] 
 
 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 
 
 RAPID TRANSIT 
 
 AND 
 
 TERMINAL FREIGHT FACILITIES. 
 
 REPOKT OF COMMITTEE APPOINTED SEPTEMBER, 3d, 1874, 
 to Investigate the Best Means op Rapid Transit and 
 of Handling Freight in and about the 
 City op New York. 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1875, by the American Society of Civil 
 Eugiueera, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, 
 
American Society of Civil Engineers, 
 63 William Street, New York. 
 
 At the regular meeting of the Society, held February 3d, 1875, the 
 Report of the Committee on "Rapid Transit and the Handling of 
 Freight in New York," was presented, read, and the following resolu- 
 tion adopted : 
 
 • ' JV/iereas, There are grave doubts in the Society on the propriety 
 of this association taking such action upon the Report on Rapid Transit 
 as may be construed into an endorsement thereof by the Society ; 
 therefore, 
 
 • ' Resolved, That the admirable report presented to-day be accepted, 
 with thanks ; the Committee discharged, and the paper published in 
 usual course, as a paper contributed by the subscribing members of the 
 Committee, with this resolution printed at its head." 
 
 In accordance with the above resolution, this report will appear in the 
 Transactions of the Society for April. In view of the great local interest 
 manifested in the subject, however, advance copies are now printed to 
 serve in the discussions which are set down for the meetings of the 
 Society, as follows : 
 
 At the afternoon meeting, March 3d, 1875, on Part I, Rapid Transit, 
 and at the evening meeting, March 17th, 1875, on Part II, Terminal 
 Freight Facilities. 
 
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 
 
 INCORPORATED 1852. 
 
 .».».»» 
 
 Note. — This Society is not responsible, as a body, for the facts and opinions advanced in any 
 of its publications. 
 
 RAPID TRANSIT AND TERMINAL FREIGHT FACILITIES, 
 
 A Eeporfc by O. Chanute, M. N. Forney, Ashbel Welch, 
 Charles K. Graham, and Francis Collingwood, Members 
 of the Society. 
 
 Read February 3d, 1875. 
 *•» 
 
 New York, January 30th, 1875. 
 
 10 the American Society of Civil Engineers : 
 
 At the regular meeting held September 3d, 1874, it was*- 
 "Resolved, That a committee of five members of this Society be ap- 
 pointed by the President, to investigate the necessary conditions of 
 " success, and to recommend plans for — " 
 
 " First. — The best means of rapid transit for passengers, and 
 £i Second. — The best and cheapest methods of delivering, storing and 
 " distributing goods and freight, in and about the city of New York, 
 " with instructions to examine plans, and to receive suggestions such as 
 i ' parties interested in the matter may choose to offer, and to report on or 
 
 11 before the first day of December, 1874." 
 
 Your c mimittee has found itself unable to report within the prescribed 
 time. The magnitude of the investigation must be the excuse ; and even 
 now the committee feels that its examination has done little more than 
 remove some of the rubbish which has accumulated about the subjects 
 presented. 
 
 Deeming that the first step requisite was to collect facts, your com- 
 mittee has endeavored to obtain all the data that could be procured. Its 
 members have read all the publications they could find upon these 
 
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library 
 (in roF Seymour B. Durst Old York Library 
 
2 
 
 voluminous subjects. They have adverts ed by circular for communica- 
 tions in writing, ami have held rive public meetings at the rooms of the 
 Society to give hearings to such parties as chose to appear. They 
 have sought interviews with all persons and organized bodies who were 
 likely to possess information, and have obtained the co-operation of the 
 Produce Exchange and the Grocer's Board of Trade in gathering statis- 
 tics. They have addressed a circular to the property owners and tenants 
 along the^New York Elevated Railroad, inquiring into the effect of the 
 operations of that road upon business and property along its line, and 
 they have arranged with a Member of the Society, Mr. Wilson Crosby, to 
 give his time gratuitously to the collection of data as to the cost of hand- 
 ling freights. They have held many private meetings, to discuss and 
 examine, with the aid of the Secretary of the Society, the large mass 
 of materials thus accumulated. They here wish to return their thanks 
 to the many gentlemen with whom they have come in contact, for the 
 valuable aid rendered, as well as for the courtesy and imtienee with 
 which their enquiries (often consuming valuable time) have been an- 
 swered, and the desired information supplied. 
 
 The 2>assenger and freight questions will be discussed separately. 
 
 Part. I — Rapid Transit for Passengers. 
 
 Your committee will leave it entirely for others to point out the im- 
 portance of rapid transit to the people of the city of New York. 
 
 The first and most important requirement, as it seems to us, is that 
 the fares shall be as low, or nearly as low, as upon the street railroads 
 which run through the city. Nothing else would enable the rapid tran- 
 sit roads to secure the enormous traffic which they must have, to be 
 profitable, or to enable them to be of real sendee to the general public. 
 The volume of business awaiting them is undoubted. The Table in 
 Appendix A shows that the horse railroads and omnibuses alone carried 
 nearly 150,000,000 passengers in 1873, and with proper facilities this 
 may be expected to increase largely. The present accommodations are 
 clearly inadequate, and there must be more roads from the upper to the 
 lower part of the island. The trains should run at high speed, but low 
 fares cannot be charged if an enormous business is not secured, or if the 
 cost of operation and construction be onerously expensive. 
 
 The people of the city of New Y'ork, are, perhaps themselves in some 
 degree the cause of the failure thus far to devise any practicable scheme 
 of rapid transit. Without procuring the collection of the data upon 
 
3 
 
 which alone an opinion should be based, they have hitherto insisted upon 
 expensive and onerous requirements-. Roads of great capacity to be 
 operated at high speed, have been asked for, but at the same time it has 
 been required that locomotives should not be used, or if they were, 
 that they should be out of sight and out of hearing, and especially 
 that they should not run near respective individual properties, and 
 that the fares should be lower per mile than upon the ordinary rail- 
 roads of the country. These are in compatible requireni&ts ; they 
 have produced a plentiful crop of impracticable devices to reconcile 
 them, as your committee have become painfully aware during the 
 course of the investigation. Hitherto the requirements of the 
 charters granted have been so onerous, that upon making careful 
 estimates of the cost, the corporators have found themselves unable 
 to attract the necessary capital, or in the single case in which they 
 have proceeded with the work, that of the Elevated Railroad on 
 Greenwich street, they have found themselves so hampered with im- 
 practicable conditions, as to cripple the enterprise from the beginning, 
 so that now the general impression prevails among average investors, 
 that rapid transit roads must be unprofitable. 
 
 In order to secure rapid transit for the city of New York, it is neces- 
 sary to sacrifice to it some conveniences and many prejudices ; to furnish 
 at least a practicable location for the roads free of charge (for such can- 
 not afford to pay for the right of way over any considerable portion of their 
 routes), and to consent to such cheap and sound plans as will make it 
 reasonably certain that the enterprise will eventually pay a moderate re- 
 turn upon the investment. New York capitalists are probably quite 
 ready to undertake rapid transit under these conditions. They would 
 doubtless prefer to invest their money at home, where they can watch 
 their interests, than to send it to newer parts of the country, but they 
 must be made to see some hope of returns upon their investment. 
 
 The cost of transportation is dependent upon two circumstances ; first, 
 the cost of actual operation, and second, the interest upon the capital in- 
 vested. Rapid transit seeks to substitute for a system of street sar lines, 
 costing, fully equipped, about 839,09c) or $90,000 per mile of double track, 
 and operated by animal power, a cheaper mode of propulsion, in connec- 
 tion with which the speed shall be greatly increased, passengers shall all 
 be provided with seats,* and with far greater comfort than they now enjoy, 
 
 * The committee recommends that no authority be granted to any company to build a 
 rapid transit railroad, without the express stipulation that not more than half fare shall he 
 collected, unless the passenger is provided ivith a seat on demand. 
 
# 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 http://archive.org/details/rapidtransittermOOamer 
 
4 
 
 but for which the fare shall not be materially higher than at present. 
 While, therefore, it is quite possible, by the adoption of a cheaper motive 
 power, such as steam, and by aggregating passengers in train loads, in- 
 stead of single cars, to convey, even at high speed, somewhat cheaper 
 than is now done at low speed ; if the fares be limited by existing cir- 
 cumstances, as we believe they are, it will wholly depend upon the 
 volume of business, and the amount of capital invested, whether a rapid 
 transit road will pay. 
 
 Being of the opinion, after weighing all that has been said and written 
 on the subject, that the chief obstacle in the way of the construction of a 
 rapid transit road in New York, has been the uncertainty which exists in 
 the minds of capitalists in regard to the important question, whether such 
 a road would be profitable, the committee deemed it necessary, as a pre- 
 liminary basis, to ascertain what would be the probable earnings and 
 expenses of rapid transit roads, and on what amount of capital the net 
 revenue thus estimated would pay a fair rate of interest. The usual 
 methods of assuming the operating expenses to be a certain percentage 
 of the earnings, seemed to us quite worthless, when applied to roads 
 possessing so many features of novelty. During the progress of this 
 inquiry, therefore, two of the members of the committee made careful 
 estimates, from the best data they could obtain, of the possible revenues, 
 and of the cost of running trains furnishing the required accomo- 
 dations. These computations were entirely independent of each other ; 
 while such were in progress, the members of the committee avoided 
 the discussion of the subject among themselves, in order not to 
 bias each other. The result was gratifying. Although carried on by 
 somewhat different processes, the final computations agreed so closely as 
 to give the committee confidence in the approximate correctness of their 
 estimates. These are given separately in Appendices A and B. 
 
 From the result of these investigations, the committee has concluded 
 that such roads can be made to pay, upon a volume of traffic not much, 
 if any, greater than that now carried upon existing street car lines, and that 
 while it is possible the profits will not be sufficient at first to pay 
 interest upon the whole of the capital invested, yet the business is likely 
 to grow very fast ; and so soon as the population has adjusted itself to 
 the new facilities furnished, the volume of travel which may legitimately 
 be expected will pay large returns upon the investment required, if the 
 roads are judiciously built. 
 
 We have become satisfied that the character of the road which can 
 
5 
 
 be afforded will depend largely upon the route, and business which it can 
 command. It may be said, in general terms, that at a rate of fare not 
 materially greater than upon the existing horse railroads, say six or seven 
 cents for any distance over each operating division of about five miles in 
 length, (or about 1 \ cents per passenger per mile), a volume of traffic equal 
 to that now passing over the Third Avenue Railroad, say 27 000 000 pas- 
 sengers per annum, would warrant an expenditure for 'the construction 
 and equipment of a rapid transit road of about 8935 000 per mile of double 
 track, and at the above rate a traffic equal to that now passing over the 
 Eighth Avenue line, say 15 000 000 passengers per annum, would pay on 
 an expenditure of about $650 000 per mile. Adequate rapid transit roads, 
 located in the vicinity of these now favorite routes might do even more 
 business; they would very soon develop new traffic of their own by 
 settling up the upper part of the Island, while it is probable that the 
 increased business which would be secured upon the Harlem Railroad, if 
 steam transportation were properly extended from 42d street to the 
 Battery, would justify it in making an investment of about $1 500 000 
 per mile for that purpose. The data upon which these opinions are 
 based will be found in full in Appendices A and B. 
 
 As, however, the western upper portion of the island otters much the 
 most attractive sites for new residences, it seems probable that its 
 population and travel would speedily grow to be as large as those now 
 existing upon the east side. We, therefore, believe it not unfair to 
 assume that the traffic on rapid transit roads would in a few years be 
 equal to 35 000 000 passengers per annum* on each side of the island, 
 and that it would warrant an expenditure of about $935 000 per mile of 
 road. 
 
 In view of the tendency of such works to overrun the estimates, it 
 would not be prudent to make plans of an estimated cost of much more 
 than three-quarters those sums. This leaves an amount of -81 125 000 
 per mile, which the Harlem Road could afford to invest, and of about 
 8700 000 a mile, which could profitably be applied to an independent line, 
 securing a traffic of about 35 000 000 passengers annually upon either 
 side of the city. While the equipment of a new western road costs but 
 about 85 000 per mile of road, the rolling stock and stations to do this 
 business will cost about S-Ji>5 000 a mile, so that sums of $900 000 and of 
 
 * The Metropolitan Railway (London Underground) carried 43 533 973 passengers over its 
 six miles of road in 1873, and 44 118 225 in 1874. 
 
6 
 
 $475 000 per mile, respectively, would be Left to pay for the road proper. 
 If an elevated road be selected, its cost will largely depend upon the rolling 
 loads which are provided Eor, so that the weight of the engines and cars 
 really become in that case the governing elements. Jn our judgment the 
 success or failure of the rapid transit roads will largely depend upon the 
 skillful design and the lightness of the rolling stock. 
 
 This, however, is but one of many requirements, and pecfect success 
 requires that each one of its elements shall be ascertained and observed. 
 Rapid transit in New York is so nicely balanced between financial success 
 and failure, that it cannot afford to pay for mistakes, either of principle, 
 policy or material detail. It stands to-day much in the same position as 
 did the modern railway before Stephenson accomplished success on the 
 Liverpool and Manchester line. We feel persuaded that the same 
 gratifying results can be achieved for rapid transit. 
 
 Conditions of Success. 
 From the large mass of information which we have gathered, and the 
 discussions thereon, the following seem to us to be the leading conditions 
 of success for rapid transit roads in the city of New York. 
 
 1st. Capacity. — Each road must be prepared to do, audit should secure 
 a larger volume of passenger business than is now done upon any steam 
 railroad in the world, save the London underground roads. The Third 
 Avenue Railroad reports that in 1873, it carried 2C> 950 000 passengers on 
 its 8 miles of road or 18 miles of track, while the New York Central 
 Railroad reports, that with its 858 miles of road, and 1 716 miles of main 
 and side tracks, it carried but 7 G30 741 passengers. It is true that the 
 passengers on the New Y^ork Central rode much longer distances than 
 those on the Third Avenue line, yet if Ave assume that the passengers on 
 the latter traveled an average of but one and a half miles each (and our 
 information leads us to believe this is an under estimate), we have an 
 aggregate of 40 425 000 miles traveled on the Third Avenue against a 
 total of 339 122 (321 miles traveled on the Central Road. The volume of 
 business assumed in calculating that the Harlem Railroad could afford to 
 spend Si 500 000 a mile to extend its road to the Battery was 35 000 000 
 passengers per annum, or something like 100 000 per day. Probably 
 about one-half of this number must be moved down-town during three 
 hours in the morning, and back in about the same time in the afternoon ; 
 say 50 000 in six hours. To be successful, therefore, the road must 
 be prepared to transport about 8 400 p.issengers per hour in one direction 
 at certain times of the day. If, during those hours, the cars, with a 
 
7 
 
 seating capacity of 46, average -40 passengers, then 210 cars per hour, 
 say 70 trains of 3 cars each, or 42 trains of 5 cars each, must pass 
 the southern terminus. At the rate of speed of the horse-cars, this can 
 be done on a double track, but increased speed requires greater spaces 
 between trains, and increased track accommodations become desirable. 
 The first consequences, therefore, of the capacity required would seem 
 to be : (A), That the rapid transit roads should be double-tracked over 
 the whole of the routes, and be prepared to provide four tracks below 
 the point where the business gathers in sufficient volume to warrant it ; 
 and (B), that it is not practicable to accommodate freight trains over the 
 passenger lines, although an express and mail business may be done.* 
 
 2d. Safety. — This condition of success needs no argument. The road 
 must not only be absolutely safe, but appear so. It must inspire entire 
 confidence in order to secure the volume of travel which alone can make 
 it profitable, t 
 
 3d. Accessibility. — Not only must the roads and stations be so ar- 
 ranged that they shall be convenient of access from the street, but ar- 
 rangement must be so made that business shall be gathered readily from all 
 parts of the city. J Messrs. Richard and Samuel Buel, who have presented 
 much the best paper on rapid transit which has been laid before your 
 committee, propose that this shall be done by a system of cross-town lines 
 of horse railroads operated in connection with rapid transit roads. The 
 committee recommends that the whole of this paper be printed. 
 
 4th. Cheapness of Construction. — We have already stated the sums 
 which our calculations indicate can profitably be invested. It seems 
 clear that in order to economiz 3 money in construction, the right of way 
 
 * This necessity to provide for and to obtain an enormous business, entails several other 
 consequences. (C). In order to proportion the accommodation to the varying volume of busi- 
 ness at different hours of the day, the motive power and trains must be susceptible of divi- 
 sion. We believe that light locomotives will be found best to fulfill these conchtiona, but will 
 treat this b anch of the subject hereafter more at length. (D.) The various paits of the road 
 and its trains must be so arranged that a failure or accident to one train shall not materially 
 interfere with the operations of the others. (E). There must be no time table so far as the 
 public is concerned. Trains must be so frequent tbat the passengers shall always be sure to 
 obtain conveyance within a few minutes. 
 
 t The principal consequences are : (A). The trains mus be made as light as possible in 
 order that they may be quickly stopped. (B). The cars should be provided with safety whet Is 
 or other appliances to prevent derailment. Their constructi- n will be more fully discussed 
 hereafter. (C*. The road must be operated by the most approved system of block signals. 
 
 (D) . It will be advisable to equip the rolliog stock with safety platforms and train brakes 
 
 (E) . The roadway must be made at least as safe as that of ordinary surface railreads. 
 +Among the principal consequences of this condition seems to be: (A), J he cars should be 
 
 entered and left from the sides, instead of at the ends, in order to fill and empty them quickly. 
 (B), The station platforms should be about as long as the trains. 
 
8 
 
 must be given through the existing streets. No road can afford to pur- 
 chase the right of way except at the few points required to pass from the 
 line of one street to that of another. Even the proposal to open new 
 avenues at public expense for that purpose, cannot he entertained because 
 
 of the large cost and delay it involves. The existing streets are ample for 
 the surface traffic ; a portion above or under them must he made available 
 for rapid transit. 
 
 5th. Adequacy. — It seems to us that in planning even the first of the 
 rapid transit roads, it is necessary to consider it as a part of a general sys- 
 tem, and to enquire what lines are likely hereafter to he built. If one 
 road is successful, other portions of the city will claim equal advantages, 
 and capital maybe found to undertake rival roads. It appears reasonably 
 certain that, at first, not more than two lines are likely to pay. The 
 topography of the island, and its division into nearly equal portions on 
 each side of Central Park, seem to indicate that there must be two rapid 
 transit roach, one f >r the e ist side, an 1 another for the west side. If more 
 roads are hereafter c mstrucfced, it seem? to us that no matter by whom built, 
 such are likely in time to amalgamate into groups on each side of the city, 
 and to be operated if possible as a belt, upon which trains will be run 
 around in a circuit in both directions. 
 
 The time and expense consumed in switching and in making up trains, 
 with the varying requirements as to frequency over various parts of the 
 lines, might induce their division into a series of loop lines, on which 
 cars of different colors (to distinguish them), and having different rates 
 of fare, might be run in circuits of such length and with such frequency 
 as would be found to be requisite. This would truly secure rapid transit ; 
 the trains from the upper loops, for instance, after gathering their loads, 
 would make no stops, except in order to discharge local passengers at 
 the points of junction of the succeeding loops, and below a certain point 
 at high speed, upon independent tracks. 
 
 If these views are correct, it seems to your committee that it would 
 be wise to begin with an approximate plan of the general system, and 
 that it would be well to placa the control of the group of lines on each 
 side of the city in fche hands of a separate company, who should build 
 first such portions as are most likely to succeed, and extend the re- 
 mainder as business may require, or when the traffic reaches a certain 
 volume on the then existing line. Such a course would protect investors 
 from the risk of future competition, and restrict within fixed limits the 
 damage to property owners. 
 
9 
 
 6th. Recognition of existing Interests. — The next condition of suc- 
 cess seems to be the consideration and promotion of existing interests. 
 The roads should be made to supplement, so far as possible, the exist- 
 ing street railroads, instead of being in opposition to them. New traffic 
 will, under such circumstances, be developed so rapibly, that it is not im- 
 probable the increase of short local travel will compensate for the diver- 
 sion of through business. The present surface lines can be made of 
 great use in collecting way travel for the rapid transit roads, especially as 
 it is desirable, in order to save the time consumed in stops, that the 
 stations on the latter shall not be less than half a mile apart. It seems 
 " taaij flN^ ^ ia * when a route is decided upon, the control of the improved 
 mode of travel should under proper restrictions, be first offered to the par- 
 ties now operating a surface road upon that line, and to provide that the 
 steam and horse railroads shall make suitable arrangements for inter- 
 change of tickets. We must also recognize that there are many miles of 
 rapid transit roads built within the limits of the city. The Hudson River 
 Railroad, from Sixty-tilth streetto Spuyten Devil ; the New York Elevated 
 Railroad ; the Fourth Avenue Improvement of the Harlem Railroad, the 
 Spuyten Devil and Port Morris, and the Harlem and Port Chester, as 
 well as the railroad lines immediately beyond the limits of the city, may 
 be utilized for this purpose. A general rapid transit scheme should make 
 use of these existing lines as far as practicable, and by throwing over 
 them business which they do not now get or-perfectly enjoy, save the cost 
 of unnecessary parallel lines and render the profits of the increased 7 
 suburban traffic on the old lines available to pay the interest charges on 
 the new roads. A paying road, receiving new business from any source, 
 can afford to do it at but little more than the increased cost occasioned 
 thereby ; for the interest upon the investment being already provided 
 for by the existing traffic, all aditional profit is clear profit, and adds 
 directly to the value of the property. This is well understood by railroad 
 managers, and is constantly applied in fixing through freight rates. 
 
 It may not be practicable to utilize all the lines which have been men- 
 tioned ; whatever is done, it will be better to arrange that the light rapid 
 transit trains shall run over these lines, so as not to bring in the hea^fr 
 trains over the rapid transit roads. The latter arrangement would largely 
 increase the variable loads to be provided for, and the consequent cost of 
 the structure. 
 
 The possibility of utilizing these lines, which are all (with the excep- 
 ion tof the New York Elevated Railroad) of 4 feet 8| inches gauge, fixes 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 the 'adoption of this standard gauge for future rapid transit roads. In 
 fact, it would be expedient for the Elevated Railroad to alter its gauge, 
 which is now 4 feet lo inches, before materially extending its line.* 
 
 7th. Protection of public and private Interests. — The last con- 
 dition, and perhaps the most important, is that the interests of the 
 public, and of property owners along the hue, shall be thoroughly pro- 
 tected during the location, construction and operation of the rapid transit 
 roads. Some sacrifices are required of them, and they must suffer some 
 inconveniences ; the public must give the right of way upon two, or 
 perhaps eventually four Avenues ; the dwellers upon them must take the 
 chance of some annoyance from passing trains, and the property owners, 
 the risk of a possible depreciation of their property. Of course in this 
 great need, private interest should sometimes give way to public neces- 
 sities, and receive its reward by taking its share of the resulting general 
 benefits ; yet even the prejudices of the people should be consulted, and 
 their interests carefully protected. At every stage of the proceedings, 
 in the selection of the route, in the planning of the structure for each 
 section of the city, in the carrying on of the work, and in operating the 
 road, care must be taken that all interests be carefully protected, and 
 that the least possible injury be inflicted upon the present owners and 
 occupants of the premises. This will require great discretion, tact and 
 judgment. 
 
 Plans Examined. 
 Leaving aside for the present any differences caused by the various 
 modes of propulsion which have been proposed, the character of tin- 
 roads which have been brought forward for rapid transit may generally 
 be divided into three classes, — designated as the Underground, the De- 
 pressed and the Elevated Railroad systems. Your committee has ex- 
 amined plans for these various classes as follows ; a synopsis of them 
 has been prepared by your Secretary : — 
 
 For Underground Railways IT plans. 
 
 " Depressed " 8 
 
 " Elevated " 50 " 
 
 It would occupy so much space to discuss each of them in the body of 
 this report that we must be content to consider them merely as classes. 
 
 * Since the above has been put in print, the committee has been gratified to see the same 
 recommendation made in a report of the President of this Road. 
 
11 
 
 1st. The Underground System. — This system was. unfortunately, 
 recommended by the committee of the New York Senate, appointed in 
 1866. The apparent financial success of the London underground rail- 
 ways, had probably, then much to do with this recommendation, and it 
 was, perhaps, made without sufficient estimates of cost, or consideration 
 of the differences in the extent of lines required and of the materials 
 to be excavated in Xew York and in London. 
 
 In consequence of the configuration and formation of the city, under- 
 ground railways in Xew York must be located upon long north and south 
 lines, excavated largely through rock, while in London they are upon an 
 irregular circle, forming a belt within the city, and excavated through 
 clay. Since the report of that committee, three charters have been granted 
 for underground railways in Xew York, careful plans and estimates have 
 been made for them, and they have been considered by able financiers, 
 but thus far not a single one of them has been able to secure the necessary 
 capital. The following objections have been made against this system : 
 
 1st. That roads could not be built and equipped under it much short 
 of two or three millions of dollars per mile. The cost of the Central 
 Underground Railway, which seems to have been very carefully worked 
 out, was estimated by Messrs. AY. W. Evans. E. S. Chesbrough and 
 George S. Greene, in 1869, at 817 625 301 for 9 miles of road. The cost 
 of the Arcade Railway, which your committee considers one of the best 
 designs presented for an underground railway, was estimated for a quad- 
 ruple track without rolling stock, at $2 096 950 per mile.* 
 
 2d. That it would during its construction seriously interfere with the 
 present surface traffic on the streets. 
 
 3d. That it would require expensive and inconvenient alterations of 
 the sewerage, and of the water and gas pipes of the city. 
 
 4th. That at many points it would be below high-water mark, and the 
 cost of artificial drainage would add materially to the maintenance 
 charges. 
 
 5th. That the ventilation would lie difficult and expensive. Serious 
 trouble already exists in similar tunnels (although much shorter), both in 
 this vicinity and in London. The use of locomotive engines would make 
 expensive mechanical ventilation necessary. 
 
 6th. That the patronage might be limited by the unwillingness of 
 
 * The cost of the Fourth Avenue improvement of the Harlem road, which is partly under- 
 ground, partly depressed and partly elevated, and partly a surface road, is understood to be 
 about $1 600 000 per mile, for four tracks, but ivithout equipment. 
 
12 
 
 many persons to travel in tunnels, and the operating expenses and main- 
 tenance be greater than above ground. 
 
 2d. The Depressed System. — This mode of construction, which would 
 more properly be called "the way through the Mocks."' is open to some 
 of the objections which have been mentioned in regard to the under- 
 ground system; while it is exposed to other objections of its own. which 
 would make the cost of building as great as the underground. 
 
 1st. As there is no street but the Boulevard and Fourth avenue wide 
 enough to permit of the building of a depressed road in its centre, with- 
 out rendering the remainder useless, the right of way upon any 
 other lines must be purchased through the blocks, and veal estate charges 
 would overbalance the cost of arching which this system saves. Upon a 
 line most judiciously chosen for its cheapness, Mr. John Schuyler esti- 
 mates the right of way at $500 000 per mile. It might be much greater. 
 
 2d. The time required to acquire the real estate, and to settle claims 
 for damage to adjoining property, would greatly delay the completion of 
 the road, and would load it with a heavy charge of accumulated interest, 
 before its earnings could begin. 
 
 Your committee, while they cannot recommend the adoption of this sys- 
 tem as applied to the existing city of New York, wish to commend the 
 plans and designs of Mr. Schuyler as being most carefully considered 
 and elaborated. 
 
 3d. The Elevated System.— If properly located and designed, this 
 is the cheapest system. It is free from difficulties of ventilation or drain- 
 age, from any obstructions by snow, or interference with sewers or pipes. 
 It involves far fewer contingencies than the other systems, and the cost 
 may be estimated beforehand with reasonable accuracy. The principal 
 objections urged against it are the following: 
 
 1st. That if built, as once proposed, of masonry, it would be nearly as 
 expensive as an underground road, and by obstructing light and ventila- 
 tion, would seriously injure adjoining property. 
 
 2d. That if built of iron, it would be deficient in stability and perma- 
 nence. 
 
 3d. That there would be great danger to passengers in case of a derail- 
 ment. 
 
 4th. The anticipated injury and damage to the value of real estate 
 along the line of the road. 
 
 5th. The invasion of privacy and annoyance to the occupants of 
 buildings along the line. 
 
13 
 
 6th. The frightening of horses in the street below the road. 
 
 7th. The interference of the supports, if located in the roadway, with 
 the street traffic. 
 
 8th. The general unsightliness of such structures. 
 
 Your committee, while fully recognizing the validity and weight of 
 many of these objections, is of the opinion that they are more than 
 balanced by those which exist against the underground and the de- 
 pressed systems, and that the saving of first cost is so essential a matter, 
 that some form of elevated railway should be made the leading feature 
 of rapid transit roads in most parts of the city. 
 
 As the committee recommends the adoption of some form of elevated 
 railroad, it will be expected to express its views upon each of the above 
 objections. The following are the opinions of its members : 
 
 1st. Masonry 'Viaduct. — The road should not be built of masonry, 
 except possibly on those portions which will be through the blocks in 
 passing from the line of one street to another. It should generally be 
 an iron skeleton structure. 
 
 2d. Want of Stability. — There is no warrant whatever for any 
 supposed lack of stability and permanence in a well designed iron struc- 
 ture. Iron bridges and trestles are built every day on our railroads, 
 exposed to much greater loads and vibrations than those which will ever 
 be imposed upon an elevated railroad. 
 
 3c?. Danger to Passengers. — This must be guarded against by the 
 system of construction of the road and rolling stock, and safety appli- 
 ances on the cars. It involves very careful examination and design, but 
 we are satisfied that serious accidents may be rendered almost impos- 
 sible. The New York Elevated Kailroad, with a confessedly inferior 
 construction, has now been in operation three years and seven months, 
 and has carried about 1 800 000 passengers, without injuring any of them 
 in any way. 
 
 \th. Injury to Real Estate. — Your committee freely confesses that 
 it does not know what the effect of a successful rapid transit elevated 
 railroad will be upon the values of real estate along its line. Many 
 gentlemen who have been consulted, believe that the large volume 
 of travel coming to and going from the route of an efficient elevated 
 road, will add largely to the value of the land along its line. Others 
 again, believe that the annoyance to the adjoining property owners will 
 diminish the value of their property. To be satisfied upon this point, 
 your committee issued some 1 200 circulars to the occupants and owners 
 
14 
 
 of property on the line of the New York Elevated Railroad, and had one 
 loft at every house, both on Greenwich street and on Ninth avenue. To 
 these 1 200 circulars, only 68 replies were received of which 37 were 
 from owners, and the remaining 31 from tenants, 34 from occupants of 
 whole buildings, 2('> from occupants of part of buildings, and 8 from 
 non-resident owners; 53 from Greenwich street, and 15 from Ninth 
 avenue ; 2S from bouses occupied for business purposes, 14 from resi- 
 dences, and 25 from the two combined. The time of such occupation 
 ranges from six months to fifty-two years. The opinions expressed 
 are as follows : 5 persons consider the road a benefit to the property 
 they own or occupy, 53 think it an injury, and 10 have no opinion. 
 One person thinks the road has increased the value of property, 50 
 believe that property has diminished in value from 5 to 40 per cent. , 4 
 persons are in favor of retaining the road, on the ground that property 
 would diminish in value upon its removal, 52 think that its removal 
 would increase the value of adjoining property from 5 to 40 per cent 
 
 In considering the answers that the circular elicited, it should be borne 
 in mind that these were given at a period of general business depression, 
 that only 68 replies were received to some 1 200 circulars, and that 
 those persons having grievances, or who have been most injuriously af- 
 fected, would be most likely to take the pains to answer. As the New 
 York Elevated Railroad does as yet but a small business, it is still a 
 matter of judgment how a successful rapid transit road will affect the 
 values of property along its line. Opinions of this class, expressed in 
 the early days of railroads, have so often been disproved by facts, that 
 they should be received with caution. It seems reasonable to believe 
 that down-town values along the lines of the future elevated railroads 
 will not be seriously diminished, while up-town values will be largely in- 
 creased. 
 
 5th. Invasion of Privacy. — Your committee fully admits the validity 
 of this objection. It is part of the price which must be paid for rapid 
 transit. The people of the city of New York must devote certain streets 
 to this object, and the structures must be so designed as to inflict the least 
 possible injury. It may be found in practice that the fears entertained on 
 this subject are exaggerated. Since beginning this investigation, one of 
 the committee has purposely occupied rooms with windows fronting 
 upon, and on the sime side of the street with the New York Elevated 
 Railroad, and finds no annoyance from the noise, smoke, steam or other 
 causes. 
 
15 
 
 6th. Frightening of Horse*. — As to the frightening of horses, ex- 
 perience along the present Elevated Railroad shows that this appre- 
 hension also is greatly exaggerated. Very few horses seem to be in any 
 way alarmed at the trains, and this, and similar experience about railroad 
 depots, shows how soon horses become accustomed to the noise and ap- 
 pearance of trains, and exhibit common sense by paying no attention to 
 them. It might not be safe to drive along the lines, spirited animals 
 kept for pleasure purposes, but driving of this class is already confined 
 to a very few streets, and those are streets which would never be selected 
 for elevated railways. 
 
 7th. Interference with Vehicles. — The committee also admits the 
 validity of the objection that the supports will interfere somewhat with 
 the surface traffic. When placed on the edge of the sidewalk, however, 
 the posts have been found almost no obstruction to the other uses of the 
 street. Where they are to be placed in the roadway, it is believed that 
 they can be so judiciously located as to form no serious obstacles. 
 
 8th. Uhsightliness. — As to the probable unsightliness of the structure, 
 the committee agrees with the public. No structure for rapid transit can 
 be made ornamental in the purely artistic sense of that word. Its long 
 straight lines w ill not admit of much architectural effect. It will be use- 
 ful, and it need not be hideously ugly. The engineer should endeavor by 
 tasteful design and appropriate ornamentation to give the structure 
 as pleasing an appearance as possible, so that it need not mar the appear- 
 ance of the city us much as some of the buildings which have been 
 erected by public or private enterprise. 
 
 Character of Structure. 
 The efforts of the promoters of rapid transit schemes seem hitherto 
 to have been directed to the design of new and unheard-of structures, 
 whose novelty they could readily patent, and which they proposed 
 to build continuously over the whole line, regardless of local cir- 
 cumstances. The larger part of the labors of your committee has 
 consisted in the examination of such schemes. It examined proposals 
 to locate the elevated roads" near the tops of the houses, or through 
 the blocks, or over the streets, and to construct them either as masonry 
 viaducts, or as a series of iron bridges. All sorts of plans have been pro- 
 posed for construction and for operation. A comparative examination 
 of the cost of each plan has convinced your committee that the only 
 class of elevated road likely to prove profitable is an iron structure, 1G 
 to 25 feet high, built over streets, the right of way being free, and 
 the line being operated by light locomotives. 
 
16 
 
 It is, however, a serious mistake to propose a single plan, to be 
 applied and carried out alike in all parts of the city. This is imprac- 
 ticable. A really successful rapid transit road must extend from the 
 Battery to the Harlem river, and, eventually, much beyond. Xo one 
 plan can apply equally well to all parts of so extended a location. 
 The roads should conform, not only to the topography of the island, 
 but also to the local requirements in each part of the city. At certain 
 points they may be in tunnels, either to secure practicable gradients or to 
 avoid annoyance to the public, at others they may go through the blocks, 
 in open cuttings or on a masonry viaduct, Avhile in the unsettled districts 
 in the upper part of the island, and beyond Harlem river, they may even 
 be surface roads, and remain so until advancing population require them 
 to be raised out of the way of the ordinary street traffic. For the greater 
 part of the way they will probably consist of some form of elevated road, 
 located over the streets, but this should vary in character with the cir- 
 cumstances of the neighborhood. It may even be of wood for a time, 
 and thus save present expense, over such sections as are likely to deve- 
 lope new requirements with advancing population. It is natural and 
 proper that this part of the design should receive the most attention, but 
 it is perhaps because designers have hitherto presented but a single 
 plan, that they have met with so much opposition from adjoining prop- 
 erty owners and existing interests, and have so often failed to obtain 
 the necessary legislative sanction. 
 
 The public is chiefly responsible for this error. It has expected 
 and demanded the submission of a single plan, which could be understood 
 upon cursory examination, so that Civil Engineers, as a rule, who saw 
 the many elements of the problem, have hitherto held aloof from pre- 
 senting any original design. Of the 75 plans or schemes examined by 
 your committee, but 24 were offered by Civil Engineers, and but 10 by 
 members of the Society. Of the latter, two exhibited plans only at 
 the particular request of the committee, and explained that these had 
 been made for particular locations in the extension of the New York 
 Elevated Railroad. 
 
 The fact is that in this, us well as in most engineering works, there is 
 no one best plan to be applied everywhere and under all circumstances. 
 There must be an adaptation of means to ends. The ills that the 
 public of New York are suffering, cannot be satisfactorily remedied by 
 any one patent plan. 
 
 Nor do we believe that complete plans can be made without the con- 
 
17 
 
 currence and advice of the capital which is to build the work. On lines 
 covering many miles in extent, there will be many alternatives ; as careful 
 surveys and examinations bring out fresh facts, the relative merits of 
 routes and plans must be weighed, and a decision made in the light of 
 the estimates and necessities of location. To do this economically, re- 
 quires the concurrence and control of capital, and that care which springs 
 only from personal interest. 
 
 We believe that varied plans must be made, that the designs must 
 conform to local requirements and circumstances in each part of the city, 
 so as to inflict the least possible damage and annoyance, and above all, 
 that the plans must be selected by the capital which is invited to carry 
 them out, and approved by a competent board of commissioners. 
 
 The most that your committee can do is to indicate what special plans 
 seem best adapted to special localities. Even in this it does not wish to 
 be understood as giving them an unqualified approval. There is not a 
 single member of your committee who is sufficiently satisfied with the 
 cursory examination which the time assigned for this investigation has 
 allowed him to give to the subject, to decide positively that he would 
 adopt any one of the designs examined, and no other, if the responsi- 
 bility were placed upon him of building a system of rapid transit roads 
 for the city of New York. 
 
 Eolling Weights to be Carbied. 
 
 The leading elements of the cost of an elevated road, are : first, the 
 rolling weights to be provided for ; and second, the position to be oc- 
 cupied in the street. 
 
 The strength of the structure must vary with the weights to be carried, 
 so that the cost will largely depend upon the character of the rolling- 
 stock. It will be seen by the table of weight of trains given on page 23, 
 that while ordinary railroad trains impose a weight of 2 666 pounds 
 per lineal foot over a span 30 feet in length, a train, such as in the 
 judgment of the committee is best adapted for rapid transit roads, will 
 impose a weight of 600 pounds per lineal foot over the saine"space of 30 
 feet. This load, however, is concentrated at the points of contact of 
 the wheels, and exerts greater strains than if uniformly distributed over 
 the whole distance. In view of this fact, and of the apparently almost 
 irresistible tendency to increase the weight of cars and engines, as ad- 
 ditions are made from time to time to the rolling stock, the committee 
 recommends that a rolling-load of 1 200 pounds per lineal foot of each 
 3 
 
18 
 
 track bo assumed in designing elevated railroads, and that the factor of 
 safety shall be from 5 to 6, according to local circumstances. 
 
 Position in the Street. 
 
 It appears to your committee that the great advantages for cheap con- 
 struction offered by narrow streets lias not been sufficiently recognized. 
 Those running north and south, near Broadway, such as Greene and 
 Church on the west side, and Mulberry, Marion, Centre and Nassau on 
 the east side, are mostly business streets, or inferior residence streets. 
 An elevated railroad through them would injure property but little, if at 
 all, while the circumstances are most favorable for the economical con- 
 struction of a double, triple or at some points quadruple track railroad 
 trestle bridge over them. The supporting iron columns should be 
 placed just inside the curb line, and they should be surmounted by ordi- 
 nary lattice girders, so arranged as to shade the street as little as pos- 
 sible. If the columns be located in this way, the plan presented by 
 Messrs. Buel seems to your committee best adapted to fulfill the various 
 requirements of such a location, in streets about 20 feet wide between 
 curbs. It is estimated by them to cost $450 000 'per mile, this being 
 predicated however upon an assumed rolling load of 1 500 pounds per 
 foot of track. If the weight of the engines and cars be reduced, so as to 
 require an assumed rolling load of but 1 200 pounds per foot, as recom- 
 mended by your committee^ the cost will be somewhat lessened. 
 
 For streets about 30 feet between curbs, a modification of the system 
 of cross and longitudinal girders, proposed by Mr. D. A. Morris, would 
 be found economical. The committee, however, cannot approve the ex- 
 tensive use of cast-iron, exposed to transverse strains, which he proposes, 
 and while it would call attention to the ingenuity of his plans of track 
 and rolling stock, it does not wish to be understood as endorsing them, 
 nor vouching for the correctness of his estimates of cost. 
 
 The great obstacle to cheap rapid transit lies in the avenues. Their 
 great width, 60 feet between curbs, which is so convenient for surface 
 traffic, adds enormously to the cost of constructing a road over the centre 
 of the street, if support must be taken at tin 1 curbstone In them there 
 are two possible locations for an elevated road. Either the tracks may 
 be close together over the centre of the roadway, or they may be inde- 
 pendent tracks ; one on^each side of the street. The adoption of the first 
 alternative involves the construction of a double set of bridges, one along 
 the street to carry the track, and the other across the street to support 
 
19 
 
 the first set. A number of ingenious plans have been presented to us to 
 accomplish this object. The best seems to be that of Mr. Richard P. 
 Morgan, Jr. , which is estimated by him to cost $520 000 per mile if 
 built to cany locomotives weighing six tons, and $841 104 per mile if 
 proportioned for the ordinary rolling stock of our surface railroads.* 
 As, however, these estimates are based upon an assumed width of 46 
 feet between curbs (that of Broadway), they will have to be materially 
 increased for an avenue. If the estimates of revenue and operating 
 expenses made by your committee are correct, there is but one line 
 which can afford to adopt such a plan. 
 
 We would call attention to the plans presented by Mr. Z. S. Durfee, 
 for a double track railway over each sidewalk of an avenue, as well as to 
 the paper accompanying them. His suggestions contain some valuable 
 features, but are likely to meet with great opposition from some of the 
 property owners. 
 
 If the alternative of two independent tracks, one on each side of the 
 street, be preferred, Mr. C. T. Harvey is entitled to the credit of having 
 been the first, f not only to propose, but to carry out such a system of con- 
 struction on the New York Elevated Railroad. But this design, of single 
 columns, is deficient in stability. The side oscilations are too great, 
 and the assumed rolling load too small. The design has been much 
 improved on the section erected above Twenty-ninth street, and 
 still better plans have been shown to your committee by Mr. Charles 
 Macdonald and Mr. Samuel H. Shreve. Both these gentlemen propose 
 clusters of four small columns, differently grouped, and occupying 
 scarcely more space on the sidewalk than the single columns of the 
 original plan. Mr. Macdonald surmounts his columns with lattice girders 
 placed under the rails, and provides for derailment by guard beams 
 placed on ties. Mr. Shreve uses plate girders placed inside the line of 
 the rails, supporting the latter upon ties which pass through the web of 
 the girders, and provides for safety by placing on the body of his cars 
 either shoes or horizontal wheels, which will bind against the girders in 
 case of a derailment. Both these gentlemen estimate the cost of their 
 
 * It has boen stated to the committee that Mr. Morgan was the first to propose the building 
 of an elevated road over the centre of the street and the use of locomotives for rapid transit, 
 and that he is fairly entitled to the credit therefor. After a revision of his estimates he reduces 
 the above amounts to $48G 000 and $757 994 per mile, respectively. 
 
 t Since the above was written, the attention of the committee has been called to the fact 
 that a somewhat similar arrangement was suggested by Charles Ellett, Jr., in 1844, and is 
 described in Gillespie's Manual of Road-making, pp. 314-315. 
 
( 
 
20 
 
 structure at about 8125 000 per mile of single track, or 8250 000 per 
 mile of double-track roads, if proportioned for the cars and engines o* 
 the New York Elevated Railroad, As your committee believes somewhat 
 heavier trains may come into use, in order to accommodate the volume of 
 business needed to make a rapid transit road profitable, the structures 
 should be proportioned for loads of 1 200 pounds per running foot of 
 track, and without stations, appointments or rolling stock, will then cost 
 from $300 000 to 8350 000 per mile of double track 
 
 This location over the edge of the sidewalk may be objected to. be- 
 cause of its interference with the privacy of the houses and the pre- 
 judices of the public against a road apparently so frail. In reality it can 
 be made as safe as a surface road. If however, it be determined to place 
 the two tracks over the centre of the street, there remains the alternative 
 of placing the supporting columns in the roadway of the street between 
 the curbs. This is proposed by Mr. J. B. Church and by the Messrs. Buel, 
 and although at first sight such a plan would seem to interfere consider- 
 ably with the surface traffic, and to endanger passing carriages and 
 runaway teams, these difficulties are reduced by further examination. 
 It is not thought that it would be well to place posts in the roadway 
 throughout the whole length of an avenue : the surface traffic in some 
 parts of every avenue is so large, or the property so valuable, that 
 support must be taken at the sidewalk ; but in many portions the traffic- 
 is now, and is likely to continue so small, and the adjoining buildings 
 are of so poor a character, that if the spans be made about 50 feet (not 
 16 feet as proposed in some charters offered at the last session of the 
 Legislature), posts within the roadway are not likely to prove a serious 
 annoyance. 
 
 Whether the line of columns should be spaced about 20 feet apart, so 
 as to divide the carriage way into three equal portions, each wide enough 
 for two carriages (the present horse railroad tracks occupying the centre 
 span), or whether the posts should be spaced about 10 feet apart, with a 
 footwalk between them, so as to leave a wide space on each side for car- 
 riages, your committee cannot now determine. It recommends that the 
 question be discussed by the Society, and that experiments be made to 
 determine practically the objection to either arrangement. The argu- 
 ment in favor of placing posts in the roadway, to carry an elevated road 
 over the centre of an avenue, is the single one of economy, as it will cost 
 twice as much if the support is taken from the edge of the curb, as it will 
 if the posts are placed in the carriage way. In the latter case, a double 
 
21 
 
 track road can be built for $300 000 a mile on an assumed rolling load 
 of 1 200 pounds per lineal foot of track, and ^elusive of stations or 
 equipment. 
 
 Whether rapid transit roads are practicable as paying investments 
 may largely depend upon the determination of this question. 
 
 In any case, however, if posts are placed in the roadway of the 
 streets, the surface traffic will be much facilitated by the simple police 
 regulation that vehicles proceeding rapidly shall hug the line of the 
 posts, and that those proceeding slowly shall hug the sidewalk. 
 
 A number of single-rail plans have been submitted to your com- 
 mittee, in which it is proposed to support the rolling stock from a 
 girder, carried on a single line of posts located at the edge of the side, 
 walk. Of these, the plans of Mr. Boy Stone and of Mr. T. D. Davis are 
 the best and most carefully worked out. They offer the advantage of 
 cheapness in the construction of the roadway, which, ivpon this system, 
 would cost from $175 000 to S200 000 per mile of double track ; but this 
 would partly be counterbalanced by the increased cost of the rolling- 
 stock, which, if in sufficient quantity to accommodate the volume of 
 traffic required to make the road pay, would probably cost as much as 
 the roadway. 
 
 The mechanical difficulties involved in designing cars and engines 
 upon this system, which has not inaptly been called the <; saddle-bag 
 plan," and in working them over switches, around curves, and under 
 conditions of unequal loading or of strong side winds, seem to your 
 committee so serious that it has little hope of their being successfnlly 
 overcome. 
 
 Rolling Stock. 
 
 The character of the rolling stock, as has already been remarked, 
 is a matter of very great importance in the construction of a rapid 
 transit railroad, the pecuniary success of which is. to a very great 
 extent, dependent upon the design and construction of the locomotives 
 and cars. Among the primary conditions which a rapid transit road 
 must fulfill, is that passengers should be carried at frequent intervals of 
 time. The length of these intervals will of necessity be in proportion 
 to the number of passengers that can be carried in each train, or. in 
 other words, to the size of the trains. 
 
 The celerity with which small cars may be loaded and unloaded, and 
 the facility of handling light trains has already been referred to. By 
 their use, the dead weight carried may be very much reduced. Heavy 
 
22 
 
 trains require more power to start and stop them; more powerful engines 
 arc therefore needed, and the ears are consequently subjected to 
 much greater strains. The cars must ho made stronger, and conse- 
 quently heavier, which reacts on the difficulty of starting and stopping 
 them, thus making a still greater increase of engine power necessary. 
 An ordinary passenger car which lias seats for 60 passengers, is 48 feet 
 long and weighs 36 100 pounds, or GOO pounds per passenger. The cars 
 used on the New York Elevated Railroad have seats for -48 passengers, 
 are 33 feet 6 inches long, and weigh 11 200 pounds, or 233 pounds 
 per passenger. The dead weight per passenger of the latter, it will 
 therefore be seen, is very much less than with the ordinary cars. 
 
 The weight of locomotives usually used for ordinary passenger trains, 
 with that of the tender, is 100 000 pounds. The maximum load on any 
 one wheel is 10 000 pounds. On the New York Elevated Railroad 
 small four-wheeled engines are employed. Their weight is 10 600 
 pounds, with a maximum load of 2 650 pounds per wheel. The weight, 
 length, &c, of these trains are represented in the following table. 
 
 Train. 
 
 ,T. lt a. Len s th of 
 
 Wheel Base. I th Pas- 
 
 Wg't per Passg'r , 
 
 of Cars 
 aud Locomotive. 
 
 Maximum Wg't 
 per Wheel. 
 
 Ordinary 
 
 N. Y. Elevated.. . . 
 
 372 ft. 2 in. 372 400 lbs. 
 125 ft. 9 in. Go 800 " 
 
 1 034 lbs. 
 457 " 
 
 10 000 lbs. 
 
 2 650 " 
 
 A comparison of the above figures shows the very great difference in 
 the weight per passenger of the different trains. This difference is of 
 importance in two ways: first, the actual expense of hauling the non- 
 paying weight is considerable; second, the increased weight of train 
 makes heavier engines necessary, which increases the wear of the track 
 very largely. 
 
 The expenses of operating, which will be diminished if the amount of 
 dead weight of train is reduced, will be the following ; locomotive re- 
 pairs, including cleaning, fuel for locomotive, oil and waste for same, 
 water supply, general expense for locomotive shops, car repairs^ oil and 
 waste used for cars, road repairs. 
 
 If an elevated railroad is built, the weight of the rolling-stock be- 
 com >s of the utmost importance, as the strength and, to a very great ex- 
 tent, the cost of the struct;! -e is directly dependent upon the weight 
 which it must carry. The weight which different trains will impose on 
 different spans of ail elevated road, say of 30, 40, 50 and 60 feet, is given 
 
23 
 
 in the following table, and also the weight reduced to pounds per foot of 
 each span. The weight which the ordinary cars alone, without the 
 locomotive, would bring on each of the spans is also given. 
 
 Load Imposed ky Trains on different Spans. 
 
 TllAINS. 
 
 30 ft. Span. 
 
 40 ft. Span. 
 
 50 ft. Span. 
 
 60 ft. Span. 
 
 "be a 
 > 5 
 
 g§ 
 
 Total wg't 
 per ft. | 
 on Span . 
 
 Total wg't 
 on Span. 
 
 Total wg't 
 per ft. 
 on Span. 
 
 'tr a 
 * 5 
 
 3? 
 H ° 
 
 Total wg't 
 
 per It. 
 OU Span. 
 
 m a 
 " a, 
 
 3 - 
 
 H ° 
 
 Total wg't 
 
 per ft. 
 ! on Span. 
 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Ordinary 
 
 BO 000 
 
 2 066 
 
 91 350 
 
 2 284 
 
 102 700 
 
 2 054 
 
 122 700 
 
 2 045 
 
 Cars alone 
 
 45 400 
 
 1 513 
 
 45 400 
 
 1 135 
 
 45 400 
 
 908 
 
 56 750 
 
 946 
 
 N. Y. Elevated 
 
 19 800 
 
 660 
 
 23 000 
 
 575 
 
 32 200 
 
 644 
 
 38 200 
 
 633 
 
 
 18 000 
 
 600 
 
 22 500 
 
 562 
 
 27 000 
 
 540 
 
 36 000 
 
 600 
 
 Of course, as the loads are concentrated in a few points of the span, 
 the strain to which a girder would he subjected would be greater than if 
 the load were equally distributed. These strains may, however, be easily 
 computed. This is not necessary now, as at present it is only intended 
 to show the loads to which the structure would be subjected by each 
 train. 
 
 From the table it will be seen that with the ordinary engine and train 
 the maximum loads on any of the spans will be 2 666 pounds per foot. 
 With the cars alone, the maximum load will be 1 513 pounds, and with the 
 Xew York Elevated train it will be 660 pounds. It is obvious, then, that 
 the structure of an elevated road to carry the heavier cars ami engine 
 must be built to sustain a load about four times as great as that to 
 which it would be subjected by the New York Elevated train. Con- 
 sidered then, simply as a question of cost, it is obvious that if light traius 
 and rolling stock are used on such a road, that it will cost very much less 
 than if a heavier class of cars and engines are employed. 
 
 For these reasons and also on account of the reduced cost of running, 
 the advantages of using light rolling stock for any rapid transit road, but 
 especially for an elevated railroad, arc apparent. As already stated, the 
 weight per passenger of the cars in use on the Elevated Railroad is 
 less than that of any employed on any steam railroad in the country, if we 
 except perhaps some ordinary horse cars which are hauled by engines. It is 
 therefore recommended that the cars for a rapid transit road be made sim- 
 ilar to those in use on the Elevated Railroad. It is thought, however, 
 that the advantages which are gained by depressing .the car body between 
 
24 
 
 the trucks, so as to bring the centre of gravity of the car lower, do not 
 compensate for the additional weight which is thus added to the car, and 
 for the reduction of the strength of the ear body, owing to the fact that 
 it is then impossible to extend the centre floor timbers through the whole 
 length of the ear body from one end to the other. The use of similar cars 
 but without the depression referred to, is therefore recommended ; the cars 
 to be arranged so that the centre of gravity is still kept as low as possible. 
 This can be done by allowing the wheels to run up under the seats in the 
 same way that they do in ordinary horse ears. The weight of such ears 
 to seat passengers would be only be 10 800 pounds, or 225 pounds per 
 passenger, and as will be seen in the preceding table, the weight per foot 
 will not exceed (500 pounds in any of the spans. Perhaps a shorter car, 
 with but four wheels, m ight be found even more desirable. 
 
 By placing the doors of such cars in the sides, the exit and entrance of 
 passengers would undoubtedly be facilitated. If the tracks of a road for 
 rapid transit are arranged so that the cars would run in a continuous cir- 
 cuit, that is with the same end in front all the time and not alternately 
 backward and forward, then the doors would be required on only one side 
 of the cars. To guard against accidents, it will be advisable to provide 
 for double sets of doors, one under the control of the passengers, and the 
 other under that of the train hands. 
 
 The seats could be arranged either lengthwise of the car so as to facili- 
 tate the ingress and egress of passengers, or they could be placed cross- 
 wise and the cars divided into seperate compartments with doors in each, 
 as in European cars. The seats should be divided from each other by low 
 divisions arranged not to be an inconvenience to passengers, and thus 
 prevent the indecent crowding of one person against another, which is 
 now so common in nearly all public vehicles. 
 
 The capacity of the cars may be materially increased by providing 
 seats on the roof. This will somewhat increase the rolling loads to be 
 provided for. but can be made of great service to the working classes, by 
 charging only half fare for such seats. They may be protected from the 
 weather by an awning, or even inclosed with sides, so as to make the cars 
 two stories in height. 
 
 The wheels of the cars should be fitted with steel tires, so that they 
 may be turned off perfectly true and of the same diameter, in order to 
 make the running of them as smooth as possible. By making their disks 
 of wood or of paper, introducing elastic bearings under the rails, and 
 securing perfect fittings and springs, the trains can be made nearly 
 noiseless. They certainly will not be heard as far as an omnibus. 
 
25 
 
 Locomotives similar to those in use on the line referred to, but about 
 1 600 pounds lighter, and with some slight improvements in design and of 
 better construction, will, it is believed, answer all the requirements of a 
 rapid transit railroad better than any other class of locomotive now in use. 
 Experience will, doubtless, indicate some modifications in the motive 
 power ; but suggestions from that source will, it is believed, be much 
 more reliable than any deductions the committee may make. 
 
 The running of the trains will be much facilitated by placing the 
 stations on summits, so as to utilize the force of gravity, both in stop- 
 ping and starting them. For this purpose, grades as steep as 100 feet per 
 mile may be employed, preferably arranged in the form of vertical 
 curves. They may be located on the main line at stations where all 
 trains are to stop, or on side tracks forming a loop line as proposed in 
 the plans of Mr. C. W. Hunt, at stations where only part of the trains 
 stop. 
 
 The question of the maximum capacity of such a railroad for carrying 
 passengers during certain hours of the day is, however, an important one. 
 This capacity may be limited by the number of trains which can be run 
 during that time, and. consequently, by the size of the trains, so that it 
 might be desirable to increase the number of cars on each train during 
 the morning and evening. Without accurate surveys, or without having 
 the route definitely determined, it is impossible to tell what the maximum 
 grades will be, which must be encountered. On the assumption that the 
 steepest grade will be 80 feet per mile, and that the resistance of a train will 
 be 40 pounds per ton (of 2 000 pounds), the total resistance of the proposed 
 train of three cars and the locomotive would be 1 260 pounds. Assuming 
 the adhesion of the engine to be one-sixth of the weight on the driving 
 wheels, an adhesive weight of <PH^ pounds will be needed, so that a four- 
 wheeled engine, with all its weight on its four wheels, and weighing 9 000 
 pounds, will give abundant adhesion for the load to be hauled. From 
 the Table previously given, it will be seen that the weight of the 
 train composed of such cars and engines as have been proposed, will 
 not exceed 600 pounds per running foot. If, however, it should be 
 found desirable to increase the number of cars in the train to five or 
 six. so that its weight would be from 50 to 60 tons, then the proposed 
 engine would not have sufficient adhesion or steam producing power. 
 The requisite power could very easily be provided by simply increasing 
 the size and weight of the engines. If this is done, however, a greater load 
 will be concentrated on each of the spans of the structure of an elevated 
 
26 
 
 road as the train passes over them. It would, therefore, la' necessary to 
 increase their strength, and consequently the whole cost of the struc- 
 ture. It would obviously be better, if more engine power is required, 
 t<> distribute the weight on more wheels, and over a greater length of 
 track. For this reason, if it should be found necessary to increase the 
 number of cars in the train to rive or six. eight-wheeled tank engines could 
 be used. The modification of the ordinary construction which is re- 
 commended, is that an auxiliary pair of cylinders with a separate steam- 
 pipe and throttle-valve, be added to the truck. As the additional 
 power would be needed only in ascending the heavy grades, the auxiliary 
 cylinders could be employed only at such times. 
 
 With an engine of this kind, the weight would be distributed on eight 
 instead of four points, and over a greater length of track, so that there 
 would be very little more concentrated load than with the lighter loco- 
 motive and the proposed train. The same result could be accomplished, 
 by coupling two of the lighter engines above described at the head of the 
 train. This would be preferable on some accounts, butwould involve two 
 engineers and two firemen, instead of one -single crew. 
 
 Location of Rot:tes. 
 
 It was stated when discussing the character of the structure, that this 
 could not be definitely settled without the advice and concurrence of the 
 capital which was to build it. This co-operation is even more necessary 
 in the location of the routes. Indeed, the character of the structure 
 required will vary so much with the location, that the two must be taken 
 up and decided together, with the assistance of those who represent the 
 money which is to pay for the work. 
 
 After careful examination of the various routes which have been advo- 
 cated before your committee, it is of opinion that the present wants of 
 the population can best be served by two rapid transit roads, one on 
 the east and another on the west of Central Park. The one on the east 
 side may be either on the line of Third or of Fourth Avenue. If upon 
 the latter (and your committee is of opinion that this would prove both 
 the most valuable and the most convenient route), it should be built as 
 an extension of the Fourth Avenue Improvement of the Harlem Railroad, 
 and under the control either of that company, or of a corporation holding 
 a contract with it to run its trains through the tunnel from Thirty-fourth 
 to Forty -second street, and over the tracks intended for local business 
 north of Forty -second street, so as to avoid all transfer of rapid transit 
 
27 
 
 passengers at that point. The estimates of revenue and operating 
 expenses upon this line, which will be found in the Appendix B, 
 indicate that as much as $1 500 000 per mile could profitably be invested 
 on this extension, so that if an underground line is to be carried out 
 anywhere, this would seem to be the route to locate it on. If built 
 as an elevated road, there would be some difficulty in raising the track 
 after emerging from the tunnel at Thirty -fourth street, so as to avoid 
 blocking some of the cross streets. This might be obviated either by 
 running for a short distance through the blocks towards Lexington 
 Avenue, to avail of the slope of the ground, or by raising the crown of the 
 tunnel ; but it can best be settled by surveys. In fact, surveys would be 
 absolutely necessary to settle the location of the whole line, but your com- 
 mittee may indicate as a feasible route — that following Fourth Avenue to 
 Eighth street, thence through Lnfayette Place, Mulberry, Marion, Centre 
 and Nassau stre< its t< > the Battery. Through Fourth Avenue and Lafayette 
 Place the traffic is so considerable upon the streets, that it seems proper 
 that posts shall not be placed in the roadway, but that the support shall 
 be taken at the line of the sidewalk, and the road constructed either 
 over the posts, on each side of the street, or over the middle of the 
 street, and supported by girders resting on the posts along the inside 
 line of the curbs, ejren at the increased cost this plan involves. Below 
 the southern end of the latter, the streets mentioned are all narrow, and 
 offer favorable circumstances for chea}) construction over the middle of 
 the street. 
 
 All of this line should at least be built with two tracks. The design of 
 the structure will vary greatly with the width of the street between side- 
 walks. 
 
 In order to accommodate the portion of the city below Union Square, 
 east of the line above described, a double-tracked loop line would be 
 advisable ; diverging from the main line at some convenient point, and 
 running into it again near the Battery. It woidd perform the double 
 office of permitting a better accommodation of the population, and of re- 
 lieving the accumulation of trains over the lower part of the line. 
 
 If it should be preferred to build the rapid transit road upon the 
 line of Third Avenue, the same line could be followed from the Battery 
 to Eighth street, and thence extended through the blocks to Third 
 Avenue.* Through this Avenue, the character of structure would proba. 
 
 * Attention is c?.lled to the routes proposed by Messrs. Buel, which for the southern 
 portion of the distance agrees very closely with that above indicated by the committee 
 and over which the character of structure proposed by them would apply very well. 
 
28 
 
 bly have to vary with the locality. Over certain portions, it would be ad- 
 visable to divide the road in two and to run one track on each side, placing 
 its centre over the edge of the sidewalk and supporting it upon small 
 groups of columns, and at certain other points it might be practicable to 
 place posts in the roadway. A requirement that the tracks should be over 
 the centre of the street and bearing be taken from the edge of the sidewalk 
 would more than double the expense. It seems doubtful whether capital 
 could be found to take up this line, should such a condition be insisted 
 upon. 
 
 On the west, side a corresponding location would occupy the line of 
 either Ninth or of parts of Seventh and Eighth Avenues. If located on 
 Ninth Avenue, the construction might be entrusted to the New York 
 Elevated Railroad Co., which should, however, be required greatly to 
 improve the present character of its structure. 
 
 Over many portions of Ninth Avenue, the committee believes that 
 posts could be placed in the roadway without serious detriment to the 
 surface traffic. The lower portion of the route might pass over Green- 
 wich Avenue and Washington Square to the line of Greene and Church 
 streets, the latter to be followed to the Battery, and a connection made 
 there, as well as on Ninth Avenue near Sixteenth street, with the present 
 road of the company, which would become a loop line. The new portion 
 above indicated should all be double-tracked, placed over the centre of 
 the streets, which are all narrow, and take its support at the edge of 
 the curbstones. 
 
 If, however, this location be thought too far west, the line could di- 
 verge from Greenwich Avenue at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and 
 follow this to Central Park. Over this portion of the route either posts 
 should be placed in the roadway or a single track be carried over 
 the edge of the sidewalk on each side of the street, Above Fifty-ninth 
 street, the road could either be carried through Central Park, or, crossing 
 a portion of it, be located over the sidewalk on the east side of Eighth 
 Avenue, one post resting on the Park wall and the other on the edge of 
 the curb. Before deciding upon such a location, however, careful en- 
 quiry should be made as to its probable effect upon the value of the 
 choice residence lots on the other side of Eighth Avenue. Apprehensions 
 lest the road in this location should mar the view of the Park are perhaps 
 exaggerated. It would be, at least, 80 feet away from the nearest resi- 
 dence and could not be more unsightly than the present tall row of tele- 
 
29 
 
 graph poles, the removal of which w ould then become possible by trans- 
 ferring the wires to the elevated railway. 
 
 The great width of the Boulevard, and the fact that a strip 22 feet 
 in width has been laid out as a lawn in its centre, from 59th to 126th 
 streets, offer a tempting location for a rapid transit road. The surface 
 grades are at some points too steep to be followed, and the road would 
 have to be partly elevated and partly in excavation. If the Boulevard, 
 however, is to be reserved as a public drive, a railroad should not be 
 located in it, and it is perhaps, too far to the west to form a harmonious 
 part of the system which will eventually be required. 
 
 The two rapid transit roads above indicated, through either Third or 
 Fourth Avenues on the east side, and through either Eighth or Ninth 
 avenues on the west side, are quite as much as should at first be under- 
 taken, and will for some time accommodate the wants of the population. 
 They will rapidly develop new business, by inducing building in the 
 wilderness in the upper part of the island, and make it possible to com- 
 plement them in a few years by an additional parallel line on each side. 
 These may be next to the water front and located over a freight rail- 
 road on the surface, which the committee recommends in the second part 
 of this report. Their general location must be taken into account in de- 
 signing the first lines to be built, but the exact details may be left to be 
 settled by time. 
 
 The committee is conscious that its description of the routes pro- 
 posed is somewhat vague. It confesses that it is unable to determine 
 what would be absolutely the best details of location. Although its 
 members have carefully considered the different routes which have been 
 proposed, and have examined most of them on the ground, they do not 
 feel competent to decide positively the exact lines to be adopted without 
 consultation with the parties interested, and fuller surveys and estimates 
 of cost than they have been enabled to make. 
 
 The most economical and advantageous location depends so much 
 upon the character of structure adopted, and this again is so much in- 
 fluenced by the location, while the views and interests of property owners 
 and of the public are so diverse, that it will hardly be expected that these 
 details shall be settled by a committee of the Society. 
 
 By whom shall the Boads be Constructed ? 
 
 Your committee has thus far assumed that the rapid transit roads were 
 to be built by private capital, and operated so as to make them profitable 
 investments. This can be done, and is the best way to promote close 
 
30 
 
 eoo&omy. Bui capital has thus far refused to embark in the enter- 
 prise, and in the pressing needs of the case it has been proposed that the 
 city undertake the work. Whether this would be within its municipal 
 powers is a question for legal counsel to determine, but your committee 
 sees no good reason why cities may not hereafter build railroads within 
 their limits for public accommodation, or even appraise and condemn 
 existing tracks, when such becomes necessary to protect the interests of 
 the public. Yet it deems that one more effort should first be made to 
 enlist private capital in the enterprise. Construction by the city will 
 meet with great opposition. It is so foreign to American ideas, so 
 fraught with political dangers, that it is looked upon by taxpayers, 
 whom your committee have consulted, with great suspicion. They 
 fear that it would lead to the adoption of unwise plans, to loss of 
 time and to waste and extravagance in construction and operation. 
 There are circumstances under which the city could, with propriety, 
 build and own a railway, and in another part of this report it will be 
 found that the committee recommends, as a part of the full development 
 of the system of city docks, the construction by the city of a freight 
 railroad along the water front ; but the rapid transit question is one 
 fraught with so many contingencies, and susceptible of so man}' abuses, 
 that only with the greatest reluctance would the committee see it en- 
 trusted to a political organization. There is, perhaps, no good reason 
 why work undertaken by public authorities should cost more than if done 
 by private parties ; yet it has been the uniform experience that no method 
 has been found so efficient to promote economy, as by bringing to bear 
 that close attention which springs from personal interest. If, however, 
 it becomes absolutely certain that private capital will not take up the 
 project, it may be that the city will be compelled to build the road as 
 a municipal work. 
 
 Hitherto the course that has been pursued has resulted in retarding 
 rather than in advancing the accomplishment of rapid transit. The 
 Legislature, when about to grant a charter, very properly wishes to con- 
 fine the grant by some specifications, to protect both public and private in- 
 terests. It wishes to know the route, the character of structure and the 
 mode of operating. It cannot examine into the endless complexity of 
 detail that is sure to be required for a successful road, but desires some 
 simple plan, easily explained, which legislators can understand at a 
 glance ; and from the very nature of things this cannot be made to apply 
 indiscriminately to all parts of the line. Parties applying for charters 
 
31 
 
 have, therefore, hitherto confined themselves to a single design, while the 
 road should perforce be of many designs, and even these should be sus- 
 ceptible of change and improvement, as the work progresses and 
 fresh facts and requirements become known. Whenever, therefore, 
 parties have succeeded in obtaining a charter, they have found them- 
 selves so hampered with impracticable conditions that capital has been 
 unwilling to take up their imperfect schemes. 
 
 Capital, on the other hand, has been hitherto unwilling to incur the 
 very considerable expenses necessary for surveys, plans, estimates; and 
 careful comparison of the merits of different routes or modes of con- 
 struction in each part of the city, which alone can form the basis of an 
 adequate design, until it was known that a charter could be obtained Had 
 surveys and plans been made, they might have become useless by a legis- 
 lative change of a few lines in the proposed charter. In other words, the 
 law-makers have been unwilling to grant charters until they knew on 
 what plans the roads were to be built,' and capital has refused to make in 
 the advance necessary surveys and investigations, ivpon which alone 
 adequate plans could be based. 
 
 It has occurred to your committee that this approximation to a dead 
 lock, may have been hitherto the most serious obstacle in the way of 
 rapid transit, and that it indicates a new condition and requirement of 
 legislation. Here are great public and private interests in endless detail 
 to be protected, while at the same time capital must be left sufficiently 
 free to find the most economical solution of the many problems pre- 
 sented. The details of the location of the route, the required character 
 of structure at each point, the method of carrying on the work, the 
 mode of operation ol the line, are sure to raise questions in great num- 
 ber as the building of the road progresses . which must be taken up 
 and decided singly and successively, yet in accordance with a general 
 plan, in such manner as to inflict the least injury possible upon the 
 public and the property owners, and at the same time cost as little as 
 practicable to the corporation. Onerous requirements might defeat the 
 building of tha road ; unrestricted powers might work oppression. How 
 shall all these details be settled V 
 
 The recent amendments to the State constitution may lead to a solu- 
 tion of the difficulty. Your committee understands that these amend- 
 ments affect the question of rapid transit in two ways : first, they pro- 
 hibit the further granting of special charters ; second, they forbid city 
 aid to private corporations. 
 
32 
 
 Under these circumstances there seems to be but three courses open : 
 tirst, the rapid transit roads must be built by private capital under 
 existing charters ; or second, they must be built by private capital 
 under some general law not yet passed ; or third, the city must itself 
 undertake the work. 
 
 Unless the work shall be undertaken very soon under an existing 
 charter, it seems important to frame a general law which will induce 
 the building of rapid transit roads by private capital. The difficulty will 
 be, to protect public and private interests while granting all possible pri- 
 vileges to the corporations. It might even be necessary to provide 
 against the formation of rival companies for a term of years, and espe- 
 cially to forbid any company to occupy the much-coveted Broadway 
 route. 
 
 A valuable suggestion is contained in the scheme to build by the city, 
 as well as in the bill — offered by Hon. H. G. Eastman last winter. Both 
 proposed to appoint a commission to supervise the location and con- 
 struction of the roads. If the Legislature will clothe with adequate pow< srs 
 a commission of the soundest, purest and most prudent citizens of this 
 city, representing all existing interests, who are thoroughly informed, 
 and who will give their whole time, it would seem possible, with the aid 
 of the leading officials of the city and the engineers of the various city 
 departments, to devise a scheme which would lead to the organization of 
 two private corporations, to of which, a side of the city could be 
 assigned. The general routes could be approximately defined by the gen- 
 eral law ; the principles which should govern the character of the struc. 
 ture in different localities could be laid down, but the details would be 
 determined best by the commission when the work comes to be executed. 
 
 ►Such a commission should have pretty full powers to superintend 
 the location, construction and operation of the roads, and of require 1 
 the character of the structure to be changed over particular sections, 
 should the growth of street traffic hereafter demand it. It should have 
 access to all the accounts of cost; and the city should retain the right of 
 purchasing the roads at cost, or at a valuation, should public interests 
 hereafter require it. The chief reliance for the protection of the travel- 
 ling public will be in fixing the rates of fares, and providing that cheap 
 trains shall be run for workmen, morning and evening; but other details 
 will have 1 to be settled by the commission. 
 
33 
 
 The owners of property in the upper part of the island are so largely- 
 interested in the early building of rapid transit roads that it is thought 
 they would take an active part in organizing and furnishing the means 
 for building the roads. They could afford to wait some years for 
 direct returns upon their investment, in vieAv of the increased value it 
 would give to their lands. Indeed, it is vital to them, and it will pro- 
 bably be through their efforts that rapid transit will become possible. 
 Without it, they can hope for but small increase of prices or sales, and 
 they could actually afford to sink the whole cost of the roads required, 
 for the sake of the greater value it will give to their now drooping pro- 
 perties. 
 
 The control of the roads, however, should by preference be offered to 
 those who now controll the existing lines of transportation in the terri- 
 tory which may be selected, upon such routes as they shall themselves 
 indicate, but subject to the control of the commission. These gentle- 
 men are in better position than any new parties to construct and operate 
 cheaply such roads, and they have interests which should on no account 
 be arrayed against rapid transit. If, however, they fail to organize under 
 a general charter, with conditions which will insure building the roads 
 within a reasonable time, other capitalists should be invited to come in. 
 As a last resort, it may be advisable to take the line up as a city work, 
 and to defray a part of the cost from an issue of city bonds, and a part 
 from taxes laid directly against the property to be benefited thereby. 
 
 As a result, therefore, of the consideration of all the plans and schemes 
 that have been submitted to your committee, and of the arguments that 
 have been made for or against them, it has reached five conclusions : 
 
 1st. In order to be profitable with the fares and volume of business 
 likely to be obtained, double-tracked rapid transit roads should not cost, 
 fully equipped, much, if any, more than from $700 000 to $1 125 000 per 
 mile, according to location, and this points to some form of elevated 
 railroad as the leading feature of the design to be recommended. 
 
 2d. The right of way must be given to them, over streets selected for 
 that purpose, and they should be operated by locomotives and by cars of 
 somewhat different construction than those in use in this country, made 
 very much lighter than ordinary rolling-stock. 
 
 3d. The character of the structure carrying the roads should vary 
 with the location, so as to adapt itself to the local circumstances of each 
 case. No one single plan is likely to prove applicable over all parts of 
 5 
 
34 
 
 the city. The general principles which should govern, have been set 
 t forth in the body of this report. 
 
 4th. There should presently be two roads, one on the east and another 
 on the west side of Central Park, to be eventually complemented by one 
 additional road on each side. The latter may be along the water front. 
 5th. Another effort should be made to induce private capital to build 
 /LMheni. If this fails, they flWaW be taken up by the city and built as 
 municipal works. 
 
 The needed roads can be built in one year. To confer rapid transit 
 on the city of New York seems an object not unworthy the highest 
 ambition of its leading citizens, 
 
 The soundness or fallacy of these conclusions, and the consequences 
 which result from them, must be established by the discussion which you 
 shall give to this report. 
 
 The Society can hardly realize the labor which this investigation has 
 imposed upon your committee. It has condensed, as well as it could, the 
 most valuable considerations presented by others, and yet the report has 
 swelled to inordinate length. It called for information, and it got more 
 than it could properly manage within the time at its disposal. * If it has 
 succeeded in bringing the question within narrower limits, and in clear- 
 ing a foundation for others to build on, although it does not recommend 
 more definite plans,' either of structure or of location, it will feel that its 
 labors have not been altogether in vain. 
 
 Pakt II. — The best and cheapest methods of delivering, storing 
 
 AND DISTRIBUTING GOODS AND FREIGHT. 
 
 Your committee feel, very fully impressed with the belief that the 
 freight question, although it has attracted less public attention, is of even 
 greater and more vital importance to the prosperity of the city of New 
 York, than the rapid transit question. 
 
 The plans now in use for receiving and handling a large portion of the 
 produce and goods which arrive in the city of New York for export and 
 for distribution, were made by a preceding generation. They may have 
 been wise and liberal in their day, but they were designed with sole ref- 
 erence to water transportation, and for a business very much smaller than 
 that of the present day, and, in some respects, of different character. 
 They have now been fairly outgrown by the enormous increase of trade, 
 
 * This material (equivalent to about 10 octavo volumes) is handed to ths Society with 
 this report. 
 
35 
 
 and a new element has been introduced by the invention and rapid de- 
 velopment of railways, so that methods which were once the cheapest, and 
 best adapted to the commerce of this port, now prove cumbrous, compli- 
 cated and expensive, simply by the growth of the traffic. 
 
 It is the opinion of your committee that several millions of dollars 
 can annually be saved to the merchants of this city dnd to the country 
 at large, by remodeling and improving the mode of transacting some 
 classes of business. 
 
 Deeming all theories and plans of but little value unless based upon 
 the solid ground of ascertained facts, your committee, from the begin- 
 ning of its enquiry into the handling of goods and freight received at 
 this port, undertook to ascertain the exact volume and weight of the re- 
 ceipts of each class of articles from all sources, distinguishing between 
 those received by railroad and those coming by water. The results were 
 carefully tabulated, and in the tables, it is attempted to show the general 
 method of dealing with each class of articles after arrival, and the cost 
 per ton, as well as the aggregate cost of conveying, storing, and finally 
 disposing of them. In other words, the committee undertook to ascer" 
 tain the actual terminal expenses incurred for each class of articles while 
 in the hands of the New York merchants. 
 
 For lack of sufficient time, these tables have not been completed. 
 Notwithstanding the valuable aid furnished by the members of the 
 Produce Exchange, and by many gentlemen in possession of particular 
 facts, it was found that the data was so scattered that there were 
 so many articles of which no returns could be obtained, such as 
 market produce, lumber, brick, stone, &c, &c, arriving for local con- 
 sumption ; that there were besides so many variations in the cost of hand- 
 ling the same class of articles ; nothing like a full and complete table 
 could be constructed in the time at the disposal of the committee. 
 
 The committee, however, appends hereto a table pertaining to the 
 receipts of domestic produce, which it has been enabled to compile with 
 sufficient accuracy to form some idea of the charges which arriving prop- 
 erty has to bear at this port.- It will be noted that these charges vary 
 from Si to $10 per ton, and that they averaged 83.07 per ton upon the 
 4 631 700 tons of receipts covered by the table. That some of these can 
 
 * The committee also hands in to the Society a large mass of information which it haa 
 gathered on this subject, and which it hopes hereafter to take up, or to place at the disposal of 
 parties who may wish to continue this important inquiry. 
 
36 
 
 be materially reduced will, perhaps, be shown best by taking up the case 
 of particular receipts. Thus flour arrives mainly by rail and is generally 
 delivered at Coenties Slip. It is thence carted to various stores in the vi- 
 cinity, at a cost of about 4 cents per barrel. The storage charged is generally 
 3 cents per barrel per month, and as it is estimated that the average time 
 is about a month and a half, this amounts to 4£ cents per barrel, in addi- 
 tion to which 3 cents are charged by the store for handling in and out. 
 When sold, the flour is delivered from store at a cost of 7 cents per barrel 
 if lightered, and of 8 cents if drayed ; say an average of 1\ cents. These 
 various handlings, however, injure some of the barrels, and it is estimated 
 by those in the trade that there is a cost averaging 3 cents per barrel for 
 re-coopering. If this flour could be delivered direct from the railroad 
 cars in which it arrives, into warehouses suitably located, the cost would 
 be diminished by at least 7 cents per barrel, thus effecting a saving in 
 this item alone, of at least $225 000 a year in extra drayage, handling 
 and re-coopering. 
 
 In the case of cotton, which mainly arrives by water, a considerable 
 part of the receipts are drayed from the vessels to stores and cellars in 
 the vicinity of Hanover Square, and when sold is drayed back again 
 to the water's edge to be shipped to destination. One of these two dray- 
 ages, which cost about 82 per ton, could be saved by a proper system of 
 warehouses located on the water front, and they, moreover, expose the 
 cotton to a waste and stealage, which is estimated by parties in the trade 
 as averaging from 10 to 15 pounds per bale. It is estimated that an 
 average of about 30 cents a bale can be saved by improved methods, and 
 this alone will amount to 8286 500 a year. 
 
 Reference is made to the table for other classes of property upon which 
 needless terminal expense is incurred. Itmay, however, be stated in general 
 terms that, in consequence of the manner in which business has grown 
 to be managed, there is now a needlessly large amount of double hand- 
 ling and drayage on many classes of goods which can be sold by sample 
 or grade, and which are loaded and drayed inland to the store or cellar 
 of the consignee, only to be reloaded and drayed back again to the 
 water's edge, and in some cases reshipped by the very line which origin- 
 ally brought them in. * These are onerous charges; they have already, 
 
 * Owing to its volume and to the crowded condition of the streets, this cartage is also need- 
 lessly expensive. There are frequent stoppages in the streets and much waiting at the points 
 of delivery. Drays stand sometimes as much as 24 hours in line, waiting for a chance to unload 
 at a foreign steamer, and in one instance which was cited to your committee, a shipment of 
 salt fish, and in another, a shipment of butter, cost $10 per ton for drayage from the store to 
 
37 
 
 decreased the relative share of the total business of the country transacted 
 through the port of New York, and they may in the future seriously 
 diminish it still further. Indeed, matters have now reached such a con- 
 dition that it is probable that well regulated monopolies would serve the 
 public better, and would prove cheaper than free competition. 
 
 The first relief which suggests itself, is to reduce still further the trans- 
 portation charges, both by water and rail, particularly the latter, which 
 each year gathers an increasing proportion of the tonnage. The railroads 
 within the past ten years have reduced their freight rates to two-thirds 
 or one-half their former charges, and it seems logical that they should 
 be asked to reduce them still further. Your committee hope however, to 
 make it clear that there is a much more pressing need of a reform which 
 shall be local to New York, than of a further reduction in freight rates, 
 especially if by the reduction the aggregate profits of the carriers are to be 
 cut down; it submits that the true way to cheapen transportation and other 
 commercial charges should lead us rather to seek for cheaper and more 
 effective methods of conducting the business than to endeavor to cut down 
 the profits of those who transact it, to less than a fair return upon their 
 investments. While, therefore, fully recognizing the justice of the demand 
 of the public that charges for freights shall be reduced to a minimum, that 
 the cost of transportation shall be cheapened by every means which hu- 
 man ingenuity can devise, your committee wishes to call attention to the 
 fact that, so far as it can ascertain, railroad rates from the interior of the 
 United States to the seaboard are to-day lower than for equal distances 
 any where else in the world. Notwithstanding our inflated currency, our 
 high rates of wages and our comparatively sparce population, our railroads 
 are carrying certain classes of property more cheaply for long distances 
 than any European lines. 
 
 The regular all-rail rates on fourth class goods, which include oil-cake, 
 mill feed, oats, corn, wheat, flour, pork, bacon, beef, tallow, lard, potatoes, 
 peas, beans, starch, soap, whiskey and tobacco, have been during the 
 past summer and fall 37£ cents per 100 pounds from Chicago and 44 
 cents per 100 pounds from East St. Louis. This gives the following 
 rates per ton and per ton carried one mile. 
 
 the foreign steamer. In one case cited by Mr. Walker, Statistician of the Produce Exchange, 
 f rom whom valuable aid was received, drayage on his household goods from Brooklyn to the 
 Xew York Central E. E. Depot was more than the freight thence to Buffalo, a distance of HO 
 miles ; and in another case quoted by a firm in the South American trade, the drayage from 
 store to ship was more than the freight from New York to San Francisco, around Cape Horn. 
 
38 
 
 Route. 
 
 From Chicago. 
 
 From East St. Louis. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Rate 
 per Ton. 
 
 Rate 
 per Ton 
 Per Mile, 
 Cents. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Rate 
 per Ton. 
 
 Rate 
 per Ton 
 per Mile, 
 Cents. 
 
 Via Pennsylvania R. R. system. . 
 
 913 
 
 $7 50 
 
 821 
 
 1 063 
 
 $8 80 
 
 828 
 
 " Erie Railway and allies 
 
 957 
 
 7 50 
 
 783 
 
 1160 
 
 8 80 
 
 758 
 
 «• N. Y. Central R. R. and allies 
 
 979 
 
 7 50 
 
 766 
 
 1 1G7 
 
 8 80 
 
 753 
 
 These were the regular rates, while it is notorious that in their fierce 
 rivalry these railroads have frequently cut these rates and accepted much 
 smaller prices, amounting in some recent cases to charges of 0.48, 0.49 
 and 0.52 cents per ton per mile, while the regular rates as above yield 
 little more than 0.75 cents per ton per mile.* This, too, includes 
 the delivery from the railroad depot to a public store or the vessel or 
 ^P~yi£^vvt^ wharf of the consignee. How mmmnmms this is, may be judged from the 
 fact that the Pennsylvania Railroad was put to an expense of about 
 $700 000 for receiving and delivering 1 100 000 tons of freight at Jersey 
 City during the year 1873; that the Erie Railway reports to the State 
 Engineer its terminal expenses in 1873 at New York were §823 793 32 on 
 a commercial business of 1 468 928 tons, or nearly G per cent, of its entire 
 operating expenses, which were 314 174 185 59, and that the N. Y. Cen- 
 tral Railroad reports it expended in the same year $59 151 73 for 
 hauling freight cars in New York city and 8545 429 25 for lighterage and 
 cartage. 
 
 In general terms, it may be said that it costs from 22 to 85 cents per 
 ton to convey property arriving by rail from the railroad depot to the 
 usual points of delivery about the harbor of New York, and that this cost 
 is included in the freight rate ; that it costs an average of about 65 cents 
 per ton to transfer from Jersey City to New York, and that therefore this 
 three-fourths of a mile of distance, with the present imperfect methods of 
 doing the business, cost as much as the freight on 85 miles of railroad 
 and virtually lengthen the roads to that extent. 
 
 * Siuce the above was written, there bas been a further reduction of all rail rates. The 
 present nominal rates on fourth class goods (Feb. 10th) are 35 cents per 100 pounds from 
 Chicago to New York, and 40 cents to Boston. From East St. Louis they are 39 cents to New 
 York, and 44 cents to Boston. Material concessions, however, are made, and agents accept 
 almost " any thing they can get," amounting in some cases to on'y about one-third of a cent 
 a ton per mile. A recent invoice of cotton was hauled over 400 miles by rail and delivered to 
 ship in this harbor at a rate which yielded $1 80 per ton, or less than the cartage in this city 
 would have been to store and back. 
 
39 
 
 It is evident that this great cost is eventually charged to the public, 
 and that whatever of cheapening can be effected by improved methods, 
 will result to the benefit both of the public and of the railroads. 
 
 The New York Cheap Transportation Association state in its report 
 on terminal facilities (page 35) that "New York importers are sending 
 " goods from Europe, destined to the interior, to Baltimore and thence 
 " by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, on through bills of lading, to des- 
 " tination. Interior merchants insist upon such a course, as the freight is 
 ' ' cheaper both by ship and rail, the ship freight being 5 shillings per 
 " ton cheaper, and" the rail rate from 5 to 20 cents per 100 pounds less, 
 " while the cost of transfer is noil ting, and the responsibility direct, 
 " against 85 per ton in carting, damages, stealing, delay, storage, in- 
 " surance, Sax. in Xew York. Is that statement (which is true) creditable 
 " to New York, and can she continue to prosper under such a condition? " 
 
 The above estimate of So per ton for terminal charges in Xew York 
 seems at first somewhat startling. It seem incredible that the handling 
 and conveyance of property in the city (perhaps one mile) should cost two- 
 thirds of the freight from Chicago, a distance of 913 miles. It appears, 
 however, from the table hereto appended, that there are many classes of 
 articles upon which the terminal charges amount to §5 per ton, and 
 that the average cost on the 4 631 700 tons tabulated, is 83. 07 per ton, 
 or more than three-fifths of the freight from Chicago. This, too, is wholly 
 upon receipts of domestic produce, while all the information the com- 
 mittee has been able to gather, points to the fact that greater expense is 
 incurred in the case of importations of foreign merchandise. 
 
 The committee estimates that the total receipts from all sources aggre- 
 gate about 15 000 000 tons a year. A statement compiled by Mr. H. C. 
 Gardiner in 1867, aggregated 11 915 425 tons. Probably about one-half 
 of this, say 7 500 000 tons, was carted more or less through the streets of 
 New York. Xow, for the year ending Oct. 31, 1874, there were licensed 
 by the Mayor's bureau (as appears by information kindly furnished by 
 the Mayor's marshal) 8 618 tracks and carts and 1 889 express wagons, 
 making a total of 10 507. This did not include the wagons, trucks or 
 carts owned by the larger incorporated transportation companies, by mer- 
 chants, manufacturers, or the express companies, such as Adams, United 
 States, etc., &e., which take out no licenses, and which are estimated by 
 the Mayor's marshal as nearly equal in number, making a total of 20 000 
 in the city. Now, if we make the generous allowance that one-half of 
 these were engaged in supplying the local wants of the population for 
 
40 
 
 transportation, ami that the remainder earned an average of Si 200 a year, 
 or less than $4 00 a day, we have yet an aggregate of $12 000 000 a year 
 as the cartage bill paid by the commerce of New York, or an average of 
 $0.80 per ton on the entire tonnage, and of $1.00 a ton on the 7 500 000 
 tons which are estimated to be carted. 
 
 While, therefore, it is right that the railroads should, and they doubtless 
 will, further reduce their charges by the adoption of more efficient 
 methods of working, the most pressing reform needed seems to be local to 
 New York and to require some modifications of the existing methods of 
 handling the property after it arrives at this port. The merchants and 
 citizens of the city should give their attention to the devising and adopt- 
 ing of such improvements as will reduce the terminal charges to a mini- 
 mum. It is the opinion of your committee that a larger saving may thus 
 be effected than by any probable reduction of freight rates. 
 
 Disposition of Receipts of Goods. 
 
 Goods arrive at this port for three purposes : 
 
 1st. For local consumption. 
 
 2d. For immediate export. 
 
 3d. For distribution to the surrounding country or eventual export. 
 
 The first class of receipts has partially regulated itself, so that the 
 needless expense and waste are not very great. The heavier articles, 
 such as coal, lumber, stone, brick, lime, &c. , are taken directly to con- 
 venient points, from which they are distributed as wanted. Our market 
 system however is not creditable to the city, and is needlessly expensive. 
 The markets occupy valuable room on the water front, and are so far 
 from the population to be supplied, that they mainly serve as purchas- 
 ing bazaars for the retail dealers scattered throughout the city, who 
 supply the customers. This not only involves in many cases a needless 
 intermediate profit, but it demands a much larger number of dealers 
 than would be necessary under a better system of working. Almost 
 every block has its butcher shop or grocery, where meats, vegetables, 
 and supplies are furnished, thus adding doubtless to the convenience of 
 the customer, but enhancing the cost. If the trade could be concen- 
 trated at suitable points, to which the customers would repair, the 
 traffic could be done by fewer persons, who now waste much time wait- 
 ing for customers, and could make larger aggregate profits while selling 
 at lower prices in consequence of the larger volume of their trade. 
 
 Receipts of the second class are now handled nearly as well as they 
 can be. They are taken in most cases directly from the transportation 
 
41 
 
 line which brings them, to the steamer or vessel which is to convey them 
 away. Some improvements are perhaps possible in the modes of trans- 
 acting this business, and especially in applying steam or other power to 
 the lighters, so as to reduce the cost of handling; but these changes will 
 be incident to any improved methods to be applied to receipts of the third 
 class which come to this port for sale or speculation, and are held here 
 for some little time. It is in this third class that great carting, waste 
 and stealing occurs, and it is precisely in this business that New York has 
 to compete with other cities. 
 
 Goods arriving for sale will bear extra handling and drayage — first, 
 if they must be shown to the customer before effecting a sale, second, if 
 their value is great in proportion to their bulk. Thus a ton of tea, 
 worth say $1 200, is enabled to bear very considerable drayage, while a 
 ton of coal, worth $5, can bear but little expense. 
 
 The cheaper the goods in proportion to their weight and bulk, the 
 less can they afford handling, and it would seem to be the part of wisdom 
 to provide storage facilities for these, at convenient points of concen- 
 tration, and as near to the points of arrival as possible, where they can 
 be deposited until wanted for shipping or local consumption ; the sales 
 being effected by sample or grade. 
 
 The mode of arrival of goods destined for future sales determines in 
 a great degree the best method of dealing with them. If they come by 
 vessels, similar products can be concentrated at one point on the water 
 front, and a saving thus effected in handling, inspection, superintend- 
 ence and protection both from the weather and from theft. If, however, 
 the articles arrive by railroad, it would add to the expense to concentrate 
 the receipts from all sources at one single point, and it would prove 
 cheaper to unload and store them in close proximity to the various ter- 
 mini of the roads, and to rehandle them only when their final destina- 
 tion becomes known. 
 
 It is greatly to be regretted that the city of New York was not origin- 
 ally laid out upon the principle of having a strip of lots or ground, 
 between the bulkhead and the first street parallel with the shore. This 
 would have afforded an opportunity for the cheap storage of com- 
 modities destined for export or distribution, without carting them in- 
 land. As now arranged, the existence of streets next to the docks and 
 bulkheads, throws such a large traffic upon them longitudinally as to 
 make the land side of the streets nearly worthless for storage purposes. 
 
42 
 
 The goods cannot, with economy, be transferred across the longitudinal 
 traffic, from the water front to the other side of the street. So much, 
 indeed, does this press upon the street, that in 1871 the Dock Commis- 
 sioners adopted the plan proposed by their engineer-in-chief, Gen. Geo. 
 B. McClellan, and have commenced the work of widening the streets to 
 a width of 250 feet along the North river, 200 feet along the East river 
 from the Battery to Grand street, and 175 feet north of that point. No 
 special plans beyond this, seem to have been entertained. 
 
 The question now occurs, how this most desirable improvement of 
 widening these streets, can be made of the utmost use in cheapening and 
 facilitating the commerce of the port. If it be all left as an open street, 
 it will doubtless relieve the jam of trucks and drays now existing, but it 
 will not decrease the amount of drayage required, nor make it more fea- 
 sible to carry goods across the street to warehouses on the other side. It 
 will instead, increase the cost of the latter operation, by reason of the 
 greater distance. 
 
 Although the docks themselves are old and worn out, the general pier 
 system of New York is scarcely to be improved upon, except in the ar- 
 rangement of details. Its alternate piers and slips, give the longest 
 wharf and quay lines for a given amount of water frontage ; the great im- 
 provement, therefore, must look to the proper treatment of the street 
 next to the bulkhead. The docks themselves should mainly be kept un- 
 obstructed, to secure the rapid delivery and carrying away of goods 
 arriving for immediate consumption or for local division and distribu- 
 tion; the great mistake was in having a street immediately next to them. 
 
 It has been proposed by Mr. H. C. Gardiner (who has explained his 
 plans fully, and furnished valuable aid, to your committee), to use a portion 
 of the land reclaimed for this street, for the purpose of building an ele- 
 vated viaduct railroad of two or four tracks, either upon iron trestles or on 
 masonry, around the bulkhead line, from which tracks, spurs and switches 
 should be run at an elevation of 18 or 20 feet above the docks, to some ten 
 warehouses to be built upon piers to be bought from the city. Although 
 it contains some valuable features, your committee cannot fully approve 
 this plan. The viaduct would cost from $500 000 to $700 000 a mile, 
 and the foundation of the warehouses 80 feet by 150, and five stories 
 high, (which would have to be carried to great depths with iron or ma- 
 sonry columns, so as to leave unobstructed flow for the tides, ) would cost 
 from $150 000 to $200 000 apiece. With a view, therefore, of removing 
 the existing difficulties, and cheapening the cost of transacting business 
 
43 
 
 in the city of New York, your committee propose five remedies to be 
 further discussed by your Society and by the parties whose interests may 
 be affected thereby. 
 
 Ke^ledies Proposed. 
 
 1st, We suggest that in addition to the 13 existing city markets, 
 there should be more retail market-houses, say 20 in number, at con- 
 venient points throughout the city. These should be of medium 
 size, covering about half a block each, and can best be built and 
 managed by joint stock companies or associations, as in Philadelphia. 
 They would by no means obviate the necessity for one large wholesale 
 market, such as Washington Market is now; but by concentrating trade, 
 and bringing the producer and consumer together, they would promote 
 the economy of both. If these houses are properly located, the dealers 
 will be insured a volume of business so much larger than with the present 
 corner grocery system, and their rents will be so much less, that they can 
 sell at lower rates, while realizing greater aggregate profits. 
 
 It may be laidYlown as a general principle, that supplies intended 
 for local consumption, should be taken immediately upon their arrival, 
 to some interior point, convenient for their distribution ; and for this 
 purpose we do not believe any system of transportation can be devised, 
 superior to the present methods of transportation by wagons. 
 
 2d. We suggest that the Society discusses whether it is not possible to 
 adopt an improved system of lighterage to ships and docks, by which the 
 boats and barges shall be better adapted to each class of the traffic, and 
 in order to save handling, be loaded and unloaded by steam or hydraulic 
 power. In connection with this, we wish to commend the system of 
 delivering and receiving goods directly into the railroad cars placed on 
 barges, at various points of the water front, and to suggest whether dray- 
 age cannot be saved from the interior of the city, by extending this sys- 
 tem, so as to receive at additional points scattered along the water front. 
 It is probable that in the latter case a small extra charge per ton received 
 would have to be made at those points where the traffic was light, in 
 order to cover the extra cost of check clerks, and the necessary subse- 
 quent sorting of miscellaneous receipts. The details would have to be 
 discussed and agreed upon, in connection with the railroads, but the plan 
 would seem to promise some economy, by saving cartage to the mer- 
 chants. 
 
 3d. We suggest that there should be, in close connection with each 
 important railroad terminus at this port, a system of fire-proof storage 
 
44 
 
 Warehouses, for the custody of all bulky or low-priced goods not going 
 into immediate consumption. These should front upon a basin or slip, 
 the railroad tracks being upon the other side, or else inside the warehouses. 
 They should be divided into chambers or bins in which the goods would 
 be stored, preserving the identity of each lot not admitting of grading. 
 Each invoice might be divided into round lots, corresponding to the 
 number of such articles generally transferred at a sale, and separate 
 assignable receipts given for each, the property being deliverable upon 
 return of such certificate, properly endorsed and audited. Upon these 
 receipts, advances could be obtained, and no expenses,, except storage, 
 would be incurred upon the goods from their arrival at the railroad ter- 
 minus until they were sold. The same system could be extended to 
 imported goods in bond, destined for the interior of the country, and 
 berths provided for foreign steamers in connection with the basins or 
 slips. In every case the New York merchant or importer would sell by 
 sample in his counting-house, and transfer the property by merely giving 
 an order on the warehouse. 
 
 There is not the slightest necessity for waiting until the railroads 
 inaugurate such a system, and indeed it is doubtful whether their charters 
 will permit them to engage in a general storage business, or to make 
 advances on consignments such as would be required. If for these or finan- 
 cial reasons, they are not prepared to undertake the scheme themselves, 
 contracts can probably be made with them to transact that portion of 
 their business not requiring immediate delivery, in connection with a 
 series of warehouses owned and managed by associations of citizens. The 
 New York Central has land at Sixty -fifth street ; the New Jersey 
 Central, the Pennsylvania and the Erie, each has surplus lands 
 on the Jersey shore, which could be devoted to such purposes ; and there 
 is a piece of ground, admirably situated between the lands of the Erie and 
 of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, which could be made 
 accessible to both those companies. It can be shown that such improve- 
 ments would save considerable expense to the commerce of this port, and 
 would prove remunerative to the owners. We consider them almost indis- 
 pensable to an economical handling of railroad receipts of which the final 
 destination is not known.* 
 
 * As early as 1867 one of the members of the committee, impressed with the importance of 
 such a system, secured for the purpose of carrying out the plan above referred to, some 
 seventy acres of space at Harsimus Cove, on the Jersey shore, for the system of railroads 
 between New York and Philadelphia. 
 
45 
 
 In connection with this warehouse system there should be grain ele- 
 vators at each railroad terminus. The mistake should, however, not be 
 made of building them as storage elevators alone, and attempting to pass 
 all the grain through them. 
 
 In consequence of the peculiarity of the commerce of this port, that a 
 considerable portion of the grain receipts is at once transferred to ships, 
 and that the trade is done, to some extent, in large steamers, which cannot 
 leave their berths to go after parts of their cargoes, a portion of the grain 
 will have to be transferred direct from cars to lighters, and, for this pur- 
 pose, an elevated trestle with chutes is cheaper than an elevator. The 
 latter will serve rather as reservoirs to equalize the flow, — to permit 
 prompt unloading, — to consolidate receipts, and to load rapidly the 
 smaller sail vessels which take whole cargoes of grain. 
 
 4th. As a very large share of the commerce of New York arrives by 
 water, and the city is naturally desirous to have its property stored within 
 its own limits, and under its immediate control and laws, we suggest that 
 a portion of the new street, say about 100 feet, now being built by the 
 Dock Commissioners, be set apart for a row of warehouses, storage yards 
 and manufacturing establishments, encircling the water-front of the city. 
 Suitable spaces should be left between them to give access to the piers. 
 The city may retain the ownership of the ground, and lease it on long 
 terms, say fifty years, to any parties who may choose to build, at a fixed 
 rate of interest upon valuations to be periodically ascertained by ap- 
 praisers, or it may sell the fee to the land. . Each warehouse being inde- 
 pendent of the others, and of the general system, it can be owned and 
 controlled by a different owner, and put to use as soon as completed. 
 
 The warehouses and manufactories should be as nearly fire-proof as 
 practicable, and should be built upon a general system, under specifica- 
 tions and inspection furnished by the proper department of the city gov- 
 ernment. They should be provided with steam or hydraulic power, for 
 elevating goods, and the most approved appliances for saving labor. 
 They would probably have to be founded upon wooden piles, but the 
 foundations for a five-story warehouse say 80 by 150 feet, would, it is 
 estimated, not cost more than $30 000. 
 
 To give a general idea of the arangement we propose, we may 
 indicate that there should be along the North river, a quay next to the 
 bulkhead about 33 feet wide from the water's edge, then a warehouse 80 
 feet deep, next to this a strip reserved for the belt railroad hereinafter 
 proposed, 36£ feet wide, then a raised sidewalk, 8| feet wide , then a 
 roadway 77 feet wide (or nearly double the width of the present carriage 
 
46 
 
 way), then a sidewalk 15 feet wide, as now, next to the existing buildings 
 on the street, thus making the full width of 250 feet. Along the East 
 river, unless it shall be thought best to change the proposed width, the 
 dimensions might be a quay 25 feet wide, next to the bulkhead, then a 
 warehouse 50 feet wide, then a side track, and a single main trade occu- 
 pying 25 feet, then a raised sidewalk of 8 feet, then a roadway 77 feet 
 wide, and then a sidewalk 15 feet wide, thus making up a width of 
 200 feet.* 
 
 If the quay next to the bulkhead be placed ^ feet, and the railroad 
 side track hereinafter mentioned one foot above the highest tide, the 
 lower floor of the warehouses will be level with the floor of the cars, and 
 there will be a descent of 4 feet in 117, or in 80, as the case may be, 
 from the dock to the crossing of the first rail, which will be an advantage 
 in draying goods off from the docks. We do not give these dimensions 
 as absolute. The details should be carefully considered and the plans 
 matured, but they indicate the general nature of the arrangement, which 
 our experience as railroad engineers teaches us to be economical, f 
 
 The chief service of the warehouses and factories would be to save 
 cartage to the interior of the city and back again. Particular districts 
 for particular branches of business would be indicated beforehand, so as 
 to promote economical concentration of interests. In connection with 
 these warehouses, we suggest that a system of light steamers might 
 ply along the water front, • to distribute both freight and passengers. 
 
 5th. We would propose, in connection with and adjacent to these 
 warehouses and manufactories, a belt railroad of two main tracks and one 
 side track on the surface of the street. The track next to the warehouses 
 should be a series of side tracks, Connected at suitable points, for 
 standing cars, and thus loading and unloading ; the other two tracks 
 
 * Since this report was written, it has been understood that the Dock Commissioners 
 have decided to reduce the proposed width of South Street to 140 feet, from the Battery to 
 Montgomery street, and to 100 feet from that street to Grand street. The width of the street 
 northerly from that point has not yet been determined. This reduction will preclude the 
 construction of warehouses along the bulkhead line on the East River. 
 
 t The total available water front of the city is 24£ miles in length. The proposed im. 
 provement of the Dock Commissioners contemplates on the North river, from the Battery to 
 Sixty-first street, a river wall line of 23 7-13 feet, and on the East river from the Battery to Fifty- 
 first street, a river wall line of 27 995 feet, or a total of 53 738 feet, say 10 miles. If we deduct 
 3 miles for streets to the piers, spaces between the warehouses, storage yards and manufac- 
 tories, and for other purposes, there yet remaiu 7 miles available. This grou id will not be 
 worth, on an average, less than $1 000 per front foot, so that should this plan bo deemed prac- 
 ticable, the eventual result might be; to place about $35,000,000, or the interest thereon in 
 the city treasury, to say nothing of the increased taxation upon the buildings erected along the 
 bulkhead lines. As none of your committee expects to make a single penny out of the plan 
 here recommended, they hope it will not be thought an objection that in the words of Col. 
 Sellers—" There's mllions in it." 
 
47 
 
 should be main tracks, one for the traffic in either direction. They 
 should be connected with ferry slips at a number of suitable points, by 
 means of floating bridges, so that the cars of any of the railroads termi- 
 nating near this city could be placed opposite any of the warehouses or 
 manufactories without passing over any great distance of the main tracks, 
 thus giving to all the railroads access to all the buildings. The road 
 could, in addition, be used to transfer goods from the warehouses to ves- 
 sels in any part of the water front. It may be built and owned by the 
 city, and under proper regulations, thrown open at fixed rates of trackage 
 per car per mile, to all parties wishing to use it, or it may be built and 
 managed by an incorporated joint stock company, but controlled by city 
 regulations. In any case, perfect impartiality must be insisted upon, 
 and no exclusive rights whatever granted thereon. 
 
 We are not unmindful of the many objections which will be raised to 
 the operating of a railroad across the traffic to and from the docks, unless 
 elevated above the ground. We have, however, proposed to place it on 
 the surface ; first, to save in first cost — such a road we have indicated 
 would cost about $40 000 dollars per mile, while on elevated road of equal 
 capacity, proportioned for the weight of standard engines and cars, and 
 appurtenances for raising and lowering them to and from the warehouse, 
 would cost about $500 000 per mile ; and second, to save lifting and lower- 
 ing the goods and the cars. We believe the objections to such a road have 
 been much exaggerated. Not only would the volume of drayage to and 
 from the docks be largely diminished by the system we propose, but the 
 intervening raised sidewalk between the road and the carriage way, and a 
 system of sliding gates at the dock entrances, would prevent all possible 
 collisions with teams. The road would have to be operated by dummy 
 engines at low speed, mainly in the night and at particular hours of the 
 day, say the early morning, the noon hour, and the early evening, as is 
 done with the belt railroad on the docks at Boston, as well as with the 
 trains of the New York Central K. E. to St. John's Park depot.* Of course, 
 the question will have to be very carefully considered in all its details by 
 you and by the parties interested. If, upon further investigation or 
 trial for a short distance, it should be deemed too objectionable, this 
 
 * The above warehouse plan differs from those which have hitherto been proposed— 1st, 
 in placing the warehouses on the bulkheads instead of the piers ; second, in having a continuous 
 line of them instead of only ten isolated buildings; third, in placing their general control in the 
 hands of the city instead ot a private company; fourth, in extending their benefits to any citizen 
 who chooses to build one ; fifth, in placing the belt railroads for heavy engines and cars on the 
 ground instead of in the air, and sixth, in placing an elevated road overhead for light passengers 
 traffic only, should subsequent needs demand it, thus decreasing materially its cost, as see 
 hereafter. 
 
48 
 
 feature of our recommendations could he abandoned, as it forms no in- 
 tegral part of the bulkhead warehouse system. ' In the latter event, 
 freight could still be delivered and distributed from them by water, 
 though at somewhat greater cost than with the additional aid of the sur- 
 face railroad. Although eventually designed to encircle the whole island, 
 this belt railroad need be built no faster than the erection of warehouses 
 and demands of business shall render necessary. For a portion of the 
 distance it is proposed to utilize the space over the two main 
 tracks for new lines of the rapid transit roads when these become needed. 
 Such would stand away from the warehouses, so as not to be interfered 
 with by possible conflagrations ; if proportioned for a rolling load of 
 1 200 pounds per lineal foot of each track, the road would cost about 
 $300 000 a mile. 
 
 These schemes, after careful consideration, must stand or fall on their 
 own merits, . They are based upon the theory — first, that all goods for local 
 consumption or immediate export should be taken at once by the cheap- 
 est method of conveyance to their destination ; second, that upon arrival in 
 the vicinity of New York, all goods of which the final destination is not 
 known, should be unloaded into warehouses, and no farther transportation 
 expense put upon them, until their final destination is ascertained ; third, 
 that all transfer, lighterage and distribution should be done by steam 
 where possible, and that rail traction should be made use of, where prac- 
 ticable without serious injury to other uses of the ground. 
 
 Your committee does not expect that its recommendations will be uni- 
 versally acquiesced in or entirely accepted. These may conflict with 
 previously formed opinions, existing customs, or established interests, 
 which it will be necessary to consider. Such concessions as do not 
 destroy the efficiency of the plans may reasonably be made. An endeavor 
 has been made to take a general view of the commercial necessities of this 
 port, and to recommend the remedies which seemed to promise the 
 greatest economical results, together with fair returns upon the 
 capital that might be required to carry them out. It now remains for 
 the Society, for the parties interested, and for the public, to discuss 
 whether these schemes are sound, and are those best calculated to secure 
 the retention by New York of its present position as the leading commer- 
 cal city of the United States. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 O. Chanute, ~) 
 M. N. Forney, | 
 Asbel Welch, r Committee. 
 
 Charles K. Graham, 
 
 F. CoUjINGWOOD. 
 
49 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 An Investigation into the Elements of Success of a Baped Teanstt 
 Paeeroad for New York City, by M. X. Forney. 
 
 Before it is possible to induce capitalists to invest a sufficient amount 
 of money in any system of rapid transit road to construct one, it is neces- 
 sary to show that such a road will pay a reasonable profit on its cost. 
 In order to do this, we must know, first, what will be the expense of 
 operating such a road ; and second, what will be its receipts with cer- 
 tain assumed rates of fare and numbers of passengers carried. 
 
 The following investigation has been made for the purpose of deter- 
 mining what would be the profit of a rapid transit railroad with different 
 assumed volumes of traffic and rates of fare. In doing this the simplest 
 case has been taken ; that of a road with two tracks extending from the 
 Battery to the south end of Central Park, or a distance ef five miles. 
 The rolling stock has been assumed to be similar to that recommended 
 in the preceding report, and the road to consist of some form of elevated 
 structure. 
 
 The expenses of operating a railroad are, it is believed, all included 
 under the following heads : 
 
 a. Train Expenses. — These include locomotive runners and firemen's 
 wages, locomotive repairs, fuel for locomotives, oil and waste, water 
 supply, general expense of locomotive machine shop — including repairs 
 of shop and tools, superintendence of shops, clerk hire, watchmen, fuel 
 and lights — conductors' wages, brakeinen's wages, car repairs, oiling 
 and inspecting cars, oil and waste, fuel and light for same, cleaning 
 cars and general expense of car-shops — including repairs, superintend- 
 ence, &c. 
 
 b. What may be called fixed expenses, including general superintend- 
 ence of the road,- salaries of general officers, clerk hire, stationery and 
 printing, office rent and other office expenses, damages to persons and 
 property and law expenses. 
 
 c. Cost of maintaining the road structure and track. 
 
 d. Maintenance and repairs to station-houses, including furniture and 
 appliances for water supply. 
 
 e. Station service, including men to assist passengers in and out of 
 cars, signal men, and women in charge of ladies' waiting-rooms. 
 
50 
 
 f. Insurance. 
 
 g. Taxes. 
 
 7i, Maintenance of telegraph line and signals. 
 
 i. An indefinite amount of expense usually charged to contingencies. 
 
 To facilitate calculation it will also be assumed that : 
 
 n = the number of passengers carried per year. 
 
 I — the length of the road reduced to miles of single track. 
 
 x = the rate of fare for each passenger. 
 
 y = the number of single trips runs by trains per year. 
 
 m — the number of miles run by trains per year. 
 
 The receipts of a road will obviously be equal to the number of pas- 
 sengers carried, multiplied by the rates of fare charged, or be represented 
 by n x, and if we represent the expenses classified in the preceding para- 
 graphs by the letter which indicates the paragraph, then : 
 
 n x — (a-\-bA r c-\-dA r e-\-fA r g-\-h-\-i) = profit or loss. 
 
 The difficulty in applying this formula, will be in assigning correct 
 values to each of the quantities represented. Some of them it is believed 
 are incapable of correct determination at the present time. Thus it will 
 be impossible to tell the amount of traffic of a rapid transit road before it 
 is constructed. That will depend upon many undetermined elements, 
 such as the location of the road, the rate of fare, the nature of the struc- 
 ture, the character of the facilities afforded, the prejudices and habits of 
 the people, the condition of general business, the competition which such 
 a road would have, and other equally uncertain elements and conditions 
 to which a road of this kind would be subject. The table on the next 
 page will show the number of passengers carried by each of the north 
 and south lines of horse railroads and omnibuses in New York during the 
 past three years. 
 
 From this table it will be seen that the number carried per year on 
 each of the different roads varies from less than 2 000 000 on the Ninth 
 Avenue road up to 27 000 000 on the Third Avenue road. In 
 the absence of any means of determining the number of passengers who 
 would travel on a rapid transit road, the subject may be investigated by 
 assuming a traffic of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 millions of passengers per 
 year, and calculating the cost of operating a road with each of these 
 amounts of traffic, from which the profit or loss can easily be determined 
 for each with different rates of fare. 
 
 The only example in this country of a rapid transit railroad operated 
 by steam in a large city and with light roliing stock is the New York 
 
51 
 
 
 Year Ending 
 Sept. 30, 1871. 
 
 Year Ending 
 Sept. 30, 1872. 
 
 Year Ending 
 Sept. 30, 1873. 
 
 
 25 
 
 800 000 
 
 27 
 
 000 
 
 000 
 
 26 
 
 950 
 
 000 
 
 
 15 
 
 2811144 
 
 15 
 
 366 
 
 194 
 
 15 
 
 143 
 
 048 
 
 Broadway and Seventh Avenue 
 
 15 
 
 001 854 
 
 17 
 
 565 
 
 297 
 
 17 
 
 883 
 
 776 
 
 
 13 
 
 931 873 
 
 14 
 
 236 
 
 598 
 
 14 
 
 747 
 
 141 
 
 
 13 
 
 858 667 
 
 15 
 
 420 
 
 126 
 
 15 
 
 536 
 
 160 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 12 
 
 405 
 
 10 1 
 
 1 1 
 11 
 
 OOJ 
 
 yo i 
 
 
 11 
 
 276 906 
 
 12 
 
 504 
 
 392 
 
 13 
 
 570 
 
 955 
 
 Forty-second Street and Grand Street Ferry. 
 
 7 
 
 090 188 
 
 7 
 
 373 
 
 271 
 
 6 
 
 812 
 
 759 
 
 
 5 
 
 983 536 
 
 6 
 
 049 
 
 697 
 
 5 
 
 057 
 
 191 
 
 
 2 
 
 724 233 
 
 3 
 
 505 
 
 078 
 
 3 
 
 53S 
 
 710 
 
 
 2 
 
 078 185 
 
 2 
 
 030 
 
 788 
 
 1 
 
 784 
 
 346 
 
 
 8 
 
 173 032 
 
 8 
 
 770 
 
 666 
 
 8 
 
 730 
 
 888 
 
 
 7 
 
 000 000 
 
 7 
 
 000 
 
 000 
 
 7 
 
 000 
 
 000 
 
 
 139 
 
 695 887 
 
 149 227 274 
 
 148 144 931 
 
 Elevated Railroad, but as that line does not afford sufficient data, it has 
 been impossible to determine by actual experience from it, the cost of all 
 the various items in the expense of operating such a road. Various 
 methods have therefore been employed to determine them, and although 
 it may be impossible to do so with mathematical accuracy, yet by 
 making correct deductions from the expenses of working other roads, 
 a sufficiently close approximation to the actual cost is possible, so that 
 the profit or loss of operating a rapid transit road under different con- 
 ditions can be determined with a reasonable degree of certainty, 
 
 The cost of engineers and firemen's wages has been determined from 
 the wages now paid on the New York Elevated Railroad for that service. 
 Engineers on that line now receive $3.50, and firemen $2.00 per day. The 
 distance run by them is 78£ miles per day, which will be equal to $.07 
 per train mile. 
 
 The cost of repairs of locomotive engines cannot, unfortunately, 
 be determined with equal exactness from the accounts of that road, 
 which have not been kept in sufficient detail for that purpose. From 
 the annual reports of the Michigan Central, Burlington & Missouri River, 
 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Lake Shore, Terre Haute & Indianapolis 
 and Louisville & Nashville Railroads, on all of which the accounts are 
 kept with more than ordinary care and accuracy, the average expense of 
 
52 
 
 locomotive repairs is $.0726 per mile run. As the weight of such engines, 
 including tenders, is nearly or quite ten times that of those proposed in 
 the body of the report for a rapid transit road, and as the latter have only 
 four wheels and the former each consist of two eight-wheeled vehicles, it 
 is apparent that the cost of repairs for the latter cannot exceed one-third 
 that of the former. The cost for locomotive repairs is therefore taken at 
 2^ cents per mile run. 
 
 The average cost of fuel per train mile on the roads referred to is 
 $.1172. As the weight of the trains on such roads will also be about ten 
 times that of those on the Elevated Railroad, the cost of fuel for the 
 latter would certainly not be more than one-third that on the former, or 
 $.0390.. Fortunately, Mr. Wyman, Superintendent of this Eailroad, 
 has kept a careful account for successive weeks of the consumption of 
 fuel of engines on that line. During the time recorded 984 miles were 
 run and 9922 pounds of anthracite coal burned, which cost, delivered to 
 the railroad company, $6.50 per ton of $2000 pounds. The cost per mile 
 was therefore $.0311 That this cost can be reduced with engines of im- 
 proved construction there can be no doubt. It is evident then that the 
 cost offuel, if engines and trains of the kind run on the road referred 
 to are employed, will not exceed $.0325 per mile run. 
 
 Oil and waste for locomotives, on the roads referred to, costs $.00852. 
 Considering the veiy great difference in the size and weight of the ma- 
 chines, and the fact that the one kind have sixteen wheels and the other 
 only four, it is certain that the cost of oil and waste for the latter will not 
 exceed one-fourth that of the former. It will be quite safe, therefore, to 
 assume it to be $.0025 per mile run. 
 
 Water supply on the New York Elevated Railroad has cost, for 
 the year ending Sept. 30, 1874, $135. 00. In that time, the engines ran 
 80 311 miles. The cost therefor was $.00168 per mile. 
 
 The amount of general expense of machine shop, including repairs of 
 shops and tools, superintendence, clerk hire, watchmen, fuel, light, &c. , 
 on the Terre Haute & Indianapolis R. R, which is the only one which re- 
 ports this expense separately, is one-third of the whole cost of repairs. 
 We will therefore have $.0083 per mile for this expense. 
 
 The cost of car service per train mile was calculated as follows : con- 
 ductors' wages $.035; one brakeman to each train, $.0286. These are 
 the amounts actually paid on the New York Elevated Railroad. 
 
 The cost of passenger car repairs on the Burlington & Missouri River, 
 Louisville & Nashville and Indianapolis & Terre Haute R. Rs. is $.0617, 
 
53 
 
 $.04 and $.0836, respectively, or an average of a little over 6 cents per 
 mile. As the passenger trains on these roads will average nearly or quite 
 double the number of cars, which are more than twice as heavy as those 
 designated for a rapid transit road, the cost of repairs per train mile on 
 the latter would not be one-third what they are on the former, so that by 
 allowing $.02 per train mile for this expense, it is certain to cover the cost. 
 
 Oiling and inspecting cars on the Louisville & Nashville K E. , the 
 only line which keeps an account of this item separate from other expen- 
 ses, is $.007732 per train mile. With trains at least ten times as large as 
 those on a rapid transit road, this expense must be quite four times what 
 it would be on the latter, so that an allowance of $.002 will quite cover it. 
 
 On the same road referred to, oil and waste used in cars costs $. 006946 
 per train mile. One-fourth of this, or say $.00175 will evidently cover 
 this expense on a rapid transit road. 
 
 Fuel and light for cars we have assumed would be $.002, cleaning 
 cars $. 0025, and general expense of car shops calculated in the same way 
 as for the engine shops will amount to $.00666. The total cost of engine 
 and car service will, therefore, be as on next page. 
 
 The train expenses of the New York Elevated Eailroad, calculated from 
 the statement made to this committee by the Secretary of that road, 
 amounts to $.325 per mile run. Deducting from the cost of train service, 
 $4 000, which the officers of that company say has been expended in re- 
 building several engines which were very badly constructed (and to the 
 latter fact the writer can bear testimony), and the expenses per train 
 mile on that road will be reduced to $.275, even with the unfavorable 
 circumstances under which that company has been operating its line. 
 It will, therefore, it is thought, be quite safe to assume that the train 
 expenses of a rapid transit road will not exceed 25 cents per train mile, 
 which, if multiplied by the number of train miles, will be the value of a 
 in our equation. 
 
 The " fixed expenses" or the value of b, has been determined from 
 the amount of similar expenses reported by the horse railroads which 
 run in a northerly and southerly direction in the city of New York. 
 These are given in the State Engineer's Eeport for the year ending Sep- 
 tember 30, 1872, under the heads of " general superintendence ; officers, 
 clerks, agents and office expenses ; fuel, gas and lights ; damages to per- 
 sons and property, including medical attendance ; law expenses ; adver- 
 tising and printing." As a separate charge is made in the preceding 
 estimate of train expenses for "fuel and light" used on engines and 
 
54 
 
 LOCOMOTIVE EXPENSES 
 (Per train mile run.) 
 
 Engineers' and Firemen's wages. 
 
 Locomotive repairs 
 
 Fuel 
 
 Oil and waste 
 
 Water supply 
 
 General expense of locomotive shops, including repairs of shops and 
 tools, superintendence, clerk hire, watchmen, fuel and light 
 
 Total locomotive expenses. 
 
 CAR SERVICE 
 (Per train mile run.) 
 
 Conductors' wages 
 
 Brakesmen's wages 
 
 Passenger car repairs 
 
 Oiling and inspecting 
 
 Oil and waste 
 
 Fuel and lights 
 
 Cleaning cars 
 
 General expense of car shops. 
 
 Total car expenses. 
 
 Total train expenses per mile run $.23852 
 
 $.0700 
 
 .025 
 .0325 
 .0025 
 .00168 
 
 .00833 
 
 $.035 
 .0286 
 .02 
 .002 
 .00175 
 .002 
 .0025 
 .00666 
 
 $.14001 
 
 .09851 
 
 cars, only one-half of the amounts charged by the horse railroads for 
 this item is assumed to be " fixed expense." The amounts thus deter- 
 mined are then laid down as follows : a base line, A B, page , is taken, the 
 divisions of which by the light vertical lines, each represent a traffic of 
 one million passengers per year. Lines are then drawn from A B, at the 
 points which represent the amount of traffic of each of the roads referred 
 to, and the amount of fixed expenses^of these respective roads is laid off 
 from A B, on a scale of $24 000 to an inch, and the measurement marked 
 with a small circle. Thus the Ninth Avenue line has a traffic of a little 
 over 2 000 000 of passengers per year, and its fixed expenses are $4 885, so 
 that a line is drawn from A B a little below the point which indicates 
 2 000 000 of passengers, and the expense is laid down 0.4 inch 
 
55 
 
 Number of 
 Passengers 
 per Year. 
 
 1 000 000 
 
 2 000 000 
 
 3 000 000 
 
 4 000 000 
 
 5 000 000 
 
 6 000 000 
 
 7 000 000 
 
 8 000 000 
 
 9 000 000 
 
 i eoo oooo 
 
 11 000 000, 
 
 12 000 000 
 
 13 000 000 
 
 14 000 000 
 
 15 000 000 
 
 16 000 000 
 
 17 000 000 
 
 18 000 000 
 
 19 000 000 
 
 20 000 000 
 
 21 000 000 
 
 22 000 000 
 
 23 000 000 
 
 24 000 000 
 
 25 000 003 
 
 26 000 000 
 
 27 000 000 
 
 28 000 000 
 
 29 000 000 
 
 30 000 0U0 
 
 !iiiiMpuii» * I illl IHllIIIil 
 
 a';^//3K'4aazz^r^aS*fceiBiiMBMi H 1 Illl lllllllllllNlllllfBIIIII 
 
56 
 
 from A B, as shown at a. The Sixth Avenue line has a traffic of 
 14 236 598 passengers, and its fixed expenses are $34 290. A line is 
 therefore drawn from A B at the point indicating that number of pas- 
 sengers, on which the expenses are indicated by a circle b, at the proper 
 distance from A B. The vertical lines each represent a fixed expense 
 of Si 000, so that the different amounts can easily be laid down. The 
 expenses of all the other roads are laid down in the same way. It is 
 evident, then, that if a line could be drawn through each of the points 
 thus laid down, that its distance from A B would indicate the fixed 
 expense for any given amount of traffic. It is, however, impossible to 
 draw a line through each of the points, but a close approximation is 
 possible. This is represented by the line A C, which gives us the means 
 of determining the value of b, or the fixed expenses for any volume of 
 traffic up to 30 000 000 of passengers per year, which is near the limit 
 of the capacity of a double track road in New York. 
 
 One of the most difficult elements to determine in the cost of operating 
 a rapid transit road is that of the maintenance of the track, and the road 
 structure. It is, however, certain that the latter will be very much smaller 
 than for any other kind of railroad. This is indicated by the extreme- 
 ly small expense incurred in maintaining the tracks of ordinary railroads 
 on bridges, which is owing doubtless to the fact that there is no sub- 
 structure which is alternately saturated with water, and then dried or 
 frozen and then thawed, and also to the elasticity of the bridge on 
 whic h the rails rest. All these conditions would exist in the case of an 
 elevated railroad, and with light rolling stock, no one wheel need be 
 loaded with a greater weight than 2 250 pounds, so that the wear of the 
 rails will be very slight, compared with that to which ordinary railroads 
 are subjected, when exposed to rolling loads varying from 5 000 to 12 000 
 pounds per wheel. 
 
 The details of cost of road repairs per train mile on the Louisville k 
 Nashville R R., for the year ending June 30, 1872, was as on next page. 
 
 It is apparent that some of these expenses of keeping an ordinary 
 railroad track in repair would not be incurred at all in an elevated line, 
 and others would be very much less on such a road than on an ordinary 
 road. As there would be no ballast or ditches, there would be no labor or 
 cost expended on either, and as the cross-ties would not be exposed to 
 saturated earth, they would therefore not be so liable to decay nor to injury 
 from frost. Neither would there be culverts, cattle-guards, hand or dump 
 cars, <fcc. The labor and cost of adjusting an ordinary track is largely 
 
57 
 
 COST OF ROAD REPAIRS OX THE LOFISVILLE & NASHVILLE R. R. 
 
 Adjustment of track 
 
 Ditching 
 
 Repairs of culverts, cattle guards and crossings. 
 
 «' " ballast 
 
 " " road tools 
 
 " " hand and dump cars 
 
 '* " switches 
 
 General expense 
 
 COST OF RENEWALS. 
 
 Renewals 
 
 Cross-ties , 
 
 Labor replacing same 
 
 Train expenses hauling ties. 
 
 New rails used 
 
 steel, 
 iron. 
 
 Iron rails repaired 
 
 Labor relaying track 
 
 Material, joint fastenings 
 
 Train expenses, hauling iron. 
 
 $.058180 
 .010447 
 .008872 
 .009154 
 .002398 
 .001702 
 .013906 
 .004486 
 
 $.029090 
 
 .001199 
 
 .013906 
 .004486 
 
 .030845 
 
 .015422 
 
 .015112 
 
 .007556 
 
 .003207 
 
 
 .071034 
 
 .071034 
 
 .005048 
 
 .005048 
 
 .003464 
 
 .003464 
 
 .012998 
 
 .006499 
 
 .019110 
 
 .019110 
 
 .002091 
 
 
 Total $.272054 
 
 S.176S14 
 
 expended on the road bed, so that the cost of doing similar work on a line 
 where there would be no ballast nor injury from frost or rain would be 
 less than half the ordinary cost. In the preceding table, the different 
 items of expense which would be incurred in the maintenance of track, 
 are carried over into the second column, but only half of these amounts 
 which are divided between the ballast and the other parts of the track are 
 thus carried over. The amount of the expenses thus earned to the 
 second column it, will be seen, is $.176814 per train mile. It must be re- 
 membered however, that the weight of trains which are proposed for a 
 rapid transit road is less than one tenth, and the greatest weight per 
 wheel of the engines is less than one-fifth that of such a railroad as the 
 Louisville & Nashville. There pairs to the track, it is therefore believed, 
 will on the former be less than one-tenth that on the latter, so that a 
 charge of 3.02 per train mile will fully cover the maintenance of the track. 
 8 
 
58 
 
 It is very difficult to determine with any certainty what will be the 
 cost of maintaining the structure itself. It would require to he painted 
 over every two years. This was done to the New York Elevated Hail- 
 road for $700 per mile by special contract, so that this expense would 
 amount to $350 per year. An equal amount will, it is believed, keep 
 the structure itself, if properly constructed, in repair. The cost of the 
 maintenance of road structure and track per year would therefore be re- 
 presented by 
 
 c = ($.02 X m) + ($700 X Q. 
 The maintenance and repairs of station-houses is also very difficult to 
 determine from precedent, especially when the character and number of 
 the structures is still undetermined. It is believed, however, that $1 000 
 per mile will be ample for repairing and maintenance of well-constructed 
 buildings. An additional sum of $250 per mile is, however, added for 
 each increment of 5 000 000 of passengers carried per year after the. 
 first 5 000 000. 
 
 The station service for a traffic not exceeding 10 000 000 passen- 
 gers should consist of two signal men for each station, one on duty all the 
 time, and one station train man during the busiest parts of the day. 
 The expense of these will be : 
 
 2 signal men @ $3.00 each = $6.00 
 1 train man @ 2.50 = 2.50 
 
 Train service per station per day = $8.50 
 If the traffic should exceed 10 000 000 per year, it would probably be 
 necessary to increase the station service to two train men, which would 
 make the cost as follows : 
 
 2 signal men @ $3.00 each = $6.00 
 
 2 train men @ 2.50 " = 5.00 
 
 Train service per station per day = $11.00 
 When the traffic exceeded 20 000 000, two sets of train men of two 
 each, and probably two women would be required in charge of ladies' 
 waiting-rooms. This would make the service as follows : 
 
 2 signal men @ $3.00 each = $ 6.00 
 
 4 train " @ 2.50 " = 10.00 
 
 2 women @ 1.50 " = 3.00 
 
 Train service per station per day = $19.00 
 
59 
 
 With three stations to a mile the station service can easily be calculated 
 from the above data. 
 
 From the reports of the horse railroad companies already referred to, 
 it is found that the average cost of insurance amounts to very nearly 
 $250 for each million passengers carried. Therefore, 
 
 n X $250. 
 1 1 000 000. 
 
 The average rate of taxation reported by the New York horse rail- 
 road companies is $587 for each million of passengers transported, which 
 is the rate charged in the estimates following ;• so that 
 
 _ n X $587. 
 9 ~ 1 000 000. 
 
 The cost of maintenance of telegraph and signals, it is also impossible 
 to determine by precedent. An allowance of $500 per mile of single 
 track is made for this expense. 
 
 For contingencies an allowance of $750 for each million passengers 
 carried is allowed. 
 
 Before the formula can be applied, and the cost of operating a rapid 
 transit road calculated, it is necessary to determine the number of trains 
 which must be run in order to carry a given number of passengers. It 
 is believed, however, that no authority should be granted to any com- 
 pany to build a rapid transit railroad without the express stipulation that 
 not more than half-fare should be collected unless the passenger is provided 
 with a seat on demand. This provision, it is thought, would induce any 
 company to provide cars enough to seat all passengers in ordinary times. 
 To prohibit a railroad company from carrying more passengers than can 
 be seated in the cars would, at times, be an annoyance to passengers, if 
 from special circumstances which a company could not foresee, there were 
 an unusual number of passengers and not enough cars to seat them all. 
 At such times, and even under ordinary circumstances, passengers would 
 rather stand up than wait. This they should have the privilege of doing, 
 but as a passenger receives less value from the company when obliged to 
 stand up than when he is provided with a seat, he should pay less. In 
 other words the fare should bear some proportion to the accommodation 
 afforded. This is but simple justice, which corporations as well as indi- 
 viduals should be compelled to recognize. If seats are provided for all 
 the passengers carried, it will of course be necessary to run more cars 
 and trains than would be needed if a large proportion are obliged to 
 stand up as they now are in horse-cars. It is, however, very difficult to 
 
60 
 
 determine with any degree of certainty the number of cars and trains 
 which it would be necessary to run to carry a given number of passen- 
 gers. As the travel in New York is nearly all southward in the morning, 
 and northward in the evening, the trains running in these directions at 
 these times of the day would be either quite or nearly filled, whereas 
 those running in the opposite direction would carry comparatively few 
 passengers. Thus, supposing that in the trains running southward in 
 the morning, between the hours of seven and ten, an average number of 
 fares equal to 90 per cent, of the seats was collected, and during the same 
 hours in the trains running northward, the number of fares collected was 
 10 per cent, of the" seats, then during these hours the average would be 
 50 per cent, of all the trains running. In the evening a similar condition 
 of things would exist, excepting that the direction of the currents of 
 travel would be reversed. At other times they would be more nearly 
 equalized, and then the fares collected running in each direction might 
 be 50 per cent, of the number of seats. If this were the case, then the 
 average number of fares taken in running from one end of the road to the 
 other during the entire day, would be 50 per cent, of the number of seats. 
 
 On the New York Elevated Railroad, in which all passengers are pro- 
 vided with seats, the number of fares collected, averages for each single 
 trip only about 35 per cent, of the number of seats. It must be remem- 
 bered that no rapid transit railroad which stops only at stations at 
 considerable distances apart, can secure much of the local travel — that is, 
 passengers who go only short distances. It will, therefore, be dependent 
 largely upon through travel, and that nearly all moves m one direction 
 during certain hours, and the reverse way at others. The traffic of the 
 road would, therefore, require what railroad men call a " dead-run " in 
 one direction. It is quite certain, however, that if a rapid transit road 
 ran trains at more frequent intervals than they are now run on the New 
 York Elevated Road, and at lower rates of fare, it would secure a larger 
 proportion of passengers to each train than that road now carries. Yet, 
 if cars enough are provided, as they should be, so that all passengers can 
 be seated, it will be impossible to furnish exactly enough seats to supply 
 the varying demands, so that, to be certain that all will be seated, the 
 number of seats must usually be in excess of the demand, and, therefore, 
 it will be impossible to fill all the cars entirely full when running in the 
 direction of the travel, and, although at such times the trains moving in 
 the opposite direction will not run entirely empty, yet it is quite uncer- 
 tain whether at these hours the average number of passengers will equal 
 
61 
 
 50 per cent, of the number of seats. At other hours of the clay travel 
 will be still more irregular, so that it is doubtful whether the average pro- 
 portion of passengers to seats will exceed 45 per cent of the latter. 
 It is probable though that a rapid transit road will of itself develope a 
 traffic the character of which it is impossible to anticipate. 
 
 The only method left open then, is to base calculations on average receipts 
 per train equal to different assumed percentages of the seating capacity of 
 the cars. Thus, if three cars are run in a train, each of which has seats 
 for 48 passengers, the total number of seats per train will be 144, and if 
 the average number of passengers carried, or what should be the same 
 thing, the average number of fares collected is 50 per cent, of the number 
 seats in running a single trip, or from one end of the road to the other, 
 then by simply dividing the number of passengers carried per year by 
 50 per cent of 144=72 will give the number of single tiips, which will be 
 run by trains in carrying any given number of passengers. In other 
 words, let p = the percentage which the average number of passengers 
 carried per trip bears to the number of seats in the train, and s the num- 
 ber of seats, then. 
 
 n 
 
 y = sXp 
 
 With this formula the number of trains can, of course, be readily 
 calculated for any given amount of traffic per year, or for any assumed 
 number of passengers per trip. 
 
 The trains for a rapid transit road have been supposed to consist of 
 three cars, similar to those used on the New York Elevated Railroad, 
 each with seats for 48 passengers. 
 
 With the above data, I to Y, tables have been calculated, showing what 
 will be the results of operating a road if the average number of passengers 
 carried per trip is equal to 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 per cent, of the number 
 of seats, and with different assumed volumes of traffic and rates of fare, 
 - These Tables have six columns, each containing the items of cost 
 of carrying the number of passengers per year, indicated at the head 
 of the columns. The number of trains, or rather the number of single 
 trips made by trains, is determined by the use of the formula given 
 on page . The number of miles run is obtained by simply multiply- 
 ing the number of trains by the length of the road, or 5 miles. The 
 nature of the other calculations for the tables have already been explained 
 with sufficient clearness, so that no further explanations are needed. The 
 receipts for different volumes of traffic, and for 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 cents 
 fare are given at the bottom of each table. The difference between 
 
G2 
 
 I 
 
 those receipts and the expenses is also given, and of course, shows the 
 profit of working the road. 
 
 The money invested in a rapid transit road would be expended, first, 
 for the construction of the road itself, and second, for buying the right of 
 way, for real estate, shops, tools, station-houses, rolling stock. &c. As a 
 great variety of plans have been proposed for the construction of the road 
 itself, and as the other expenses will be very nearly the same, no matter 
 what plan of road structure is adopted, therefore in order to determine 
 how much money may be profitably expended in the latter, we will 
 first determine what amount of capital will be needed for real estate, 
 stations, equipment, &c. In making these estimates the same plan will 
 be followed that was adopted in the construction of Tables I to V ; that 
 is, the calculations will be made for assumed volumes of traffic as before, 
 and for the cost of right of way, real estate, shops, tools, &o. , station- 
 houses, locomotives, cars and sundries. 
 
 Whatever plan of road is adopted, some expense must be incurred for 
 right of way or damage to property. It will, of course, be impossible to 
 tell with any exactness what this damage will be, without having the 
 location of the road fixed, and accurate surveys made. It has, however, 
 been assumed at $1 000 000 for the ten miles of road. 
 
 The average value of the real estate, &c. , owned by the horse rail- 
 road companies named in Table VI, excepting the Fourth Avenue line, 
 is a little over $40 000 for each million of passengers carried per year. 
 More room is, however, needed for stables than for shops for engines, 
 whereas expensive machinery will be required in the latter. It is thought, 
 therefore, that an allowance of $50 000, for each million passengers car- 
 ried per year on a rapid transit road will be sufficient to provide the 
 needed "real estate, shops, tools, &c." 
 
 $1 000 apiece* is charged for station houses for each million passengers 
 carried, and it is assumed there will be three to each mile. 
 
 The experience of the New York Elevated Kailroad indicates that 
 about five engines and fifteen cars are needed to carry each million of 
 passengers per year. The engines are charged at $3 500 and cars at 
 $2 500 each. * An additional charge of $2 000 for each million of pas- 
 sengers is made for "sundries." 
 
 * It is not strictly correct to take tbe experience of this road and apply it to all the as- 
 sumed conditions of traffic as it would obviously take more cars to carry a given number 
 of passengers if only 40 per cent, of the seats are occupied than would be needed if CO per 
 cent, of the seats were filled, but to elaborate the calculation for each of the conditions would 
 render a very tedious and voluminous calculation necessary. The error in the above assunip 
 tion will not materially influence the results of the working of a road. 
 
63 
 
 Any rapid transit road to be profitable must pay interest on the money 
 invested in real estate, &c. Assuming that the rate of this interest will 
 be 8 per cent. , it is plain that if Ave deduct the amount of the interest from 
 the total profits, the balance will be the amounts left to pay interest on 
 the cost of the structure itself. In order, therefore, to be able to pay 8 
 per cent, on the latter, its cost per mile must not exceed, for any given 
 volume or conditions of traffic or rate of fare an amount on which the 
 balance referred to above, will pay 8 per cent. Tables VII to XII 
 have been calculated from these data, and show the balance of profits 
 left after paying 8 per cent, interest on the cost of real estate, &c. , given 
 in Table VI, and also the sums on which this balance will pay 8 per 
 cent., which are the amounts that can be profitably invested in the 
 road structure and track with the rates of fare and conditions of traffic 
 indicated. These amounts are also reduced to the cost per mile of 
 single track. As already stated in the body of the report, it would be 
 unwise to expend more than three-fourths the amounts indicated by the 
 calculations, thus reserving the remaining fourth as a " financial factor 
 of safety." 
 
 As a system of roads adequate to the wants of New York City would 
 involve the construction of many more miles of road than were assumed 
 for the preceding calculations, some further explanation may be needed. 
 From these calculations it will be seen that a traffic of 15 000 000 pas- 
 sengers per year, who pay 6 cents for being carried 5 miles, would make 
 profitable a rapid transit road of that length, which cost, exclusive of 
 equipment, &c, not exceeding $400 000 per mile of double track. In 
 other words, each mile of double track of such road must receive pay for 
 carrying 15 000 000 passengers over it per year, which may be called 
 15 000 000 passenger miles, at 1\ cents each. The total number of passen- 
 ger miles, then, for the assumed road from the Battery to the Central Park } 
 and with the above amount of traffic, will be 75 000 000 per year. Now, 
 if the system of roads on each side of tlie city, extending from the Battery 
 to Harlem Kiver, is constructed, instead of having 5 miles of double 
 track road, there will be four times as many, or 20 miles. To be 
 profitable, therefore, such a system must do a business equivalent to 
 300 000 000 passenger miles per year,* which, at 1£ cents each, would 
 yield a gross revenue of $3 600 000. 
 
 * It should of course be kept clearly in mind, that the above volume of traffic consists of 
 300 000 000 passenger miles and not that number of passengers. This traffic might consist 
 of 100 000 000 passengers who paid for traveling 3 miles each, 50 000 000 ; who paid for 6 miles 
 each, 33 333 333 ; who pay for traveling 9 miles each or, as would be most probable, it would 
 made up of a portion of each of these kinds of passengers. 
 
64 
 
 15 0(5ft O0(^xolildve of\ompnXut, 
 ->iVh>ub\ tr;\k per^ear, at\ rate <51 
 
 eal 
 
 e 
 
 Th<*. precNliii^^os<)uiiatesMt is tiiought, will teustain^he contusion 
 drawn b^^he \^MtoV t^it a rWd {^anslo^oad (Siting \at exceeding 
 $40(\)()0 pi^unile wtf (TViIjIk tracn^nus\m o^ler to\^p profitable, fiave 
 
 averse tnirlu- eqirk:;il\it 
 estate, pas^mger r 
 
 nut lr r tl 1 1 i i ill i | i mil 
 
 note. — The following deductions, made from the preceding calcula- 
 tions and contained in the table herewith, may be of interest or service to 
 those who are investigating the subject of the cost or profit of operating 
 a rapid transit road. The first column of the table gives the average 
 number of train miles run in order to carry 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mil- 
 lions of passengers per year, taken from the Tables. 
 The second column gives the total cost of running these trains ; the 
 third column gives this cost reduced to the cost per mile. The fourth 
 column gives the earnings per mile at a fare of 1£ cents per passenger 
 mile, and a number of passengers equal to 45 per cent, of the seats in a 
 train consisting of three cars, with 48 seats each. The last column gives 
 the profit per train per mile. It will be noticed that the cost per mile of 
 running trains grows less and the profit greater as the number of miles 
 run increases. This is owing to the fact that certain fixed expenses are 
 divided among a larger number of miles run. 
 
 Number of Train 
 
 Total Cost of 
 
 Cost per Train 
 
 Earnings pr. Train Profit per Train 
 
 
 
 Mile at 1| cents 
 
 
 Miles Run. 
 
 Running Trains. 
 
 Mile. 
 
 per Pass'ger Mile, 
 
 Mile. 
 
 354 410 
 
 $183 912 
 
 $.5188 
 
 $.7776 
 
 $.2588 
 
 708 820 
 
 302 337 
 
 .4265 
 
 .7776 
 
 .3511 
 
 1 063 230 
 
 435 101 
 
 .4092 
 
 .7776 
 
 .3684 
 
 1 417 640 
 
 553 977 
 
 .3907 
 
 .7776 
 
 .3869 
 
 1 772 050 
 
 706 652 
 
 .3987 
 
 .7776 
 
 .3789 
 
 2 126 460 
 
 835 028 
 
 .3926 
 
 .7776 
 
 .3850 
 
65 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Estimate of Expfnditure which can be Afforded foe Road and 
 Equipment of Rapid Transit Roads on Various Routes 
 in the City of New York, by O. Chanute. 
 
 I. — On the basis of the business of the Third Avenue Railroad. 
 Length, 8 miles — 26 950 000 passengers carried in 1873, earning 
 $1 512 396. 
 
 Assume that a rapid transit road, located over the same route, would 
 do an equal business, of which one-third should be through, paying 10 
 cents, and two-thirds local, paying 5 cents, and traveling on trains 
 running 8 and 4 miles respectively. Then the earnings would be : 
 
 9 000 000 through passengers per annum, at 10 cents $900 000 
 
 18 000 000 local at 5 cents 900 000 
 
 Total earnings $1 800 000 
 
 If each passenger traveled the whole distance of the train, their mile- 
 age would be : 
 
 9 000 000 through passengers x 8 = 72 000 000 passengers one mile. 
 18 000 000 local " x 4 = 72 000 000 " " " 
 
 Total 144 000 000 " " " 
 
 Assume 20 passengers to each car, capable of seating 46 ; then to run 
 144 000 000 passengers one mile requires 7 200 000 car miles, and if 
 the average train consists of 3 cars, a train mileage of 2 400 000 train 
 miles. Thus with an average train of 3 cars of 46 seats each, giving an ac- 
 commodation of 138 seats, it is assumed that the average load is only 60 
 passengers — say 100 in one direction and 20 in the other, in consequence 
 of the tidal flow of the business. 
 The expense will probably be as on next page : 
 
66 
 
 Per train mile. 
 
 1 conductor (with a train-brake) 100 miles per day 0.03 1 cents. 
 
 1 engineer and 1 fireman 100 " " " 0.05£ " 
 
 Fuel, oil, waste and small stores 0.0G 
 
 Water and incidental expenses 0.01 " 
 
 Repairs of engines and tools . 06 " 
 
 Total train service 0.22 " 
 
 Car service, 3 cars at 2 cents each per mile run 0.06 '* 
 
 General expenses, $48 000 a year on 2 400 000 train miles 0.02 " 
 
 Station service, $120 000 " " " " « 0.05 *' 
 
 Track repairs, (small in consequence of permanent structure) 0.07 " 
 
 Roadway charges (depreciation and repairs, of structure and buildings) 0.06 " 
 
 Insurance and contingencies 0.§2 " 
 
 Total estimated cost 0.50 " 
 
 The expense of running all trains, both passenger and freight, on 13 
 leading British railroads in 1872, varied from 58 to 73 cents per mile run, 
 and on 7 leading American railroads for the same year, from Si. 09 to 
 31.70 per mile ruD, so that the above cost, for a train which will probably 
 weigh less than one-fifth as much as even an ordinary passenger trains 
 is not likely to be exceeded for the volume of business assumed. 
 
 It is quite probable that the track repairs and roadway charges here 
 assumed to cost 13 cents per mile run, would not exceed 5 or 6 cents, in 
 consequence of the greater permanence of the structure, but if assumed 
 
 as above : 
 
 Gross earnings, as above estimated $1 800 000 
 
 2 400 000 train miles, at 50 cents per mile 1 200 000 
 
 Net profit $600 000 
 
 which is the interest at 8 per cent on $7 500 000, or a cost of $937 500 a 
 mile for 8 miles. 
 
 This profit would not be realized immediately upon the opening of 
 the road, as many local passengers would still take the horse-cars, and it 
 would require from three to five years for the population to adjust itself 
 to the new conditions. If it is assumed that during that time the busi- 
 ness is only one half of that assumed above, the earnings will be : 
 
 4 500 000 through passengers per annum at 10 cents $450 000 
 
 9 000 000 local •' " " at 5 cents 450 000 
 
 Gross earnings $90° 000 
 
 Expenses, 1 200 000 train miles at 50 cents $600 000 
 
 Net profit $300 000 
 
 or interest at 8 per cent, on a cost of $3 750 000, or $4G8 750 per mile. 
 
67 
 
 While the cost of the train mile is here assumed at 50 cents, it is more 
 likely to be 46 cents a mile for the first two years. The station service 
 and general expenses will, it is true, be spread over a smaller basis, but 
 the machinery and structure will be new and in less need of repairs. The 
 
 estimate is as follows : 
 
 Train service (2 cents less per mile run on engine repairs) 0.20 cents. 
 
 Car* service (1 cent " " " " by cars for " ) 0.03 " 
 
 General expense ($36 000 a year on 1 200 000 train miles) 0.03 
 
 Station service ($120 000 " " " " " ) 0.10 " 
 
 Track repairs (quite small in consequence of newness) 0.04 " 
 
 Roadway charges ( " " " ) 0.04 " 
 
 Insurance and contingencies 0.02 " 
 
 4 
 
 Total cost per train mile 0.46 
 
 It is therefore deemed safe to assume 50 cents per train mile in the 
 subsequent estimates. 
 
 II. On the Basis or the Business of the Eighth Avenue Raie- 
 koad. — Length 10 miles, — 15 143 048 passengers carried, earning $798 040. 
 
 Assume gross earnings to be : 
 
 5 000 000 through passengers per annum at 10 cents $508 00 
 
 10 000 000 local " •« " at 5 cents 600 00 
 
 Gross earnings $1 000 00 
 
 assume train load of 60 passengers as above : 
 
 5 oeo 000 x 10 
 
 Through passengers — = 833 333 train miles. 
 
 60 
 
 10 000 000 x 5 noo 000 
 Local " ^ = 833 333 « 
 
 DU 
 
 1 666 666 " 
 
 Expenses 1 666 666 train miles at 50 cents 838 333 
 
 Net profit $166 667 
 
 which is 8 per cent, on only $2 083 337.50, or $208 333, per mile for 10 
 miles, and evidently will not do. 
 
 This result is due to two causes, first, the smaller volume of busi- 
 ness, and second, the greater length of line. The fares having been as- 
 sumed as the same, the increased length of road reduces them from l£ 
 cent per mile to 1 cent. If, however, for the double purpose of raising 
 slightly the rates of fares and better filling the trains, by proportion- 
 ing them more accurately to the volume of travel, we suppose the line 
 operated in three circuits from the Battery, the first reaching to the 
 vicinity of Union Square, 2i miles, at 4 cents fare ; the second to the 
 lower end of Central Park, 5 miles, at 6 cents fare, and the third to 
 Harlem River at 13 cents fare, we have the following probable earnings 
 from the same volume of business : — 
 
68 
 
 6 000 000 Passengers— Battery to Union Square, at 4 cents $200 000 
 
 6 000 000 " «' 59th street, at 6 cents 300 000 
 
 5 009 COO " " Harlem River, at 13 cents 650 000 
 
 Gross earnings $1 150 000 
 
 Assume an average train load of 70 passengers, instead of GO as before, for 
 every 138 seats carried: 
 
 5 000 000x 23 
 
 Union Square trains — 4 = 189 286 train miles. 
 
 „ x . „ , 5 000 000 x 5 
 
 Central Park •• . = 3o7 143 
 
 70 
 
 , T , 5 000 000x10 „ 
 
 Harlem River — = 714 286 " 
 
 70 
 
 1 260 715 
 
 Expenses 1 260 715 train miles, at 50 cents 630 357 50 
 
 Net profit $519 642 50 
 
 which is 8 per cent, on $6 495 531, or 8649 553 per mile for 10 miles. 
 
 As, however, the western upper part of the city served by this line 
 contains much the best sites for residences, it is probable that the 
 volume of its business would grow to be greater than is here assumed, and 
 might be fully equal to that on the Third Avenue line. 
 
 TTT Estimate of Expenditure which can be afforded by the Har- 
 lem Railroad. — To extend from Grand Central Depot to Battery. 
 
 Total length to be operated 9 miles, of which about 4£ miles are now 
 building for other purposes, at a cost of about $7 000 000, of which the 
 city pays a part, and a tunnel is built from Forty-second to Thirty -fourth 
 streets. There remains, therefore, about 4 miles of rapid transit road to 
 build, from Thirty -fourth street to the Battery. 
 
 The present street-car traffic on this line consists of 8 730 888 pass- 
 engers carried 13 096 332 miles, or an average of 1$ miles each. 
 
 If the length be doubled and the time now occupied reduced by rapid 
 transit, the business will more than double at once. In three years it will 
 have quadrupled, and the earnings are likely to be: — 
 
 10 000 000 through passsengers, at 10 cents $1 000 000 
 
 25 000 «00 local " at 5 cents 1 250 000 
 
 Gross earnings $2 250 000 
 
 42d street trains, — ° 00 ^ 00 * - = 1 666 666 train miles. 
 60 
 
 10 000 000 x 9 
 Harlem " = = 1 500 000 
 
 3 166 666 
 
 Expenses 3 166 666 train miles at 50 cents 1 583 333 
 
 Net profit $666 667 
 
69 
 
 Now if the through business of the roads terminating at Forty-second 
 street pays interest upon the cost north of that point, the profits upon 
 the additional traffic thrown over the line may all be applied in paying 
 the interest upon its extension. Assume, however, that 8166 667 be 
 applied in additional returns on the road north of Forty-second street, 
 and 8500 000 on the southern extension, it would pay 8 per cent, on 
 $6 250 000, or 81 562 500 per mile for a length of 4 miles. 
 
 If the whole profit must be applied in interest on the whole 9 miles, it 
 would warrant an expenditure of 88 333 337.50, or 8925 925 per mile. 
 
 Nothing has been allowed in the above estimates for earnings from 
 mails, nor from express packages. These will be sources of considerable 
 revenue, but they are above omitted, in order to compensate for any 
 possible under-estimate of the operating expenses. 
 
I 
 

 
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 llil 
 
 pil? 
 
 I iii Hi ill lii in 
 
 tit!! 
 
81 
 
 lllls 
 Hill 
 
 3 
 
 SsSlS 
 
 38S8E 
 suss 
 
 883B8 
 sslis 
 " -a" 
 
 mil 
 
 EEiSE 
 
 
 11111 
 
 
 lllls 
 
 Hill 
 
 
 
 13311 
 
 N3S3 
 
 88888 
 
 11311 
 
 33311 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18181 
 
 31333 
 
 BSB8B 
 
 I8EE8 
 
 allll 
 
 
 iiiil 
 
 31133 
 
 S8EBS 
 
 
 §1333 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 31113 
 
 siEsa 
 
 8S88B 
 
 mil 
 
 llsll 
 
 | 
 
 llgli 
 
 lllls 
 
 11111 
 
 nils 
 
 Slsia 
 
 - 
 
 
 rH 
 
 rH 
 
 rH 
 
 
 1 
 
 SSES8 
 
 38381 
 
 38838 
 
 siiaa 
 
 11111 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 BESIB 
 
 CO 
 
 8EB38 
 
 8E38E 
 
 733 
 177 
 555 
 6 943 
 694 
 
 I 
 
 B8E13 
 
 llsll 
 
 11111 
 
 11111 
 
 38311 
 
 I 
 
 
 SSSBB 
 
 IN 
 
 3S888 
 
 IBSSg 
 
 
 
 M Ml 
 
 NNl 
 
 i n 3 
 
 m 
 
 M Ml 
 
 il 
 
 l 
 
 I iiiil 
 
 i 
 
 i-IIH 
 
 I 
 
 ill 
 
 Iiiil 
 
 1 
 II 
 
 II! 
 ill 
 
Estimated Receipts from all Sources, and Cost of Handling Domestic Produce at the Port of New York, for the Year 1873. 
 
 The above table has been compiled from the best information fnrni»he.l by tbe merchants, anil others |Km«ing knowledge o( particular facta. It .iimbtln* contains many errors of J. mils, yet it is believed tliat tlicao 
 will not materially affect the correctness of the conclusions drawn by the committee. Parties possessing more accurate information will confer a favor by forwarding it to the Secretary of the .Society, in order that tlu 
 
1 
 
V 
 
 2 ST) ^ 6aK '/r