HE 1 2781 B2 f M26 THE GIFT OF .ijdaj..iiu3cr...a£.B.oSLi^^ .k3h.S-].0.l llm..i.f... 2041 i>y Microsoft® J^ ^ -lo.te shows when this volume was taken. /lY 'V V H - .. ^«^ia%, ' ^■■" '"'V the call No. and give to ■"CS_ CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN VOL. V. FEBEUABY, 1917. No. 1 BALTIMORE'S RAILROAD PROBLEM BEING A REPORT BY MR. WILLIAM H. MALTBIE PEKSENTBD TO THE CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE AT A SPECIAL MEETING FEBRUARY 3rd, 1917 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN Ha 2.781 ACKNOWLEDGMENT. Acknowledgment is due Mr. Brent Keyser, Mr. A. E. Beck, and various officials of the Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio Eailroads for their kindness and courtesy in furnishing valuable information. Digitized by Microsoft® U \y CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN THE BALTIMORE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM The great danger in the present discussion with regard to the propo- sition of the Pennsylvania Eailroad is that the question will be limited to too narrow a field. There seems to be a general disposition to regard the proposition as one of acceptance or rejection of the Pennsylvania Eailroad's solution of its present pending problem. As a matter of fact our problem is primarily not a Pennsylvania Eailroad problem at ^11. It is a Baltimore problem and on its solution depends, to a very great extent, the future commercial life of the city. The Pennsylvania Eail- road is approaching the problem in a businesslike way, attempting to secure for itself what it needs with the minimum expenditure of money or other consideration. Its attitude is natural and normal, and there is no reason why it should be criticised for it ; but it is desirable that -the City of Baltimore should not approach the problem from the same angle. It should approach it with a view to securing what it needs for the present and for the future. The problem cannot be approached from this broad point of view unless there is first in mind a clear understanding of the local situation and of the past attempts which have been made to solve the problem. Baltimore occupies a unique position in the railroad world. The development of the Southern Atlantic seaboard has built and is still to build a tremendous commerce moving between New England, New York, and Pennsylvania and the whole range of southeastern states. There is also a tremendous commerce between the northwest and this south- eastern territory which is deflected into Pennsylvania by the existence of great transcontinental east and west lines which, while built primarily to carry the commerce of the west and northwest to New York, Phila- delphia, and New England, have nevertheless seized upon the commerce of these regions and transported it through the Alleghanies into Penn- sylvania before sending it south. Ordinary considerations of railroad building force this traiSe to flow along the coastal plain. The Chesapeake Bay on the east and the Blue Eidge on the west narrow this coastal plain to a relatively small neck of land, and in this neck of land lies Baltimore. It follows that every great line of traffic which is to carry the commerce of the north into the southeastern territory must pass so close to the City of Baltimore that it would be folly not to enter it. Baltimore becomes, therefore, the neck of the hour-glass, through which every great traffic line between Pennsylvania, New York, and Ne^v England on the north, and the South Atlantic states on the south must pass. It was physical geography and not accident which kept both the Pennsylvania and the B. & 0. clinging Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN to the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Even if the city of Balti- more were wiped off the map to-day any new line from the Northeast to the South would almost inevitably pass within what are now our city boundaries. ' COASTAL PLAIN Showing Location of Baltimore at Neck of the Hourgli Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN The Peoblem feom the Eaileoads' Point op View Given a great railroad system desirous of securing this trade with the Southeast, the problem may be stated as follows. " How can we reach the coastal plain over the easiest grade consistent with reasonable direct- ness, and having reached it how can we tap the great cities which it con- tains, entering each on easy grades, over relatively inexpensive right of way, and finding for ourselves a landing point where we shall have a sufficient area of relatively level land to provide us with our freight and passenger yards ? " The Pennsylvania has solved the problem for its Harrisburg-Balti- more line by picking up the Gunpowder Valley near the Pennsylvania boundary, following it down until it reaches Western Eun, going up the valley of Western Eun and one of its tributaries until it can cross over the divide into the Jones Palls Valley, down which it coasts to Calvert Station and the level yard territory lying along the edge of Jones Palls. On its Philadelphia-Baltimore line it comes down over the coastal plain along the Chesapeake Bay and finds its terminus on the lowlands around Canton, reaching Calvert Station by tracks laid in the city streets over which it formerly hauled its trains with horses, now with motor. An- other track enters the Jones Palls Valley by the Union Tunnel. On its Washington-Baltimore line the problem was solved by bringing the line along the Patapsco lowlands and up along the western edge of the city till a point was reached from which a relatively short tunnel would carry it down into the Jones Palls Valley and so to Calvert Station. The B. & 0. solved its problem at first by coming in on the level land of the Patapsco Valley on both the south and the east to Camden Station and Locust Point on the onejiand and to its Canton terminals on the other, joining these two lines by ferry. Later when the demand of modern traffic made the ferry an insuperable barrier to its develop- ment the B. & 0. constructed the Belt Line Tunnel, by which its two terminals were brought together. The Western Maryland has solved its problem by joining up the Patapsco and Gwynn's Palls Valleys to a point where it can swing into the Pulton Tunnel and so reach the Jones Palls Valley, and for its later line by a continuation down the Gwynn's Falls Valley to Port Cov- ington and the level terminals which it is there building. The Maryland and Pennsylvania has seized upon the only other entrance to the city and follows up the little valley of Stony Eun, a branch of Jones Palls. ' Meanwhile the B. & 0., by the development of its work at Curtis Bay and at the Canton terminals, has thrown a complete ring of steel around the city, so that entrance to the business district is absolutely Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN impossible excepting by a crossing of the B. & 0. tracks. The Penn- sylvania has done practically the same thing, so that a new road coming here, if one is ever to come, must not only deal with the city and the State, but must, to some extent at least, make terms with the existing railroads. The resulting situation is one which, at first sight, would seem en- tirely satisfactory to the railroads, although it is not by any means satis- factory to the city of Baltimore. The time may eventually come when all of the railroad interests will be consolidated, either under a great rail- road corporation or under federal control. But before that time comes we are due to witness some additional gigantic battles for the control of commerce. It is extremely doubtful whether the Pennsylvania and B. & 0. systems will be allowed to control the entire movement of freight and passenger trafRc between the north and the southeast ; and the time is probably coming when other great lines will be knocking for admission at Baltimore's door. Switching Charges But Baltimore's interest in the problem is not consigned to the question of future new railroads. At the present time she is handicapped m her proper development by the conditions existing with regard to the movement of freight from point to point within the city. If it is desired to move a car of freight from a point on one railroad line in the Balti- more territory to another point on the same line, as for example from a point on the B. & 0. to another point on the B. & 0., the switching charge is $5.00 per car load. But if it may be desired to move the same car load from a point on the B. & 0., for example, to a point on the Pennsylvania or on the Western Maryland, the switching charge is no longer a flat car rate but is a rate based upon the class of merchandise, and will run for a car ot 50,000 pounds anywhere from $35.00 to $50.00, depending upon The effect of such a regulation as this is to split our industrial com- munity into three distinct settlements; one lying upon the lines of the B. & another lymg upon the lines of the Pennsylvania, and a third, destined soon to be a much greater one than it now is, lyin<^ alons the lines of the Western Maryland. Communication betwe;n^iny two LTts tln^f.ir>fpf °"-P ^VTP^'v^*^ inexpensive, but communication between two units belonging to two different groups is much more costly. It needs no argument to show that such a condition as this is not condJcive to the commercial development of the city. i-onuucive to tne Plat Teemikal Charges suffe^i'f /noTw"'''''* ^^^ °"' commercial interests were also made to suffer m another way. The same goods consigned to two Baltimore 6 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN dealers from the same point paid difierent rates if the dealers were located on different roads, an extra charge being imposed if the freight after arri- val here was transferred to a line other than the initial carrier. Largely through the activities of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association and its traffic manager, Mr. Beck, this last evil has been eliminated by voluntary concession on the part of the roads, and to-day both for freight originating in Baltimore and for freight received from outside points we have the flat Baltimore terminal charge, which may or may not continue in the future. Segregation of Pkeight by Destinatiok The chief industrial territory of the city, to which most of its ship- ping is directed and from which most of its outgoing shipping originates, is to be found in a broad belt around the harbor from Canton on the southeast to Port Covington on the southwest, with more or less rapidly developing spurs running off along the Jones Falls Valley, along the eastern city line, and along the western city line. The territory to the north, northwest, and northeast of the city is apparently destined to remain as it is now a residential district. Throughout this industrial region there are scattered several great freight terminals, at Curtis Bay, Port Covington, Locust Point, Mt. Clare, Camden, President Street, Canton, Hillen Station, Calvert Station, Bolton Yard, and the Pulton Yard. Under ideal conditions, from the point of view of the shipper, it should be possible for him to take his freight when ready for shipment to the nearest freight yard and there consign it to its point of destination. So far as the- B. & 0. is concerned this is practically possible. The Pennsylvania, however, classifies its freight according to the point of origin or point of destination, and handles only certain classes at certain yards. Whether, consequently, a shipment of goods shall be sent to Presi- dent Street or to Calvert Station depends, not upon the character of the goods or the convenience of the shipper, but upon the point to which they are destined, so that it may easily happen that a shipper handling less than ear load lots may be compelled to send his team or truck to Presi- dent Street Station, unload part of his load, and then make a trip to Calvert Station to handle the rest of it. This practice has been a bone of contention between the Pennsylvania Eailroad and the Merchants and Manufacturers Association for sometime, but up to this time without securing the promise of any change from the railroad company. Why the Eaileoads are -ISroT Satisfied Fortunately for the city of Baltimore the situation from the railroad point of view is not so ideal as it seems. The Pennsylvania situation is unsatisfactory to that road for at least four distinct reasons. 7 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN First. The Pennsylvania has leading into Baltimore a double-track line from Philadelphia which comes in through the Union Tunnel. Kow a two-track tunnel is adequate to take care of the traffic on a two-track main line, unless the trains on the main line tracks are run so close together that the smoke in tunnel operation makes it impossible to main- tain the schedule through the tunnel. This condition has not yet, we believe, been reached. The Pennsylvania has also a two-track line lead- ing down from Harrisburg into Union and Calvert Stations. With the exception of Baltimore bound traffic (for freight is not carried from Harrisburg to Philadelphia by way of Baltimore) practically all of the traffic that comes in over these four tracks is sent on south, and its only exit is through the Pulton two-track tunnel, which the Pennsylvania is compelled, though its existing contracts, to share with the Western Mary- land. The result of it is that the Pennsylvania has been trying for years to pour a five-track traffic through a two-track tunnel. The result has been a congestion that has become almost intolerable. Second. While a two-track tunnel, as suggested above, is ample to care for a two-track open line traffic under normal conditions, the Penn- sylvania tunnels must care for more than the open line traffic. Balti- more is a great commercial center with a large car movement to and from the various points within its territory. The Pennsylvania's share of this traffic must be handled through the Union or Pulton tunnels, and frequently through both, with the result of additional congestion in the already congested Pulton Tunnel and the creation of unpleasant con- gestion in the Union Tunnel. Third. The Pennsylvania carries a heavy freight movement be- tween the Forthwest and the South via Harrisburg and Baltimore. The Jones Palls Valley at North Avenue is too narrow to turn a tram into the Pulton Tunnel, and the Pennsylvania has, therefore, been compelled up to the present to reverse all of its Harrisburg-Southern freight and passenger traffic in Baltimore city. The result is a very unsatisfactory congestion in the Jones Palls Valley below North avenue, as the area there is too limited for a satisfactory working out of the problem, being too small to contain a reversing yard, a freight ter- minal for the Pennsylvania, and a freight and passenger terminal for the Western Maryland. The Pennsylvania, therefore, is forced to do one of three things. Pind South of North Avenue a new outlet from the Jones Palls Valley; shunt the Harrisburg-Southern traffic, either by a new tunnel or by a cross country road, from the line of the Northern Central over on to the Washington line without coming into the lower Jones Palls Valley; or third, acquire sufficient additional room in the lower Jones Palls Valley for a reversing yard. Her present proposition indicates that she has chosen the last of these three solutions. Fourth. When the Pennsylvania constructed the Pulton Tunnel 8 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN electric operation of tunnel trains was unknown, and the smoke nuisance made the operation of lengthy tunnels a very serious proposition. Also at that time the investing public was unwilling to spend large sums of money for the ultimate reduction of operating costs. Conditions all com- bined to force roads at that period of their development to stick to the surface as much as possible and to climb hills and work around curves wherever it was possible to do so, sacrificing ultimate operating economy to an immediate saving of invested cash. In consequence the Pennsyl- vania Eailroad, approaching Baltimore from the Washington side, instead of attempting to hold a low grade straight line through from Hale- thorpe to the lower end of the Jones Ealls Valley, chose rather to climb by a steady grade to the relatively high level at the present western terminus of the Fulton Tunnel, and thence by a relatively short tunnel and steep grade come down to the level of the Jones Falls Valley at North Avenue. In consequence the Pennsylvania from that day to this in order to pass through Baltimore has had to drag its freight up and down hill over a grade of 1.3%, with the additional difficulty that for the south-bound traffic this hill with its resulting heavy firing and large volume of smoke lies within the Fulton Tunnel. The increase of traffic has rendered the situation more serious for the Pennsylvania every year, and there has been no doubt for a decade or more, in the minds of those who have been watching the railroad situ- ation, that sooner or later the Pennsylvania must find some relief, and also no doubt that it would be difficult to find that relief except by the securing of additional franchises from the city of Baltimore, additional rights from the State of Maryland, or both. While the general public does not seem to realize the fact, the situa- tion is also unsatisfactory to the B. & 0. While it is true that they approach the city from Washington with a two-track line and proceed northward to Philadelphia with a two-track line connected by a two- track tunnel, known as the Belt Line Tunnel, they nevertheless have developed an extensive freight traffic over the old main line, and are con- sequently operating four tracks in the southern part of the city. In addition to this they have, like the Pennsylvania, a large amount of traffic between points within the Baltimore territory, so that the con- gestion in the Belt Line Tunnel, while not so severe as in the Pulton Tunnel, is nevertheless a serious problem to the B. & 0. In addition to this the B. & 0. has heavy grades. In the con- struction of the Belt Line Tunnel it had to start below the level of Cam- den Station and climb sufficiently to be able to make an overhead cross- ing of the Pennsylvania Eailroad at Forth Avenue. The result was the introduction of a serious hill, so that like the Pennsylvania, the B. & 0. is compelled to drag all of its Philadelphia-Southern business over a Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN hill with a grade of 11/2% ^°^ i*^ north-bound traffic and a grade of 1% on its south-bound; The Western Maryland is handicapped by the fact that it is com- pelled to use the Pennsylvania Fulton Tunnel, with its congestion and sharp grade for all freight or passenger traffic destined for Hillen Sta- tion ; its only other outlet for freight being to force the shipper to make the long haul to Port Covington terminal. The Peesent Situation Every important Maryland valley leading to the coastal plain and every available entry to the city is now occupied. Any new road which will come iij must of necessity dispute with the B. & 0., the Pennsyl- vania, and the Western Maryland the possession of the Gunpowder, Jones Palls, Gwynn's Palls, and Patapsco Valleys, or else come in on the coastal plain. This, both to the south and to the east, is gridironed with track after track of the existing roads. Prom the southwest clear around to Canton the commercial city is enclosed in. a double ring of steel through which any new transportation line must break its way. When it has broken through to the City it must either go under or over it. Within this double ring of steel the commercial community is divided into three separate units affiliated with each of the three great lines, and between these units communication is subject to such regulations as the road may see fit to make, subject only to the supervision and control of Public Service Commissions, State and ISTational. These rights of way are for the most part held in private ownership and the companies can- not be compelled by the city to relocate them, to throw them open, or to operate them in furtherance of such plans as the city itself may form for its future commercial development. Neither should we ignore in our statement of the present situation the relation of the railroad lay-out to the city future's development. Already the map of the city is slashed and torn with streams, open rail- road cuts and surface tracks. The harbor itself cuts into the heart of the city from the south; the southern section to the east of the harbor •is slashed deep by the lines of the Pennsylvania and the B. & 0. Fur- ther north, on the eastern side, the tracks of the B. & 0. Belt Line and the Pennsylvania cut in. On the north the Jones Falls Valley, with the Pennsylvania and the Maryland and Pennsylvania, cuts from the city boundary clear down' into the heart of the city. On the northwest and west the Western Maryland and the Pennsylvania divide the city into small sections. On the southeast, the B. & 0. cuts a great gash up to the Mt. Clare shops, and on the south the main line of the B. & 0. cuts in to Camden Station, and thence eastward to Fort McHenry. For years East Baltimore and West Baltimore have been separated by the 10 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN EXISTING RAILROAD LINES 11 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN Jones Palls Valley and the mass of Pennsylvania tracks, a condition somewhat remedied at the present time by the new Pallsway and its bridges, but still presenting the spectacle of two great districts of the city with insufficient traffic eonununieation.' What Each Party Should Ask Under these circumstances it is comparatively easy to outline the ends which should be sought by each of the parties to the transaction. The Pennsylvania wants additional trackage through the city and sufficient room for a reversing yard. She desires also a reduction of her present grade, but inasmuch as the tunnel grade is not the ruling grade on this division, there is comparatively little for her to gain by extravagant expenditures for the reduction of grade. The B. & 0. wants additional trackage through the city, but can afEord, if compelled to do so, to wait for some time before going to the enormous expenditure necessary to accomplish this result. She has more to be gained than the Pennsylvania by a reduction of her grade, inasmuch as the tunnel grade is the ruling grade on this division, so that its re- duction would enable the B. & 0. to haul longer trains over the entire division. The Western Maryland wants a better access to Hillen Station, but will secure this whenever the Pennsylvania's needs are met. The Western Maryland, The Maryland & Pennsylvania, The Can- ton Eailroad, The Annapolis Short Line, and the Washiagton, Baltimore & Annapolis all want access to the wharves, docks, and industrial sidings of the greater roads. What, then, are the needs of Baltimore City, and what should be its demand in the present situation ? First, she should demand the adoption of the policy of the open door. Whether new roads are to come to Balti- more City or not is a matter which cannot be determined at the present time, but Baltimore must be ready to meet them with open arms if they do come. Any settlement of the transportation problem is unsatisfac- tory to Baltimore City if it does not include an agreement that roads coming here in the future shall be able to enter on equal terms with those already here and without being forced to fight their way through the lines of steel which girdle the business part of the city. Second. Balti- more must demand unrestricted communication between its various in- dustrial units. Every industrial siding in the city must be able to reach every other industrial siding in the city without prohibitive tariffs or special charges due to the fact that the two happen to be upon different transportation lines. Third. It must insist upon reasonable transporta- tion facilities for all of its industrial centers. Curtis Bay, Spring Gar- dens, Locust Point, Mt. Clare region, the entire harbor frontage, the 12 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN Jones Palls Valley, Highlandtown, Canton, and the Bay View region are each of them destined to become great industrial centers, and no scheme which fails to connect each of them with the outside world for every com- modity which they handle can be ultimately satisfactory to Baltimore City. Fourth. It must insist that the new lay-out shall be so arranged as not to interfere with the future development of the city. Fifth. It should get rid, so far as possible, of the smoke nuisance. The smoke nuisance is, to my mind, being very much over empha- sized in the present discussion. A simple illustration will probably make my meaning clear. When the B. & 0. attempted to build the Belt Line Tunnel Baltimore was still depending upon the horse car for its means of intra-city communication. It therefore occurred to some genius that the B. & 0. should be forced to provide rapid transit from North Baltimore to Camden Station, and the Company was compelled, as a part of the consideration for its franchise, to agree to build and main- tain three stations between Guilford Avenue and Camden, and stop all passenger trains at two of the three. A five cent fare from Mt. Eoyal to Camden is still in force, but no man in a hurry thinks of going to Camden Station in order to reach Mt. Eoyal or North Baltimore, and no man in North Baltimore thinks of going to Mt. Eoyal Station in order to come to his business. The result of it is a beautiful station with ex- pensive grounds, maintained at a considerable overhead and operating cost by the railroad and playing an absolutely negligible ' part in the transportation system of the City. The development of modern methods of power transmission, and particularly the growth of electrification on great lines of steam railways, leaves probably few well informed engineers in doubt that the expensive, wasteful burning of valuable fuel in locomotive engines under forced draft, with consequent excessive smoke, is doomed, and that in a com- paratively short time we shall see all our trains, where the traffic is sufficiently dense to warrant the incurring of the initial cost, operated by electricity or some other substitute for steam. Baltimore can prob- ably secure the electrification of its present yards as a concession in return for what the Pennsylvania is now asking, but if we accept this as a con- sideration we shall probably be giving to the Pennsylvania all that it needs for years to come in exchange for something which we are sure to receive anyhow. In fact the negotiations so far show considerable evidence that the Pennsylvania has already determined upon electrification, but is prepar- ing to get as much as possible out of the City in return. Single track tubes with trains operating on short headway do not lend themselves to smoke producing engines, and the tunnel electrification will necessitate ■ either the electrification of the yards within the City or else a constant shifting from electric to steam locomotives. 13 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN What the Pennsylvania would probably rather do is to leave the question open so that even after electrification she can, when she so de- sires, for such trains as are not to go through the tunnels, continue the use of the ordinary locomotives. I have said nothing so far about the Union Station idea, and this is because I do not believe that Baltimore needs or wants a Union Station. Union Stations are spectacular ; they are a convenience for the passenger who in passing through a city must transfer from one road to another; but they ofEer little convenience to a person arriving in the city or a person departing from it. Viewed as a matter of municipal advertis- ing,, they rank with tunnels and sleeping cars as the best known devices for getting a stranger through a town without his seeing it. Union Sta- tion in Washington, Pennsylvania and Grand Central Stations in New York are magnificent structures and will be of interest in future ages to the archaeologist, but the weary traveler with a heavy bag would far rather take a train at Calvert, Camden, Union, or Mt. JRoyal. Peoposed Solution's The Northern Out-off In 1905-6 the Pennsylvania Railroad proposed to build a freight line cutting. across from the Philadelphia to the Washington divisions, and passing to the north of the City boundary. This line, if built, would have completely relieved the congestion in the tunnels, would have removed all through freight from Baltimore City, and in this way de- creased the smoke nuisance, and by its connections with the Northern Central would have obviated the necessity of reversing traffic in Balti- more City. The temptation to divert the Washington-Harrisburg pas- senger trains over this new cut-off would have been very strong, and there would also have been some temptation to send the Philadelphia- Washington trains over it in order to avoid the smoke and discomfort of the two tunnels. Such assurances as were given by the railroad that the line was to be used for freight only were not considered satisfactory by a large group of our population and a storm of protest was aroused which was further increased by the protests of land owners and resi- dents m the Pikesville-Towson region, who were to be affected by the new line. The Legislature, consequently, passed an act in the session of 1906 closing certain territory to railroad operation and thereby effectually blocking the construction of the line as the Pennsylvania had proposed it. The Patapsco Cut-off. Tunnel or Bridge. Froni time to time it has been proposed that the Pennsylvania should • cross the Patapsco Eiver to the south of the City on a bridge or go under Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN it by tunnel. This proposition would not solve the Pennsylvania's diffi- culty in its entirety. It would have afforded relief for the Philadelphia- Southern business by the removal of freight traffic from the tunnels with- in the City, but it would not have offered any relief whatever to the Harrisburg-Southern traffic, neither would it have obviated the necessity for a reversing yard in the heart of the City. Calvert Mt. Royal Tunnel Connection It has been proposed on several occasions that a tunnel should be opened from Calvert Station into the B. & 0. tunnel on Howard Street. This would have afforded the Pennsylvania a southern outlet and avoided the necessity for the Harrisburg-Southern reversing yard. It involved, however, the use of B. & 0. tracks by the Pennsylvania and either the construction of a tunnel all the way to Camden Station, or else a mere shifting of congestion from the Pulton Avenue Tunnel to the lower end of the Belt Line Tunnel. The Randolph Plan Late in 1909 a group of gentleman of Baltimore employed Mr. Isham Eandolph to make a study of the situation and answer the ques- tion as to whether it was practicable from an engineering standpoint to build a tunnel from the Pennsylvania railroad tracks west of the city under the city to a point in the Jones Falls Valley near Calvert Station, with the expectation that the trains coming in over this line would leave the city by the Union Tunnel, changed possibly into an open cut. Mr. Eandolph, after careful examination, reported that the scheme was entirely practicable, that he would suggest Lexington Street as the route, that the tunnel should begin at approximately the crossing of Garrison Lane and the Pennsylvania Eailroad, that it should open out into the valley at Calvert, and that a new public station should be constructed in the area bounded by Pleasant, Saratoga, Davis and North Streets. He announced that the grade would be about 61 feet to the mile, a trifle over 1%, and that the cost of construction, exclusive of real estate and electri- fication, but including the new station, tracks, and accessories, should be about $3,250,000. This tunnel, if used for passenger traffic, would have brought all the passenger service of the Pennsylvania through the new Calvert Station. It would have relieved to that extent the conges- tion in the Pulton Tunnel and, by its use for through freight, would have avoided any necessity for a reversing yard in the Jones Falls Valley. It would, however, have done nothing to relieve the congestion in Union Tunnel, and the suggestion of Mr. Eandolph was that when this became too severe the accommodations should be increased by paralleling the present Union Tunnel. 15 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN The disadvantages in the Eandolph solution were: 1st. That it still left a heavy grade in the tunnel. 2nd. That it added to the already congested Jones Falls Valley the Philadelphia- Washington and the Harrisburg-Washington passenger traffic. 3rd. That the line passed under the most valuable property in the city and would probably have been very expensive on account of rights of way. 4th. That the plan covered no difficulties except those of the Penn- sylvania; did not provide for the open door, and gave the city nothing in return except the advantage of a down-town station. Baltimore Terminal and Transit Company's Plan This plan owes its formation to the engineering genius of Mr. Daniel B. Banks of this city. My attention was first called to it when Mr. Banks employed me to advise with him on the relation of his plan to the general idea of city improvement, on the legal phases involved, and on the form of organization necessary to bring it about. The plan seemed to call for broader powers than could be conferred by the Mayor and City Council, and accordingly a group of gentlemen who were inter- ested applied to the last Legislature for a Charter which was granted under the name of the Baltimore Terminal and Transit Company. Physically considered this plan called for a four-track electrically operated line, running from a point near the crossing of the Patapsco Eiver by the Pennsylvania and B. & 0. Eailroads, in the vicinity of Belay, to a, point near Mt. Clare, thence northward under Poppleton Street to a point in the vicinity of Lexington Street, thence under pri- vate property by a single curve to Biddle Street, thence under Biddle Street crossing the Jones Palls Valley at Biddle and Pallsway to the eastern city limits, and then continuing in a straight line to a junction with the Pennsylvania and B. & 0. roads at or near Back River. When we came to state the form of organization of the Baltimore Terminal and Transit Company, which we shall hereafter call the Ter- minal Company, and the conditions under which the roads and tunnels were to be constructed and operated, we took as a foundation for our work the Washington Terminal agreements and the Philadelphia South- side Belt Line agreements. We did this not only because they com- mended themselves to us as fair and equitable, but because they set forth terms and conditions which have been accepted by both the Penn- sylvania Eailroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Washington and in Philadelphia, and we felt that neither of the roads could therefore consistently object to a similar plan for the city of Baltimore. In the Washington Terminal agreements we found that the property 16 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN of the general passenger station in Washington was owned by a new com- pany known as The Washington Terminal Company, the stock of which was divided equally between the Baltimore and Ohio and the Pennsyl- vania Eailroad. The property was built from the proceeds of the stock and from the sale of bonds which were jointly guaranteed by the Penn- BALTIMORE TERMINAL COMPANY PLAN sylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio. Other roads desiring to use the Union Station, together with the tracks and appurtenant yards, some of which were the private property of the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio companies, were permitted to do so on agreeing to pay a fair share of the interest on the investment (figured as 4% annually upon an agreed valuation) together with their fair share of the cost of main- tenance and general operation. This fair share was determined by ap- 17 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN portioning the cost among the users, including the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio, on the basis of the monthly car movement. Each using road furnished its own equipment, and the operation of the terminal was under the general control of an operating board made up of six representatives, one from the Pennsylvania, one from the Baltimore and Ohio, and one from the Terminal Company, and the other three from the other roads.' The agreement also provided for the admission of additional roads to the same rights, provided that they should assume their share of the expense, and provided that the facilities in question were not already utilized to their full capacity. In the Philadelphia South-side Belt Line agreement we found the city of Philadelphia laying down as one of its principles the proposition that it was " necessary that all railroad companies now or hereafter enter- ing the city should have free access on equal terms to all public and private wharves on the Delaware Eiver." The contracts therefore pro- vided that a certain portion of the lines, to be known as a joint railroad, should " constitute an open gateway for the traffic of all railroads to the proposed new municipal docks and future commercial and industrial developments in the said southern portion of the city." In order that this provision might be enforced, the Philadelphia Belt Line Company, a local corporatioil, was made a party to the contract and its stock placed in the hands of five trustees, three of whom were to be known as repre- sentative trustees chosen by the Philadelphia Board of Trade and the Commercial Exchange. ' This making of an independent corporation a party to the agree- ment constitutes a distinct advantage in the Philadelphia over the Wash- ington plan, since a party to an agreement has legally a much better standing when it comes to compelling its enforcement than a mere outside representative of the general public. Under the Terminal Company plan, therefore, the entire stock of the company is to be turned over to the city of Baltimore in exchange for the franchises, and this stock is to be held by the city inalienably. The tunnel and road are to be built and electrically equipped out of the pro- ceeds of bonds, guaranteed by the participating roads, probably the Penn- sylvania and the B. & 0. The proposed contract between the partici- pating roads and the Terminal Company, whose stock is held by the city, provides that the participating roads shall pay their share of the interest upon the bonds, their share of a reasonable sinking fund, and their share of the general operating expenses, apportioned upon a car mile or ton mile basis. It further provides that any other road now or hereafter desiring to make use of these facilities, up to the limit of their capacity, shall have the privilege of becoming a participating road, sharing in the guarantees and meeting only its share of the expenses of operation and 18 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN its share of interest and sinking fund. Or a road may make use of the facilities without becoming a sharer in the guarantee on the bonds by making the same payment as above plus an additional payment in the way of rental. Provision is also made for the construction of industrial sidings on demand, and the free interchange of traffic between these in- dustrial sidings in the Belt Line territory on a uniform car mile or ton mile basis. The following may be claimed, I believe, as the advantages of this Terminal Company plan. 1. It doubles the existing through trackage from the north to the south, and absolutely relieves the congestion not only in the Pulton and Union Tunnels, but in the Belt Line Tunnel as well. 2. The line is to be electrically operated, together with the yards in the interior of the city. It would, therefore, entirely remove the smoke nuisance, so far at least as that is due to the handling of through freight and switching at mid-city terminals. 3. The line is a low-grade line of easy curvature and few curves. Its maximum grade is % of 1% ^^ opposed to a maximum of 1.3% and 1.5% on the Pennsylvania and B. & 0. respectively. The total lift for Pennsylvania traffic, now 225 feet, becomes 11 feet in one direction and 31 feet in the other. The total lift for B. & 0. traffic, now 230 and 252 feet in the two directions, respectively, becomes 25 and 46 feet. 4. The plan provides for a lowering of the Harrisburg-Washington tracks east of Union Station, so that they pass under the Philadelphia- Washington tracks and avoid the present cross-over. 5. The plan provides for a direct low-grade connection with the Western Maryland in the Gwynn's Palls Valley, thus admitting that road to full tunnel service and giving it a connection between Port Cov- ington and Hillen Station, and free access to all of the industrial sidings of the city. 6. Through its connection with the B. & 0. and with the Penn- sylvania the plan provides for indirect connection with the Key Highway road, the Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Canton Eoad, and the Annap- olis Short Line. In other words the plan provides a general belt line connecting up every railroad in the city of Baltimore with the single exception of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Eailway, and even this finds an entrance through a connection with the Pratt Street tracks of the B. & 0. 7. The plan does not necessitate the scrapping of any present in- vestment. Passenger traffic over the B. & 0. would continue as before to operate through the Belt Line Tunnel, using Camden and Mt. Eoyal Stations. PhiladelpTiia-Southern passenger traffic over the Pennsylvania would operate over the present line using Union Station. Harrisburg- Southern traffic would operate over the present line as far as Union 19 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN Station and continue on down in the Jones Valley to the new tunnel, leaving thence to the south. The Western Maryland, Annapolis Short Line, and Maryland and Pennsylvania would continue, if they so desired, to use their present stations. 8. It completely eliminates the necessity for reversing traffic in the Jones Falls Valley, and in consequence there would be ample room there for a genuine mid-city local freight terminal, and for such suburban passenger traffic as might be desired. 9. It absolutely settles for all time the question of the open door and gives full opportunity for the introduction of new lines to Baltimore City. 10. It provides for equal treatment as to interchange of local busi- ness between all industrial centers in the city. 11. It gives to all local industrial centers the same outlet from the city to points beyond, in so far at least as they are able to handle stuif in carload lots. 12. It makes the city a party (through thia Compajiy whose stock it held) to every contract entered into and to every detail of operating management, so that the city would be in a legal position to enforce the contracts in event of any disposition to evade their terms. 13. It affords to the railroads the least expensive possible means of financing the improvement, and to the shipper the lowest possible rate for intra-city movement. The city holding the title to the property would not attempt local taxation or franchise charges, the theory of the plan being that it is better for the city to take its profit in increased business facilities. For that reason the rates which could be charged for intra-city movement (to be fixed and determined by the Public Service Commission) would be based on actual operating costs plus a fair return on the value of the rolling stock and equipment used, but not including a return on the original investment. 14. The route laid down passes for the most part under moderate priced property, and the real estate expenses would be therefore rela- tively low. The disadvantages of this plan as they occur to me may be stated as follows : 1. It does not provide for a downtown passenger station. The ideal plan would be to have a tunnel started at about the same point as the one now under discussion, coming out into the Jones Palls Valley at Calvert Station, as in the Eandolph plan, and then cutting directly across the valley in a straight line through a second tunnel to a junction with the Pennsylvania and B. & 0. in the neighborhood of Back Eiver. This would, however, necessitate an overhead or surface road through the business territory lying around Hillen Station. An overhead road would bring the line out rather high at Calvert Station, and would be a serious 30 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN injury to property in the valley. A surface road is of course impossible. The only other alternatiye would be to go still lower below the surface and pass under Jones Palls and the entire valley. This would mean heavy grades and a large additional expense. We considered this line carefully and abandoned it reluctantly. 2. It does not go into sufficient detail with regard to the future development of the city. Personally, I would combine with it the recom- mendation indicated by others that the entire grade of Calvert Street from Battle Monument north to the beginning of the hill should be raised to about the level of the present second story windows on Calvert Street, that it should be supported on the east by a retaining wall and that the entire territory east of that retaining wall and west of the Pallsway should be turned over as a freight terminal, properly electrified and not to be used as a mere reversing yard. Personally, I would go still farther and provide that the territory east of the Palls and west of the Falls should be properly joined by overhead roadways, leaving at about the level of St. Paul Street and coming over on easy grade to the land to the eastward. 3. It might perhaps be objected to this plan that while it provides for open interchange between all roads and all industrial sidings in the city, it did not throw open the private terminals owned and constructed by the individual road. There is some question as to whether this should or should not be included as a part of the demand.' 4. It does not provide for future modifications of existing grades or rights of way in order to facilitate the working out of a future city plan. ' 5. It does not provide that the various freight terminals shall each receive freight for all points reached on or over the lines of the particular company operating the terminal. 6. An objection urged by the Pennsylvania to the plan is that the operation of two sets of tunnels, with their mouths so far apart as in the proposed plan, necessitates extra maintenance expense in that it requires double tunnel gangs and double emergency supplies, and therefore is more expensive to them as chief users than the operation of a new set of tunnels paralleling the Pulton and Union Tunnels. 7. Another objection also urged by the Pennsylvania is that fork- ing off from a main freight line in the neighborhood of Eelay would necessitate the establishment of distributing yards at that point, and that freight destined for the present main line between Eelay and Pulton Avenue Station would have to be hauled as a separate freight movement, whereas it is now kept in through trains until it reaches the nei9;hbor- hood of Pulton Station. In other words there would be an additional short haul for all freight intended for the territory between Eelay and Pulton Stations. This amount the Pennsylvania believes to be sufficiently 31 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN great to constitute a serious expense, and it will probably increase in the future rather than decrease. These plans have been turned over to the Mayor of Baltinjore, and by him ^ere transmitted to the railroads and to the City Planning Com- mission. The latter has, so far as I can determine, made no report upon them except to say that the matter has now reached the point where a careful study should be made of the whole situation by the city. The railroads took up the plan with a great deal of interest and numerous consultations followed. A number of minor engineering details and of suggested methods of operation have been modified in order to meet what seemed to be valid objections on the part of the roads. The plan as finally put forward and as outlined here has not been, so far as we can determine, criticised in any way excepting on the lines indicated above. Conclusion The interests of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in the present controversy and the interests of Baltimore City are to some degree an- tagonistic. This does not mean that the Pennsylvania Eailroad is to be criticised for its attitude or for its action in the past any more than it means that the city should be criticised. The Pennsylvania is seeking a perfectly definite thing;' the largest permissible return on its investment both in the present and in the future. What it needs primarily is to relieve its tunnel congestion and consequently increase the volume of business which it can do here and decrease so far as possible its operating cost. It is the duty of its directors to get what it needs from the city at the minimum cost to the road, consistent with the ordinary principles of fair dealing. The city on the other hand cares comparatively little about the freight which goes through it; what it is interested in is the principle of the open door, the promotion of the comfort and health of the com- munity, the promotion of its local commerce, and freedom to build the city in the future as its ovm best discretion may dictate. Under these conditions the Pennsylvania comes to the City of Balti- more for something which we can sell and which it must buy. "We can get money for our franchises, we can get electrification for our franchises, or we can get other things for our franchises. The important thing is that we shall not sell now what we have for sale except after a careful recognition 'of those things which will be to our most lasting benefit as a city and as a business community. ' When this deal is completed and the Pennsylvania acquires what she is now asking for, she will not need to buy anything more from us for a generation or for generations to come. This is our opportunity ; not to hold up the Pennsylvania Eailroad. 22 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN not to fetter it or bind it in any way in its fullest development or in its development of the commerce of the country, but to make such a bargain with it that we, shouldering our fair share of the cost of whatever is to be done, may nevertheless receive from the Pennsylvania Kailroad the things which we most need. The biggest fight of all, I believe, will be over the open dqor and free inter-communication principles. The Pennsylvania Eailroad to-day enjoys the major part of the northern-southern freight traffic. If it can acquire the privileges for which it is now asking, leaving the B. & 0. in its present condition, it will be able to put the B. & 0. under a handicap which the latter road cannot hope to overcome ; and will be in a position to fight successfully any new competitor who desires to get through Balti- more for a share of the southern trade. More than that, the Pennsyl- vania will not wish to throw open to other roads the industrial sidings connected with her lines. Under these conditions it is good business for the Pennsylvania Eailroad to object most strongly to either the open door or the free inter- change idea. It does not follow that what is good business for the Pennsylvania Eailroad is also good business for the City of Baltimore. APPENDIX Peoposed Plan of Organization and Operation of a Baltimore Municipal Belt Line Organize a new corporation, hereafter called the Terminal Com- pany, to which the city shall give a long term franchise covering all the rights which may be needed to carry the proposed four-track tunnel through the city, and to join it up with all existing railroad lines.' In return for this franchise the city shall be given the stock of the new corporation. This stock held by the city shall be inalienable except as it may be necessary to transfer a minimum number of shares temporarily in order to qualify the directors representing the city. The ownership of this stock shall be vested in a Board of Trustees composed of the Mayor, ex officio, and six other persons (details of their selection to be considered later). The Charter of this Terminal Company shall give it the power to issue bonds without preserving any definite ratio between the bond and stock issues outstanding. The road will be built with the proceeds of the bonds of the Terminal Company. These bonds would run for ( — ) years with proper sinking fund provisions for total or partial retirement. The Terminal Company 23 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN may either act itself as a construction company or may employ an exist- ing railroad company or companies to do the work, preferably the latter. When completed the line will be operated as joint trackage by the participating companies under the control of an operating board made up of representatives of the Terminal Company and the participating com- panies the system being generally the same as in the Washington Ter- minal agreement. This operating board shall be responsible for mainte- nance of way and structures, for the generation and transmission of power, and for the creation of a proper depreciation reserve. The total expense to be charged to the proposed line shall be de- termined by adding to the total expenses of the operating board the bond interest and sinking fund charges of the Terminal Company. This total expense may be pro-rated on a car-mile, ton-mile, or other agreed basis. The operating board charge per car-mile shall be the total expense of the operating board divided by the total car-mileage. The Terminal Company charge per car-mile shall be the total bond interest and sinking fund charges divided by the total car-mileage, provided that the Terminal Company charge per car-mile shall never exceed the quotient obtained by dividing the total bond interest and sinking fund charges by the present total ear-mileage of the initially participating roads, the present ear-mileage of each road being hereafter called the minimum car-mileage. The participating roads, the Terminal Company, and the city shall enter into a contract including the following terms and conditions: A. The participating roads shall agree to use the proposed line during the life of the franchise. B. The participating roads shall pay their pro rata of the expenses of the operating board and of the Terminal Company. C. If in any year the total car-mileage of the proposed line falls below the present combined car-mileage of the initially participating roads the deficit shall be apportioned among, and the Terminal Company charges thereon paid by, those participating roads whose mileage for that year is less than their minimum, said apportionment to be in proportion to their respective shortages. D. Ko other charges for the use of the proposed line shall be im- posed upon a participating road by the city, the Terminal Company, or the operating board except as above set forth. Any road entering into the above contract becomes thereby a partici- pating road. 1 The accounts of the Terminal Company shall be so kept as to show at any time the total contribution of each participating road to the sinking funds. Fo additional road shall be admitted to participation until it shall have made a contribution to the sinking funds equal to the smallest total 34 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN contribution theretofore made by any one of the participating roads, and said road admitted to participation shall be held responsible for such minimum car-mileage as shall be fixed by the Terminal Company, provided that at the end of the second year of its participation its minimum car- mileage shall be raised to such quantity, not exceeding its total car-mile- age for the second year, as may be demanded by the operating board. The minimiim car-mileage assessed against a new participating road shall be used to reduce the minimum car-mileage of the previously participating roads, being divided among them in proportion to their respective minima. If any road shall desire to become a participating road after the redemption of all or any part of a bond issue, it shall be compelled to pay in addition to its contribution to sinking funds its full share of the cost of the road and equipment in excess of the outstanding bond issues. In all computations of this sort the extensions made out of the depreciation reserve shall be regarded as constituting part of the depreciation reserve and extensions made out of the sinking funds shall be regarded as a portion of such sinking funds. Extensions may be made out of their own funds by participating roads upon such terms as to financing as may be agreed upon between them, and may be acceptable to the Terminal Company. Such proposed extensions, however, must be open to new participating companies if they so desire upon terms and conditions similar to those above set forth. The roads desiring to use the proposed lines without becoming par- ticipating roads may do so in either one of two ways. 1. They may employ a participating road to handle their traffic for them on such terms and conditions as they may make between them, such traffic being as to the Terminal Company and the operating board regarded as the traffic of the participating company handling it. 2. They may provide themselves with their own equipment and use the road under the supervision of the operating board, but without representation thereon. In such case they shall pay the regular operat- ing board charge per car-mile and the Terminal Company charge per car-mile, and in addition thereto shall pay to the Terminal Company a sum equal to — per cent, of the sum of the operating board and Ter- minal Company charges. This excess sum shall be regarded as the property of the Terminal Company available as dividends upon its stock. All payments to the operating board and to the Terminal Company shall be made monthly at the rates as finally determined for the previous fiscal period, and adjusted at the end of the current fiscal period to the actual rates for such period. Proper security may be demanded by the Terminal Company for the monthly payments and adjustments above provided for. Each road using the proposed lines, whether participating or non- 25 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN participating, shall have the right to connect its lines of railroad with the proposed line and to install switches to warehouses, yards, stations, wharves or docks, or other facilities for the handling of traffic owned by it, but nothing in any of the contracts shall give to any road (partici- pating or non-participating) the right to demand that its traffic shall be delivered to or received at any yard, siding, warehouse, wharf, dock, or other facility for the handling of traffic owned by any other participating or non-participating road, it being the intent of all the agreements herein proposed that they shall, taken collectively, create a common highway for the handling of the traffic of the using roads without compelling any of said roads to share with any other road its own terminal facilities built or purchased by it at its ovm expense. Any person, firm or corporation desiring connection with the pro- posed line shall first secure from the Mayor -and City Council of Balti- more or from the County Commissioners of the County the necessary franchises or permits, and shall then give to the Terminal Company proper security for the cost of the proposed connection, the expenses of its maintenance, and for the delivery over such connection of a minimum amount of business during each fiscal period. The operating board shall thereupon construct at the expense of said person, firm or corporation, such turn-outs or switches as shall be neces- sary to connect the property of the applicant with the proposed line. The title to said connection shall vest in the applicant, excepting that any portion of said track so built lying between its connection with the pro- posed line and its entry upon the private property of the applicant may be operated also for the benefit of other subsequent applicants upon their refunding to the original applicant the proper share of the construction cost and upon assuming the proper share of the burden of maintenance. ' By agreement between the Terminal Company and the participating roads certain territory, including all of the corporate limits of the City of Baltimore and such additional territory beyond as may be agreed upon, shall be designated as Terminal Company territory. Bach using road, whether participating or non-participating, shall by contract with the Terminal Company agree to deliver freight in car- load lots from any terminal, yard, wharf, switch, or siding within the Terminal Company territory, not owned by but connected with the lines of such using company, to any other using road at the Junction of such other road with the lines of the Terminal Company, and to receive from other using roads, at its own junction with the lines of the Terminal Company, freight consigned to such terminals, yards, wharves, switches, or sidings. Every individual, firm or corporation having within the Terminal Company territory a connection with the lines of the Terminal Company or with the lines of any using company, shall be entitled to have freight moved in carload lots from the yard or siding so connected to any other 26 Digitized by Microsoft® CITY CLUB OF BALTIMORE BULLETIN yard or siding willing to receive the same, or delivered to any using road for shipment over its lines at its junction with the lines of the Terminal Company, or transferred from the junction of any using road with the Terminal Company lines to said yard or siding upon payment of a car- mileage charge equal to the sum of the operating board's car-mileage charge and the Terminal Company's car-mileage charge plus such sum as may be fixed by the operating board under the supervision of the Public Service Commission of Maryland as a proper charge for the car movement involved. The city shall agree at the end of the franchise either to renew the same or to purchase the road by refunding to the then participating roads their total unamortized capital investment. Cornell University Library HE2781.B2 M26 Baltimore's railroad problem olin 3 1924 030 125 847 27 Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft®