economy in Operation to be Considered in the Location of a Line of 
 
 Railway. 
 
 IT is the duty of the engineer to select the best practicable location from an 
 operating standpoint, and to do this in the field he should have some simple, 
 but effective method of determining the relative merits of such lines as the topo- 
 graphical features of the country admit of. 
 
 The gross tonnage of a railway is the total transportation done, expressed in 
 distance and weight, but the actual work done in moving one ton one mile depends 
 upon the alignment and grades ; for the resistances encountered on a straight and 
 level line due to friction and speed are increased by curvature, and by gravity on 
 ascending grades. 
 
 A simple method of comparing different lines of location is on the basis of the 
 relative power required for the movement of one gross ton mile over them in both 
 directions, and the following formula is a convenient one for this purpose. 
 
 P = 2000 E + [(D + L) X (F + S + C)] 
 
 D =: Distance between termini, in miles. 
 
 L = Length of level track, in miles. 
 
 E =^ Sum of the ascents in both directions, in feet. 
 
 F := The resistance from friction, 
 
 S = The resistance from speed, 
 
 C ^ The resistance from curvature, 
 
 P =: Total power required per ton mile in foot pounds. 
 
 per ton per mile. 
 
 Theoretically L should include only the level track, but practically little or no 
 available assistance is derived from the force of gravity, unless it is sufficient to 
 propel the train without the use of any steam power, and if the force of gravity is 
 beyond the requirements, the surplus is expended in wearing out wheels and brake 
 shoes. For these reasons L practically includes the length of all grades, except 
 such as can be operated one way without any steam power, and, therefore, L may 
 equal D on low grade roads. 
 
78 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 If there is a preponderance of traffic in one direction, as in the case of coal or 
 other minerals where the cars are loaded in one direction only and return empty, 
 the total gravity resistance may be more or less than the sum of the ascents would 
 indicate, in which case we must substitute for the sum of the ascents in both direc- 
 tions an equivalent elevation, to be ascertained as follows : 
 
 Let E' represent the. desired equivalent for E; d the difference in elevation 
 between termini ; and r the ratio of the lesser gross ton mileage in one direction to 
 that in the other direction, and we have — 
 
 „, E (I + r) + d — dr E(i + r) + dr — d , 
 E = — ^^ or — ^^ 
 
 2 2 
 
 For example, on the road we have been considering, we have — 
 
 E = 
 
 5929 feet. 
 
 
 
 d = 
 
 : 807 feet. 
 
 
 
 r r= 
 
 0.8522. 
 
 
 
 dr = 
 
 687.73 feet. 
 
 
 
 Then 5929 X 1.8522 = 1098] 
 
 [.69, 
 
 
 , 10,981.69 + 807 — 
 2 
 
 687.73 , 
 
 550.48 
 
 g this value of E' 
 
 we have for the first formula- 
 
 - 
 
 E' = 
 
 5550.48 feet. 
 
 
 
 D = 
 
 189 miles. 
 
 
 
 L = 
 
 79 miles. 
 
 
 
 (F + S + C) = 
 
 41,629 foot pounds. 
 
 
 
 2000 X 555048 = 
 
 11,100,960 
 
 
 
 268 X 41,629 = 
 
 : 11,156,572 
 
 
 E' 
 
 P ^ Power per gross ton mile, 22,257,532 
 As previously ascertained (in Chap. VI.), 22,288,899 
 
 * The first where the preponderance of gross tonnage is in the direction of the greater 
 sum of ascents, and the second where it is in the direction of the lesser sum of ascents. 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 79 
 
 The relative resistance opposed to the movement of one ton over the entire 
 length of the line in both directions would be conclusive, but for the actual move- 
 ment being in train loads, and the train mileage being a factor in the cost of opera- 
 tion, for the larger the train loads the less the cost of hauling them per gross ton 
 mile. In oither words, the efficiency of the locomotive as a means of overcoming 
 the resisitances should not be ignored. 
 
 There are two points of view from which the efficiency of locomotives must 
 be regarded : 
 
 First. Their capacity to move their trains horizontally. 
 
 Second. Their capacity to overcome gravity in lifting themselves and their trains 
 over summits. 
 
 The tractive power of locomotives being limited by the weight on their 
 driving wheels, their efficiency is greater or less according to the proportion of 
 their total weight, which rests on their driving w'heels, as in the case of different 
 types, such as eight-wheel, ten-wheel, mogul, consolidation, and decapod, the 
 relative efficiency of which may be expressed in the ratios of their tractive power 
 to their total weights, in the same order, very nearly as follows, viz., 14, 17, 18, 19 
 and 20 per cent. These figures also express very nearly the relative gross ton 
 • mileage of the maximum trains, locomotives of these types, and of the same total 
 weight, can haul over the same line of railway ; that is to say, that when an eight- 
 wheel locomotive of a given weight can haul 1,400 tons, the other types of the 
 same weiglit should haul 1,700, 1,800, 1,900 and 2,000 tons, provided they are 
 properly proportioned as to grate and heating surface, cylinder power, etc. 
 
 The train resistance on straight and level track, at a uniform speed, is con- 
 stant, and moderate curvature makes but little addition thereto ; but when grades 
 are encountered, the resistance due to gravity must also be overcome, and the 
 efficiency of a locomotive in hauling loads horizontally and in overcoming eleva- 
 tions is not the same, for the maximum of useful effect produced by a locomotive 
 in overcoming elevations is not obtained by lengthening the line to secure the 
 lowest rate of ascent, as will be shown hereafter. (See Appendix.) 
 
 The prevailing maximum grade, or rate of ascent, limits the capacity of a 
 single locomotive, and fixes the maximum weight of trains it can haul over the line, 
 and while all trains will not be of the maximum weight, the average train is gen- 
 
8o TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 erally in proportion to the maximum, and upon the average weight of trains will 
 depend the number of trains required to move the total tonnage, and consequently 
 the train mileage. 
 
 The train expenses, as shown in Chapter IV., were 23.99 P^'^ '^^^^^ °^ ^^^ 
 total cost of operating, or say 24 per cent., and this proportion only of the cost of 
 operating would have been increased by reducing the average weight of trains in 
 consequence of 'heavier grades. Unless, therefore, the anticipated traffic is extra- 
 ordinarily heavy, it is best to adopt the line of least resistance per ton mile, pro- 
 vided its maximum grades are not excessive. 
 
 The first question in reference to maximum grades which the engineer should 
 decide is, to what extent other considerations should be disregarded in order to 
 secure the lowest maximum grade; and the next question is, to what extent the 
 maximum grade may be used. 
 
 The shorter the distance in which the required elevation is attained, the 
 more persistent the rate of ascent, and the less the resistance per ton mile, and 
 consequently the less the power required to reach the summit in the same time ; 
 but on the other hand, the lower the maximum rate of ascent, the more load a 
 locomotive can haul over it, and this generally means the more it will haul over 
 the whole length of the road, the exception being where assistant power or 
 "Helpers" are used on exceptional grades for short distances. For instance, as 
 between grades of one, and one and a quarter per cent, the relative resistances 
 are for one foot elevation. 
 
 On a Grade of One Per Cent. : 
 
 100 feet at 8.33 lbs. per foot, equal to, 833 foot pounds. 
 
 2000 pounds raised one foot, equal to, 2000 " " 
 
 Total resistance, 2833 " " 
 
 On a Grade of One and a Quarter Per Cent. : 
 
 80 feet at 8.33 pounds per foot, 666 foot pounds. 
 
 2000 lbs. raised one foot, 2000 " " 
 
 Total resistance, 2666 " " 
 
 This shows 5.9 per cent, less resistance to attain the same elevation, and con- 
 sequently 5.9 per cent, less power is required to do the work in the same time with 
 
TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 8i 
 
 the grade of one and a quarter per cent. Besides this, the distance is 25 per cent, 
 less, and this means a saving of 25 per cent, in the length of road to be maintained, 
 and in train and car mileage, for the length of the grades, while one locomotive 
 should haul 17.7 per cent, more load over a one per cent, grade, which would 
 make a reduction of 15.0 per cent, in the train mileage of the road, if the traffic 
 was handled in maximum train loads. See Note at end of this Chapter. 
 
 If, therefore, a saving of 5.9 per cent, in motive power, and of 25 per cent, in 
 train mileage, car mileage, and maintenance of roadway, on so much of the road 
 as is included in the length of the maximum grades of one and a quarter per cent., 
 equals the saving of 15.0 per cent, in train mileage on the whole road, with 
 maximum grades of one per cent., the advantage in favor of one or the other 
 will depend upon the relative cost of construction. 
 
 For the reasons stated above, exceptionally high grades at a few points are 
 very objectionable, as are also descending grades, which sacrifice elevation that 
 must be regained by an addition to the sum of the ascents, and therefore to the 
 total resistance from gravity. 
 
 When a certain maximum grade is ascertained to be inevitable as a prevailing 
 feature in the most desirable hne, there can be no reasonable objection to its use 
 on such part of the line as must necessarily be operated by the locomotives to be 
 provided for such maximum grades, even though lower grades are practicable, 
 provided frequent and sudden breaks in the grades which are inconsistent with 
 general uniformity in ascents are avoided. 
 
 On long ascending grades the introduction of occasional level stretches may 
 be advisable, to give the locomotive an opportunity to increase its steam pressure, 
 and the equation of grades for curvature is necessary to secure uniformity in train 
 resistance. 
 
 Financial considerations often make it impracticable to adhere closely to the 
 most favorable location, and in such cases the engineer should endeavor to econo- 
 mize in construction with as little deviation from the proper alignment as possible, 
 preferring to sacrifice the best features of his profile rather than adopt an align- 
 ment which admits of no subsequent improvement in its maximum grades, or 
 reduction in the sum of its ascents. 
 
 No greater mistake can be made at the inception of an enterprise than re- 
 striction in expenditure to secure information necessary to mature plans for its 
 
82 TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL. 
 
 success, and such mistakes are too often made in the surveys for a projected rail- 
 way. It is better to incur the cost of several experimental lines than to fail to 
 secure the best; but still better to carefully reconnoitre the country, and select a 
 favorable route, before incurring the expense of actual surveys ; for money saved 
 in preliminary surveys can be used to great advantage in perfecting the final 
 location. 
 
 Useful Effect of the Force of Gravity. 
 
 In making close comparisons of two or more lines, it is necessary to consider 
 the useful effect of gravity on descending grades, an illustration of which has been 
 given in Chapter VI. The greater the proportion of gravity that can be utilized 
 to move trains at normal speed on descending grades, and the less consumed in 
 wearing out wheels and brake shoes, the greater will be the ratio of useful effect of 
 the power derived from the locomotive. 
 
 Note. — On the road we have been considering, the difference in costr of 500 ton trains of 
 :20 cars, and 588 ton trains of 24 cars, would have been approximately : 
 
 Per Train Mile. 
 500 Ton Trains. 588 Ton Trains. 
 
 Train expenses, 24.19 cents. 24.19 cents. 
 
 Car expenses, i4Si " 17-41 " 
 
 Fuel and water, : 20.31 " 23.89 '' 
 
 3Iaintenance of track, 7.18 " 8.45 " 
 
 Total, 66.19 " 73.94 
 
 S88 ton trains, 85 train miles @ 73.94 = $62.85 
 
 500 ton trains, 100 train miles @ 66.19 = 66.19 
 
 Saving in cost for the same tonnage, $ 3.34 or 5.05 per cent. 
 
TABLE OF TRAIN RESISTANCES PER GROSS TON MILE, DUE TO FRICTION 
 
 SPEED AND CURVATURE AT DIFFERENT DEGREES OF 
 
 CURVATURE PER MILE. 
 
 Values of (F + S + C) per gross ton mile. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Speed I^ 
 
 Miles Per Hour. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Curvature 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 per Mile. 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 20 
 
 25 
 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 40 
 
 45 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 34-750 
 
 38.687 
 
 43-960 
 
 50.867 
 
 59-312 
 
 69-287 
 
 80.800 
 
 93-847 
 
 108.430 
 
 s 
 
 35.000 
 
 38.937 
 
 44.210 
 
 51-117 
 
 59-562 
 
 69-537 
 
 81.050 
 
 94 
 
 097 
 
 108.680 
 
 lO 
 
 35-250 
 
 39-187 
 
 44.460 
 
 51-367 
 
 59.812 
 
 69-787 
 
 81.300 
 
 94 
 
 347 
 
 108.930 
 
 15 
 
 35-500 
 
 39-437 
 
 44.710 
 
 51.617 
 
 60.062 
 
 70-037 
 
 81.550 
 
 94 
 
 597 
 
 109.180 
 
 20 
 
 35-750 
 
 39-687 
 
 44.960 
 
 51-867 
 
 60.312 
 
 70.287 
 
 81.800 
 
 94 
 
 847 
 
 109.430 
 
 25 
 
 36.000 
 
 39-937 
 
 45-210 
 
 52.117 
 
 60.562 
 
 ■70.537 
 
 82.050 
 
 95 
 
 097 
 
 109.680 
 
 30 
 
 36.250 
 
 40.187 
 
 45.460 
 
 52.367 
 
 60.812 
 
 70.787 
 
 82 . 300 
 
 95 
 
 347 
 
 109.930 
 
 35 
 
 36.500 
 
 40.437 
 
 45-710 
 
 52.617 
 
 61.062 
 
 71.037 
 
 82 . 550 
 
 95 
 
 597 
 
 no. 180 
 
 40 
 
 36-750 
 
 40.687 
 
 45-960 
 
 52.867 
 
 61.312 
 
 71.287 
 
 82.800 
 
 95 
 
 847 
 
 110.430 
 
 45 
 
 37.000 
 
 40.937 
 
 46.210 
 
 53-117 
 
 61 . 562 
 
 71-537 
 
 83-050 
 
 90 
 
 097 
 
 110.680 
 
 50 
 
 37-250 
 
 41.187 
 
 46 . 460 
 
 53-367 
 
 61.812 
 
 71.787 
 
 83-300 
 
 96 
 
 347 
 
 110.930 
 
 55 
 
 37-500 
 
 41-437 
 
 46.710 
 
 53-617 
 
 62.062 
 
 72.037 
 
 83 -550 
 
 06 
 
 597 
 
 III. 180 
 
 60 
 
 37-750 
 
 41.687 
 
 46.960 
 
 53-867 
 
 62.312 
 
 72.287 
 
 83.800 
 
 96 
 
 847 
 
 iir.430 
 
 65 
 
 38.000 
 
 41-937 
 
 47.210 
 
 54-117 
 
 62.562 
 
 72.537 
 
 84.050 
 
 97 
 
 097 
 
 III. 680 
 
 70 
 
 38.250 
 
 42.187 
 
 47-470 
 
 54-367 
 
 62.812 
 
 72.787 
 
 84.300 
 
 97 
 
 347 
 
 III. 930 
 
 75 
 
 38.500 
 
 42-437 
 
 47.710 
 
 54-617 
 
 63 . 062 
 
 73-037 
 
 84-550 
 
 97 
 
 597 
 
 112. 180 
 
 80 
 
 38.750 
 
 42.687 
 
 47-960 
 
 54-867 
 
 63.312 
 
 73-287 
 
 84.800 
 
 97 
 
 847 
 
 112.430 
 
 85 
 
 39.000 
 
 42-937 
 
 48.210 
 
 55-117 
 
 63.562 
 
 73-537 
 
 85.050 
 
 98 
 
 097 
 
 112.680 
 
 90 
 
 39-250 
 
 43-187 
 
 48.460 
 
 55-367 
 
 63-812 
 
 73-787 
 
 85.300 
 
 98 
 
 347 
 
 112.930 
 
 95 
 
 39-500 
 
 43-437 
 
 48.710 
 
 55-617 
 
 64.062 
 
 74-037 
 
 85-550 
 
 98 
 
 597 
 
 113. 180 
 
 100 
 
 39-750 
 
 43.687 
 
 48.960 
 
 55-867 
 
 64-312 
 
 74-287 
 
 85-800 
 
 9« 
 
 847 
 
 113-430 
 
 Note. — The above table gives the average resistance due to friction, speed and curvature, 
 with sufRcient accuracy for practical purposes, where there are no exceptionally hard curves. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The following is the formula used by Capt. Andrew Talcott, of the United 
 States Corps of Engineers (in 1858) to find the useful effect of locomotives on 
 grades. 
 
 To Find the Useful Effect of Engines on Grades. 
 
 E, Weight of engine in pounds, all on driving wheels. 
 
 F, Friction of one ton of load.* 
 P, Ratio of adhesion. 
 
 P E, Adhesion of engine. 
 
 L, Weight of load in pounds. 
 
 S, Sine of the angle of grade, or slope of the road. 
 
 Whatever greater power of traction the engine may have than its own friction, 
 
 is limited by the adhesion of the wheels to the rails. The force of gravity will be 
 
 T "P 
 S (E + L), and the friction of the load is Consequently the engine can- 
 
 T "F 
 
 not move the load when (E + L) S H = P E [1.1, or when 
 
 2240 
 
 2240 (P E F. S) r-r-r -, ■, , • , , ■, 
 
 L = = — ; — = — - II. the power and resistance are exactly balanced. 
 
 2240 S + F ^ 
 
 The useful effect of the engine will be as L X S, or the weight of the load, 
 and the height overcome in an unit of time, and this will be the greatest when 
 
 2240 — s/ 2240 
 
 2240 (2240)^ 
 
 By substituting the ratio of adhesion to the weight of engine, in the above 
 equation, the value of "S" for any ratio of adhesion may be ©btained. 
 
 For P := 18 per cent, S = 0.02203. 
 
 " P = 20 " " S = 0.02339. 
 
 " P = 22 " " S = 0.02469. 
 
 " P = 24 " " S = 0.02592. 
 
 " P = 26 " " S = 0.02711. 
 
 * Estimated at 8 pounds per ton of 2,240 pounds.