;

Railroad ^ ^

technology

and M anpow er

n the 1970’s

Bulletin 1717

j.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

bureau of Labor Statistics

Payton & Montgomery Co.

Public Library

MAY 191972 

DOCUMENT COLLECTION

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Railroad

Technology

and M anpow er

in the 1970’s

Bulletin 1717

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR J. D. Hodgson, Secretary

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Geoffrey H. Moore, Commissioner

1972

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1

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Preface

This bulletin describes changes in technology in the Railroad Industry, one of 

the major industries of the economy, projects their impact on productivity, employment, and occupational requirements, and discusses methods of adjustment. 

It is one of a series of reports designed to help meet the requirement of the Manpower Development and Training Act that the Secretary of Labor “evaluate the 

impact of and benefits and problems created by automation, technological progress and other ch'anges in the structure of production and demand on the use of 

the Nation’s human resources; establish techniques and methods of detecting in 

advance the potential impact of such developments;..

The study was based on discussions with company, union, and government 

officials and with railroad equipment manufacturers. It was based also on attendance at conferences and exhibits as well as on information obtained from Bureau 

sources and others in government, and on trade and technical publications. The 

Bureau of Labor Statistics is deeply grateful to many individuals who furnished 

valuable information and reviewed and commented on the draft of this report. 

Special acknowledgement for photographs is due the Association of American 

Railroads, Reading Lines, Western Maryland Railway, Louisville and Nashville 

Railroad, Santa Fe Railway, Norfolk and Western Railway, Seaboard Coastline 

Railroad Company, Illinois Central Railroad Company and R ailw ay A ge.

This bulletin was prepared by Richard Johnson under the supervision of 

Morton Levine. Mable Elliott prepared the material on communications and 

assisted in the research and the preparation of statistical material for many parts 

of the report. The chapter on worker adjustment is based on research materials 

collected by Audrey Freedman and Kenneth Levin. The study was made in the 

Office of Productivity and Technology under the general direction of John J. 

Macut, Chief of the Division of Technological Studies.

Ill

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CONTENTS

Summary and H ighlights.............................................................. ............................................................................ 1

Chapter I. The Changing Railroad In d u stry ........................................................................._........................ 5

Definition of the industry ..........................................—.................................................................................. 5

The railroad industry— a coordinated system ................................ -.............................. ........................... 5

Relationship to other industries...................................................................................................................... 6

Changing competitive position of the railroads.......................................................................................... 6

Freight traffic ............................. ........................................ ...................................................................... 7

Passenger traffic............................................................................................................. .......................... 7

Changing structure of the industry............................................................................................................... 8

Marketing and managerial changes............................................................................................................... 8

Investment and modernization .............. ...... ................. .............................................................................. 9

Research and developm ent................................................................................................... ......................... 11

Chapter II. Technological Change in the 1960’s and 1970’s ........... ........................................................ 13

Background ..................................................................................................................................................... 13

Motive power developments ............................................. ............................................................................. 13

Freight car improvements ...................... .............................................................. ......................................... 18

Shop facilities: relocation and improvements............................................................................................... 23

Piggyback traffic and unit trains .................................................................................................................... 24

Automatic classification y ard s....... ....... ...................... ...... ..... ..................................................................... 25

Computers ....................................................................................... 27

Signaling and communication improvements............................................................................................... 30

Detection devices____ „..................................................... ...................................................................... 31

Microwave ....................................... .......................... ............................................................................. 31

Automatic car identification .................................... ............................................................................ 32

Maintenance of way changes.......................................................................................................................... 32

Passenger service...... ..... ....... ............................................ ............................................................................. 34

Chapter III. Productivity and Other Measures of Technological C hange................................................... 35

Output per man-hour .;................................................................................ .................................................. 35

Capital and output per unit of capital .......................................................................................................... 37

Output and material in p u ts.......................................................................... 37

Selected equipment utilization m easures........................ ............................................................................ 37

Chapter IV. Employment Trends ......................................... 41

Employment trends ...................................................................................... 41

Employment shifts........................................... r....................................................................................... 41

Characteristics of the railroad w orkforce.................................................................................................... 41

Distribution of employment................................................ 41

Women employed by railroads............................................................................................................. 42

Age .............................................................................................................................................................. 42

Employment of Negroes and Spanish-surnamed A m ericans............. ........................................... 42

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Contents— Continued

Chapter V. Employment Outlook and Impact of Technological Change on Occupational Structure 45

Employment outlook ......................................................................................................................................... 45

Trends in freight traffic ....................................... ................................................................................... 45

Trends in passenger traffic ...................................... .................................................. ......................... 45

Changes in occupational structure, 1957 and 1967 .......................................................................... 46

Technology and occupational tren d s........................................-.................................................................. 46

Redieselization ............................................................................ ........................................ .......................... 47

Improved cars ................................................................................................................................................... 48

Shop facilities: relocation and improvements......................................... ...................... ........................... 49

Unit trains and piggyback traffic .......................................... ........................................................................ 50

Automatic classification y ard s....................................................... ............. .................................................. 51

Computers ........................................... ....................................... ..... ............... .............................................. . 52

Centralized traffic control ............... ............................................... ............................................................... 53

Detectors, microwave and automatic car identification............................................................................ 54

Maintenance of way innovations ....................... ..................... ....................... ........................................... 56

Passenger service changes............... .................... „ .................... ................................................................... 57

Other employment and occupational changes not related to a specific innovation .................... 58

Chapter VI. Adjustments to Technological Change, Working Conditions, and E arnings.............. 61

Collective bargaining and adjustments to technological change ................................... .................... 61

Adjustment techniques .._________________ ______________________________________________ 62

Advance notice ................... ............................... ..................................... .............................................. 62

Job security............. ................. ................................. ........... ................................................................. 62

Crew size regulation .............................................................................................................................. 62

Transfer rig h ts.................................................... ............... ...... ...... „ .................................................... 63

T rain in g ____ ____ _____________________________ ______ __ ____________ _____________ 63

Limitations on subcontracting___ ___ __________________________ ___________ __________ 64

Displacement allow ances................................................... ............ ............... ........................................ 64

Severance or dismissal allowances.............. ..................... ........... ...... ................................................. 65

Unemployment benefits......... ............................................................. ................................................. 65

Retirement ................................. ..................... ............. ..... ............. ........................................................ 66

Earnings and working conditions ....... ........... .......................................................... .......................... 66

Tables:

1. Ton-miles of shipments— means of transport and commodity, 1967 ........... 6

2. Gross product originated in transportation, by mode, selected years, 1947-69 ....... 7

3. Percent distribution of total estimated intercity ton-miles of freight, by mode, selected

years, 1939-69 ......................... ........................................................................................................ 7

4. Distribution of intercity passenger traffic in the United States, by mode, selected years,

1949-69 __ _______________________________________ ________ ________ __________ 8

5. Commodities carried: Class I railroads, 1968 ................... 9

6. Percentage distribution of gross capital expenditures of Class I railroads, by category,

1956-65 .................................................................................... ....... ....... ............ ..................... 9

7. Percentage distribution of age of industrial capacity, spring 1962 and December 1966 ......... 10

8. Research and development related to railroad industry, selected years, 1960-66 .................. 11

9. Technological change in railroads, 1957-67 and outlook, 1975-80 ............................................ 14

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Contents— Continued

10. Specialized freight cars, by major class, 1957 and 1967 ................................................................. 19

11. I.C.C. approved piggyback plans, unit terminations, and revenues, first six months, 1968 .... 24

12. U.S. automatic classification yards ................................................... 28

13. The age of operating computers, railroads and other industries, 1965 ...... 30

14. Track miles controlled by block signal and CTC systems, selected years, 1957-68 ............. 31

15. Miscellaneous detectors installed, by year, 1960-67 ..................................................................... 32

16. Degree of maintenance of way mechanization, by operation, 1969 ......................................... 33

17. Output per man-hour (RTU’s): Ratios for “best” railroads in a district and industry average, 1^56-66 ............. 36

18. Value of road and equipment, number of employees, all U.S. railroads, selected years,

1948-67 ............................................................................................................................... 37

19. Freight equipment utilization, 1957 and 1968 ...................... 38

20. Revenue and nonrevenue ton-miles per ton of capacity, Class I railroads, selected years,

1955-68 ..................................................................................... 39

21. Class I railroad employment and traffic, selected years, 1947-69 ..... 42

22. Age distribution of railroad employees, 1957 and 1967 .............................................................. 42

23. Estimated retirements, by occupation, 1967-75 ............................................................................ 43

24. Railroad employment of minority groups, 1966 ............................................................................ 43

25. Changes in Class I railroad employment, by major occupational group, 1957-67 ............. 46

26. Occupational categories with greatest employment decreases, 1957-67 .................................. 47

27. Employment by innovation group, 1957, 1967, and outlook for 1975 .................................... 48

28. Employment and occupational changes related to redieselization, 1957-67 ........................... 48

29. Estimated maintenance man-hours for selected diesel locomotive series.................................. 49

30. Employment and occupational changes related to improved cars, 1957-67 .......................... 49

31. Employment and occupational changes related to facility relocation and improvements,

1957-67 ................................................................................................................................................ 50

32. Employment and occupational changes related to use of automatic classification yards,

1957-67 ..... 51

33. Employment and occupational changes related to use of computers, 1957-67 ............... 52

34. New railroad job titles associated with use of computers .................. 53

35. Employment and occupational changes related to centralized traffic control, 1957-67 ------ 54

36. Employment and occupational changes related to detectors, microwave, and automatic car

identification, 1957-67 ..............................................................................................................-....... 54

37. Employment and occupational changes related to maintenance of way innovations, 1957-

67 ........................................................................................................................................................... 56

38. Employment and occupational changes related to passenger service, 1957-67 ....................... 57

39. Employment and occupational changes, not related to specific innovations, 1957-67 ......... 58

40. Hours and earnings of workers in manufacturing and Class I railroads, 1947, 1957, and

1960-68 ................................................................................................................................................ 67

41. Average straight-time pay, by occupational group, Class I railroads, 1957 and 1967 ...... 67

42. Employee compensation, Class I railroads, 1965 ............................................................................ 67

Charts:

1. Number of locomotives, by type, and percent of total, selected years, 1947-67 .................. 18

2. Car set-outs per million car-miles, 1955-70 ..................................................................................... 22

3. Piggyback freight carriage, 1955-69 ................................................................................................... 25

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Contents— Continued

4. Railroads: output and output per man-hour, 1947-70 ....... ..................................................... 36

5. Fuel requirements per gross ton-mile in Class I, linehaul railroads, 1948-66 ......................... 38

Appendix:

I—1. Railroads and other transportation new plant and equipment expenditures, 1945-70 .............. 69

1-2. Class I railroads, methods of financing, by y e a r............................................................................. 70

II— 1. Locomotives in service, by type, 1947-67 .............................................. 71

I I - 2. Piggyback freight carloading of 1 or more trailers, 1955-69 ......................... 72

II— 3. Automatic car identification (A CI) applications ............................................................................. 72

III—1. Alternative productivity forecasting technique ................... 75

III—2. Methodological note on output per m an-hour.......................... 75

III— 3. Railroad transportation-revenue traffic (SIC 401) output per man-hour, unit labor requirements, and related data, all employees, 1939-70 .......... ....................... ..... ....................... 76

III—4. Railroad transportation-revenue traffic (SIC 401) output per man hour, unit labor requirements, and related data, production workers, 1939-70 ............................................... 77

III— 5. Leading railroads ........ 78

III—6. Revenue traffic units per man-hour for railroads and industry, 1965 ........................................... 79

III—7. Road and equipment, constant dollar value series......... ....................... 79

III— 8. Product and input value in U.S. railroads, 1947-68 .......................... 80

III— 9. Methodological note on derivation of total fuel requirements and efficiency .......... 81

III—10. Fuel consumed by Class I line-haul railways per gross ton-mile, selected years, 1948-66 .... 82

IV— 1. Concentrations of railroad employment, 23 leading SMSA’s, March 1957 and March 1967 83

IV— 2. Changes in composition of SMSA’s, March 1957-67 .... 84

V— 1. Railroad unions .................................................................. 85

Bibliography............................................................................................................. .................................................. 86

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Summary and Highlights

The railroad industry is an excellent example of 

an industry that has undergone technological change 

almost continuously since its inception in the early 

19th century. These changes, as well as railroad 

mergers, consolidations, line and facility abandonments and passenger train discontinuances, have 

often contributed to increased output per man-hour 

(productivity) and frequently have had important 

manpower and employment implications.

This report examines the technological changes 

that are currently affecting the industry and evaluates their future impact on productivity, manpower 

and labor-management relations. The following summary highlights the major elements of the report.

Technology in the 1970’s

Modernization of the railroads in terms of adoption of technological advances in equipment, procedure and plant, advanced management techniques 

and an enterprising approach to the marketing of 

rail services has recently enabled the industry to 

achieve and maintain a relatively stable share of all 

intercity freight traffic. The degree of this trend toward modernization differs among the various railroads, influenced to a large degree by the availability of capital.

During the 1970’s one of the more important 

technological advances in the industry will be the 

widespread use of computers. This change will permit the continued diffusion of the automatic car 

identification system (A C I), and will allow for improvements in other areas such as recordkeeping. 

Basically the ACI system accounts for the whereabouts of cars and their contents by rthe computer. 

ACI will make it easier to establish regional control 

points for keeping inventories of cars owned by several roads. With growing use of computers for train 

operations such as dispatching and scheduling, train 

mileage under centralized traffic control (CTC) will 

probably also continue to increase. The number of 

automatic classification yards with reliance upon 

computer control of retarders for braking and

switching of cars also is likely to grow. Route mileage of railroad microwave is likely to expand 

greatly because of the growing volume of data, voice 

message traffic, and facsimile transmission. The diffusion of the more powerful and more maintenancefree second generation diesel locomotives will continue through the 1970’s; by 1975, these may 

account for two out of every three locomotives, 

compared with one out of every four in 1967. Piggyback transportation may possibly reach 1 V i to 2 million carloadings by 1975, up from about 1.3 million 

in 1969; the use of unit trains, another form of expedited freight transportation is expected to grow over 

the same period. Mechanization of maintenance-ofway activities will continue to .increase because of 

growing use of multipurpose machinery and upgrading of other tools which the work force will use.

Potential for productivity growth

For the past 20 years, output per man-hour in 

the railroad industry has increased rapidly, placing it 

among the industries with the highest average increases in productivity. During the 1947-60 period, 

the average change was 4.3 percent per year. During the recent 1960-70 period, output per man-hour 

has increased more rapidly than over the 1947-60 

period— averaging 6.0 percent annually. This higher 

rate of increase is expected to continue into the 

early 1970’s. Among the sources of productivity 

growth are the widespread diffusion of technological 

developments noted earlier.

In addition, increases in capital efficiency resulting from larger capacity, longer trains, and more 

powerful locomotives, as reflected in various indicators such as car-miles per car-day and gross tonmiles per train mile, also point to continued gains. 

The number of miles a car can travel each day and 

its level of gross-ton-miles per train-mile are expected to continue to rise because of the wider diffusion of more powerful second-generation diesels 

and the increasing use of light weight, specialized 

freight cars. The relatively new practice of using un1

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2 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

manned remote control locomotives in the middle of 

long trains will also contribute to the anticipated 

rise in gross ton-miles per train mile.

Traffic prospects

After World War II, freight traffic fluctuated 

around a level which, although nearly double its 

prewar volume, was substantially below wartime 

traffic. However, from 1961 through 1969, the 

amount of freight carried by the railroads rose 

sharply, surpassing previous records established during World War II. Even though this upward trend is 

likely to continue, the railroads may not be able to 

increase their relative share of freight traffic carried, 

which was about 41 percent in 1968 and 1969 after 

having remained at about 43 percent over the

1961-67 period.

Long-haul (noncommuter) railroad passenger 

traffic continued its long-term decline during the 

1960’s. The possibility of reversal of this trend depends on many factors, including the successful outcome of such innovations as the operation of high 

speed corridor trains like the Penn-Central Metroliner and “Amtrak,” The National Railroad Passenger Corporation now operates most of the country’s 

intercity passenger trains.

Employment outlook

Employment in the class I railroad industry had 

dropped to 578,277 workers in 1969, from nearly 

1.4 million persons in 1947, because of new developments in technology, competition from other 

modes of transportation, mefgers, and consolidations. Total employment is expected to decline further even if the economy continues to grow at its 

long-term average rate. Nevertheless, an estimated

235,000 job openings are expected, as a result of 

the number of retirements, between 1967 and 1975. 

However, in spite of declining employment levels, 

the unemployment rate in the industry is lower than 

for the economy as a whole, reflecting, in part, prevailing worker adjustment provisions found in unionmanagement agreements.

Occupational trends

Since 1957, the most recent and relevant period 

in terms of occupational change, declines in employment have taken place in every major occupational 

group in the industry. However, the proportion of 

total employment represented by specialized and 

high-level manpower has tended to rise. Employment in selected professional and clerical occupations has been rising because of changes such as the 

introduction of the computer, and new directions in 

management and marketing operations. In the case 

of skilled labor, where proportionate declines have 

occurred, these changes have been relatively small. 

Occupations requiring little formal education, training, or experience, such as helper or laborer, have 

been most adversely affected.

Women employed by railroads

Since the end of World War II, women have represented about 6 percent of total railroad employment and about three-fourths of them work in office 

occupations. Because the impact of technology and 

other changes on office employment has been less 

severe than on class I railroad employment generally, and because of the increasing need for operating data, employment prospects will continue to be 

relatively good for women.

Minority group employment

Employment prospects for minority group workers are improving. Shortages of employees in various 

technical fields are likely to continue, opening 

many opportunities for higher-level employment to 

qualified employees, including members of minority 

groups. At present, Negroes and persons with Spanish surnames make up a relatively small proportion 

of railroad employment and are found mainly in 

blue collar jobs (often as operatives or laborers) 

and in service occupations.

Adjustment to technological change

Adjustments to problems arising from technological change are covered by an extension of some 

principles and provisions of the “Washington Agreements of 1936,” originally designed to protect employees faced with layoff because of consolidation 

and coordination of facilities. Only since the 1950’s 

have specific provisions for such problems been included in nationwide contracts, notably in those 

covering nonoperating shopcraft and nonshopcraft

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SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS 3

employees. These contracts include a number of 

protective provisions: advance notice of proposed 

technological change; moving allowances, and retraining rights and benefits. They include also various guarantees of job security, like crew size regulations, transfer rights, limitations on subcontracting

of work and provisions for shorter work periods; income maintenance plans; and unemployment and retirement benefits. Resolution of worker adjustment 

problems arising from technological and related 

changes may continue to be a key determinant in 

the railroad industry’s future development.

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Chapter I. The Changing Railroad Industry

The railroad industry, for nearly a century the 

Nation’s primary means of shipping freight, employed about 578,000 workers in the class I sector 

or about one out of four transportation employees 

engaged in intercity commerce in 1969.1 Like many 

other old and established industries, the railroads 

have gone through various phases of rapid growth, 

stability, decline, and revival. Due to competing 

modes of transportation, railroad passenger traffic 

has declined precipitously since the close of World 

War II. Trains now rank below the private automobile, bus, and air transportation as a carrier of passengers. Nevertheless, the railroads carried a higher 

proportion of ton-miles of freight in 1969 than any 

other mode of transportation, even though their 

share of freight business has been dropping since 

1947. (See tables 2 and 3 for detail.)

This chapter briefly defines the industry, describes 

its relationship to other industries and sets forth its 

changing competitive position. It provides the background for subsequent chapters on technological innovations and their implications for productivity, 

employment, job requirements, training needs, and 

manpower adjustment procedures.

Definition of the Industry

The industry (SIC 40), includes companies 

mainly engaged in line-haul railroad operations 

(SIC 4011), such as electric railroads and interurban railways and the building, rebuilding, and repairing of locomotives and cars by railroad companies. It also includes switching and terminal 

companies (SIC 4013), which provide terminal fa1 The study is concerned with class I railroads, of which

there were 76 in 1968, defined by the Interstate Commerce

Commission (ICC) as companies reporting average revenues of $5 million or more for 3 years, consecutively.

These railroads account for 87 percent of total railroad

employment and 98 percent of total freight revenue tonmiles.

2 The Pullman Company, which has long been the principal company in the industry (SIC 4021), turned over its

sleeper service to the railroads as of Jan. 1, 1969.

cilities for passengers and freight in line-haul service 

and which move railroad cars between terminal 

yards, industrial sidings, and other places. Also, it 

includes companies operating sleeping and other 

cars to furnish berths and seats to passengers, and 

companies furnishing dining car service (SIC 

2021) 2 as well as railway express service (SIC 

4041). The railroad transportation industry does 

not include railway companies that provide commuter services only within a single municipality, 

contiguous municipalities, or a municipality and its 

suburban areas. Railroads are primarily engaged in 

providing freight and passenger transportation, but 

in carrying out this function, their varied activities 

also include manufacturing of railroad cars and 

other equipment they use as well as a construction 

program that carries out major capital improvements.

The railroad industry— a coordinated system

One of the salient features of railroad technology 

is the ability of the industry to function as an integrated system, because of standardization of equipment and track achieved in the last half of the 19th 

century. Previously, there had been 24 different 

gauges of railroad track with widths ranging from 2 

to 6 feet. When a shipment moved from one company area into the territory served by another, 

freight and passengers were necessarily transferred 

to different cars, resulting in a great deal of unloading and reloading. Today, use of standard track and 

cars, assisted by modern communications, expedite 

integrated operations by several hundred companies. 

Cars of industry-approved design equipped with 

standard coupling arrangements shuttle from one 

part of the country to another by the switching of 

whole carloads at interchange points. The most important result of this standardization is to permit the 

industry to operate nationwide some 28,000 locomotive units, 18,000 passenger train cars and more 

than 1.8 million freight cars over a nationwide system of 320,000 miles of track.

5

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6 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

Relationship to other industries

In 1969, class I railroads originated (were the initial carriers), 1.5 billion tons of freight and transported 296 million passengers. Despite the rise of 

other methods of transportation, railroads remain 

the crucial link in the nation’s system of production. 

Any prolonged interruption in rail service would 

curtail operations in many of the country’s largest 

industries, where they connect various stages of production. For example, trains haul iron ore from concentrating plants to furnaces, steel slabs from primary casting facilities to rolling mills, and alumina 

from initial refining plants to reduction or smelting 

plants. Electric power production belies to a great 

extent on coal hauled by railroads from the mine.

Railroads also represent the major mode of transportation for moving the goods produced by many 

industries. For example, in 1967 over 50 percent of 

ali product ton-miles were carried by the railroads 

in the following industries: Food and kindred products; tobacco products; lumber and wood products; 

pulp paper and allied products; stone, clay and glass 

products; chemical and allied products; primary 

metal products; transportation equipment; and waste 

as scrap material. The railroads also carried a very 

high proportion of goods produced in industries 

such as furniture and fixtures; fabricated metal 

products; and machinery including electrical machinery. (See table 1.)

Changing competitive position of the railroads

The changes in the relative position of various 

transportation modes are illustrated by the statistics 

on constant dollar gross product originated, which 

cover the entire output, both passenger and freight 

traffic. Gross product originated in the railroads declined between 1947 and 1961, but the figure has 

risen since 1961. (see table 2.) Gross product originated in the other transportation sectors has also 

risen steadily since 1961, growing at a faster rate in 

air transportation and motor freight than in the railroad industry.

Since 1947, transportation as a whole has declined in relative importance in the economy with 

railroads furnishing a substantial part of the decline. 

For example, in 1947 railroads accounted for 3.5 

percent of th e ' all-industry total but, by 1969 had 

decreased to 1.6 percent. Gross product originated 

in all industries (in constant dollar terms) grew by 

135 percent in the 1947-69 period, compared with 

a 64 percent increase in all transportation industries. 

Almost all of the growth in transportation was accounted for by a 284 percent increase in motor 

freight and a 1,500 percent growth in air transportation. During the early years of the period 

(1947-61), gross product originated in local and 

highway passenger transportation (not shown separately) decreased sharply as private automobile traffic rose after World War II. This decline in local

Table 1. Ton-miles of shipments—means of transport and commodity, 1967

Transport

commodity

code 1

Commodity

Ton-miles of

shipments

(millions)

Percent distribution by means of transport

All means

of transport Rail

Motor

carrier

Private

truck Air Water Other Unknown

20 Food and kindred products............................................. 91,854 100.0 66.1 21.1 9 .9 2 .6 0.1 0 .2

21 Tobacco products............................................................... L 146 100.0 64.0 25.1 .4 0.1 9 .8 .2 .4

22 Basic textiles........................................................................ 5,925 100.0 15.8 64.6 16.6 .2 2 .0 .8

23 Apparel, including knit apparel, and other finished

textile products................................................................ 2,331 100.0 12.2 67.7 8.3 1.9 .5 9.3 .1

24 Lumber and wood products, except furniture 45,145 100.0 77.9 5.4 6 .8 9 .8 .1

25 Furniture and fixtures....................................................... 3; 860 100.0 33.4 48.9 13.4 .1 3 .4 .6 .2

26 Pulp, paper, and allied products................................... 36,333 100.0 77.4 15.2 3.9 2 .9 .4 .2

28 Chemical and allied products......................................... 62;117 100.0 60.2 20.3 4 .5 .1 14.6 .2 .1

29 Petroleum and coal products.......................................... 288,356 100.0 3 .4 1.8 .7 94.1

30 Rubber and miscellaneous plastic products............... 5; 754 100.0 34.2 56.8 6 .0 .5 .4 1.8 .3

31 Leather and leather products.......................................... 694 100.0 8.7 63.9 18.2 .6 .7 7 .8 .1

32 Stone, clay, and glass products...................................... 25,525 100.0 50.8 31.9 9 .8 7.3 .1 .1

33 Primary metal products.................................................... 51'756 103.0 60.2 25.5 3 .9 10.2 .1 .1

34 Fabricated metal products............................................... 14,262 100.0 39.7 46.0 10.1 .5 2.9 .7 .1

35 Machinery, except electrical............................................ 12,341 100.0 39.1 48.2 8.3 .9 .9 2.5 .1

36 Electrical machinery and equipment............................ 8,781 100.0 42.8 46.0 6.5 1.4 .8 2.4 .1

37 Transportation equipm ent............................................... 16,350 100.0 72.6 21.9 3.9 .4 .8 .3 .1

38 Instruments, photographic goods, optical goods,

watches, and clocks....................................................... 665 100.0 30.5 57.0 2.7 4 .0 .4 5 .0 .4

39 Miscellaneous products of manufacturing.................. 1,629 100.0 28.6 54.9 8 .3 .4 1.2 5.7 .9

‘ The basis for classifying commodities in the Census of Transportation.

SOURCE: 1967 Census of T ran sportation, “ Commodity Transportation Survey,”

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Pages 30-53.

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THE CHANGING RAILROAD INDUSTRY 7

Table 2. Gross product originated in transportation, by mode, selected years, 1947-69

[billions of 1958 dollars]

Year

All

industries,

total

(GNP)

All

transportation,

total

Railroads,

SIC 40

Air

transportation,

SIC 45

Motor freight

and

warehousing,

SIC 42

All other

transportation1

1947..................................................................................................................... 309.9 21.1 10.7 0 .4 3.1 6 .9

452.5 22.5 9 .5 1.5 6 .4 5.1

1961 497.2 22.5 8.7 1.9 7 .5 4 .4

1962 529.8 23.8 9 .2 2.1 8.0 4 .5

1963 551.0 25.2 9.7 2 .4 8 .5 4 .6

1964 581.1 26.2 10.2 2.7 8 .6 4.7

1965..................................................................................................................... 617.8 28.6 11.0 3 .3 9 .7 4 .6

1966 658.1 31.2 11.7 4 .2 10.5 4 .9

1967 675.2 31.4 11.2 5.1 10.4 4 .8

1968 707.2 33.3 11.3 5 .8 11.1 5.0

1969..................................................................................................................... 727.1 34.5 11.3 6 .4 11.9 4 .9

Average Annual Percent Change

1947-61.............................................................................................................. 3 .4 0 .5 - 1 . 5 11.8 6 .5 - 3 . 2

1961-69.............................................................................................................. 4 .9 5 .5 3.3 16.4 5.9 1.4

i Standard Industrial Classifications 41 (local and highway passenger), 44 (Water transportation), 46 (Pipeline), and 47 (Transportation services).

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce.

and highway passenger transportation is reflected in 

a decrease in gross product originated in the category “all other transportation.”

In the 1961-69 period, growth occurred in all 

transportation categories shown. In recent years, the 

railroads have been making a concerted effort to retain existing traffic and to generate new traffic, thus 

reversing the decline that had occurred earlier. 

However, the growth of railroads has not been 

keeping pace with that of other modes of transportation. Total transportation output grew by 53 percent during the 1961-69 period while railroad 

growth was only two-thirds as great, motor freight 

was approximately equal to this total growth, and 

air transport growth about 5 times as fast. A major 

reason for the slower rate of growth in railroads was 

the continuous decline in rail passenger service, 

offsetting some of the gains in freight carriage. The 

following two sections give more details of actual 

volume of traffic moved by various modes, as estimated by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Freight Traffic. In 1939, the first year for which an 

estimate of traffic carried by various transport 

modes was published by the ICC, railroads accounted for over 64 percent of total freight traffic, 

although motor vehicles already carried over 9 percent. The railroads’ position was then enhanced, relative to both motor transportation and water transportation, during World War II, because of 

wartime induced shortages (see table 3). Beginning

in 1947, the railroads’ share of freight traffic declined steadily, stabilizing at 43 percent in 1961, 

and declining only slightly since then. During the 

same time, trucking increased its share from 9.6 

percent to 21.3 percent, while water transportation 

and pipelines also increased their relative shares— 

the latter doubling its percentage of the traffic.

Passenger Traffic. In 1944, an all-time high point in 

rail carriage of passengers, the railroads accounted

Table 3. Percent distribution of total estimated intercity

ton-miles of freight, by mode, selected years, 1939-69

Year

Total

ton-miles

(billions)

Percentage distribution1

R ail2 Motor

vehicle

Inland

waterway

and

great lakes

Pipeline

1939................... 574.8 64.4 9 .2 16.7 9.7

1947................... 1,060.8 66.6 9 .6 13.8 9 .9

1957................... 1,354.0 47.6 18.8 17.1 16.5

1961................... 1,310.3 43.5 22.6 16.0 17.8

1962................... 1,371.5 43.8 22.6 16.3 17.3

1963................... 1,454.4 43.3 23.1 16.1 17.4

1964................... 1,542.8 43.2 23.1 16.2 17.4

1965................... 1,638.6 43.3 21.9 16.0 18.7

1966................... 1,747.4 43.0 21.8 16.1 19.1

1967................... 1,757.3 41.6 22.1 15.6 20.5

1968................... 1,834.3 41.3 21.6 15.7 21.3

19691 ................ 1,894.2 41.2 21.3 15.6 21.7

1 Air cargo excluded as amount carried is only 0.2 percent in 1969.

2 Because of data limitations, rail figures for years 1939-57 include nonrevenue tonmiles; thereafter coverage is for revenue ton-miles only. In 1959, the figure including

nonrevenue ton-miles was 599.3 billion ton-miles compared with 582.5 billion excluding nonrevenue ton-miles.

3 Preliminary.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission.

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8 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

for 75 percent of the intercity total carried by public 

transportation, and the airlines only about 2 percent. In the years since World War II, the airlines 

and the railroads have reversed their relative positions in passenger miles carried by public carriers. 

By 1969, the airlines accounted for over 70 percent 

of all passenger miles carried by public carriers, the 

railroads less than 8 percent. (See table 4.)

Private automobiles continue to carry the major 

share of total intercity passenger miles. In 1947, 

they carried 273 billion passenger miles or 78 percent of the total; by 1969, they carried over 3 times 

the 1947 level, or about 86 percent of all intercity 

travel.

Changing structure of the industry

One of the significant changes in the industry has 

been the reorganization of railroads into fewer but 

larger companies through mergers. The current 

merger movement in the railroad industry dates 

from January 1955, when the Interstate Commerce 

Commission was petitioned to approve the merger 

of two southern railroads, effective August 1957. 

This merger followed by 10 years (1947) the last 

major merger approved by the ICC. On the other 

hand, it was the first of 17 significant mergers involving class I railroads, effected between 1957 and 

1969.

Altogether, 31 companies were involved in the 17 

mergers, some having been affected more than once. 

By early 1969, these 31 companies had been reduced to 11. For the industry as a whole, merger,

purchase, and control of other railroads had reduced 

the total number of operating railroads from 415 in 

1957 to 370 in 1967.3 Accompanying this general 

decline was a decrease in the number of railroads 

that operated over 1,000 miles of road— from 40 in 

1957 to 34 at the end of 1967. However, the percentage of miles of road operated by these companies increased from 85.2 percent of the total to 86.4 

percent over the same period. As of July 1, 1969, 

there were 13 companies seeking to merge with 

other railroads.

Marketing and managerial changes

Important changes in railroad management in the 

1960’s have turned the absolute decline in rail traffic into a gain and stabilized the railroads’ competitive position with respect to total intercity freight 

traffic. First, there has been a reorientation from a 

relatively passive approach to marketing of services 

to an aggressive search for new business. Second, 

there has been an increased emphasis on the recruitment of more broadly trained personnel— frequently 

from colleges— contrasted with the traditional railroad progression “up through the ranks.”

Traditionally, the railroads have focussed on the 

carriage of commodities for which they are uniquely 

suited— notably, high density, bulky cargoes with 

low unit values. (See table 5.) As a result they allowed high unit value cargo to go to the trucking in3 Includes classes I, II, and circular and unofficial railroad companies.

Table 4. Distribution of intercity passenger traffic in the United States by mode, selected years, 1949-69

[Billions of passenger-miles]

Year

Total

intercity

travel

Private

automobile

Total i

Public

Railroads and

electric railways

carriers

Buses Air

carriers

1944..................................................................................................................... 280.3 151.3 131.0 97.7 26.9 2 .2

Percentage.................................................................................................... 100.0 54.0 100.0 74.7 20.5 1.7

1947..................................................................................................................... 351.6 273.0 78.6 46.8 23.9 6.1

Percentage.................................................................................................... 100.0 77.6 100.0 59.5 30.4 7 .8

1957..................................................................................................................... 748.3 670.5 77.8 26.3 21.5 28.1

Percentage .................................................................................................... 100.0 89.6 100.0 33.8 27.6 36.1

1967...................................................................................................................... 1,020.6 889.8 130.8 15.3 24.9 87.2

Percentage.................................................................................................... 100.0 87.2 100.0 11.7 19.0 66.7

1969 2 ......................................................................................... 1,130.0 977.0 153.0 12.0 26.0 111.0

Percentage.................................................................................................... 100.0 86.4 100.0 7 .8 17.0 72.6

1 Addition of the separate sectors in the public carrier section add to less than the SOURCE: Reports of the Interstate Commerce Commission; Civil Aeronautics Board;

amount shown in the “total" column due to the omission of passengers carried by and Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army,

water.

3 Preliminary.

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THE CHANGING RAILROAD INDUSTRY 9

Table 5. Commodities carried: class I railroads, 1968

Commodity groups, ranked by tonnage

Revenue freight originated

(millions)

Percent distribution1

Carloads Tons Carloads Tons

Total (excluding small packaged freig h t)........................................................................................................... 27.6 1,430.4 99.8 100.0

Coal................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5.2 379.1 19.0 26.5

Nonmetallic minerals, excluding fu e l................................................................................................................................ 2.3 170.7 8.4 11.9

Farm products............................................................................................................................................................................ 2 .3 116.0 8.2 8.1

1.4 111.7 5 .2 7 .8

Food and kindred products................................................................................................................................................... 2 .8 105.2 10.0 7 .4

Lumber and wood products, excluding furniture........................................................................................................... 2.1 98.1 7.7 6.9

Primary metal products.......................................................................................................................................................... 1.7 91.0 6.0 6 .4

Chemical and allied products............................................................................................................................................... 1.6 87.1 5.9 6.1

1.4 77.3 5.0 5.4

Pulp, paper and allied products.......................................................................................................................................... 1.2 40.8 4.3 2 .8

Waste and scrap m aterial...................................................................................................................................................... .8 34.5 2.9 2 .4

Petroleum and coal products............................................................................................................................................... .8 28.9 2 .4 2 .0

Transportation equipm ent..................................................................................................................................................... 1.2 27.3 4.4 1.9

Fabricated metal products, excluding ordnance, machinery and transportation................................................. .5 12.5 1.6 .9

Miscellaneous mixed, excluding forwarder and shipper association tra ffic .......................................................... .5 10.6 1.8 .7

Freight forwarder traffic......................................................................................................................................................... .3 4.7 1.0 .3

All others ................................................................................................................................................................................. 1.7 35.6 6 .0 2 .5

1 Percentages do not add to 100 percent due to rounding.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission Statement 69100.

dustry by default. In the mid-1950’s, some railroads 

set about stemming traffic declines by setting up 

marketing offices, which took on a more aggressive 

marketing stance. Salesmen with research reports 

and cost-benefit analyses actively demonstrated potential savings to prospective customers.

Investment and modernization

Capital investment in new plant and equipment in 

the railroad industry averaged $1.4 billion a year 

over the 1947-69 period; these expenditures ranged 

from a low of $800 million in 1961 to a high of 

$2.4 billion in 1966. Expenditures in the 1947-57 

period av.eraged $1.3 billion, then dropped to an average of $1.1 billion in the 1957-61 period. During 

the 1960’s (1961-69), these expenditures rose to 

reach an average of $1.6 billion. Appendix 1-1 

shows year-by-year figures for capital investment. 

These figures, however, do not include all outlays 

for new equipment rented and leased. The Association of American Railroads (A A R) estimates that 

in 1969 leases and rented equipment added about 

$400 to $500 million to class I railroads’ outlays. 

Specific examples, of these quasi-capital expenditures include the leasing of over 150,000 tank cars, 

as well as rental of computers. As of January 1969, 

the railroads paid an average monthly rental of $3.5 

million for computers.

Table 6, which shows a percentage distribution of 

gross capital expenditures by category, is based on 

figures reported to the Interstate Commerce Commission. It serves to illustrate how, in the recent

past, capital expenditures have been allocated by 

class I railroads. Over the 10-year period, 1956-65, 

expenditures for new rollingstock— diesel locomotives and cars— accounted for about 70 percent of 

the $10.7 billion spent; next in importance were expenditures for right-of-way, track, and structures 

and improvements which accounted for 17 percent 

of the cumulative total. The purchase of roadway 

machines and the installation of communications 

and signaling equipment accounted for another 6 

percent of the total. In recent years, the emphasis in 

capital expenditures appears to have been shifting 

toward these latter two areas.

It has been suggested that expenditures include 

provisions both for regular replacement of equipment and also for an expansion of capacity to meet

Table 6. Percentage distribution of gross capital expendt

tures of class I railroads, by category, 1956-65

Description

Percent of

total expenditures

1956-65 i

Total ...................................................................................................... 100.0

Locomotives2.................................................................................................... 15.6

Freight and passenger cars3........................................................................ 54.6

16.9

1.6

Communications and signalling6................................................................ 4.4

All others ^.....................7.....7................................. 6 .8

1 Percentages do not add to 100 percent due to rounding.

2 Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) account numbers 51,52.

3 ICC account numbers 53, 54.

4 ICC account numbers 1-7, 8 -1 2 ,1 3 -24 .

6 ICC account number 37.

6 ICC account numbers 26-27.

7 All other numbers, table 138, part I, transport statistics in th e U nited States ICC.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission.

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10 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

requirements of future growth of the economy. This 

means that railroad capital expenditures should remain approximately constant relative to all industry 

capital expenditures. However, railroad investment 

has not kept pace with investment in all other industries, nor in other transportation modes in these relative terms. While other transportation modes have 

retained their relative position in the framework of 

all industry capital expenditures, railroads have not. 

(See appendix 1-1 for absolute and relative figures.)

The anticipated goal for capital expenditures 

stated by the Association of American Railroads in 

the mid-1960’s— $2 billion per year through 1975— 

was far in excess of current experience.4 Moreover, 

a 1970 restatement of these capital requirements 

puts industry needs at a higher figure— about $3.6 

billion per year between 1970 and 1980.5 The difference between industry goals and current experience implies that maintaining or improving the railroads’ share of total intercity traffic will be a major 

challenge.

This lag in capital investment is a contributing 

factor in the average age of capital equipment, 

which among railroads tends to be older than in 

other industries. A 1966 survey by McGraw-Hill 

showed that railroads have 49 percent of their capacity in equipment “over 16 years” old.6 As can 

be seen in table 7, which compares the age of capital equipment in 1966 with 1962, “other transportation” has maintained its 1962 distribution of capacity by age. By contrast, in the railroad industry the 

proportion of capacity more than 16 years old has 

increased substantially.

The significant rise in the percent of railroad 

equipment found in the “over 16 years” category in 

1966 compared with that of 1962 probably stems 

from two major causes, in addition to a lagging capital investment program. First, the large amounts of

Table 7. Percentage distribution of age of industrial

capacity, spring 1962 and December 1966

Industry More than

16 years

11-16

years

6 -1 0

years

0-5

years

AS OF SPRING 1962

Railroads................................................................... 39 19 23 19

Other transportation and communications... 19 15 22 44

All manufacturing.................................................. 24 16 27 33

AS OF DECEMBER 1966

Railroads................................................................... 49 20 13 18

Other transportation and communications... 19 16 23 42

All manufacturing.................................................. 24 19 21 36

SOURCE: McGraw-Hill (Nov. 25,1 96 6 ).

capital equipment purchased between the end of 

World War II and the Korean conflict entered the 

“over 16 years” category in the brief period between 

1962 and 1966. Second, it is likely that rather large 

amounts of older capital equipment (relevant particularly to the car fleet) were held in use, rather than 

retired, during the high demand for railroad service 

that characterized the period of the early and mid1960’s. It should be borne in mind, however, that 

the proportion of railroad equipment in the “over 

16 years” category might go still higher and yet be 

within bounds of a “normal” replacement schedule 

because of the extremely long-lived nature of much 

railroad equipment (over 25 years).

In the future, the industry’s efforts to modernize 

will depend, to a great extent, on the amount of 

funds available from different sources. In earlier periods, the railroads financed capital expenditures primarily from internally generated funds (retained 

earnings, both undistributed profits and capital consumption allowances). However, debt financing was 

extensively used after World War II. A continued 

decline in the rate of return on net investment 

(original cost of transportation equipment, less depreciation and amortization plus cash and materials) from 2.9 percent in the 1957-67 period to

2.5 percent in 1968 and 1969 has made financing 

through internal generation of funds increasingly difficult in recent years. Although retained earnings 

(internally generated funds) still provide over half 

of the money for capital investment, debt financing 

has become increasingly important. For example, 

during the 1957-67 period, debt certificates issued 

(bonds and equipment trust certificates) amounted 

to 49 percent of the funds reported for capital expenditures. Equipment trust financing— a special 

debt form wherein the ownership is retained by the 

lender until the loan has been repaid in full— is becoming increasingly important and has accounted 

for over one-third of the $7.7 billion raised through 

debt financing in the 1957-67 period. (See appendix 1-2 for year-by-year figures on methods of debt

4 Technological Trends in Major American Industries,

U.S. Department of Labor, Bulletin 1474, 1966, pp. 

196-97.

5 American Railroad Industry: A Prospectus, America’s 

Sound Transportation Review Organization, Association of 

American Railroads, Washington, D.C., June 1970.

6 “How Modem is American Industry?” McGraw-Hill, 

Nov. 25, 1966, table 1. More recent data being compiled 

was not available while this report was being prepared.

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THE CHANGING RAILROAD INDUSTRY 11

financing.) Stock issued during the 1957-67 period 

amounted to only about 0.5 percent of the reported 

capital expenditures.

Research and development

The need for greater efficiency in the face of rigorous intermodal competition has led to increased 

emphasis on research and development expenditures 

in the railroad and in its supply industries. Research 

and development (R&D) in this industry is a continuous process which has led to numerous changes 

in equipment, methods, and materials, many of 

which are discussed in chapter II.

Surveys on research and development expenditures carried out by R ailw ay A ge in 1960 and 1966, 

provide some information on the growth of such expenditures by railroad companies. The relationship 

between these company expenditures and those of 

the Association of American Railroads for R&D can 

be seen in table 8.

This relationship exists because company research 

efforts are generally geared to the problems of individual companies, AAR research to the entire industry’s needs. The Association has traditionally 

worked on problems that relate to industry-wide 

technical standards and equipment certification. In 

1969, the President of the AAR pledged a change 

in the Association’s research effort leading to both a 

separation of the testing and research programs, and 

also increases in the amount of money to be spent 

in both categories.

Research performed by suppliers complements the 

individual companies and the AAR’s. For example, 

a company may define a particularly vexing problem 

to a supplier, asking him to develop and build some 

type of special equipment, within specified costs. 

According to the R ailw ay A ge survey, 32 suppliers 

spent almost $33 million in 1965 for R & D and the 

anticipated 1966 figure was close to $30 million.

Table 8. Research and development related to railroad

industry', selected years 1960-66

Year

Industry

Suppliers

Companies AAR

1960................................. $6,000,000 $1,000,000 $35,000,000 (est.)

1961................................. 5,400,000 (77) N.A. 15,000,000 (132)

1965................................. 42,000,000 (22) N.A. 32,900,000 (32)

1966................................. 48,000,000 (22) 1,272,800 29,800,000 (32)

1 Parenthetical numbers indicate companies covered by survey.

SOURCE: R ailw ay Age, Apr. 18, 1966.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DO T) 

now has the major responsibility for governmentsponsored research in the field of railroad transportation. Formerly, this activity was divided with the 

Department of Housing and Urban Development 

(for mass transit). One major DOT demonstration 

project is now taking place in the northeast corridor 

to test customer response to fast, comfortable rail 

transportation between New York City and Washington, D.C. During the initial operation minimum 

time for non-stop “Metroliner” service was 2 hours 

and 30 minutes. During the first 6 months of operation— through mid-July 1969— all rail passenger 

service in the corridor increased 11 percent. The 

number of passengers traveling the full distance between the 2 cities had risen by 72 percent, mainly 

“Metroliner” passengers. The new trains were filled 

to 76 percent capacity, a level 50 percent higher 

than that for conventional trains; passenger traffic 

on regular trains has also increased slightly. Computerized ticket sales were instituted in 1969 to decrease the need to wait in line for ticket purchase.

Another major Federally sponsored demonstration project is the New York-Boston “Turbotrain,” 

put into operation in April 1969. The three-car 

trainset, making one round trip between the two cities, and stopping at four intervening locations, is 

scheduled to make the trip each way in 3 hours and 

39 minutes. Thus far, the service provided has been 

limited.

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Chapter II. Technological Change in the 1960’s and 1970’s

This chapter presents information on the major 

technological and procedural changes that have 

been taking place in almost all operating departments of the railroads in the past decade. These innovations include (1) equipment subjected to a 

major change, (2) a completely new piece of equipment, or (3) a series of minor changes in a particular operation. The common denominator of these 

items is the significant implication -for the industry’s 

labor force. Effects of these changes on employment 

and occupations are discussed in detail later in 

chapters IV and V.

Background

Technological changes in the railroad industry 

have been introduced in response to pressure from 

competition by other modes of transportation and 

from rising wage rates, fuel, and material prices. 

Changes have been a part of overall efforts to cut 

costs and to provide better services. While many 

changes have been accepted, the process has been 

gradual, extending over a long period of time. The 

factors preventing the immediate acceptance of the 

diesel locomotive illustrate well the economic constraints slowing many technological advances. For 

example, when the diesel locomotive was introduced, it could not be immediately adopted because 

many of the steam locomotives still had years of 

useful life, while a substantial investment was required to dieselize completely. In addition, rail traffic’s decline in the postwar period reduced the number of locomotives needed. Also, capacity to 

produce the new locomotives was limited. In addition, some railroad managements, especially of lines 

hauling extensive quantities of coal, were not easily 

convinced that the diesel was advantageous. As a 

result, the changeover from steam to diesel locomotives took about 20 years to accomplish; by 1958, 

virtually every locomotive was diesel-powered. The 

diffusion of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) has, 

likewise, taken place over decades and is still not 

complete.7

A brief description, with present and estimated

status in the last half of the 1970’s, of 10 types of 

technological changes is presented in table 9, followed by a detailed discussion of those changes.

Motive power developments

The number of locomotives in use has been declining, largely because the newer ones are capable 

of delivering more tractive effort than the ones they 

replaced. In 1967 there were 27,687 locomotives, 

99 percent diesels. Approximately 25 percent of 

these were “second generation,” introduced in 1961, 

and represented a much improved locomotive compared to the first diesel used throughout the industry. Ten years earlier, there had been 30,248 locomotives in service 90 percent diesel-electrics and the 

remainder steam locomotives. Chart 1, shows the 

decline in the num ber'of steam locomotives and the 

growth of diesels at 5-year intervals for the period 

1947-67.

The introduction of the second-generation diesel 

in 1961 reduced unit maintenance requirements. 

Second-generation diesels required 57 percent fewer 

unit man-hours for annual maintenance and inspection than did earlier diesels; first generation diesels 

had also, previously, reduced unit man-hour requirements substantially below the steam locomotives 

(see chapter V ). Among the important improvements included in the second-generation units are 

sealed, pressurized engine compartments that exclude dirt and moisture; solid state components in 

electrical systems to improve reliability; alternating 

current traction generators to replace more complex

7 For an earlier discussion of diffusion of innovations,

see “Regularization of Capital Investment in Railroads,” by

K.T. Healy in Regularization of Business Investm ent—A

Conference, National Bureau of Economic Research, Princeton University Press, 1954, pp. 162-184. Also see The

Transportation Industries, 1889-1946, Harold Barger, National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1951, pp.

100-111 and “Productivity, Hours and Compensation of

Railroad Labor,” by Witt Bowden, M onthly L abor R eview ,

December 1933, pp. 1275-1288 for a discussion of technological improvements between 1916 and 1932.

1 3

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14 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Table 9. Technological change in railroads, 1957-67 and outlook, 1975-80

Types of 

innovation

Description and 

impact

1957 status 1967 status Outlook

Motive Power 

Developments

More powerful units; 

solid state electronics 

improve electrical systems; higher tractive 

power per unit; greater 

overall reliability reduces maintenance.

Class I locomotives totaled 

30,248; 90 percent 

diesel.

Class I locomotives totaled 

27,687; 99 percent 

diesel. Twentyfive percent were 

second generation 

models.

Class I locomotives may total 

about 26,000 

diesels; about 

two-thirds expected to be second generation 

models by 1975.

Freight Car 

Improvement

Special cars developed 

for commodity groups; 

better bearings; higher 

capacity with reduced 

car weight to capacity 

ratio. Design and m aterial improvements 

reduce loading and 

maintenance requirements.

Total fleet contained 2.1 million 

cars of which 36 

percent were general box cars. 13.5 

percent of fleet 

privately owned.

Total fleet contained 1.8 million 

cars of which 32 

percent were general boxcars. 

Nonrail ownership 17 percent 

of total.

Total fleet requirements of 1.7 million cars in 1975. 

Private ownership 

expected to increase with continuing emphasis on 

expensive, special 

purpose cars. 

Shippers’ pressure 

for cars, rather 

than capacity, may 

slow increase in 

average car capacity.

Facility Relocation 

and Improvements

Repair station consolidation, including spot 

shop development, 

accompanied dieselization, resulting in greater 

efficiency. Car and locomotive washing and interior cleaning mechanized. Bad order car 

ratio reduced.

Concept being 

introduced.

Widespread use. Further consolidation and use of 

spot shops expected for both 

locomotives and 

cars.

Piggyback and 

Unit Trains

Trains comprised of 

trailers or containers of 

general merchandise 

loaded on flatcars move 

on expedited schedules. 

Unit trains carry a 

single bulk commodity 

between two terminals. 

They are a vital link in 

production processes

Piggyback trains 

carried 250,000 

carloads. No significant use of 

unit trains.

Piggyback increased to over 5 

times 1957 levels. 

Widespread use of 

unit trains for 

many commodities.

Continued growth 

of piggyback, but 

at a decreased rate. 

1 ^ -2 million carloading expected 

in 1975. Greater 

use of unit trains 

likely.

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1^60’s AND 1970’s 15

Table 9. Technological change in railroads, 1957-67 and outlook, 1975-80— Continued

Types of 

innovation

Description and 

impact

1957 status 1967 status Outlook

'

and their movement is 

on a strict time schedule.

Automatic Classification Yards

Large yards in which 

cars are sorted and 

switched by destinations have digital and 

analog computers to 

control car speeds and 

to aid in switching. 

Small yards equipped 

with automatic features 

now feasible. Increased 

car utilization, customer service and manpower savings result.

About 20 major 

yards in service.

More than 50 

major classification yards in 

operation. Three 

small yards used 

automatic equipment.

About 12 more 

major classification yards may be 

equipped with 

“automatic” features by 1975. 

Some additional 

small yards by 

1975.

Computers Both digital and analog 

computers in use. Computers have provided 

information processing 

and switching capacity 

that permits management better control of 

operations.

Limited numbers 

of analogs in use 

in classification 

yards. Digital 

computers, introduced in 1955, 

scarce.

Widespread use of 

analog computers. 

In January 1967 

there were 192 

digital computers 

installed.

The sharp increase 

to 252 digital 

computers on Janary 1, 1969 supports expectation 

that all Class I 

roads will be using 

computers by 

1975.

Centralized Traffic 

Control (CTC)

Control of train movement over 50-100 mile 

or more stretches of 

track from a central 

location. A model of 

the track is operated by 

one man who pushes 

buttons or switches to 

keep trains moving in 

accordance with their 

priorities. Capacity of 

track is expanded and 

manpower savings result.

32.000 miles of 

track were under 

CTC, out of

269.000 miles of 

main track operated.

49.000 miles of 

track were under 

CTC, out of

254.000 miles of 

main track operated.

Extension of 

amount of track 

under control of a 

single center expected. This may 

take form of regional, multiroad 

complex or coverage of greater percentage of a single 

road’s track.

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1 6 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Table 9. Technological change in railroads, 1957-67 and outlook, 1975-80—Continued

Types of 

innovation

Description and 

impact

1957 status 1967 status Outlook

Miscellaneous 

Signaling and 

Communication

These developments enhance equipment utilization, promote safety 

and decrease maintenance costs.

(a) Detectors Detectors—mechanical 

or infra-red devices—- 

locate and report dangerous conditions in 

equipment along the 

right of way. Several 

types developed for 

different purposes.

First introduced 

in mid-1950’s.

Over 8,600 detectors were in place.

Detectors will increase. Rising train 

speed increases 

importance of detecting dangerous 

conditions early.

(b) Microwave High capacity radio 

carrier wave currently 

being used by railroads 

to supplement or supplant wire message 

carriers.

Federal Communications Commission authorized 

use in 1957.

22,000 route miles 

in 1966.

About 50,000 route 

miles expected. 

Rapid growth tied 

to development of 

total information 

systems.

(c) Automatic 

Car Identification 

(ACI)

Reflecting labels picked 

up by transmitter, decoded and sent to central operations. Equipment location and 

progress easily recorded.

Non-existent. Under development.Standard version 

adopted 1969. By 

1970, all cars in 

interchange service 

to be labeled for 

ACI, but all roads 

will not have operating systems to 

use. By 1975, universal use expected.

Maintenance of 

Way Innovations

Single and multi-purpose machines aid in 

track laying, tie placement and ballast surfacing. Continuous rail 

that replaces 39' sections and concrete ties 

are in use. Off-track 

machines combined 

with use of radio increase labor utilization. 

Track defects detected 

by electronically

Single purpose 

machines in 

limited use. Other 

innovations not 

yet in use.

Widespread use of 

single-purpose 

machines. Concrete ties in 

limited use. Seven 

percent of mainline trackage in 

continuous rail.

By 1975, use of 

combination m achines and concrete ties is likely 

to expand; continuous rail will 

be used extensively.

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1960’s AND 1970’s 17

Table 9. Technological change in railroads, 1957-67 and outlook, 1975-80—Continued

Types of 

innovation

Description and 

impact

1957 status 1967 status Outlook

equipped cars. M /W 

scheduling aided by 

computers to obtain 

maximum equipment 

and manpower use.

Innovations in 

Passenger Service

Air conditioned, electrically driven cars in 

Northeast Corridor Experiment. Automat food 

service on some trains. 

Computerized ticketing.

A /C cars in use. Northeast Corridor Experiment 

to use Metroliners 

being formulated.

Successful use of 

Northeast Corridor concept may 

be extended to 

other areas. Other 

long-haul service 

may vanish.

direct-current units, and improved cooling systems.

These new second-generation diesel locomotives 

range in horsepower from 2,500-6,000, compared 

with 1,200-1,500 for earlier diesels. Their tractive 

power— effective pulling force delivered to the drawbar— is also much higher. In 1967, the average diesel electric unit’s tractive power was 65,178 pounds 

compared to 60,479 pounds 10 years earlier. This 

increased pulling power has resulted in a 12 percent 

increase in gross ton-miles hauled per engine over 

the 1957-67 period.

Six axle-drive units have been a contributing factor to this increased tractive effort per locomotive 

and may promote still further the trend to high horsepower, single unit engines of over 4,000 horsepower. Six-axle drive units have rapidly gained popularity because they increase ability to utilize high 

horsepower. First available in 1963, the six-axle 

drive accounted for 60 percent of all units delivered 

by 1966. The units are especially good for railroads 

operating in steep grade territory.

Another motive power development becoming 

more widespread is the use of a “slave” unit, placed 

unmanned in the middle of the train. Because of the 

trend toward higher horsepower units, starting trains 

with only one unit can be hazardous. Too much 

power applied rapidly can cause breakage of the 

drawbar— the connecting link between the train and

the engine units. Dispersing these slave units 

throughout the train reduces the amount of inertia 

to be overcome by each locomotive unit, reducing 

the drawbar breakage problem and increasing maximum feasible length of trains.

Still another motive power development is the gas 

turbine locomotive, introduced in the early 1960’s, 

and being used on a limited basis in the West. They 

are best used over a long haul with a limited number of stops. Thus, their use is precluded on many 

railroads which operate over shorter distances, so 

there is little prospect for wider diffusion by 1975.

In 1966, the industry announced that it was embarking on an “Evenkeel” repowering program 

keyed to the purchase of 1,500 locomotive units 

each year for the 1966-75 period. While locomotive 

purchases totaled 1,419 in 1966, the 1966-70 average was only 1,122. Carrying out of this projected 

purchase of 1,500 units per year through 1975 appears unlikely in view of the limited amount of capital available and the rising unit cost. Through 1975, 

an annual average of 1,200 locomotives is likely to 

be added to the fleet. This means that, after accounting for retirements, the total fleet may number 

about 26,000— down from nearly 28,000 in 1967. 

The proportionate share of second-generation diesels 

in the fleet may reach about 63 percent, up from 25 

percent in 1967.

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18 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Freight car improvements

The percent of freight cars owned by railroad 

companies fell during the decade 1957-67. There 

were over 1.8 million freight cars in operation in 

1967, down from 2.1 million in 1957. Of this number, 13.5 percent of all cars were owned by other 

than railroad companies in 1957, in contrast with 

about 17 percent by 1967. However, the increase in 

average car capacity has tended to offset much of 

the decline in the number of freight cars; in fact, the 

total capacity of all cars, including those privately 

owned, increased between 1957 and 1967.

The composition of the car fleet has shifted from 

general purpose toward special-purpose cars and the 

average capacity has increased. In 1968, for example, the average new car purchased had a capacity 

of 81 tons compared to an average of only 57 tons 

for those being retired. In addition, material and design changes have reduced the weight of the car in 

relation to its capacity.

In 1957, box cars had represented 36 percent of 

all freight cars but, by 1967, this proportion had

dropped to 32 percent. (See table 10, Specialized 

Freight Cars, by Major Class, 1957 and 1967.) On 

the other hand, the number of specialized cars (box 

cars especially fitted for a particular kind or class of 

cargo) rose almost IVz times (from 54,000 in 1957 

to 139,000 in 1967). Declines occurred among general-purpose box cars, stock cars, gondolas and 

open hopper cars and refrigerator cars.

The number of flat cars in use rose between 1957 

and 1967 because of an increase in piggyback traffic 

and also in the number of automobiles transported 

by rail. Piggyback traffic grew from less than 1 percent of carloadings in 1957, to 4.3 percent in 1967, 

and 4.8 percent in 1969. According to the Automobile Manufacturer’s Association, auto carriage increased from 538,000 cars in 1959 to 5.4 million in 

1969. The dramatic growth in number of autos 

transported by railroads resulted from the fitting of 

flat cars with special car carrying racks. As a result, 

one railroad car was able to carry more autos than 

one truck, while at the time eliminating the need for 

a truck driver.

Another improvement, in materials used, has reChart 1.

Number of Locomotives, by Type and Percent of Total

Thousands

Source: See Appendix 11-1.

45%

2.0%

Steam, 10% - 4 -----

Electric

and

Others

55% 90% 98%

DieselElectric

1952 1957 1962

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1960’s AND 1970's 19

Table 10. Specialized freight cars, by major class, 1957 and 1967

M ajor car class Special features

Average 

capacity per 

car (tons) 1

Ownership— 

other than 

railroad Cargo

Total cars and 

percentage of 

fleet

1957 1967 1957 1967 1957 1967

I. Box Increased capacity cars, with 

special interior 

fittings like stan- ,

chions to support 

plywood, cushioned underframes, conveyors, etc.

48.9 54.5 0.3% 0.3% General service 

bulk freight. 

Agricultural and 

manufactured 

products.

747,838

(36.4%)

578,426

(31.7%)

Conveyor

Produce

Cars

Conveyor belt 

inside to load & 

unload cargo.

Potatoes, apples, 

other produce

All-door Box 

Car

Much greater 

door space than 

conventional box 

car.

Lumber, bulky 

products.

“Big Boy” 

Boxcar

Extra-large box 

car.

Designed for 

tobacco.

“ Hello 

Dolly” 

Box Car

Contains built-in 

dolly.

Unitized lumber 

& plywood; 

canned goods, 

pipe and rolled 

floor coverings.

II. Flat Multi-purpose 

cargo tiedown 

attachments, 

compatible with 

several container 

types.

52.7 61.6 2.0 28.6 Piggyback containers, autos, 

lumber.

93,538

(4.6)

143,335

(7.9)

Bulkhead

Cars

Flat car with 

“walls” on the 

ends.

Lumber, plywood, gypsum.

Auto Rack 

Cars

Special drive-on 

racks.

( 2) Assembled automobiles, 15 per 

car.

( 2)

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2 0 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

Table 10. Specialized freight cars, by major class, 1957 and 1967—Continued

M ajor car class Special features

Average 

capacity per 

car (tons) 1

Ownership— 

other than 

railroad Cargo

Total cars and 

percentage of 

fleet

1957 1967 1957 1967 . 1957 1967

Piggyback

Cars

New “ all-purpose” cars hold 

both trailers and 

containers.

Trucks and containers of general freight.

III. Stock 39.7 40.3 1.9 2.0 Live animals. 36,415

(1.8)

17,040

(0.9)

IV. Gondola and 

Hopper

Larger cars with 

commodity related variations.

60.4 71.3 1.0 4.0 Coal, grain, other 

bulk solids.

884,563

(43.1)

786,664

(43.2)

Covered

Hoppers

(3) (3) Commodities like 

salt, grain, coal.

(4) (4)

“Big John” 

Car

4,000-cubic-foot 

aluminum covered hopper.

Grain

Pneumaticunloading

hopper

Eliminates center 

sill for more 

usable space.

Dry, flowable 

material, such as 

flour, malt, 

chemicals, plastic 

pellets.

H ot Steel 

Car

H ot steel slabs.

V. Tank 49.7 55.3 96.1 97.2 Petroleum, chemicals, foods, fertilizers, other dry bulk 

or liquid ladings.

166,452

(8.1)

175,117

(9.6)

Cryogenic

Car

Super-cold ladings ( —350°F. 

and below). 

Liquefied gases, 

etc.

PressureFlow

“Hopper”

Pneumatic pressure-unloading.

Dry-bulk ladings 

like cement.

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1960's AND 1970’s 2 1

Table 10. Specialized freight cars, by major class, 1957 and 1967—^Continued

M ajor car class Special features

Average 

capacity per 

car (tons) 1

Ownership— 

other than 

railroad Cargo

Total care and 

percentage of 

fleet

1957 1967 1957 1967 1957 1967

Wine car Holds 2Y2 times 

wine of earlier 

cars (20,000 gal.). 

Insulated, with 

up to 3 separate 

compartments.

Wine

“Sandwich” 

Tank Car

Thermos style. 

Urethane insulated. Maintains temperature 

without mechaniical cooling.

Fruit juices, 

liquid sugars & 

fats, adhesives 

and chemicals.

VI. Refrigerator 39.5 61.3 83.3 56.0 Meat and other 

foods stored at 

35°F. or somewhat above.

120,998

(5.9)

117,274

(5.4)

Mechanical

“reefers”

Uses motor for 

cooling instead 

of ice.

(5)

VII. Other, eg.

Coil Car

Opens like clam 

shell to receive 

cargo.

69.9 68.5 40.5 33.1 Various special 

cargoes, e.g., six 

32,000-lb. coils 

of thin steel.

4,507

(0.2)

4,513

(0.2)

1 Average capacity available for class I only.

2 Accounted for over }/& of all flat cars in 1967. These cars are

virtually all privately owned.

3 Ownership by other than railroads increased from 9 percent

of the category in 1957 to 19 percent in 1967.

4 60,360 in 1957 and 147,412 in 1967.

5 About 16 percent of refrigerated cars in 1967.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, Association of

American Railroads, American Railway Car Institute.

suited in a steady rise in the net-to-tare ratio— 

weight of the transported product relative to empty 

car weight. New materials, notably steel alloys and 

aluminum, and new interior coverings and fittings, 

are now being used in car construction. Thus, car 

material and design changes contribute to an increase in the amount of freight that can be hauled

by a given amount of locomotive power. Furthermore, because these new materials are stronger and 

easily cleaned, maintenance requirements are reduced. Many new covered hopper cars are plastic 

lined to allow easy, thorough cleaning that facilitates 

their interchangeable use between hauling of food 

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2 2 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

elude the use of nailable steel floors in place of 

wooden floors and receptacles in car walls to hold 

the telescoping rods which reduce in-transit cargo 

shifts. Hydraulic cushioning devices have also been 

introduced for the purpose of reducing claims for 

loss and damage.

One of the most dramatic improvements in the 

operation of freight cars has resulted from changes 

in journal (axle) lubrication procedures and introduction of roller bearings. Before 1957, car wheels 

and the journals they revolved upon were lubricated 

by placing rags or “loose waste” in the journal box, 

to prevent the oil from splashing out and to keep it 

against the journal. This loose waste had frequently 

tangled around the axle, however, and caused the 

very “hotboxes” it was supposed to prevent. Subsequently, journal pads were developed to supersede 

this use of loose waste. These pads required replacement at 30-month intervals and were more effective 

in retention of oil or grease than the loose waste. 

The Association of American Railroads ruled that 

after August 1, 1957, all new cars purchased must 

have either journal pads— used with friction bearings— or roller bearings; after January 1, 1961, all

cars used in interchange had to have one or the 

other. According to the Association, about 4 percent 

of all cars were equipped with roller bearings in 

1960, over 20 percent by 1966. By 1975, taking 

into consideration anticipated car purchases, about 

half the car fleet should be equipped with roller 

bearings.

The hotboxes that once resulted from improper 

axle lubrication were a major cause for car setouts 

— cars set off on sidings for later repair. Chart 2, 

Car Setouts Per Million-Car-Miles, 1955-68, dramatically shows how the use of journal pads and 

roller bearings have reduced lost train time. From 

the 1957 peak of 5.5 car setouts per-million-carmiles, a decline of almost 90 percent had occurred 

by 1968. The net result of the reduction in time 

spent with car setouts for repair has been to increase car utilization.

The diffusion of the innovations relative to freight 

cars (as described above) is directly related to anticipated new car purchases. The American Railway 

Car Institute (A R C I)— the major spokesman and 

data source for car builders— has made estimates of 

annual new car and total fleet requirements between

Chart 2.

Freight Car Set-Outs Per Million Car-Miles, 1955-70

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1960’s AND 1970's 23

1967 and 1975. Based on retirement curves, utilization trends, and demand estimates of various commodity groups, the ARCI foresees retirements averaging 71,000 cars for the period January 1, 1967 

through January 1, 1976. Total fleet requirements in 

1975, estimated at 1.7 million cars, less the retirements, yields an average annual purchase requirement ranging from 62,000 to 85,000 cars, depending on railroad market share. Average purchases for

1967-70 have been about 69,000 cars annually, or 

about the level expected by ARCI.

Shop facilities: relocation and improvements

Repair work of rollingstock, both locomotives 

and cars, has been shifted from locations scattered 

along the right-of-way to central locations called 

“spot shops,” which use production-line techniques. 

The locomotive or car is now brought to a central 

facility which is subdivided into various work stations where specialized equipment is available for 

any type of repair or inspection required. Thus, time 

spent in carrying tools to the equipment to be repaired has been eliminated. When disassembly of locomotive or car components is required, the repair 

of parts is closely coordinated so that equipment is 

not held in bad order condition because of lack of 

some minor part. Other changes taking place within 

spot shops include the strategic location of high-capacity hydraulic jacks and electric hoists. Hose 

reels, acetylene, and oil are similarly placed, as are 

revolving part bins that eliminate fumbling for a 

part or the need to make a trip away from the work 

station. Heating of new facilities is accomplished 

with more efficient boilers, having better controls. 

Car cleaning is done in these locations by using automatic “car wash” techniques. These procedures 

cut cleaning time by as much as one-half. Large 

vacuum units are used to clean car interiors.

While the cost of these new spot shop facilities is 

high, railroads adopting them expect the savings realized to result in a quick payback. For example, 

one railroad centralized and modernized one of its 

shop facilities in 1964. Its fully automated wheel 

shop, which replaced 10 smaller shops, was expected to be fully amortized in 1969. Also, one 

equipment company reports that spot repair facilities “generally increase labor efficiency 100 

percent.” 8

The superiority of spot shops use over older repair methods is widely recognized. Although they 

are presently widespread, some further adoption of 

this method can be expected. Further improvements 

within these facilities, such as the automatic wheel 

shops mentioned above, are also expected by 1975.

8 Car and Locomotive Cyclopedia, 1966, Simmons-Boardman, 1966, p. 1182.

View from the “pit,” as diesel-electric locomotive undergoes periodic maintenance and overhaul check-up.

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24 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

Piggyback traffic and unit trains

Piggyback traffic, or trailer-on-flat-car (T O FC ), 

and more recently container-on-flat-car (CO FC), 

services are among the most significant newer transportation developments. Piggybacking is simply the 

loading of a highway trailer onto a flat car by means 

of a ramp or mechanical loader. COFC service is 

less widespread because a mechanical loader is always required; however, the space savings from 

eliminating wheels on containers makes them relatively more attractive for intramodal shipment between rail, air, and sea transportation. In either 

TOFC or COFC traffic, goods need to be handled 

only once, at the shipper’s dock. The container can 

be transshipped through several transportation 

modes, arriving at the consignee’s dock without 

being subjected to reloading— a prime cause of 

breakage, delay, and pilferage.

TOFC technology includes use of specially designed flatcars, tunnel, and track reconstruction, and 

the design of terminal facilities for high volume 

TOFC loading and unloading. The American Standards Association has established standard container 

sizes which will permit easier interchange between 

railroads and other modes of transport. Trailer 

Train, an organization of 36 railroads, had a pool of

50,000 TOFC cars in 1969. Trains of TOFC-loaded 

flatcars operate on expedited schedules.

The handling of TOFC is covered by five major 

plans approved by the ICC. Table 11 describes 

these plans, including their major characteristics.

Plan 2V i is growing very rapidly. Although, in the 

first half of 1967, it accounted for only 5 percent of 

all terminations— the final delivery of a trailer from 

the railroad to a trucker or to the final consignee— 

it had reached 26 percent in the first half of 1968.

On January 1, 1966, a private survey indicated 

that there were 1,548 U.S. cities having piggyback 

facilities.9 Of these, 1,391 had only trailer ramps; 

the remaining 157 had mechanical loading or unloading devices. Over 1,000 storage yards for use in 

conjunction with piggyback operations existed in 

1966, with a combined capacity of almost 54,000 

units, the survey also indicated. Since 1966, railroads have continued to expand and improve their 

storage yards.

For the period 1957-68, piggyback traffic has 

been growing at a rate of about 16.5 percent a year. 

Since 1955, the first full year of TOFC service, carloadings have risen from 168,150 to over 1.3 million, or 4.7 percent of total loadings in 1968 (see 

chart 3). Assuming a continuation of this rate of 

growth, piggyback traffic would reach a level of 

about 3.9 million carloadings in 1975. However, as 

shown in chart 3, the rate of increase in this traffic 

has been moderating in recent years. Also,” because 

of the increasing size of the traffic base and the 

attendant congestion of facilities to handle TOFC/' 

COFC freight, it appears that the 1957-68 rate of 

growth cannot be sustained. Thus, it is estimated

9 R a ilw a y A g e , Oct. 31, 1966, pp. 22ff.

Table 11. ICC approved piggyback plans, unit terminations, and revenues, first 6 months, 1968

Terminations of trailers and containers Characteristics

Plan

number Percent of total1

Ownership of van Payment Loader & unloader Mover to and

Terminations Revenue

and flatcars from tracks

1 15% 8% Motor carrier At motor rates. Motor carrier collects from shipper and

pays railroad pro-rata share.

Motor carrier Motor carrier

II 39% 43% Railroad At rates competitive with other modes. Railroad Shipper

11-1/2 26% 27% Railroad Same as plan II. Shipper Shipper

III 10% 7% Shipper owns van;

RR owns flatcars.

Based on approximate cost of highway operation between

points served.

Railroad Shipper

IV 7% 12% Shipper Rail rates for loaded or empty cars. Allows for expense of

flatcar ownership.

Shipper Shipper

V 4% 3% Variable Based on through-route and joint-rate coordination of rail

and motor carriers.

Variable (interchange of modes)Variable

1 Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission.

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1960’s AND 1970’s 25

that a lower level of around lV i-2 million carloadings may be possible by 1975.

The unit train, like TOFC, is a high-priority train 

that hauls a single commodity. It may haul any one 

of a number of different kinds of bulk commodities 

such as coal, bauxite, hot asphalt, steel slabs, and 

various kinds of grains, in from 70 to 120 hopper 

cars. Unit trains usually travel from a single destination to their terminals on a continuous basis, although a recent variation would permit the renter to 

move the train between several points. Railroads 

transport about three-fourths of America’s coal; in 

1969, about 21 percent of the total 560 million tons 

produced moved by unit train. Several railroads and 

electric power companies have negotiated long-term 

contracts which often run for 20 years. They provide for the movement of millions of tons of coal 

annually by unit train.

The major reason for the growth in the use of 

unit trains since 1962 is the decreased cost per ton 

carried, compared to previous methods used. These 

savings result because unit trains bypass switchyards 

and are subject to quick turnaround. Although high 

in initial cost, these trains yield a rapid return on 

the capital invested. According to one expert in the 

field, unit trains return 16 percent net income on 

revenue compared with only 8 percent for conventional cars.10

By 1975, it is likely that unit trains will be used 

even more extensively than today because of the 

formulation of special rates for various commodities. 

One such target for special rates is the approximately 55 million tons of coal— about 10 percent of 

total production in 1969— moved annually by railwater combination. The development of new rates 

that may divert this traffic to all rail movement is 

being investigated.

Automatic classification yards

Classification yards are the center of railroad activity; thus, yards can be a major contributor to productivity. In 1970, according to the AAR, the average serviceable car spent about 11 percent of its 

time, either loaded or empty, moving in a train. The 

remainder of the time it spent in classification yards, 

or standing idle because of seasonal lulls, or waiting 

to be loaded or unloaded. The experience of many 

railroads indicates that automatic classification yards 

bring about increased car utilization. Other benefits

stemming from the automatic classification yards are 

improved customer service through reduced transit 

time; consolidation of work from outlying locations 

with accompanying manpower savings; and prevention of claims from loss and damage.

The case of one railroad provides a good example 

of the benefits to be derived from automatic classification yards. The railroad recently completed an automatic yard at a cost of $75 million. This replaced

10 U n it T ra in O p e r a tio n s , Railway Systems and Management Association, Chicago, 1967, p. 22.

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2 6 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

A 200-car unit train moves coal directly from mine to customer site.

8 smaller yards and is the first in the industry to 

employ a digital computer for car classification.11 

Another road built a new yard that replaced six old 

ones, reduced car throughput (receive, classify, and 

dispatch) time by 5-12 hours. Annual return on investment, according to the railroad, was calculated 

at 25 percent.

Technological changes in classification yards, 

other than miscellaneous improvements (such as 

closed circuit television, and use of radios and 

weighing-in-motion), are divided into three major 

elements:

1. The change from flat yards to hump yards. This

simply introduces a slight incline into the switch 

yard so that, instead o f having to provide all the

power to send a car from the point at which it was

cut from the train, the switch engine need only

reach the top o f the hump at a relatively slow

speed and gravity provides the m om entum needed

to keep the car going into the desired classification track. The engine need no longer go forward

and backward, but simply travels slowly forward

toward the hump.

2. The installation of mechanical retarders located along the track. Operated by electro-pneumatic or hydraulic power, they “squeeze” the

w heels o f cars passing through them, thus slowing

11 “PC’s Milestone Yard Dedicated September 25,”

T ra ffic W o r ld , Sept. 28, 1968, p. 50.

12 “Railroads on the Automation Track,” E le c tr o n ic s ,

Jan. 9, 1967, pp. 168-70.

the car to the desired speed. W hile retarders were

used in som e yards before World War II, their

adoption was speeded during the war because o f

manpower shortages. These retarders, initially

manually operated, are now controlled by com ­

puters. These computers calculate braking requirements according to car weight, and the speed

o f the car.

3. Shifting o f the switching operation from the

yard to a console operator in the tower. Where

previously a man in the yard had to throw the

switch for each car or group of cars, the tower

console operator now merely operates switches on

the console before him. H e has a list o f cars being

switched and activates switches according to destinations.

The diffusion of automatic classification yards is 

shown in table 12. The first of these yards appeared 

in 1949, and by 1967, construction had been started 

on 52 automatic classification yards. In early 1967, 

according to a private survey, 118 freight yards out 

of about 1,200 major classification yards had some 

form of automatic control.12

Recent advances in technology have now made 

possible a small-scale adaptation of the automatic 

yards. These new yards operate efficiently with a 

lower number of cars classified per day. These socalled “economy yards” first appeared in 1965 and 

in 1967 there were three yards on which the upgrading had already been accomplished (see table 

11).

Total expenditures for automatic classification

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1960’s AND 1970’s 27

yards are not available. However, based on average 

expenditures per yard of about $9 million, total expenditure estimates are in the area of one-half billion dollars. Because of the high capital investment 

required, ownership is concentrated in large companies. All 52 major yards are owned by 22 class I 

railroads; 28 of them are owned by only 8 railroads, 

each of which owns 3 or more yards.

By 1975, there are prospects for limited further 

application of large automatic classification yards in 

the United States. One major supplier of equipment 

estimates that 12 additional yards may be installed 

by that time. The smaller automatic yard has much 

further to go to reach complete diffusion. Some 

300-400 smaller yards have traffic patterns of density suitable for yard upgrading, but it is difficult to 

estimate how many will be converted by 1975.

Computers

The computer, in combination with microwave 

data transmission, allows data to be transmitted for 

accurate control of car movement. By establishing 

car locations quickly, computers allow shippers to

find out where their goods are, enroute, and the railroads to utilize vacant cars more fully. Reports can 

be routinely issued on either a periodic or a request 

basis, so that management can fully perceive existing problems or forestall potential ones. Previously, 

information on problem areas, potential or actual, 

could be lost in the large volume of papers generated by freight transactions.

The impact of the computer on railroads has been 

pervasive. Computers aid in locating and switching 

cars, in scheduling trains and in making motive 

power assignments to trains. They are used also in 

controlling inventory and in scheduling road maintenance and equipment use.

Advanced applications include simulation of classification yards or other operating areas of the railroad. Simulation obtains information on the 

potential effects of changes in operating procedures 

and physical configuration without spending the realtime and money required in actually trying new procedures or constructing new facilities. Construction 

projects are subjected to sophisticated control techniques, such as critical path method scheduling that 

may result in time savings and can eliminate bottleRetarder operator controls the speed of coasting freight cars in classification yard.

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28 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Table 12. U.S. Automatic Classification Yards

Yard Year

started

Car

capacity 

per day

Cost

(millions)

1. Moline, 111. (Silvis).......................................................................... 1949 4,372 $ 3.3

2. Kansas City, Kans. (Armourdale)............................................... 1949 4,980 1.5

3. Kansas City, Kans. (Argentina)................................................... 1949 7,173 0)

4. Chicago, 111. (M arkham )................................................................ 1950 9,827 3.0

5. Pueblo, Colo..................................................................................... 1950 2,163 0)

6. Knoxville, Tenn. (Sevier)............................................................... 1951 4,500 4.0

7. Birmingham, Ala. (N orris)............................................................ 1952 5,400 10.0

8. Gary, Ind. (K irk)............................................................................ 1952 O 4.9

9. Milwaukee, Wis. (Airline).............................................................. 1952 1,799 3.0

10. Roseville, Calif................................................................................. 1952 0) o

11. Chicago, 111. (Bensenville).............................................................. 1953 7,497 5.2

12. Nashville, Tenn. (Radnor)............................................................. 1954 7,905 14.0

13. Hamlet, N. C.................................................................................... 1954 5,030 8.0

14. Houston, Tex. (Englewood).......................................................... 1954 7,719 7.6

15. Chattanooga, Tenn. (Citico)......................................................... 1955 6,300 12.0

16. Pasco, Wash...................................................................................... 1955 4,700 5.5

17. Portsmouth, O hio............................................................................ 1955 10,300 O

18. Pittsburgh, Pa................................................................................... 1955 828 4.5

19. Minot, N. Dak. (Gavin)................................................................ 1956 3,237 6.0

20. St. Paul, Minn.................................................................................. 1956 3,245 4.9

21. Eugene, Ore....................................................................................... 1956 5,063 2.0

22. Pittsburgh, Pa. (Conway).............................................................. 1957 12,000 35.0

23. Atlanta, Ga. (Inman)...................................................................... 1957 7,800 15.0

24. Buffalo, N. Y. (Frontier)............................................................... 1957 6,100 10.5

25. Atlanta, Ga. (Tilford).............................................................. 1957 2,141 11.0

26. Chicago, 111. (Corwith)................................................................... 1958 5,871 20.0

27. Elkhart, Ind. (Young)..................................................................... 1958 7,873 14.0

28. Birmingham, Ala. (Boyles)............................................................ 1958 6,151 10.0

29. Youngstown, Ohio (Gateway)...................................................... 1958 5,848 7.5

30. Chicago, 111. (Cicero)...................................................................... 1958 5,777 6.5

31. Pine Bluff, A rk................................................................................. 1958 2,820 4.5

32. Kansas City, Mo. (Paul J. Neff)................................................... 1959 7,156 12.8

33. Russell, Ky. (Fitzpatrick).............................................................. 1959 1,861 5.5

34. Potomac Y ard.................................................................................. 1959 0) 2.5

35. Indianapolis, Ind. (Big F our)........................................................ 1960 4,480 14.0

36. Cumberland, M d.............................................................................. 1960 2,976 10.0

37. N orth Little Rock, Ark.................................................................. 1961 4,654 8.4

38. East Buffalo, N. Y .............................................................. 1961 3,000 7.5

39. Roanoke, Va..................................................................................... 1961 0 ) O

40. McGehee, Ark....................................................... ....................... 1962 2,608 0 )

41. Chicago, 111. (59th Street).............................................................. 1965 0 ) o

42. Selkirk, N. Y. (Perlman Y d.)........................................................ 1966 0 ) 29.0

43. Kansas City, M o.............................................................................. 1967 0 ) 9.0

44. Decoursey, Ky.................................................................................. O 5,000 11.5

45. Pocatello, Ida.................................................................................... 0 ) 4,812 0 )

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1960’s AND 1970's 29

Table 12. U.S. Automatic Classification Yards—Continued

Yard Year

started

Car

capacity 

per day

Cost

(millions)

46. North Platte, Nebr.......................................................................... 0 ) 3,900 0)

47. Grande Jet., Colo. (East)............................................................... 0) (x) 0)

48. Riverdale, 111. (Blue Island)........................................................... 0 ) 0) 0 )

49. Detroit, Mich.................................................................................... 0) 0 ) 0 )

50. Memphis, Tenn. (Tennessee)......................................................... 0 ) 0) 0 )

51. Tulsa, Okla. (Cherokee)................................................................. (x) 0) o

52. East St. Louis................................................................................... 0) 0 ) 0 )

SMALL AUTOMATIC YARDS

53. Bellevue, O hio.................................................................................. 1965 0) C1)

54. Grandview, O hio............................................................................. 0 ) 0) 0)

55. Richmond, California..................................................................... 0 ) 0 ) 0 )

56. Beaumont, Texas............................................................................. 0 ) 0 ) ( x)

1 Data not available.

SOURCE: T rain s, January 1961; Association of American

Railroads.

necks in completing projects and save large sums of 

money.

Computers were introduced into the railroads in 

1955. By January 31, 1969, according to the Association of American Railroads, there were a total of 

252 computers installed or 6.8 percent more than 

the number installed one year earlier.13

Leading railroads have adopted use of computersat about the same time as major companies in other 

industries. For example, according to a McGrawHill survey, in early 1965, 4 percent of all railroad 

respondents had owned computers for 7 years or 

more— the same as the average for either all manufacturing or all businesses (see table 13). However, 

diffusion throughout the railroad industry has tended 

to be generally slower than in other industries. The 

survey indicated that 91 percent of railroad respondents that had computers had used them for 

less than 3 years, compared with 71 percent for all 

manufacturing.

Computers have shifted the basis for decision13 Data Systems Division, Association of American Railroads, July 1969.

making from precedent and experience to a more 

objective one based on quantified data. By 1975, 

railroad use of computers will be more widespread 

and intensive. In this connection, the Association of 

American Railroads notes that . . . “computers will 

be a necessity for all class I railroads and most of 

the smaller railroads.”

Console operators at data processing centers expedite tne

huge volume of paperwork handled daily by the railroads.

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30 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Signaling and communication improvements

Advances in signaling and communication technology are having a continuing impact on all other 

phases of railroad operations. The components of 

signaling are becoming more and more a part of a 

complex, comprehensive, interlocking communication system. These parts include centralized traffic 

control mechanisms, detectors of many different 

kinds, microwave carrier capacity, and finally computers to process increasing amounts of information. 

When the total communication system is completed, 

it is likely to include continuous hotbox monitoring, 

regional centralized traffic control, automatic car 

identification and interroad information exchange on 

car location anywhere in the United States.

Centralized traffic control (CTC) is the activation, by remote control, of signals and switches over 

long stretches of track. A single operator controls 

and monitors the train movement from a central 

unit. The control panel is equipped with an electronically animated track model of the controlled 

track sections. By watching the model, the control 

board operator, or dispatcher, is able to view the 

track for occupancy. With push buttons and levers, 

he activates the signals and switches to control traffic flow. This dispatcher determines train priority for 

track use, rerouting of trains, and use of track for 

passing and sidings; he also controls the distance between trains. He uses the track model as a decisionmaking tool, since track occupancy and the positions of signals and switches for main tracks and 

sidings are immediately evident.

Before the advent of CTC, trains were operated 

by use of time tables and written train orders only 

(without signals and/or switches), with manual signaling by flagmen, and by block signaling, both 

manual and automatic. This “block signaling” conTable 13. The age of operating computers, railroads and

other industries, 1965

Percent of companies indicating—

Industry

Less than

3 years

3-6

years

7 years

and over

All manufacturing.......................................................... 71 25 4

79 16 5

Railroids.......................................................................... 91 5 4

Other transportation and communications............... 71 25 4

Electric utilities.............................................................. 57 39 4

Commercial..................................................................... 68 27 5

All business1.................................................................. 70 26 4

1 Excludes gas utilities.

SOURCE: McGraw-HMI Publishing Company.

cept, introduced before 1872, is still basic to the 

system in use today. It uses wayside towers for control of signals and switches, and as relay stations for 

information. The Interstate Commerce Commission 

classifies CTC as a part of “automatic block signaling” and includes both track and road miles of CTC 

in this total.

CTC is used to expedite rail traffic over the fewest possible miles of track, without the use of written train orders. Recent additions to basic CTC 

systems have helped to promote faster rail traffic. 

Added circuits allow signals to clear automatically 

without the control board operator’s intervening. Direct voice communication between the CTC board 

operator and the signalmen along the line, as well as 

with the train and engine service employees, increases the system’s efficiency. Thus, dragging 

equipment and hotbox indications can be immediately reported to operating personnel for correction 

when detectors are installed as a part of the CTC 

system because of this radio link.

Centralized traffic control was first introduced on 

the railroads in 1927; at that time, it accounted for 

only 40 out of a total of 260,000 miles of main 

track operated. During the period 1957-68, track 

miles under centralized traffic control rose from 

slightly over 32,000 to nearly 50,000. In 1957, 

CTC represented about 12 percent of total main 

track operated; by 1968, this proportion had increased to approximately 20 percent (see table 14 

for mileage). Moreover, the rapid growth in track 

mileage under CTC systems since 1957 took place 

while the total miles of main track operated were 

declining. Undoubtedly, CTC has contributed 

greatly to the ability of the railroads to handle the 

increasing volume of traffic of recent years by providing better track utilization. For example, installing CTC on a single track line may increase its capacity up to 80 percent of the capacity of a double 

track, but at a lower cost.

According to the Association of American Railroads, some form of centralized traffic control is 

likely to become more common on all rail lines in 

the years ahead. By 1975, the number of track 

miles under centralized traffic control is likely to be 

extended further, because of the increasing use of 

computer programing of train operations to include 

dispatching and scheduling. Computerization is also 

likely to expand the miles of track that can be controlled by one CTC center and also may make possible inclusion of entire roads into a single system.

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1960’s AND 1970’s 31

Detection devices. A hotbox or hot journal (axle) 

involves the overheated condition of friction journals 

or roller bearings, caused by inadequate lubrication. 

If a hotbox is not discovered early, the temperature 

of the journal or bearing may rise to a critical level, 

so that the wheel end of the journal may burn off 

and cause a derailment of the car.

Hotbox detectors are designed to measure temperature changes of journals and/or roller bearings 

on passing railroad cars. Ideally, these detectors are 

mounted alongside the track at about 30-mile intervals—usually in areas of CTC track. They scan the 

journal box or the hubs of the car wheels and relay 

the journal temperature of each wheel to CTC 

offices or other central locations where this information is recorded on tape. Shoulcj- an overheated journal be indicated, an alarm brings this fact to the attention of the recorder monitor. He, in turn, informs 

the train engineer by signal or direct station-to-train 

telephone.

The use of detectors replaces the old “sight and 

smell” method of hotbox detection— a method that 

has become less reliable with adoption of improved 

technologies. Better journal lubricants and substitution of journal pads for loose waste have greatly reduced the visible smoke and flames generally resulting from a journal’s overheating and ignition. Also, 

visual inspection is virtually impossible, because of 

faster moving trains and the increased use of roller 

bearings.

The savings and other benefits that stem from the

Detectors mounted along the track automatically warn of

improper or dangerous equipment conditions.

Table 14. Track miles controlled by block signal and CTC

systems1, selected years, 1952-68

Year

Total miles 

of main 

track 

operated

Track miles of block signal system Track miles 

of centralized 

traffic 

Total Automatic Manual control

1957 ........ 269,300 139,594 110,689 28,905 32,033

1961 ........ 263,222 131,177 107,563 23,614 38,264

1968......... 227,897 123,007 116,612 14,411 48,984

Average Annual Percent Change

1957-61... - 0 .6 - 1 .6 - 0 .7 - 4 .9 4.6

1961-68... - 2 .1 - . 9 1.2 - 6 .8 3.6

1 Coverage is for all U.S. railroads.

SOURCE: Report of the Section of Railroad Safety, Bureau of Railroad Safety and 

Service of the ICC for year concerned.

installation of hotbox detectors have more than 

offset the cost of their installation and maintenance, 

even in the shortrun. According to one manufacturer, for each potential hotbox detected the cost of 

replacing the axle—up to $300—is saved. However, 

the overriding factor for adopting hotbox detectors 

is to prevent car derailments and other serious 

wrecks which may result in equipment loss and personal injury.

Hotbox detectors were introduced in the mid1950’s, but the first available accumulated total of 

installation is for 1958, when 97 detectors were already installed. In 1967 alone, 21 roads installed 

132 detectors. In addition to wayside installation, 

many roads are installing detectors at classification 

yard entrances. It is expected that the installation of 

wayside detectors will become increasingly more diffused, leading to continuous monitoring of the journal temperatures, possibly by 1975.

In addition to hotbox detectors, railroads are installing other new detector devices in increasing 

numbers each year. With the advent of faster freight 

and passenger speeds, there is an increasing emphasis on safety and a growing need for new detectors 

of all types. These increased from about 5,000 automatic devices in 1957 (including hotbox detectors) 

to more than 8,000 in 1967 (see table 15). They 

include “presence” detectors which are placed in 

areas where falling rocks or other debris may be 

found on the track, clearance or high-wide load detectors, high-water detectors, and smoke detectors.

Microwave. Railroads are increasingly adopting microwave, a radio frequency above 890 megacycles 

per second, to provide the wider bandwidth necessary for the growing volume of data, voice, and 

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32 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Table 15. Miscellaneous detectors installed, by year,

1960-1967

Year

Dragging

equipment

Broken

wheel Presence 1 Other

Cumulative 

total, all 

detectors2

1960......................... 17 15 79 5,505

1961......................... 37 15 19 5i 691

1962.......................... 22 1 1 5| 788

1963......................... 67 12 700 3 6,611

1964......................... 26 28 331 7,164

1965......................... 19 11 266 18 71611

1966......................... 123 31 312 5 8,303

1967.......................... 70 31 210 3 3 8,617

1 No specific yearly data available before 1963.

2 Includes hotbox detectors.

3 Estimated.

SOURCE: Railway Age, July 17, 1967; 1967, Railway Signaling and Communications, January 1968.

wave has increased from less than 200 miles used 

on an experimental basis in 1952 to more than

22,000 miles in 1966. A 1966 survey indicates an 

annual rise of 25 percent in voice traffic and 8 percent in message volume; data transmission, however, 

is increasing about 40 percent per year. In 1957, 

the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) for 

the first time formally assigned a band of frequencies for private railroad microwave. Both leased 

common carrier and private, road-owned lines are 

used. Many roads are using microwave to completely supplant existing pole-lines.

Adoption of microwave offers substantial cost 

savings that result from the avoidance of pole line 

installation, particularly where the terrain is difficult 

and requires many extra miles of circuits to span. 

Also, savings occur with increased transmission reliability (especially in extreme weather), lower 

maintenance costs and greater usage possibilities. 

The General Supervisor of Communications for one 

railroad reports a reliability of 99.99658 percent, 

with only 15.81 minutes of downtime per year.

Facsimile transmission (as of waybills) and VHF 

radio are two of the key uses of railroad microwave. 

One railway system, for instance, is using a combination of computer and data processing techniques, 

with microwave and long distance xerography, to 

provide real-time transmission, primarily of waybills. 

This waybill contains data needed for operational 

control—train consist, commodity weight, and consignee. Centralized, operational control is dependent 

on transmitting advance knowledge of crew, car, 

and motive power requirements, as well as of cost 

data— all information contained in the waybill or 

able to be computed from its entries. Now in use on 

several roads, facsimile transmission is expected to

become one of the principal uses of railroad microwave. VHF radio is being increasingly used in yard 

and road operations and in maintenance-of-way 

work, as well as in dispatching from wayside to 

train, because the line communication system is not 

adequate to meet the demand. Industry estimates of

35,000 route miles of private railroad microwave by 

1970 and 50,000 route miles by 1975 are based on 

rising requirements for current, accurate information.

Automatic Car Identification. Automatic car identification (ACI) is a system that uses wayside scanners to locate cars carrying specially printed labels. 

ACI is also helpful in scheduling cars for inspection 

and for servicing. A label with the car initial and 

description is placed on the exterior of the car, caboose, locomotive, trailer, or container. As the car 

passes, wayside scanners “read” and transmit the 

data from the label to decoders which provide the 

user with all types of information about the car’s location, type, current load status, future availability, 

priority status (in scheduling) and its weight (net, 

gross, load). (See appendix II-3 for descriptions of 

various applications of ACI.)

In the mid-1960’s the need for an industry-wide 

ACI system was recognized by the Association of 

American Railroads. A standard system was 

adopted for industry-wide use beginning in the 

spripg of 1969. According to AAR rules, all cars 

and locomotives to be interchanged among the various railroad systems must be equipped with ACI 

labels by January 1, 1970. In the fall of 1969, it 

was reported that roughly half the car fleet were labeled and no railroad had less than 30 percent of 

its cars labeled; also, about 50 ACI scanners were 

in service. Scanners will be located at interchange 

points and supply information to both railroads, 

thus enhancing better scheduling coordination. 

Transit time and the amount of clerical work will be 

reduced substantially. Also, with a continuous information flow, the railroad industry is likely to improve customer service and, in turn, its position in 

the competitive shipping market.

Maintenance of way changes

The term “maintenance of way” refers to the installation and upkeep of railroad track, rail bed, and 

associated structures. For some years following 

World War II, maintenance of way work was done

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN THE 1960’s AND 1970's 33

by men who relied largely upon sheer brawn and 

handtools. Gradually, these handtools were supplemented with pneumatic powered tools and then replaced by single-purpose machines. These machines 

were designed for specific operations such as pulling 

and driving spikes, unscrewing bolts, packing ballast, and hoisting heavy materials like ties and rails 

into place.

In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, these singlepurpose, manually-operated machines spread 

throughout the industry. Concurrently, manufacturers also developed off-track vehicles which could 

travel along the tracks for work purposes but could 

also get off the track quickly when trains approached. Sophisticated combination machines that 

could raise and align the track, and level and tamp 

the ballast in the road bed in a single operation 

were also introduced. Still other machines were developed that could pick up, clean and return ballast 

to the roadbed; remove old ties and insert new ones; 

or clean switch yards quickly.

A 1969 survey revealed that the degree of mechanization of the various operations involved in maintenance of way ranged from 20 to 100 percent. (See 

table 16.)

In addition, improved materials and techniques 

are also contributing to a reduction in maintenance 

labor requirements. Of major importance is the 

adoption of continuous rail and the imminent spread 

of the concrete tie. In 1967, over 7 percent of 

main-line track was continuous-welded rail that was 

laid in quarter-mile sections with extensive use of 

machinery. This type of rail eliminates joints at the 

rail-end and saves a significant amount of labor 

once required to lift, cut off and relay short 39-foot 

pieces of conventional rail. Concrete ties, which 

tend to have longer useful lives than wooden ones, 

are currently in experimental use on several roads 

and their more widespread use is expected in the future. Other developments, such as two-way radio, 

have contributed greatly to increasing work capacity 

of the labor force. Radio communication permits the 

work force to maximize work time before clearing 

the track in ^advance of oncoming trains. In addition, improved paints, paint application methods, 

and the use of prestressed concrete for bridge construction reduce maintenance labor requirements. 

The future adoption of “weathering” steel for construction purposes may also reduce manpower requirements for surface maintenance.

Routine maintenance and “clean up” around the

Table 16. Degree of maintenance of way mechanization,

by operation, 1969

Operation Percent of mechanization

Transportation of gangs.............................................................

Track surface and lining (m ainline)........................................

65

81

Rail laying, cropping, transposing—

Jointed rail: .

Unloading and distribution........................................ 68

Installation................................................................... 78

Pickup.......................................................................... 73

Transposing................................................................. 75

Welded rail:

Unloading and distribution....................................

Installation..................................................................

76

100

Pickup.......................................................................... 55

Transposing................................................................. 95

Normal handling......................................................... 100

Ballast unloading and distribution.......................................... 65

Snow removal. .7 ........................................................................ 37

Tie renewal:

Unloading and distribution................................................ 51

Installation.......................................................................... 86

Disposal................................................................................ 21

Vegetation control:

Spraying............................................................................... 67

Cutting 7................................................................................ 52

Road crossing maintenance....................................................... 45

Track inspection and field testing............................................ 90

Right of way fences.................... 7.............................................

Cleaning ditches and drains......................................................

20

65

Track and yard cleaning............................................................ 45

SOURCE: Roadmasters and Maintenance of Way Association, Chicago, 1969.

classification yard is also being speeded up by prefabrication of track panels and retarder units. This reduces the time and labor required to repair tracks 

and transfers repair work indoors where it can be 

done more efficiently. In both yard and line-of-track 

work, snow removal attachments for some maintenance of way equipment and also specialized portable snow removal equipment are replacing manual 

removal of snow. Routine maintenance is also aided 

by the use of herbicides which are mechanically applied in yards and along the track.

In 1957, 151,453 men were maintaining the 

345,832 miles of track operated, compared to 

76,546 men maintaining 322,855 miles of track in 

1967.14 The 50 percent decrease in the employment of workers maintaining approximately the 

same miles of track implies a significant increase in 

productivity. However, these statistics include an 

unknown number of miles of track used on which 

little or no maintenance is performed. The subject 

of deferred maintenance in the railroad industry is a 

controversial one. Observers of the industry and 

trade specialists have been studying this problem for 

some time. According to one of these sources, for 

the past several years maintenance has been pro14 In both years, the amount of track operated under

trackage right agreements is excluded as a means of avoiding duplication. The exclusion will also eliminate some

track which is jointly owned. Coverage is for class I railroads only.

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34 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

ceeding at only about 60 percent of the rate required to effect a complete rail renewal within 50 

years. Within the industry, some spokesmen maintain that many roads are not financially able to keep 

abreast of their scheduled maintenance of way requirements.

The outlook for further mechanization in the period through 1975 is not clear, but some trends are 

discernible. Increasingly, there are indications of a 

continuing emphasis on maintenance of way equipment acquisition and activity. For example, when 

capital expenditures were reduced by 22 percent, 

from a 1966 high of $1.9 billion, total expenditures 

for roadway and structures were reduced only 6 

percent. Again in 1968, when total capital expenditures were reduced still further—by 23 percent—the 

reduction in total expenditures for roadway and 

structures was only 2.2 percent.

Passenger service

Positive efforts to improve passenger service have 

been hampered for several reasons. From the customer’s point of view, coach ticket costs on railroads are frequently only slightly below air fare, 

while additional time is required to go by rail. When 

overnight travel is involved, sleeping accommodations bring the cost above air fare. From the railroads’ point of view, passenger trains are costly to 

run. For example, in 1967 expenses related solely to 

passenger and allied services (including rents and 

taxes) exceeded total passenger service revenues by 

$138 million. Because of a lack of profits from passenger service, old equipment dating from the late 

1940’s and early 1950’s, in general, has not been replaced. This older equipment is difficult to maintain 

and makes travel by railroad undesirable for many 

persons. In addition, the problem has been compounded as train service has been cut to minimize 

cash drains.

There have been only a few changes in long-haul 

passenger service technology. One such change is 

the Northeast Corridor Experiment in which customer response to frequently scheduled, well maintained trains is tested. To achieve these goals, new 

lightweight, high-speed cars have been developed 

and stretches of welded track installed. Also, computerized ticket machines have been introduced to 

expedite the process of purchasing tickets. Further 

innovations in passenger service may follow at the 

conclusion of the current experiment if it proves to 

be successful.

Currently, attempts are being made in the U.S. 

Congress to improve railroad passenger service. For 

example, the Railroad Passenger Service Act of 

1970 established the National Railroad Passenger 

Corporation (NRPC) in the fall of 1970. A semipublic corporation, the NRPC has 8 directors who 

serve on a 15-man board that has the responsibility 

for operating most of the nation’s intercity passenger 

trains effective May 1, 1971. Amtrack is attempting 

to eliminate underutilized and unprofitable passenger 

trains to the greatest extent possible, while still maintaining a network of passenger routes among selected 

cities. The implications of these developments for 

passenger traffic and for employment are outlined 

in chapters V and VI.

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Chapter III. Productivity and Other Measures of Technological Change

Several quantitative measures are presented in 

this section that are illustrative of technological 

progress. These include output per man-hour, and a 

variety of capital related measures such as the capital output ratio.

Output per man-hour

Relating changes in output to changes in manhours (i.e., productivity) is a useful although partial 

indicator of the pace of technological change. The 

change in the ratio reflects the changes in quality 

and quantity of capital equipment, capital investment, new materials, new approaches to marketing 

as well as the procedural changes and many other 

management measures that contribute to more effective freight and passenger transportation. Measures 

of output per man-hour reflect also changes in occupational mix, skill levels, training, and education of 

the work force. Furthermore, the measure for the 

industry reflects shifts in the importance of railroads 

with different degrees of operating efficiency and the 

long-term practice of shifting some railroad operations to outside firms as discussed in the chapter on 

employment.

Output per man-hour (productivity) increased 

more rapidly between 1957 and 1969 than in the 

previous decade, although productivity in the industry was already growing more rapidly than that of 

the total nonfarm economy. Many factors contributed to this increase, including the new technology 

mentioned earlier, increased levels of capital expenditures, and cost-cutting in services caused by 

financial stringency.

The average annual rate of increase in output per 

man-hour for all employees in the railroad industry 

was 5.2 percent between 1947-70, (chart 4), almost twice the 2.7 percent increase for the total 

nonfarm economy. Between 1957 and 1970, output 

per man-hour of all employees in the railroad industry increased at an average annual rate of 6.0 percent.

Besides those already discussed, another factor

contributing to the increase in productivity in the 

later period was the noticeable growth in output.15 

For example, the average annual rate of change in 

output between 1957 and 1970 was 2.2 percent, 

compared with a decline of 0.4 percent between 

1947 and 1957.16

Levels of output in revenue traffic units (RTU’s) 

per man-hour vary widely among the railroads because of differences in equipment, managerial, and 

employee skills, size of railroad, and the type of 

traffic carried—the latter influenced greatly by the 

geographic districts 17 in 1965, based on the number 

sents data on railroads which were selected as the 

“best” railroad in each of the three ICC-designated 

geographic districts 17 in 1965 based on the number 

of revenue traffic units produced per all employee 

man-hour in 1965. The railroads considered for 

analysis were restricted to those having a labor 

input in excess of 20 million man-hours annually. 

The “best” railroads were chosen from among 22, 

at the top of their geographic districts—West, 

South, East—when ranked according to

productivity.18

Those “best” railroads were studied to see if their

15 See appendix III-l for study concerning relationship

between output and output per man-hour growth.

16 This output measure is based on revenue traffic units

(RTU’s), a weighted combination of revenue freight tonmiles (one ton of freight hauled one mile) and revenue

passenger miles (one passenger carried one mile). (See appendix III-3.) Also see U.S. Department of Labor, “Indexes of Output Per Man-Hour, Selected Industries, 1939

and 1947-70,” BLS Bulletin 1692, Government Printing

Office, 1971, Washington, D.C.

17 A district is a geographical grouping, used by the Interstate Commerce Commission, to which railroads have

been assigned for statistical purposes.

18 Although a particular railroad may be the “best” in its

geographic district, there may be other plants in other districts that exceed its level of productivity. For example, in

1965, five out of seven railroads in the Southern district

and two out of 10 in the Western district, had higher levels

of output per man-hour than the “best” railroad in the

Eastern district. For more detail on choice of railroads and

methodology, see appendices III-5 and 6.

35

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36 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Chart 4.

Railroads: Output and Output Per Man-Hour, 1947-70

Output

1947 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 1970

Index (1967=100) 

110 

100

itllllill®

/ —

* • » * « /

II

Output per man-hour

A n n u a l rates o f change

P eriod

O u tp u tl O u tp u t p er all

e m p lo y ee m a n -h o u r

1 9 4 7 -7 0 0 .5 % 5 .2 %

1 9 4 7 -5 7 -0 .4 % 4 .2 %

1 9 5 7 -7 0 2 .2 % 6 .0 %

1 R even u e T r a ffic U n its

S o u rce: B ureau o f L a b o r S tatistics

productivity growth patterns could be used as predictors for the entire industry. Even though subsequent analysis indicated that the approach was no 

better than one which uses conventional trend analysis, it showed a wide range in productivity levels 

(output per man-hour) both among the “best” railroads and between each of them and the industry 

average. (See table 17.) Also, analysis of the “best” 

railroads revealed that the time required for the industry as a whole to achieve the average “best”

plant level of productivity has shortened—from 

about 42 months to roughly 35 months— a situation 

that would persist if the industry meets its capital 

expenditure goals. This shortened lag results from 

the more recent higher average rate of changes in 

productivity (output per man-hour). The weighted 

“best” railroad average productivity was about 23 

percent above the industry for the 1956-66 period. 

During the early 1960’s, when all railroads generally 

were increasing their productivity, the average for

Table 17. Output (RTU’s) per man-hour: Ratios for “best” railroads in a district and industry average, 1956-66

Ratio of “ best” railroads to industry average

Industry

average

(R T U 's /M h r.)1

Year

Railroad “ A” ,

southern district

Railroad "B ” ,

eastern district

Railroad “ C” ,

western district

“ Best" railroad,

average

1956................................................................ 1.38 1.03 1.03 1.17 314.9

1957................................................................ 1.41 1 .0 0 1.07 1.19 320.3

1958................................................................ 1.36 1.06 1.08 1.19 336.1

1959................................................................ 1.38 1.03 1.11 1.19 357.3

1960................................................................ 1.37 1.01 1 .1 2 1.18 372.3

1961................................................................ 1.40 .99 1.18 1 .2 0 398.2

1962................................................................ 1.38 1.03 1.23 1 .2 2 423.5

1963................................................................ 1.39 1.07 1.28 1.25 450.1

1964................................................................ 1.38 1.09 1.32 1.27 476.6

1965................................................................ 1.30 1 .1 0 1.32 1.24 526.0

1966................................................................ 1.28 1.04 1.30 1.21 563.3

iT h e industry average differs slightly from the published BLS series due to omission SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics and Interstate Commerce Commission,

of switching and terminal company data.

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PRODUCTIVITY AND OTHER MEASURES OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 37

all of the “best” ones considered together increased 

their margin over the industry. These roads increased their traffic more than the industry average, 

indicating a business shift toward more efficient 

plants.

Capital and output per unit of capital

The trend in output relative to the trend in value 

of road and equipment owned by U.S. railroads is 

an indicator of changes in the productivity of capital. 

Although for productivity analysis, the flow of capital 

services rather than physical stock is the preferred 

measure, the data for this measure are not 

available.19 In 1958 dollars, the value of road and 

equipment owned by all U.S. railroads remained virtually unchanged between 1948 and 1967— about 

$52 billion in each year. (See table'18.) During the 

20-year period, the BLS index of output for class I 

railroads (RTU’s) rose about 4 percent from 114.2 

to 118.8.

Railroad employment during the same period decreased drastically with the result that the value of 

road and equipment per employee increased from 

$34,000 to about $75,000 per employee. However, 

despite the change in this ratio, and the changing 

quality of the equipment used, as described earlier, 

the output relative to the value of road and equipment changed little. This resulted in large measure 

from the nature of the industry which requires a 

fleet of rollingstock that is in a non-earning status 

much of the time.

O utp u t and m a teria l inputs 20

Still another measure that is helpful in assessing 

industry changes taking place is the trend in output 

(BLS revenue traffic) relative to the input (including fuel, materials, and services), exclusive of capital 

and labor discussed elsewhere. For the whole period 

of 1947-68, output increased by less than one percent while the value of supplies consumed decreased 

on a constant dollar basis by 39 percent. (See appendix III-8.)

One of the outstanding reductions that occurred 

was in the amount of fuel required per gross tonmile of train movement. Fuel is among the more important inputs, excluding capital and labor, and the 

amount required to move a gross ton-mile has 

declined by 80 percent in the 1948-66 period, as 

shown in chart 5. (See appendix III-9, 10.) AlTable 18. Value of road and equipment, number of employees, all U.S. railroads, selected years, 1948—67 1

Year

Road and equipment

(constant 1958

dollars, billions)

All railroad

employees

(000’s)

Road and equipment

per employee

(000’s of $)

1948................................... 51.9 1,517

1,400

1,121

796

34.2

1952.................................... 53.6 38.3

1957................................... 53.3 47.5

1962................................... 51.0 64.1

1967................................... 52.1 698 74.6

Average Annual Percent of Change

1948-57............................. 0 .3 - 3 . 3 3.7

1957-67............................. - . 2 - 4 . 7 4 .6

1 See Appendix 111-7.

SOURCE: Office of Business Economics, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Interstate Commerce Commission.

though a major portion of this savings is due to the 

transition from steam to diesels, quality improvements in the fuels, themselves, may also have been a 

factor. Although small increments may be realized 

as fuel savings in the future, the most likely further 

economies resulting from motive power changes will 

be from reduced maintenance man-hour requirements. (See discussion on redieselization in chapter 

II.)

Selected equipment utilization measures

Several other measures also highlight changes taking place in various operations. These aspects of 

train performance underlie, in part, the increases in 

output per man-hour described earlier. Table 19 

shows these measures which describe train and car 

utilization. Changes in labor requirements associated 

with changes in operation are pointed out specifically in subsequent employment chapters. For example, the same changes in car construction that permit greater average speed also reduce the 

requirements for maintenance men; similarly, a car’s 

higher capacity frequently lends itself to mechanized 

loading and adversely affects persons employed as 

freight handlers. In general, as unit sizes increase

19 A flow measure reflects differences in usage and

efficiency of existing capital capacity and how these differences affect varying levels of output. See paper prepared

for the National Commission on Productivity which includes a discussion on this subject by Jerome A. Mark, Assistant Commissioner for Productivity and Technology,

BLS, pp. 21-22.

20 These inputs include fuel, rail, and ties as well as

other materials and supplies needed to carry on day-to-day

business operations.

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38 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Chart 5.

Fuel Requirements Per Gross Ton-Mile

in Class I, Linehaul Railroads

(Index 1957-59=100)

S o u rce: See A p p e n d ix T a b le II I- 7 .

Table 19. Freight equipment utilization, 1957 and 1968

and transit times decrease, unit labor requirements 

are reduced.

The first group of measures (line numbers one 

through four) pertain to train operation and demonstrate the increases that have occurred in the 

1957-68 period. Taken together, they show that the 

average freight train has been increased in length 

from 68.6 to 70.1 cars; in product carried from 

1,424 to 1,768 tons; in speed from 18.8 to 20.4 

miles per hour. This combination of increased 

length, load and speed has resulted in the average 

train’s carrying more freight per train hour— 34.5 

percent more in 1968 than in 1957. Increased locomotive power, tractive effort, and better bearings 

have permitted the railroads to use these heavier, 

longer trains while centralized traffic control has reduced train delays and contributed to increased 

average train speed.

The second group of measures (line numbers

5-8) relate to the use of cars. In the 1957-68 period, the average daily distance traveled was increased from 47.0 to 53.9 miles; the average freight 

carload increased from 43.8 to 51.8 tons, while the 

average capacity increased from 54.5 to 64.3 tons. 

Taken together, these increases in distance traveled, 

carload weight, and car capacity have resulted in an 

increase of almost 40 percent in the ton-miles produced per freight car day.

Another measure related to freight car utilization 

is the ratio of annual revenue and nonrevenue tonmiles carried to annual capacity available. As shown 

below in table 20, utilization of railroad-owned and 

leased cars increased 14.8 percent between 1955 

and 1968, from 7,040 ton-miles to 8,079 ton-miles 

per ton of capacity. The increase in utilization may 

be due, in part, to the exclusion of private cars.

Changes in car material and construction, combined with better classification yards and higher

Line

number

Occupations 1957 1968 Percent change

1957-jp8

1 Cars per average freight tra in .......................* ,................................................................... 6 8 .6 70.1 . + 2 .2

2 Average freight train load (to n s)........................................................................................ 1,424.0 1,768.0 + 2 4 .2

3 Average freight train speed.................................................................................................. 18.8 20.4 + 8 .5

4 Net ton-miles per train hour................................................................................................ 26,833.0 36,091.0 + 3 4 .5

5 Average daily car m ileage.................................................................................................... 47.0 53.9 + 1 4 .7

6 Average freight carload (to n s)............................................................................................. 43.8 51.8 + 1 8 .3

7 Average freight car capacity (tons).................................................................................... 54.5 64.3 + 1 8 .0

8 Ton-miles per freight car-day............................................................................................. 975.0 1,361.0 + 3 9 .6

SOURCE: Yearbook o f R ailroad Facts, 1969 and 1970 editions, Association of

American Railroads.

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PRODUCTIVITY AND OTHER MEASURES OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 39

Table 20. Revenue and nonrevenue ton-miles per ton of

capacity, class I railroads, selected years, 1955—68

Year

Total revenue

and nonrevenue

ton miles

(billions)

Aggregate capacity

of freight cars

in service 1

(millions of tons)

Revenue and

nonrevenue ton

miles per ton

of capacity

1955................................. 642.2 91.2 7,040

1959................................. 588.2 92.3 6,375

1963................................. 632.9 85.9 7,364

1966................................. 749.6 91.4 8,197

1968................................. 755.7 93.5 8,079

1 Cars in service of class I railroads, owned and leased at close of year.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission.

train speeds, are largely responsible for better car 

utilization by the railroads. Since car purchases account for about 55 percent of average annual railroad capital expenditures, slight improvements in

car utilization can have great significance for the 

railroads’ overall capital spending program. A small 

gain in utilization effectively increases the car fleet 

size, thus freeing capital for other areas.

The technological advances that seem to promise 

the greatest return on investment for the future are 

those that increase car utilization by increasing train 

speed and daily car mileage. Areas of capital expenditures that would facilitate these developments 

are improvements in right-of-way and track and 

structure, as well as communication and signaling 

—particularly automatic car identification. As car 

utilization is increased, without enlargement of the 

fleet, the railroads’ return on investment may be enhanced, attacting more capital to the industry and 

permitting it to preserve its market share of intercity 

freight.

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C hapter IV. Em ploym ent Trends

This chapter reviews trends of the industry’s employment profile, which serve as a basis for estimating future employment levels. It also provides information on the regional distribution of employment, 

the age of workers, and the employment of women 

and Negroes. Projected employment levels, which 

take into account the specific impact of technological changes, are presented in chapter V.

Employment trends

In 1969, employment of class I railroads stood at 

578,277 workers, down about 26 percent from 

1960, and 57 percent from 1947 (see table 21). 

During this same period, the trend in employment 

for production workers followed a similar pattern, 

although declining slightly as a proportion of total 

employment.21

A t the same time that employment in the industry 

has been declining, the unemployment rate has been 

lower than for the economy as a whole. In 1969, 

the unemployment rate for railroad and railway express workers was 1.6 percent; for all workers, it 

was 3.5 percent. This better-than-average record reflects, in part, the relative success of the efforts of 

the industry and unions to provide adjustment measures, as described in chapter VI.

Employment Shifts. In addition to primary employment changes brought about directly in the industry 

work force by technology, changes in employment 

have also resulted from the long-standing practice of 

shifting employment to outside firms which supply 

equipment to the industry. For example, a growing 

proportion of the freight car fleet is privately owned 

(14.3 percent in 1960 and 17.1 percent in 1967); 

this has contributed to a drop in manpower requirements in the “maintenance of equipment and stores” 

category. Similarly, “piggybacking” has shifted work 

previously done by railroad workers to freight forwarders and regular trucking firms. Also, the exchange of one diesel locomotive unit for another 

through purchase, a practice known as “unit exchange,” has cut down on engine rebuilding in railroad shops. The leasing of equipment that is related 

to technological changes in the railroad industry— 

communication and computer systems, for example 

— generates employment in other industries which 

manufacture and service such equipment.

Characteristics of the railroad workforce

Distribution of Employment. In early 1967, nearly 

two-fifths of all railroad employment was concentrated in 23 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas 

(SMSA’s), compared with about one-third in 1957. 

(See appendix IV -1.) 22 The shift of railroad employees from locations mainly on the rural railroad 

rights-of-way to urban communities resulted, in part, 

from the consolidation of railroad car classification 

yards and rolling stock maintenance facilities. 

Changes in communication technology have also 

contributed to this shift to urban centers.

Chicago, Illinois, the leading SMSA in terms of 

railroad employment (48,600 employees) is the hub 

of railroad traffic; it serves as the point for transshipment of eastern manufactured goods to the west 

and south, as well as eastbound agricultural products. In addition, it serves as a terminal point for 

goods leaving the country via the Great Lakes route. 

St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois and Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas, with 15,600 and 10,800 employees 

respectively, are both gathering points for agricultural products. New York City, N.Y. (19,900 em2 1 See appendix III-3 and 4 for data.

22 Except in New England, an SMSA is a county or

group of contiguous counties which contains at least one

central city of 50,000 inhabitants or more. In addition to

the county, or counties, containing such a city, or cities,

contiguous counties are included in a standard metropolitan

area if according to certain criteria they are essentially

metropolitan in character and sufficiently integrated with

the central city. In New England, “Metropolitan State Economic Area” is a county or group of counties which is

characterized by a distinctive combination of social and

economic characteristics.

41

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42 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

Table 21. Railroad (class I) employment and traffic,

selected years, 1947-69

Year

Total

employment

(in thousands)

Revenue

ton miles

(in billions)

Revenue

passenger-miles

(in billions)

1947....................................................... 1,352.0 654.7 45.9

1952....................................................... 1,226.2 614.8 34.0

1953....................................................... 1,206.5 605.8 31.7

1954....................................................... 1,064.6 549.3 29.3

1955....................................................... 1,057.2 623.6 28.5

1956....................................................... 1,042.6 647.1 28.2

1957....................................................... 984.8 618.2 25.9

1958....................................................... 840.8 551.7 23.3

1959........................................................ 815.2 575.5 2 2 .0

1960....................................................... 780.5 572.3 21.3

1961....................................................... 717.5 563.4 20.3

1962....................................................... 700.2 592.9 19.9

1963....................................................... 679.3 621.7 18.5

1964....................................................... 665.0 658.6 18.2

1965....................................................... 640.1 697.9 17.4

1966....................................................... 624.9 738.4 17.1

1967....................................................... 602.6 719.5 15.2

1968....................................................... 590.5 744.5 13.1

1969....................................................... 578.3 767.2 1 2 .2

SOURCE: Association of American Railroads and Interstate Commerce Commission.

ployees), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (15,200), Los 

Angeles, California (13,800), and San Francisco, 

California (11,500), are all overseas terminal 

points. New York is also a distribution point for 

east coast commodity shipments, with San Francisco 

serving as a major import-export center for trade 

with the Orient. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (13,900) 

is a city where activity centers around processing 

raw materials into primary metals— bulky, heavy 

products which are best transported by rail. (See appendix IV -1 for railroad employment in major 

SMSA’s and appendix table IV-2 for definitions of 

these areas in 1957 and 1967.)

Women Employed by Railroads. In 1966, the railroads employed 58,000 women, about 6 percent of 

total railroad employment, according to data compiled by the Railroad Retirement Board. Their emTable 22. Age distribution of railroad employees, 1957

and 1967

Age

Percentage distribution

(On birthday in given year)

1957 1967

Total i _________ 1 0 0 .0 1 0 0.0

34 and under.

3 5-4 4 ...............

29.6

21.7

26.9

19.7

4 5 -5 4 ....................................................................................................... 2 1 .6 25.3

5 5 -6 4 ....................................................................................................... 20.5 22.3

65 and over........................................................................................... 6.4 5 .6

1 Includes employees whose age was not reported.

SOURCE: U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.

ployment reached a high point during World War II 

when they accounted for 9.2 percent of total 

railroad employment, reflecting the general increased 

labor force participation by women during that time.

Year

Employees

in service

during year

(000’s)

Women

(000’s)

Female employment

as percent of all

employees

1944 2,903 268 9.2

1947 ______ 2,470 140 5.7

1957 _ 1,510 92 6 .1

1966 944 58 6 .1

SOURCE: Annual Report, Railroad Retirement Board.

Soon after the end of World W ar II, men began 

replacing women in many of the more strenuous 

railroad occupations and some women returned to 

their traditional clerical and service occupations. By 

1966, they accounted for 66 percent of workers in 

the “clerks and other office employee” category.

While technological and procedural changes have 

had an impact on office employment, the decline in 

these occupations (discussed fully in chapter V ) has 

been less rapid than that of the total railroad industry. The increasing use of data by the industry may 

cause this employment sector to remain fairly stable, 

thus causing an expansion in the proportionate share 

of jobs held bv women in the 1970’s.

Age. The age distribution of an industry’s employment supplies important clues about present and future job opportunities. The railroad industry’s workforce had a median age of 46.4 years in 1967, up 

from 44.4 years in 1957. (See table 22 for distribution of employment by age.) Between 1967 and 

1975, it is estimated that 235,000 railroad employees will reach age 65, providing an increasing 

number of potential job vacancies. These cover 

workers at all skill levels and in jobs requiring varying levels of education to enter. For example, the 

largest single number of potential retirees will be 

among shop craftsmen; the next largest, among 

clerks and other office employees; and the third 

largest among supervisors and professional workers 

(see table 23). Relatively large numbers of retirees 

will also be found among miscellaneous maintenance 

of way workers.

Employment of Negroes and Spanish-Sumamed

Americans. Negroes and persons with Spanish surnames made up a relatively small proportion of total 

railroad employment in 1966, according to a survey 

of 788-establishments conducted by the U.S. Equal

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EMPLOYMENT TRENDS 43

Table 23. Estimated retirements, by occupation, 1967-75

Occupational category Number Percent

T o tal................................................................................................ 235,000 1 0 0 .0

Office employees:

Executives, officials, and staff assistants................................ 6,496 2 .8

Supervisors and professionals................................................... 2 1 ,0 1 2 9.0

Station agents and telegraphers................................................ 7,897 3.4

Clerks and other office employees............................................ 26,983 11.5

Train and engine service employees:

Engineers........................................................................................... 15,642 6 .6

Conductors........................................................................................ 13’ 741 5 .8

Firemen and hostlers.................................................................... 5,320 2.3

Brakemen, baggagemen, and switchtenders......................... 12,990 5.5

Gang forem en............................................................................................ 13,642 5 .8

Maintenance employees:

Way and structures crjftsm en.................................................... 7,470 3.2

Shop craftsmen............................................................................... 35,802 15.2

Way and structures helpers and apprentices........................ 799 .3

Shop helpers and apprenticed.................................................... 5,023 2 .1

Other maintenance-of-way employees.................................... 17,961 7.6

Other shop and stores employees............................................. 10,544 4 .5

Station and platform employees........................................................ 10,842 4.6

All other employees................................................................................ 22,836 9.7

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, based on Railroad

Retirement Board data.

Employment Opportunity Commission (E E O C ).23 

In 1966, there were 54,250 Negroes employed in 

these establishments and 16,703 persons with Spanish surnames; both groups were heavily concentrated 

in blue collar jobs, often as operatives or laborers. 

(See table 24). About one-fifth of the Negro railroad workers were employed as service workers. 

Spanish surnamed Americans comprised 6.9 percent 

of white collar jobs, with 2.6 percent for Negroes.

Among the Spanish surnamed Americans, slightly 

over half the women were in white collar employment (office and clerical) compared with 6.2 percent of the males. Among Negroes, 9.1 percent of 

the women employed on railroads were in white collar jobs and only 2.3 percent of the men.

Relatively more Negroes are employed in the railroad industry than in industry as a whole— 9.4 percent compared with 8.2 percent in 1966, according 

to the EEOC study. Negro workers, who comprise a 

high proportion of workers in low skill occupational 

categories, will continue to be in demand because of 

increased maintenance of way work, much of which 

has been deferred for years and because of the large 

number of older workers in these job categories. 

(See table 23.) In general, Negro workers with appropriate education and training are likely to have 

better prospects in the future for higher level work 

because of the growing trend toward hiring Negroes 

for such jobs and for upgrading their skills.24

23 Equal Opportunity Report No. 1, Part II, Job Patterns

for Minorities and Women in Private Industry, 1966, U.S.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington,

D.C., 1968.

24 “where do Railroads Stand on EEO?” Tom Shedd,

Modern Railroads, February 1969, pp. 40-42; Part II, pp.

44, 45.

Table 24. Railroad employment of minority groups, 1966

Total white Total blue

Blue collar occupations

Total

Employee category

Total

employment

collar

employment

collar

employment Craftsmen Operatives Laborers

service

workers

All Employees (SIC 40)

648,136

1 0 0 .0

151,547

23.4

476,068 225,388 156,189

24.1

94,491

14.6

20,521

3 .2Occupational distribution...................................................... 

34,992

1 0 0.0

30,958

88.5

3,231

9 .2

599 372 2,260

6.5

803

1.7 1.1 2 .3

Total (788 establishments).......................................................

Occupational distribution.....................................................

683,128

1 0 0.0

182,505

26.7

479,299

70.2

225,987

33.1

156,561

22.9

96,751

14.2

21,324

3.1

Spanish Surnamed American

M ale...................................................................................................... 16,458

1 0 0.0

1,017

6 .2

15,281

92.8

4,656

28.3

2,366

14.4

8,259

50.2

160

1.0

Percent of total........................................................................ 2.5 .7 3 .2 2 .1 1.5 8.7 .8

Female................................................................................................. 245 129 101 0 6 95 15

Occupational distribution...................................................... 1 0 0.0 52.7 41.2 .0 2.4 38.8 6 .1

Percent of to tal........................................................................ .7 .4 3.1 .0 1 .6 4 .2 1.9

T o tal................................................................................................. 16,703

1 0 0 .0

1,146

6 .9

15,382

92.1

4,656

27.9

2,372

14.2

8,354

50.0

175

1.0

Percent of total........................................................................ 2.4 .6 3 .2 2 .1 1.5 8 .6 .8

Negro

M ale...................................................................................................... 52,478 1,224

2.3

40,937

78.0

4,888

9.3

7,948

15.1

28,101

53.5

10,317

1 0 0 .0 19.7

Percent of to tal........................................................................ 8 .1 .8 8 .6 2 .2 5.1 29.7 50.3

Fem ale................................................................................................. 1,772

1 0 0 .0

162 1,415

79.9

69 56 1,290

72.8

195

Occupational distribution...................................................... 9.1 3 .9 3.2 1 1 .0

Percent of to tal........................................................................ 5.1 .5 43.8 11.5 15.1 57.1 24.3

T o tal............................................................................................... 54,250

1 0 0 .0

1,386 42,352

78.1

4,957

9.1

8,004

14.8

29,391

54.2

10,512

2 .6 19.4

Percent of to tal........................................................................ 7.9 .8 8 .8 2 .2 5.1 30.4 49.3

SOURCE: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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C hapter V. Em ploym ent O utlook and Im p act of Technological

Change on O ccupational S tructure

This chapter provides an estimate for class I railroad employment as well as the underlying assumptions about output (traffic) and technological 

change. It also relates future changes in employment 

in specific occupational categories to the major technological changes that have affected them in the 

past.

Employment outlook

The outlook for an upturn in railroad employment by 1975 is not promising. Technological and 

other changes which have influenced output and 

productivity, and in turn employment trends in recent years, are likely to persist and to become even 

more pervasive in the years ahead. Thus, the most 

optimistic estimate of class I railroad employment in 

1975 is that it may total 540,000 persons, compared 

with about 600,000 in 1967.25 Even though this estimate points to a continued decline in class I railroad employment, many job opportunities will continue to arise because of the growing need to 

replace workers who die or retire. Also, because of 

changing job requirements in this industry, which 

stem from the technological changes and other’s 

cited earlier, a growing need for workers with higher 

levels of education and skill is likely.

Any employment estimate for class I railroads 

must take into consideration trends in output 

(freight and passenger traffic) as well as overall 

productivity changes. The trends in output per all 

employee man-hour, (productivity) have been discussed previously in chapter III. In estimating future 

trends in productivity, it was assumed that the most 

recent rate of growth would continue through 

1975.26

Trends in freight traffic. Between 1947 and 1967, 

the average annual increase in revenue ton-miles 

was 0.5 percent but since 1961, freight traffic has 

been rising at an average annual rate of 3.6 percent. 

Projections of future growth in revenue ton-miles

assume, as a minimum, the continuation of this 

trend between 1961-67. This conclusion arises both 

from the great increase in all intercity freight traffic 

(revenue ton miles of 1.7 trillion in 1967, compared 

with 1.3 trillion in 1961) since the 1960-61 dip in 

economic activity, and also from the ability of the 

railroads to maintain their competitive position visa-vis other transportation modes. The impact of the 

Vietnam buildup on the amount of railroad freight 

traffic carried is difficult to measure; however, total 

railroad carloadings have increased slightly since 

1964. Between 1964 and 1965, carloadings rose by 

0.3 percent; the following year (1966) carloadings 

increased by 1.8 percent. The cessation of hostilities 

in Vietnam will have some effect o n ‘the growth of 

railroad traffic, but apparently the overall reduction 

is unlikely to alter the 1961-67 trend greatly because of the underlying strength of the American 

economy.

Should the 1961-67 trend persist through 1975, 

revenue ton-miles may total 954 billion, up onethird from the 1967 level. A somewhat higher level, 

about 985 billion revenue ton-miles is possible, 

however, if the stable relationship continues between 

this output measure and constant dollar Gross National Product (G N P) which has been growing at 

the long-term rate of 4 percent yearly.

Trends in passenger traffic. The long-term rate of 

decline in revenue passenger miles has been modi25 This estimate of 1975 class I railroad employment is

consistent with the estimate of 570,000 workers employed

in all railroad transportation published earlier in T o m o r ­

r o w ’s M a n p o w e r N e e d s , Supplement Number 2, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1970. The

Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projections utilize

regression analysis and take account of information from

the Bureau’s economic growth model and its industry-occupational matrix.

2 6 An alternate productivity projection based on regression analysis was developed by the Bureau. The method is

discussed in appendix III-l.

45

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46 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

fled slightly since 1961; at this time it slowed to an 

average annual rate of 4.7 percent. By comparison, 

this rate of change between 1947 and 1967 was 

— 5.4 percent; during the early part of this 20-year 

period, a dramatic shift had occurred from railroad 

to air passenger travel, particularly among sleeping 

and parlor car patrons. Coach traffic had also declined between 1947 and 1957, but at a considerably slower pace. During this period, the sleeping and 

parlor car traffic decreased at an average annual 

rate of 11.1 percent— over twice as fast as the rate 

for coach traffic. The major factor modifying the 

drop in revenue passenger miles has been commuter 

traffic, which has averaged about 4 billion passenger 

miles a year since 1960. This, together with a possible increase in corridor-type traffic (see Research 

and Development section of chapter I) and the operation of intercity passenger trains by Amtrak, may 

slow the rate of decline in passenger traffic.

Changes in Occupational Structure, 1957 and 1967.

Each of the seven summary reporting occupational 

categories, as defined by the Interstate Commerce 

Commission registered declines in employment, although the relative proportion of specialized and 

high level manpower in the industry tended to grow 

(see table 25). The classes of occupations most adversely affected by the drop in employment between 

1957 and 1967 generally were those occupations 

that required little formal education, training, or experience to enter, such as the helper or laborer job 

classifications concerned with either maintenance of 

way and structures, maintenance of equipment and 

stores, or transportation. Those occupations which 

experienced declines faster than the average annual 

industry rate of 4.7 percent between 1957-67 are 

listed in table 26.

Employment in certain occupations increased during the 1957-67 period. Among these were chief 

claim agents or investigators (ICC 22) in the professional and clerical major occupational group and 

portable equipment operators (ICC 35) and gang 

foremen (ICC 38, 39) in the maintenance of way 

and structures group. In addition, while employment 

in skilled trades declined in absolute numbers, this 

decline was substantially below the industry average 

annual rate.

Technology and occupational trends

To get more detailed information about specific 

occupational categories, as distinct from the broad 

trends in employment described earlier, technological, managerial, marketing and other changes that 

have affected employment of class I railroad workers were examined independently for their impact on 

workers in particular occupations.27 Each of the 

128 ICC categories was reviewed to ascertain the 

kinds of work done by persons reported in a particular category and an evaluation was then made of 

the relationship between the various technological 

changes and job content. To facilitate analysis, some 

innovations that affected the same classes of occupations were grouped together. Also, when more than 

one technological change affected a single occupation,- that occupation was included with the change 

that had the greatest impact on employment. For

27 It was not possible, however, to assess fully the probable impact on productivity and employment of any substantial increase in the rate of abandonment of unprofitable

lines. At the time this report was being prepared, abandonment of unprofitable lines was a subject being discussed in

the industry but the positions of the various interested parties had not been determined.

Table 25. Changes in class I railroad employment, by major occupational group, 1957-67

ICC reporting title-

(major occupational group) 1957

Employment

1967 Average annual

percent change

1957-67

Number Percent Number Percent

T o tal....................................................................................................................................................... 986,001 10C.0 610,191 100.0 - 4 . 7

Executives, officials and staff assistants................................................................................................. 16,264 1.7 15,501 2 .5 - .5

Professional, clerical, and general............................................................................................................ 190,046 19.3 131,360 21.5 - 3 . 7

Maintenance of way and structures.......................................................................................................... 170,766 17.3 90,462 14.8 - 6 . 2

Maintenance of equipment and stores.................................................................................................... 246,358 25.0 138,488 22.7 - 5 . 6

Transportation (other than train, engine, and y a r d ).......................................................................... 115,293 11.7 57,020 9 .3 - 6 . 8

Transportation (yardmasters, switch tenders, and hostlers)........................................................... 14,199 1.4 9,828 1.6 - 3 . 6

Transportation (train and engine)............................................................................................................. 233,075 23,6 167,532 27.5 - 3 . 3

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission.

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EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 47

Table 26. Occupational categories with greatest employment decreases, 1957-67

ICC

line

no.

Title

Employment 1957-67,

percentage

decrease

1957 1967

T o tal.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 187,553 61,039 67

Class 1, linehaul employment................................................................................................................................................... 986;001 610,191 38

65 Helper apprentices (M. of E. and stores)........................................................................................................................................... 1,023 215 79

23 Miscellaneous trades workers (other than plum bers)................................................................................................................... 791 183 77

62 Molders.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 163 39 76

92 Truckers (stations, warehouses, and platform s)............................................................................................................................. 10,425 2,499 76

103 Crossing and bridge flagmen and gatem en....................................................................................................................................... 6,983 1,806 74

64 Skilled trades helpers (M. of E. and stores).................................................................................................................................... 37,002 9,752 74

37 Pumping equipment operators.............................................................................................................................................................. 258 74 71

91 Callers, loaders, scalers, sealers, and perishable-freight inspectors........................................................................................ 12,099 3,675 70

74 Stationary firemen, oilers, coal passers, and water tenders....................................................................................................... 1,563 479 69

32 Bridge and building painters................................................................................................................................................................. 1,858 639 66

42 Section m en................................................................................................................................................................................................. 69,264 24,277 65

104 Foremen (laundry) and laundry workers........................................................................................................................................... 419 149 64

107 Switch tenders............................................................................................................................................................................................ 2,655 950 64

49 Signalman and signal maintainer helpers......................................................................................................................................... 2,291 833 64

128 Yard firemen and helpers........................................................................................................................................................................ 20,160 7,447 63

43 Maintenance of way laborers (other than track and roadway) and gardeners and farm ers............................................ 1,972 738 63

72 General laborers (stores and ice, reclamation, and timber-treating plants).......................................................................... 11,202 4,211 62

96 Chefs and cooks (restaurants or dining cars)................................................................................................................................... 3,060 1,232 60

86 Baggage agents and assistants.............................................................................................................................................................. 364 151 59

95 Stewards, restaurant and lodging-house managers, and dining-car supervisors................................................................. 1,203 507 58

115 Road passenger baggagemen................................................................................................................................................................ 2,798 1,183 58

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission.

each grouping of innovations, the occupations affected and the total number of workers employed 

was determined for the year 1957 and then compared 

with employment levels in 1967. Then, taking into 

account past and expected trends in the diffusion of 

the technological change and their impact on past 

employment, estimates for the various occupations 

were obtained for the year 1975. Table 27 summarizes employment related to the major groups of innovations for 1957 and 1967, and provides an estimate of the probable impact of these changes on 

employment by 1975. Using this method to estimate 

class I railroad employment implies that this total 

will reach 540,000 by 1975.

Altogether, 10 technological innovation groupings 

were selected as having a major impact on class I 

railroad employment. These are described in chapter 

II and include redieselization; improved cars; facility 

relocation and improvements; unit trains and “piggyback;” automatic classification yards; computers; 

centralized traffic control; detectors, microwave and 

automatic car identification; maintenance of way; 

and passenger service changes and improvements. In 

this chapter, tlje innovation groupings are analyzed 

for their manpower implications.

Redieselization

In 1967, there were 78,033 railroad employees 

working in 16 occupations that had been significantly affected by redieselization (purchase of new

and greatly improved diesels). This employment 

represents a drop of 47 percent since 1957.28 The 

average annual decline in employment for the group 

was 6.2 percent, substantially above the 4.7 percent 

average for the total of the industry’s class I railroads. Table 28 shows the occupations that comprise the group and employment changes since 

1957.

Among those occupations with the greatest rates 

of decline in employment were molders (ICC 62) 

who have all but disappeared from the industry. 

They accounted for 39 workers in 1967, and it is 

likely that this occupation will vanish by 1975 as 

workers die or retire.

Employment in two other occupations in the 

group also declined rapidly. Skilled trades helpers 

(ICC 64) and helper apprentices (ICC 65) totaled 

9,967 in 1967, down from 38,025 in 1957. This decline of 74 percent is closely associated with decreased unit maintenance man-hours for new locomotive series. As an example of the sharp drop in 

man-hour requirements, table 29 sets forth requirements for locomotives introduced at different times, 

representing first- and second-generation diesels and 

improvements in each stage of development. It can 

be seen from the table that unit man-hour requirements for maintenance of second-generation diesels

28 See R a ilr o a d S h o p c r a ft F a c tfin d in g S tu d y , U.S. Department of Labor, 1968, for a detailed analysis of year-to-year

trends in these occupations.

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48 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Table 27. Employment by innovation group, 1957, 1967, and outlook for 1975

Innovation grouping Number of

occupations

affected

Number

Employment

Average annual

percent change

1957 1967

Estimated

1975 1957-67 1967-75

T o tal.................................................................................................................... 128 986,001 610,191 538,900 - 1 . 9 - 1 . 6

Redieselization.............................................................................................................. 16 147,941 78,033 66,000 - 6 . 2 - 2 . 1

Improved cars............................................................................................................... 10 110,845 66,428 51,000 - 5 . 0 - 3 . 3

Facility relocation and improvements................................................................... 5 16,543 6,757 3,900 - 8 . 6 - 6 . 6

Unit trains and piggyback 1...................................................................................... 9

Automatic classification yards................................................................................. 10 127,233 90,173 85,000 - 3 . 4 - 0 . 7

Computers...................................................................................................................... 8 137,804 95,713 93,000 - 3 . 6 - 0 . 4

Centralized traffic control.......................................................................................... 10 48,880 29,257 26,000 - 5 . 0 - 1 . 5

Detectors, microwave, and automatic car identification................................. 5 21,924 13,764 10,000 - 4 . 6 - 3 . 9

Maintenance of w ay.................................................................................................... 17 151,453 76,546 72,000 - 6 . 6 - 0 . 8

Passenger service changes and improvements.................................................. 15 60,964 30,385 17,700 - 6 . 7 - 6 . 5

All other.......................................................................................................................... 32 162,414 123,135 116,000 - 2 . 7 - .7

1 Occupational categories whose employment was affected by the introduction of this

innovation, are included in the above three changes because they had a greater impact

on employment.

are less than 40 percent of those for diesels of the 

first series.

In 1975, manpower requirements in these 16 categories of jobs affected will be substantially lower 

due to expected diffusion of second generation diesels. Man-hour requirements for diesel maintenance 

in these 16 occupations will be reduced, although 

workers in these occupations will also be required to 

work on other equipment, both rolling stock and 

stationary. It is estimated that employment in the 16 

occupations will be reduced by about 12,000 jobs, 

and will total 66,000 in 1975.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

Improved cars

In 1967, there were 66,428 employees working in 

10 occupations that had been significantly affected 

by changes in the design and construction of new 

railroad cars. In addition, the almost complete disappearance of less-than-carload freight traffic also 

accounted for employment declines in most of these 

occupations. The 1967 employment in these occupations is 40 percent below the 1957 level. The average annual decline in employment for the group was

5.0 percent, slightly above the 4.7 percent average

Table 28.' Employment and occupational changes related to redieselization, 1957-67

Employment

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957 1967 Average annual

percen change,

1957-67

Number Percent Number Percent

T o tal............................................................................................................................................ 147,941 100.0 78,033 100.0 - 6 .2

General, assistant general, and department foremen (5 0 ).................................................... 7,762 5 .2 6,231 8.0 - 2 .2

General and assistant general foremen (stores) (5 1 ).............................................................. 295 .2 207 .3 - 3 .5

Equipment, shop, electrical, material and supplies inspectors (5 2 )................................... 1,388 .9 804 1.0 - 5.3

Gang foremen and gang leaders (skilled labor) (5 3 ).............................................................. 7,389 5.0 5,454 7.0 - 3 .0

Blacksmiths (5 4 ).................................................................................................................................. 2,963 2 .0 1,539 2 .0 - 6 .4

Boilermakers (5 5 )..................................................... 3,558 2.4 1,681 2.2 - 7 .2

Electrical workers (A) (5 8 ).............................................................................................................. 15,199 10.3 10,983 14.1 - 3.2

Machinists (6 1 )...................................................................................... .................... 29,977 20.3 18,612 23.9 - 4 .7

Molders (6 2 )..................................................................................................................................... 163 .1 39 .1 - 1 3 . 3

Sheet-metal workers (6 3 ).................... 8,854 6.0 5,800 7.4 - 4.1

Skilled trades helpers (M . of E. and stores) (6 4 ).................................................................... 37,002 25.0 9,752 12.5 - 1 2 . 5

Helper apprentices (M. of E. and stores) (6 5 )........................................................................... 1,023 .7 215 .3 - 1 4 . 5

Regular apprentices (M. of E. and stores) (6 6 )........................................................................ 6,090 4.1 3,553 4 .6 - 5.2

Gang foremen (shops, enginehouses, and power plants) (6 8 )............................................. 646 .4 329 .4 - 6 .5

Classified laborers (shops, enginehouses, and power plants) (7 0 )..................................... 11,302 7.6 5,490 7 .0 - 7 .0

General laborers (shops, enginehouses, and power plants) (7 1 )........................................ 14,330 9.7 7,344 9 .4 - 6 .5

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

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EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 49

Table 29. Estimated maintenance man-hours for selected

diesel locomotive series1

First generation Second generation

Work performed

Series 1

introduced

1941

Series 2

introduced

1947

Series 3

introduced

1961

Series 4

introduced

1965

Total........................................ 1,541 1,301 548 499

ICC Inspection man-hours

(an nual).......................................... 270 270 270 270

Scheduled Maintenance

(an nual).......................................... 1,271 1,031 278 299

Total Maintenance & ICC Inspection Man-hours for

4-year cycle................................... 7,283 6,154 2,619 2,286

Average annual unit man-hours.. 1,820 1,538 655 572

1 Excludes truck maintenance man-hours which amount to about 1!4 man-hours per

1,000 unit miles. In 1966, the average daily mileage for freight locomotive units was 232,

according to the Association of American Railroads.

SOURCE: General Motors Electromotive Division.

for all occupations in the industry’s class I railroads. 

Table 30 shows the 10 occupations that comprise 

the group and employment changes in them since 

1957.

Among those occupations with the greatest rates 

of decline were truckers (ICC 92) and callers, loaders, scalers, sealers, and perishable-freight inspectors 

(ICC 91). Employment in these two occupations 

was substantially affected by changes in the design of 

railroad cars that permitted the use of more mechanized loading equipment. In 1957, workers in these 

occupations accounted for about 20 percent of the 

employment associated with the loading of freight 

cars; by 1967, the proportion had declined to less 

than 10 percent. Carmen (ICC 56 and 57), who

are responsible for the maintenance of freight and 

passenger cars, have also been reduced in numbers, 

but their average rate of decline has been less rapid 

than for the industry as a whole. Their employment 

has been affected by the increasing use of large size 

freight cars. Also, modern freight cars are constructed of lighter weight, more durable materials 

and use improved bearings— factors that contribute 

to reduced car maintenance requirements.

In 1975, overall employment in this group of occupations will be about one-fourth lower than in 

1967 and may total 51,000 workers. This conclusion assumes a continuation of recent trends in employment among carmen, truckers and callers, loaders, scalers, sealers, and perishable-freight inspectors 

who, together, accounted for 84 percent of the 

employment in this group of occupations in 1967.

Shop facilities: relocation and improvements

In 1967, there were 6,757 employees working in 

five occupations that had been significantly affected 

by facility relocation and improvements; in 1957, 

employment in these occupations had totaled 16,543 

workers. The average annual decline in employment 

for the group was 8.6 percent, substantially higher 

than the class I railroad industry average rate of 4.7 

percent. Table 31 shows the occupations that comprise the group and employment changes since 1957.

This innovation grouping includes technological 

changes that have had a very significant impact on 

employment. It excludes automatic classification 

yards, but covers improvements within maintenance

Table 30. Employment and occupational changes related to improved cars, 1957-67

Employment

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957 1967 Average annual

percent change,

Number Percent Number Percent

1957-67

T o ta l........................................................................................................................................... 110,845 100.0 66,428 100.0 - 5 .0

Motor vehicle and motor car operators (2 4 )............................................................................... 6,453 5.8 5,745 8.6 - 1.2

Carmen (A and B) (5 6 )..................................................................................................................... 16,434 14.8 12,436 18.7 - 2.7

Carmen (C and D) (5 7 )...................................................................................................................... 56,107 50.6 37,142 55.9 - 4 .0

General foremen (freight stations, warehouses, grain elevators and docks) (8 8 ).........

Assistant general foremen (freight stations, warehouses, grain elevators, and

362 .3 187 .3 - 6 .4

docks) (8 9 )......................................................................................................................................... 194 .2 89 .1 - 7.5

Gang foremen (freight stations, warehouse, grain elevators and dock labor) (9 0 )___ 2,647 2.4 1,208 1.8 - 7 .6

Callers, loaders, scalers, sealers, and perishable-freight inspectors (9 1 )........................ 12,099 10.9 3,675 5.5 - 1 1 . 3

Truckers (stations, warehouses, and platforms) (9 2 )............................................................. 10,425 9 .4 2,499 3 .8 - 1 3 . 3

Laborers (coal and ore docks and grain elevators) (9 3 )........................................................ 1,620 1.5 760 1.1 - 7.3

Common laborers (stations, warehouses, platforms, and grain elevators) (9 4 )............. 4,504 4.1 2,687 4 .0 - 5.0

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

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50 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

Table 31. Employment and occupational changes related to facility relocation and improvements, 1957-67

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957

Employment

1967 Average annual

percent change

1957-67

Number Percent Number Percent

T o tal.................................................................................................................................................................... 16,543 100.0 6,757 100.0 - 8 . 6

Electrical workers (B) (5 9 )....................................................................................................................................... 1,998 12.1 1,221 18.1 - 4 . 8

Electrical workers (C) (6 0 )....................................................................................................................................... 397 2.4 200 3 .0 - 6 . 6

General laborers (stores and ice reclamation, and timber-treating plants) (7 2 )................................... 11,202 67.7 4,211 62.3 - 9 . 3

Stationary engineers (steam) (7 3 )......................................................................................................................... 1,383 8.4 646 9 .6 - 7 . 3

Stationary firemen, oilers, coal passers, and water tenders (7 4 )................................................................ 1,563 9 .4 479 7.1 - 1 1 . 2

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

facilities and in adjacent service operations. Employment in each of the occupations affected by facility 

relocation and improvements declined more rapidly 

than the industry average. Two affected occupations 

— general laborer (ICC 72) and stationary firemen 

(ICC 7 4 )— were among those that led the industry 

in terms of average annual rates of decline in employment.

First in importance in reducing labor requirements has been consolidation of maintenance facilities stemming largely from the widespread industry 

adoption of the diesel engine. The development of 

more efficient boilers and controls has also had an 

adverse impact on the employment levels of stationary engineers and their helpers. Other technological 

improvements have affected employment of laborers: wheel maintenance is now performed by sophisticated machines; large vacuum units are being used 

to clean car interiors; and mechanized washing facilities are available for the exterior cleaning of cars 

and locomotives.

Altogether, employment in these five occupations 

in 1967 was 59 percent below the number employed 

in 1957. Although facility consolidation is an industry practice which has already become widespread, 

continuing declines in employment among laborers 

is anticipated but at a lower average annual rate 

than that of the period, 1957 to 1967. By 1975, it 

is likely that overall employment in this group of 

occupations will decline further to 3,900 workers, 

largely because of employment trends in the general 

laborer category (ICC 72).

Unit trains and piggyback traffic

Altogether, employment in 9 ICC occupational 

categories has been affected by the development of 

unit trains and piggyback traffic; in 8 of these occupational categories (motor vehicle and motor car 

operators, ICC 24, is the exception), the adoption of 

these innovations has led to greater-than-average declines in employment between 1957 and 1967. Following is a list of these occupational categories, each 

of which has already been discussed under the appropriate technological development that has had 

the greatest impact on its employment.

ICC Line Occupational Category

24 Motor vehicle and motor car operators

60 Electrical workers (C)

8 8 General foremen (freight stations, warehouses,

grain elevators, and docks)

89 Assistant general foremen (freight stations, warehouses, grain elevators, and docks)

90 Gang foremen (freight station, warehouses, grain

elevators, and dock labor)

91 Callers, loaders, scalers, sealers, and perishable

freight inspectors

92 Truckers (stations, warehouses, and platforms)

93 Laborers (coal and ore docks and grain elevators)

94 Common laborers (stations, warehouses, platforms, and grain elevators)

In both unit and piggyback trains, manpower savings have resulted from the reduction in loading, unloading, and switching operations. Unit trains bypass 

switchyards completey and piggyback trains are unloaded by simply driving the trailers away from the 

switchyards. Some low-skilled railroad jobs associated with loading, unloading, and switching operations have been diverted to other industries as a result of these innovations. However, new jobs have 

also been created in the railroad industry. These job 

titles include those of the director of piggyback pricing or marketing, his assistants, and his related clerical staff. All of these new jobs are included among 

professional and clerical (white collar) occupations 

while the occupations that have declined in employment have been blue-collar ones.

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EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 51

Yardworker directs the loading of a piggyback trailer onto

a waiting flatcar.

Automatic classification yards

In 1967, there were 90,173 railroad employees 

working in 10 occupational categories (about 14 

percent of all class I railroad workers) that had 

been significantly affected by the establishment of 

automatic classification yards. This employment represents a total drop of 29 percent since 1957, when 

this innovation was still relatively new. The average 

annual decline in employment for the group of occupations was 3.4 percent, significantly less than the

4.7 percent average for the industry’s class I railroads. Table 32 shows the occupations that comprise the group and employment changes since 

1957.

Among those occupations with the greatest rates 

of decline in employment were yard firemen and

helpers (ICC 128) and switchtenders (ICC 107). 

Employment for yard firemen and helpers also declined because of dieselization and the subsequent 

compulsory arbitration award called for by the Presidential Railroad Commission established in 1963. 

Both switchtenders and yard firemen and helpers 

were among the 21 occupational categories in the 

industry (out of 128) that declined the most between 1957 and 1967.

New technology associated with the establishment 

of automatic classification yards has changed the job 

content in several occupations. Yardmasters and 

their assistants (ICC 105 and 106), for example, now 

rely heavily on computers for accurate information 

about the location and scheduling of cars—when they 

are due, where each is bound, and which are being 

switched. Data available to the yardmaster through 

computer printouts allow him to supervise the movement of scheduled inbound and outbound traffic. 

Also, the yardmaster relies on the use of radio transmission to provide current information to yard personnel. In automatic classification yards, switches are 

no longer thrown manually by switch tenders; instead, retarder and remote control switch operators, 

located in towers overlooking freight yard operations, 

switch cars by flicking switches located on a console. The duties of the yard brakemen (ICC 120) 

have also been modified somewhat. In some yards, 

they still manually uncouple cars and signal to the 

switchtender when track switches must be thrown; 

in others, regulation of car speed has been taken 

over by computers which control mechanical retarders. Also, the brakeman uses radio to communicate with the yard conductor from whom he receives 

his instructions.

The 1975 employment outlook for workers in this

Table 32. Employment and occupational changes related to use of automatic classification yards, 1957-67

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957

Employment

1967 Average annual

percent change

1957-67

Number Percent Number Percent

T o tal.................................................................................................................................................................. 127,233 1 0 0 .0 90,173 1 0 0 .0 - 3 . 4

Yardmasters (1 0 5 )..................................................................................................................................................... 5,129 4 .0 4,803 5 .3 - . 7

Assistant yardmasters (1 0 6 ).................................................................................................................................. 1,213 1.0 688 .8 - 5 . 5

Switchtenders (1 0 7 ).................................................................................................................................................. 2,655 2 .1 950 1.1 - 9 . 7

Outside hostlers (1 0 8 )............................................................................................................................................. 1,767 1.4 1,352 1.5 - 2 . 6

Inside hostlers (1 0 9 )................................................................................................................................................ 2,319 1 .8 1,272 1.4 - 5 . 8

Outside hostlers helpers (1 1 0 ).............................................................................................................................. 1,116 .9 763 .8 - 3 . 8

Yard conductors and yard foremen (1 1 9 ).......................................................................................................... 21,411 16.8 18,729 2 0 .8 - 1 . 3

Yard brakemen and yard helpers (1 2 0 )............................................................................................................. 53,293 41.9 38,590 42.8 - 3 . 2

Yard engineers and motormen (1 2 4 ).................................................................................................................. 18,170 14.3 15,579 17.3 - 1 . 6

Yard firemen and helpers (1 2 8 )........................................................................................................................... 20,160 15.8 7,447 8.3 - 9 . 5

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

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52 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

group of occupations related to automatic classification yards is one of relative stability. Current employment (1967) is likely to diminish only slightly 

by 1975, accounting for about 85,000 workers in 

this group of occupations. This slight change in 

overall employment is related to the diffusion of 

small automatic classification yards and the construction of a few more large ones.

Computers

In 1967 there were 95,713 employees working in 

8 occupations that had been significantly affected by 

computers. This employment represents a drop of 

31 percent since 1957. The average annual decline 

in employment for the group of occupations between 1957 and 1967 was 3.6 percent, compared to 

a 4.7 percent decline in all class I railroad employment during the same period. Table 33 shows the 

occupations that comprise the group and employment changes since 1957.

Among the occupations with the greatest rates of 

decline in employment were clerks (ICC 7), the telephone switchboard operators and office assistants 

(ICC 14), and messenger and office boys (ICC 

15). Employment in the last two occupations declined at a much greater average annual rate than 

overall employment of occupations related to the 

utilization of computers. In fact, their numbers have 

been so depleted that the further introduction of 

new telephone switching techniques and greater use 

of computer terminals for information dissemination 

is not likely to have much effect on employment levels in these occupations. However, the major groups 

of clerks (ICC 6 and 7) may be reduced somewhat 

further as additional computer systems are modified 

to permit direct shipper and consignee access to car

location files, rather than relying on clerks to query 

the system for these users.

The introduction of computers in the railroad industry provides a good example of the employment 

and occupational changes associated with technological change. In this industry, as in others, the impact 

of the growing use of computer technology has been 

to reduce employment most heavily in occupations 

requiring lower levels of skill and in jobs that are 

repetitive. At the same time, higher level jobs have 

been growing in importance, increasing their relative 

share of overall employment. For example, in the 

railroad industry, employment among professional 

and subprofessional assistants (ICC 3), chief clerks 

(ICC 4 and ICC 5) and clerks and clerical specialists (ICC 6) declined at a rate substantially below 

the average for class I railroad employment between 

1957 and 1967. At the same time, employment in 

these occupational categories increased as a proportion of all workers employed in occupations associated with introduction of computers.

The introduction of computers has also meant the 

introduction of job titles previously unheard of in 

the industry.29 These new job titles are shown in 

table 34.

In 1975, employment in this group of occupations 

may total 93,000, only slightly below the 1967 level 

shown on table 33. This estimate takes into consideration the increasing requirement for high-level 

white-collar workers (noted above) and is based

29 These job titles were reported to the Interstate Commerce Commission under its 128 line reporting system.

Since these are new job titles, they were subsumed into the

existing classification. The greatest number of new job titles

were reported in categories 1-8 (mainly in occupations related to computers) while the remainder were distributed

among the other occupational categories.

Table 33. Employment and occupational changes related to use of computers, 1957-67

Employment

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957 1967 Average annual

percent change

Number Percent Number Percent

1957-67

T o ta l... . ............................................................................................... 137,804 1 0 0 .0 95,713 1 0 0.0 - 3 . 6

8,325

2,769

6 .0 7,373 7.7 - 1 . 2

2 .0 2,342 2 .4 - 1 . 7

11,416

11,265

8.3 9,407

9,132

9 .8 - 2 . 0

8 .2 9 .5 - 2 . 1

90.013 65.3 58,562 61.2 - 4 . 2

8,233 6 .0 6,026 6 .3 - 3 . 1

3,434

2,349

2 .5 1,775 1.9 - 6 . 4

Messengers and office boys (1 5 ).......................................................................................................................... 1.7 1,096 1 .1 - 7 . 3

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

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EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 53

Table 34. New railroad job titles associated with use of computers

ICC Line and occupational category New job titles reported

Division officers, assistants and staff assistants (ICC 2 )........................

Professional and subprofessional assistants (IC C )...................................

Supervisory or chief clerks (major departments) (ICC 4 ) .....................

Chief clerks (minor departments), assistant chief clerks and supervising cashiers (ICC 5).

Clerks and clerical specialists (A) (ICC 6 ) ..................................................

Clerks (B and C) (ICC 7 ) ....................................................................................

Mechanical Device Operator (Office) (ICC 8 ) .............................................

Supervisor of Computer Centers; Supervisor of Data Coordination; Transportation Analyst

Assistant Computer Engineer; Assistant Manager, Applied Reseirch; Assistant Quality Control Engineer;

Communication Valuation Engineer; Electronic Engineer.

Assistant Chief Cost Analyst; Assistant Cost Analyst; Auditor; Machine Accounting; Manager, Electronic

Data Processing Center; Supervisor, Methods and Cost Control Engineers Systems.

Chairman, EDPM Committee; Accounting Chief of Keypunch; Chief System Analyst; Tape Room Supervisor.

Automation Analyst; Cost and Methods Engineer; Junior Economist; Methods Analyst; System and Methods

Analyst.

Manifest Clerk IBM Operator; Tape Librarian.

IBM Clerk; Accounting Machine Operator; Alpha-Numeric Keypunch Operator; Assistant Computer Programer; Assistant IBM Operator; Clerk, Machine Operator; Lead Computer Programmer; Console Operator.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

upon employment and occupational trends found in 

a few railroad companies that have led the industry 

in computer applications.

Centralized traffic control

In 1967, there were 29,257 employees working in 

10 occupational categories that had been significantly 

affected by the installation of centralized traffic control. This employment represents a drop of 39 percent since 1957. The average annual decline in employment for the group between 1957 and 1967 was

5.0 percent, compared with a decline of 4.7 percent 

among all class I railroad workers. During this period, the number of miles of track under centralized 

traffic control increased from 32,000 in 1957, to

46.000 in 1967. Table 35 shows the 10 occupational categories included in the group and employment changes since 1957.

Among those occupations with the greatest rates 

of decline in employment were assistant signalmen 

and assistant signal maintainers (ICC 48), signalmen and signal maintainer helpers (ICC 49), 

clerk-telegraphers and clerk-telephoners (ICC 82), 

telegraphers, telephoners and towermen (ICC 83), 

crossing and bridge flagmen and gatemen (ICC 

103) and train dispatchers (ICC 76). On the other 

hand, in two occupational categories—general and 

assistant general foreman and inspectors (ICC 44) 

and gang ^foremen, signal and telegraph skilled 

trades labor (ICC 45)—employment declines were 

slight between 1957 and 1967.

Telegraphers and telephoners, in the past, had received train orders from dispatchers while towermen 

operated the controls for automatic and manual blocksignaling devices. With the adoption of CTC, many

towermen, telegraphers and telephoners were shifted 

from work locations along the line of track to work 

stations where, with the use of a console, several 

stretches of track could be controlled. The effect on 

employment in these occupations can be illustrated 

from the example of one railroad which installed 

approximately 150 miles of track regulated by CTC. 

This change eliminated the need for 6 towers along 

the right of way and the 24 signal operators (towermen) who were employed in these towers—one operator per tower for each of 3 shifts plus one relief 

man at each tower.30

Signalmen and signal maintainers are skilled 

workers who can readily find employment in other 

industries. Employment in this occupational category declined relatively more slowly than overall industry employment. Competition from other industries for men with these skills has been a factor in 

the decline of employment. Attrition of this occupational category also accounts for the recent upturn 

in employment in the related helper and apprentice 

categories (ICC 48, 49) which had a substantial net 

decline between 1957 and 1967.

Clerk-telegraphers and telephoners (ICC 82) 

convey train orders received from dispatchers to 

various destinations along the right-of-way. With the 

adoption of CTC, this activity is becoming less common, reducing the need for some clerk-telegraphers 

and telephoners who have been transferred to other 

clerical duties such as car distribution. In addition, 

the transmission of messages using Morse Code has 

been virtually superseded by voice and facsimile

30 R a ilw a y A g e , June 19, 1961. Also, Interview, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, May 25, 1966.

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54 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Table 35. Employment and occupational changes related to centralized traffic control, 1957-67

Employment

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957 1967 Average annual

percent change

1957-67

Number Percent Number Percent

T o ta l.................................................................................................................................................................. 48,880 1 0 0 .0 29,257 1 0 0 .0 - 5 . 0

General and assistant general foremen, and inspectors (signal, telegraph, and electrical transmission) (4 4 ).......................................................................................................................................................... 1,585 3 .2 1,520 5.2 - . 4

Gang foremen (signal and telegraph skilled trades labor) (4 5 )................................................................. 1,684 3 .5 1,479 5.1 - 1 . 3

Signalmen and signal maintainers (4 6 ).............................................................................................................. 8,664 17.7 6,786 23.2 - 2 . 4

Assistant signalmen and assistant signal maintainers (4 8 )........................................................................

Signalman and signal maintainer helpers (4 9 )................................................................................................

2,254 4 .6 1,166 4.0 - 6 . 4

2,291 4.7 833 2 .8 - 9 . 6

Chief train dispatchers (7 5 )................................................................................................................................... 1,086 2 .2 894 3.1 - 2 . 0

Train dispatchers (7 6 ).............................................................................................................................................. 2,949 6 .0 2,219 7.6 - 2 . 8

Clerk-telegraphers and clerk-telephoners (8 2 )............................................................................................... 8,123 16.6 4,440 15.2 - 5 . 8

Telegraphers, telephoners, and towermen (8 3 ).............................................................................................. 13,261 27.1 8,114 27.7 - 4 . 8

Crossing and bridge flagmen and gatemen (1 0 3 )........................................................................................... 6,983 14.3 1,806 6 .2 - 1 2 . 7

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

transmission—a factor which has contributed greatly 

to the above-average rate of decline in this occupational category.

Employment among crossing and bridge flagmen 

and gatemen (ICC 103)—an unskilled occupation 

—has declined rapidly as a result of the installation 

of automatically actuated signals. Train dispatchers 

(ICC 75, 76) have had an employment decline substantially less than that of total employment in the 

industry. They now have charge of CTC consoles or 

may operate them and have wide responsibility for 

safe train movement.

By 1975, total employment in the 10 occupations 

associated with the installation of centralized traffic 

control may decline to 26,000 at a rate considerably 

slower than between 1957 and 1967. The occupational composition may also change: crossing and 

bridge flagmen and gatemen may disappear and employment levels may continue to drop among telegraphers, telephoners, and towermen; clerk-telegraphers and telephoners; and among train dispatchers.

In the case of train dispatchers, moreover, some of 

the reduction in employment may result from CTC’s 

becoming more widely used on a regional basis. An 

upturn in employment is likely among both assistant 

signalmen and assistant signal maintainers and also 

signalmen and signal maintainer helpers because of 

the growing need to train skilled signalmen and signal maintainers who are in short supply.

Detectors, microwave and automatic

car identification

In 1967, there were 13,764 employees working in 

five occupations that had been significantly affected 

by the introduction of such innovations as detectors, 

microwave, and automatic car identification. This 

employment represents a drop of 27 percent since 

1957. Between 1957—when the Federal Communications Commission first assigned frequencies to the 

railroads—and 1966, microwave grew to more than

22,000 route miles. The average annual decline in

Table 36. Employment and occupational changes related to detectors, microwave, and automatic car identification, 1957-67

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957

Employment

1967 Average annual

percent change

1957-67

Number Percent Number Percent

T o tal.................................................................................................................................................................... 21,924 1 0 0 .0 13,764 1 0 0 .0 - 4 . 6

Traveling auditors or accountants (1 3 )................................................................................................................. 1,183 5 .4 811 5 .9 - 3 . 7

Linemen and groundmen (4 7 )................................................................................................................................. 2,835 12.9 2,132 15.5 - 2 . 8

Station agents (smaller stations— nontelegraphers) (7 9 )............................................................................... 4,119 18.8 2,216 16.1 - 6 . 0

Station agents (telegraphers and telephoners) (8 0 )........................................................................................ 12,660 57.7 7,553 54.9 - 5 . 0

Chief telegraphers and telephoners or wire chiefs (8 1 )................................................................................. 1,127 5.1 1,052 7 .6 - . 7

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

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EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 55

employment for the group of occupations between 

1957 and 1967 was 4.6 percent, about equal to the 

decline of 4.7 percent in total class I railroad employment during the same period. Table 36 shows 

the occupations that comprise the group and employment changes since 1957.

Station agents (telegraphers and telephoners— 

ICC 80) and station agents (smaller stations—nontelegraphers—ICC 79) relay train orders and 

messages and may have other duties such as ticket 

sales, passenger information, and baggage checking, 

depending upon the size of the station. The installation of microwave has been a major reason for 

above-average employment declines among station 

agents. The increasing use of detectors for determining the condition of journals or roller bearings and 

to check for equipment that may be dragging or for 

a broken wheel, smoke, high water, and for many 

other purposes, has also cut down on the employment of station agents, who formerly visually 

checked the train for these conditions. The growth 

of centralized traffic control systems, the decrease in 

passenger service, the centralizing of freight station 

accounting and the loss of less-than-carload traffic, 

are among the additional factors that have contributed to the decline in employment in these occupations.

The adoption of microwave-based communication 

systems has also contributed to the decline in employment among linemen and groundmen (ICC 47) 

largely because of reduced line maintenance and 

need for fewer telegraph poles. The growing use of 

microwave has had little impact on the employment 

of chief telegraphers and telephoners or wire chiefs 

(ICC 81); some workers in this occupational category have, in fact, found the scope of their work activities broadened to include a new job title—supervisor, communications center.

Employment of traveling auditors or accountants 

(ICC 13) has been adversely affected by the adoption of microwave which has furnished the capacity 

to centralize recordkeeping. Clerks have also suffered employment declines because of microwave’s 

increased carrying capacity; however, the major impact on their employment has resulted from the 

widespread adoption of computers.

In 1975, employment in these five occupations 

may total about 10,000, down 27 percent from 

1967 levels. Should this decline take place, the 

downward trend in employment will probably be reflected mainly among linemen and groundmen and 

among station agents as microwave becomes more 

widely established. The installation of detector devices is not likely to have a major impact on the 

employment of workers who read such devices routinely as a part of their regular duties. Some recorders, for example, are tied in directly with centralized traffic control, while hotbox detectors that are 

located at trackside are the responsibility of signal 

maintainers and their helpers. In addition, automatic 

car identification, as it becomes more operational in 

the industry, will mainly affect employment levels of 

clerks and office personnel while employment of 

traveling auditors or accountants is likely to remain 

relatively stable.

Signalman checking out signal strength of a microwave

station.

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56 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Maintenance of way innovations

In 1967, there were 76,546 employees working in 

17 occupations that had been significantly affected 

by improvements and innovations in maintenance of 

way activities. Current employment represents a 

drop of 49 percent from 1957. The average annual 

decline in employment for the group between 1957 

and 1967 was 6.6 percent, compared with a 4.7 

percent decline among class I railroad employees. 

Table 37 shows the. 17 occupational categories included in the group and employment changes since 

1957.

Ten of the occupations associated with maintenance of way changes declined at a faster average 

annual rate than did class I railroad employment. 

Moreover, four of these 10 occupations were among 

the 20 railroad occupations that declined the most 

between 1957 and 1967. Altogether, six of the occupational categories with above average employment declines had large concentrations of workers: 

section men (ICC 4 2 ); gang or section foremen 

(ICC 40 ); extra gang men (ICC 41); bridge and 

building carpenters (ICC 30); bridge and building 

gang foremen, skilled labor (ICC 29); and maintenance of way and structures helpers and apprentices 

(ICC 34). As the occupational titles show, both 

skilled and unskilled workers were included among 

the declining occupational categories. In the case of 

skilled workers, the declines have slowed down since 

1964 while in the case of unskilled workers, employment declines have continued, although at a 

slower rate than in the late 1950’s.

Between 1957 and 1967, employment increases 

occurred among workers in three occupational categories related to maintenance of way work: portable 

equipment operators (ICC 35) because of the shift 

from pick and shovel work to the use of pneumatic 

handtools and multipurpose machines; gang foremen 

(extra gang and work train laborers, ICC 38) because of the growing reliance upon supervision as 

more complex equipment is used to satisfy grade, 

curvature and ballast specifications; and gang foremen (bridge and building, signal and telegraph laborers, ICC 39) who are relatively few in number.

The relatively stable occupations associated with 

maintenance of way work in the 1957-67 period 

were roadmasters, general foremen, and assistants 

(ICC 27); masons, bricklayers, plasterers and plumbers (ICC 33); and maintenance of way and scale 

inspectors (ICC 28).

Total employment in maintenance-of-way activities is difficult to estimate. Much of this kind of 

work is performed by workers in low skilled occupations whose employment tends to fluctuate with 

increases and decreases in maintenance of way expenditures, as does employment of the skilled workers they assist. According to one expert, estimates of 

maintenance requirements of rail installations assume an “average service life for rail of over 100 

years” 31 even though many railroad officials believe track life is much shorter. In 1968, record expenditures of over $400 million were earmarked for

31 See, “Derailment Problems Tackled by Railroads,” by

Vera Herschberg, J o u rn a l o f C o m m e r c e , Mar. 12, 1969.

Table 37. Employment and occupational changes related to maintenance of way innovations, 1957-67

Employment

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957 1967 Average annual 

percent change

Number Percent Number Percent

1957-67

Total .. ........................................................................................................... 151,453 100.0 76,546 100.0 - 6 .6

3,374

993

2.2 3,206

817

4.2 - . 5

.7 1.1 - 2 .0

3.547 2.3 2.278 3.0 - 4 .3

10,464

785

6.9 5,214

404

6.8 - 6 .7

.5 .5 - 6 .5

1,858

2,788

5,627

6,897

581

1.2 639 .8 -1 0 .2

1.8 2,726

2,444

8,891

322

3.6 - . 2

3.7 3.2 - 8 .0

4.6 11.6 + 2 .6

.4 .4 - 5 .7

258 .2 74 .1 -1 1 .7

2,881

128

1.9 3,309

149

4.3 + 1 .4

Gang foremen (bridge”and building, signal and telegraph laborers) (39)........................................ .1 .2 + 1 .5

Gang or section fore~men (40)___~.......................... 7........................................................................... 16,949

23,087

11.2 7,486 9.8 - 7 .8

Extra gang men (41)................................................................................................................................ 15.2 13,622 17.8 - 5 .1

Section men (42) ................................................................................................................... ................ 69,264

1,972

45.7 24,227 31.7 -1 0 .0

1.3 738 1.0 - 9 .3

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

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EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 57

annual decline in employment for the group of occupations between 1957 and 1967 was 6.7 percent, 

compared with a decline of 4.7 percent among all 

class I railroad workers. Table 38 shows the 15 occupational categories included in the group and employment changes since 1957.

Eleven of the occupations associated with changes 

and improvements in passenger service declined at a 

faster average annual rate than did class I railroad 

employment, as a whole. One of these occupations 

— parlor and sleeping car conductor (ICC 100)— 

disappeared altogether.

Overall employment in this group of occupations 

is likely to continue to decline rapidly, and may 

reach 17,700 by 1975. Developments such as the 

introduction of the Penn-Central Metroliner and 

other high-speed trains that operate in corridors are 

not likely to contribute greatly to employment of 

workers whose jobs are related to passenger traffic. 

These high-speed trains carry traffic that is much 

less labor-intensive than the regular passenger train 

traffic they offset. Over the long run, should the 

Metro concept be extended to other corridors and 

account for the bulk of passenger traffic and should 

the operation of intercity passenger trains by Amtrak be successful, employment levels may stabilize 

or even rise among some workers. These include 

coach cleaners (ICC 67); road passenger engineers 

and motormen (ICC 121); road passenger brakemen and flagmen (ICC 116); train attendants (ICC 

101); road passenger conductors (ICC 111); assistant road passenger conductors and ticket collectors 

(ICC 112).

Table 38. Employment and occupational changes related to passenger service, 1957-67

Employment

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957 1967 Average annual 

percent change

Number Percent Number Percent

1957-67

60,964 100.0 30,385 100.0 - 6 .7

Coach cleaners (67)...................................................................................................................................... 8,093

95

13.3 3,464

72

11.4 - 8 .2

.2 .2 - 2 .7

Baggage agents and assistants (86).......................................................................................................... 364 .6 151 .5 - 8 .4

Baggage, parcel room, and station attendants (87)................................................................................. 8,208

1,203

3,060

7,028

6

13.5 4,425

507

14.6 - 6 .0

Stewards, restaurant & lodging-house managers, & dining-car supervisors (95).............................. 2.0 1.7 - 8 .3

Chefs and cooks (restaurants or dining cars)” (96).......... ............... ....................................................... 5.0 1,232

2,995

0

4.1 - 8 .7

Waiters, camp cooks, kitchen helpers,” etc. (97)...................................................................................... 11.5 9.9 - 8 .2

Parlor and sleeping car conductor (100)................................................................................................... .0 .0

Train attendants (fO l)....................................................... ...................................................................... 3,403

5,341

2,851

2,798

6,269

6,434

5,811

5.6 2,111

2,926

1,975

1,183

2,963

3,489

2,892

6.9 - 4 .7

8.8 9.6 - 5 .8

Assistant road passenger conductors and ticket collectors (112).......................................................... 4.7 6.5 - 3 .6

Road passenger baggagemen (11 5 )... ......................................................................................... 4.6 3.9 - 8 .3

Road passenger brakeinen and flagmen (116) ..................................................................................... 10.1 9.8 - 7 .2

Road passenger and engineers and motormen (121).............................................................................. 10.6 11.5 - 5 .9

Road passenger firemen” and helpers (125).............................................................................................. 9.5 9.5 - 6 .7

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

Men are still an important element in maintenance of way1

activities despite introduction of mechanization.

maintenance of way requirements; this was heralded 

by many in the industry as evidence of a new 

awareness of the need to stop deferring such maintenance work. If current high levels of maintenance of 

way expenditures continue, employment in this 

group of occupations may drop only slightly to

72,000 by 1975 (about 6 percent below 1967 levels). Should this occur, there will be numerous opportunities for relatively unskilled workers and the 

skilled craftsmen they assist— particularly in view of 

the high average age and years of service in these 

categories.

Passenger service changes

In 1967, there were 30,385 employees working in 

15 occupations that had been significantly affected 

by changes and improvements in passenger service, 

a drop of about 50 percent since 1957. The average

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58 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

Other employment and occupational changes not

related to a specific innovation

Thirty-two additional occupational categories (out 

of the 128 classified for reporting purposes by the 

ICC) were also affected by technological or procedural changes. However, shifts in their employment 

could not be readily traced to a single innovation or 

to a combination of technological changes, as with 

all other occupations. Altogether, these 32 occupations accounted for 123,135 workers in 1967, compared with 162,414 in 1957. As a group, they declined at an average annual rate of 2.7 percent 

between 1957 and 1967, considerably slower than 

total class I railroad employment. (See table 39).

Employment in 11 of the 32 occupations 

amounted to 99,829 workers in 1967, compared to 

123,729 workers in 1957, a decline of 2.2 percent a 

year during the period 1957-67. Each of the 11 occupations accounted for at least 5,000 employees in 

1967 and as a group accounted for 81 percent of all 

workers in the residual group.

Employment of road freight firemen and helpers 

(ICC 126) declined at an average annual rate of 

7.2 percent between 1957 and 1967, sustaining the 

most rapid rate of decline of any of these 11 occupational categories. The main reason for this decline 

was the initial changeover from steam to diesel engines, which resulted in the elimination of the 

“firing” job of the fireman. Subsequently, the arbitration award of 1963 permitted the railroads to 

start cutting employment in this category. In view of 

the strong bid by unions to reinstate firemen since 

expiration of the award, it is impossible to project 

employment for this occupation.

Employment of stenographers and typists (ICC 

10) has declined at an average annual rate of 5.2 

percent during the 1957-67 period. In addition to 

their regular work, stenographers and typists also 

perform routine clerical work which has been taken 

over by computers or affected by changes in communications. This portion of their work is likely to 

be further diminished as more railroads develop 

total information systems.

Each of the occupational categories discussed 

below declined well below the average annual 

change in class I railroad employment between 1957 

and 1967. Also, employment in some of these occupations began to rise in the latter part of the period. 

These included road freight brakemen and flagmen, 

local and way freight (ICC 118); rail freight engineers and motormen, through freight (ICC 122); 

and road freight conductors, through freight (ICC 

113).

Employment of traffic and various other agents 

and investigators (ICC 19) declined at an average 

annual rate of 2.8 percent between 1957 and 1967. 

This decline is likely to continue to 1975 since 

many of these workers are performing tasks related 

to passenger traffic.

Employment of road freight brakemen and flagmen in local and way freight service (ICC 118) has 

declined at an average annual rate of 1.5 percent 

for the' 1957-67 period. Despite a slight upturn in 

employment starting in 1965, a decrease in employment by 1975 is likely to result from the growing 

use of newly developed automatic coupler devices 

which eliminate the need for manual air hose 

connections.

' Table 39. Employment and occupational changes, not related to specific innovations, 1957-67

Employment

Occupations

(ICC classification numbers) 1957 1967 Average annual 

percent change 

1957-67

Number Percent Number Percent

Total................................................................................................................................................ 162,414 100.0 123,135 100.0 t - 2 .7

Executives, general officers, and assistants (1 )................................................................................... 7,276

8,988

12,944

10,681

9,286

6,244

23,282

14,712

4.5 6,595

8,906

7,578

8,039

8,303

6,085

19,591

5.4 - 1 .0

Division officers, assistants, and staff assistants (2 )........................................................................... 5.5 7.2 - . 1

Stenographers and typists (10).............................................................................................................. 8.0 6.2 - 5 .2

Traffic and various other agents, inspectors, and investigators (19)................................................ 6.6 6.5 - 2 .8

Road freight conductors (through freight) (113)............7........... .................................................. 5.7 6.7 - 1 .1

Road freight conductors (local in d way freight) (114) ..................................................................... 3.8 4.9 - . 3

Road freight brakemen and flagmen (through freight) (117)............................................................ 14.3 15.9 - 1 .1

Road freight brakemen and flagmen (local Ind way freight) (118).................................................. 9.1 12(616

9,941

6,333

5,842

23,306

10.2 - 1 .5

Road freight engineers and motormen (through freight)~(122)....................................................... 11(456

6,478

12,382

38,685

7.1 8.1 - 1 .4

Road freight engineers and motormen (local and way freight) (123).............................................. 4.0 5.1 - . 2

Road freight firemen and helpers (through freight) (126)7............................................................... 7.6 4.7 - 7 .2

All other occupations (21 occupations) .7 .___7.........f............................................................... 23.8 18.9 - 4 .9

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission, BLS.

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EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE 59

Employment of road freight engineers and motormen, through freight (ICC 122), declined at an average annual rate of 1.4 percent between 1957 and 

1967. Although employment in the group is allied 

closely with freight traffic, which has been rising 

since 1960, this link will become less direct with the 

increasing use of more powerful locomotives to pull 

longer and heavier trains. Thus, despite increased 

freight traffic, employment in this occupational category in 1975 is expected to be about the same as 

today.

Road freight conductors’ employment on through 

freight trains (ICC 113) declined at an average annual rate of 1.1 percent between 1957 and 1967. As 

in the case of road freight engineers and motormen, 

through freight (ICC 122) noted above, employment in this occupational category is closely related 

to traffic. Like road freight engineers and motormen, 

their employment is likely to be much the same in 

1975 as now, despite increased traffic.

Employment of road freight brakemen and flagmen (ICC 117) declined at the same average annual rate as the conductors’— 1.1 percent— between 

1957 and 1967. Like that in the two occupations 

discussed above, employment of workers in this occupational category is also affected by length of 

trains and amount of traffic carried. Current disputes concerning the manning scale for freight make 

employment estimates difficult. However, should the 

United Transportation Union (U T U ), which represents many of these employees, continue to be successful in obtaining one conductor and two 

brakemen crews for most trains and should the expected rise in overall freight traffic materialize, a 

slight increase in the number of these employees by 

1975 may be in prospect.

Employment levels in the executive, general

officer, and assistant category (ICC 1) declined at 

an average annual rate of 1.0 {percent between 1957 

and 1967. Many new jobs related to changed technology or innovations in marketing have been reported in this category in recent years. These include assistant manager, property taxes; assistant 

manager, rail-highway sales; director of piggyback 

pricing; and director of computer systems. The diffusion and adoption of various new technologies and 

marketing methods points to a growing need for the 

higher level manpower represented in this occupational category. There appears to be every indication that the slight decline in employment noted in 

the 1957-67 period will be reversed by 1975.

In local and way freight service, employment of 

road freight conductors (ICC 114) and road freight 

engineers and motormen (ICC 123) declined at average annual rates of 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent 

respectively, during the 1957-67 period. Each category increased substantially as freight increased in 

the 1960’s and because of this factor, it is likely 

that their employment will increase still further in 

the 1970’s.

Employment of division officers, assistants, and 

staff assistants (ICC 2) declined during the 

1957-67 period, at an average annual rate of 0.1 

percent. The average annual rate of decline might 

have been higher, however, except for the fact that 

employment in this group benefited from the adoption of new technology.32 Since 1964, employment 

in this category has increased by almost 1,000 persons; in all likelihood, a steady growth in employment may be expected through 1975.

32 See the section dealing with employment effects of

computers which discusses new job titles created in this reporting category.

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Chapter VI. Adjustments to Technological Change,

Working Conditions and Earnings

Widespread technological change is responsible 

for changes in working conditions and industrial relations and has contributed to worker adjustment 

problems. This chapter examines these innovations 

from the viewpoint of their impact on working conditions and of employee adjustments to technological change, largely as expressed in collective bargaining agreements.

Collective bargaining and adjustments to

technological change

Although collective bargaining provisions specifically relating to technological change have become prominent in the 1960’s in the railroad industry, they follow the pattern of a contract— the 

“Agreement of May 1936, Washington, D.C.”— 

originally designed to protect employees of merged 

carriers.33 The nationwide pact, signed by most of 

the major U.S. railroads and all the standard railroad labor unions represented by the Railway Labor 

Executive Association, provided comprehensive protection against loss of job or earnings resulting from 

mergers and consolidations. It included provisions 

for advance notice of a merger; moving expenses 

and reimbursement for losses on home sales by relocated employees; an allowance which maintained the 

former wage rates of downgraded employees for 

several years; and, for separated workers, a severance allowance payable over a period of time or as 

a lump sum. The “Washington Agreement,” however, did not apply to displacement or job loss 

caused by technological changes, or to reorganization within one railroad; neither did subsequent ICC 

regulations. Therefore, as these types of situations 

arose and had a greater effect on railroad workers 

during the 1950’s and early 1960’s, the growing demand for job protection became the subject of 

collective bargaining negotiations. Subsequently, 

some principles and provisions of the “Washington 

Agreement” were applied as well, to meet problems 

stemming from technological change, being incorporated into a few nationwide union-management contracts. For example, a 1964 nationwide contract 

covering some 140,000 nonoperating, shopcraft employees, extended protections such as moving allowances, income maintenance provisions and severance 

pay.31 Also, in early 1965, a national contract embodying job guarantees, limitations on job 

subcontracts, and income protection devices was negotiated for about 255,000 nonoperating, nonshopcraft employees.35 In 1970, the first agreement with 

such provisions for operating employees was negotiated on a pilot basis between the United 

Transportation Union and the Illinois Central Railroad.

Nonoperating railroad employees, totaling about

360,000 people, are organized into about 25 separate unions. (See appendix V -l).30 A merger in 

early 1969 reduced the number of unions covering 

operating personnel— about 170,000 workers— from 

five to two: The United Transportation Union 

(UTU) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi33 See “Adjusting to Technology on the Railroads,”

M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , November 1969, pp. 36-42.

34 The Shopcraft Agreement of Sept. 25, 1964, signed by

the Eastern, Western, and Southeastern Carriers’ Conference Committee and the Railway Employees Department,

AFL-CIO.

35 The Nonshopcraft Agreement dated Feb. 7, 1965, between the National Railway Labor Conference and the

Eastern, Western, and Southeastern Carriers’ Conference

Committee and the following unions: Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and

Station Employees; Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way

Employees; Order of Railroad Telegraphers; Brotherhood

of Railroad Signalmen; Hotel and Restaurant Employees

and Bartenders International Union.

36 Some of these major unions are the Brotherhood of

Maintenance of Way Employee (BMWE), Brotherhood of

Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,

Express and Station Employees (BRASC), and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

(IAM ).

61

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6 2 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

neers (BLE, Independent).37 Declining railroad 

employment and the resulting decline in union membership has encouraged the smaller unions to merge 

to strengthen their bargaining power.

The existing adjustment techniques for technological change that apply to nonoperating employees 

include: Advance notice of change; various guarantees of job security, including crew size regulations 

and transfer and retraining rights and benefits; limitations on subcontracting and provisions for shorter 

work periods, income maintenance plans, and unemployment and retirement benefits. A discussion of 

each technique follows.

Adjustment techniques

Advance Notice. Usually, the carriers notify the 

union or unions affected at least 1 to 3 months in 

advance of a planned change which will eliminate 

positions. During this period, the parties may negotiate the individual conditions of each change in a 

separate ad hoc agreement. The definition of 

“change” is just beginning to extend beyond transfer 

and consolidation of seniority rosters to include any 

change in job function or in work methods. For example, when jobs are to be “abolished” the two nationwide nonoperating employee agreements mentioned earlier require advance notice. Notice must 

be given to the union 60 days in advance of a job 

abolition caused by technological, organizational, or 

other operational change, including “contractingout” of work. If the change requires some employees to relocate, 90 days’ notice must be provided. 

After the required notice is given, the parties negotiate an “implementing agreement” which deals with 

such specific adjustments as the realignment of seniority rosters, job content, or rates of pay. If a dispute develops over these implementing steps, the

37 In early 1969, the railway conductors and brakemen,

locomotive firemen and enginemen, trainmen, and switchmen merged their separate unions into a new organization,

the United Transportation Union (U T U ). Also by early

1969, the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks, a

nonoperating union, completed its merger with other nonoperating craft unions including railway patrolmen, telegraphers, and business machine technicians and other unions

covering similar occupations outside the railroad industry.

38 See U .S . E m e r g e n c y B o a r d , Steelton and Highspire

Railroad Company, 1944 (I. L. Sharfman, Chairman), U.S.

Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1945.

problem is referred to a special committee for adjustment.

Job Security. Guarantee of job security is becoming 

the pattern in railroad union agreements. Such provisions specify that no employee will be severed 

from the payroll except for disciplinary reasons. 

Some contracts, moreover, “stabilize” the work 

force in each craft by setting a maximum annual 

rate at which employment may decline. In both 

types of seniority clauses, employment levels are reduced only through attrition. This means that jobs 

are abolished only because of the workers’ death or 

retirement, or as workers quit or leave their jobs for 

other reasons. Where the carrier has agreed to “stabilize” the work force, it must hire new workers if 

losses through attrition exceed an agreed-upon number. Agreement with these provisions, however, 

often do not apply when layoffs are necessitated by 

declining business or when employees have less than 

a specified amount of service, or when employees 

are seasonal. Moreover, these contracts usually contain special provisions for temporary layoff during 

emergency weather conditions.

Some of the first agreements with employment 

stabilization provisions based on attrition were negotiated by the Order of Railroad Telegraphers and 

the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks 

in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, when the railroads initially began installing electronic data processing equipment and improved communications 

systems. Some other agreements having job guarantees written into them included two in 1965: the 

first, the national nonoperating, nonshopcraft employees’ contract covering 255,000 workers and the 

second, the agreement between the trainsmen and 

23 eastern carriers, covering 80,000 workers. In addition, the arbitration award in 1963, affecting 

about 33,400 firemen, which resolved the dispute 

over using firemen on freight diesels, provided various job guarantees. (Also, see the section on “Severance” provisions permitted by this award.) The 

problem of manning of locomotives has been one of 

national importance since the diesels were first introduced in 1934.38

Crew Size Regulation. Additional job security in the 

industry is provided when union contracts and state 

laws require each train to operate with a minimum 

size of crew or specify the crew’s occupational composition. As of early 1969, five States— Arkansas,

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, WORKING CONDITIONS AND EARNINGS 63

Indiana, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin— still had 

“crew consist” laws on the books compared to 14 

States in the early 1960’s. Over the years, as the 

trainmen were successful in negotiating agreements 

regulating crew size, they no longer opposed the repeal of State full crew laws. “Crew consist” laws or 

contract provisions may remain in effect for many 

years after an innovation has reduced labor requirements, or altered duties, skills, or occupational 

needs. An example of such a situation was the national “rule” (contract) negotiated in 1937, requiring the use of a fireman on all freight, yard, and 

passenger locomotives. On steam locomotives, which 

represented virtually all locomotives in operation 

that year, firemen stoked the furnaces and tended 

the boiler to produce power. This duty was eliminated, however, on diesel-electric locomotives, 

which by 1958 had nearly replaced all steam locomotives. It was only in 1963, after negotiations by 

the carriers and unions, that a study by a Presidential Commission and a Congressional investigation 

culminated in legislation calling for arbitration of 

the dispute 39 40. At that time, the existing rule was 

modified, permitting carriers to remove firemen’s positions on about 90 percent of all freight locomotives.

The manning of train crews continues to be a 

major industrial relations problem. For example, 

one recent dispute involved an attempt to restore 

trainmen helper jobs (also eliminated by the carriers 

as a result of the 1963 arbitration award). The efforts of the union to restore these jobs have been 

relatively successful but negotiations continue on 

this issue.'10

Transfer rights. In the past, transfers of workers 

among the various railroad craft unions have occurred relatively infrequently, mainly because the 

railroad work force is organized according to craft. 

Seniority rights are usually accrued on the basis of 

length of service in a particular craft as well as in a 

seniority or geographic district. Thus, a worker who 

transfers into another craft or geographic district

39 Public law 88-108, Aug. 28, 1963. See “The 1963

Railroad Arbitration Act,” M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , October

1963, Volume 86, No. 10, pp. 1187-1188.

40 The 1965 trainmen agreement with 23 eastern carriers

fixed future crews at one conductor and 2 brakemen (or

switchmen or helpers). By the fall of 1968, it was estimated that roughly two-thirds of the railroad industry was

operating under contracts requiring these 3-man crews.

may lose some or all of his seniority, depending 

upon the contract provisions.

All class I railroads and the labor unions with 

which they bargain have been encouraged by the 

Railroad Retirement Board to develop a job placement system; it operates like a clearinghouse and 

provides transfer opportunities for employees who 

are threatened with layoff from their present jobs. 

Placement may be made both in and out of the industry. When layoff is imminent, usually because of 

abandonment of facilities, unemployment claims 

agents employed by the railroads seek out roads that 

are hiring workers and attempt to arrange transfers. 

Frequently, these transfers are within the agent’s 

carrier system. Where the available jobs are semiskilled or unskilled, craft restrictions do not apply, 

and transfers may cut across departmental or district 

seniority lines. However, in the case of skilled shopcraft workers, the transfers have been made within 

the same craft. Altogether, during the 11-month period July 1, 1968 to May 30, 1969, a total of 6,153 

placements were made; slightly over three-fifths 

were arranged within the railroad industry, itself.

Geographical transfers have been common in the 

railroad industry throughout its history. In connection with railroad mergers and consolidations, the 

“Washington Agreement” provided moving allowances, including a salary maintenance or “displacement” allowance, which assured the person being 

transferred that his earnings would not fall below 

their current level for 5 years. The national contracts signed in 1964 and 1965 covered nonoperating employees, provided for the payment of moving 

allowances, patterned after the provisions of the 

“Washington Agreement,” in cases of transfer resulting from road reorganization or from technological change. Expenses for moving household effects 

and travel are usually covered, but losses incurred 

from the sale of a house are not always covered. 

There is also great variation among the contracts 

about the number of days for which pay will be received and the conditions under which moving allowances will be paid. The National Contract for 

operating employees, unlike that for non-operating 

employees, does not provide for payment of moving 

allowances in cases of job transfer.

Training. Use of training or retraining measures, as 

a means of adjusting to technological change, has 

differed widely among railroad occupations. The occupational structure of the industry, ranging as it

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64 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

does from the relatively unskilled worker who performs maintenance-of-way tasks to the highly skilled 

craftsman and professional and technical worker, requires the services of persons with varying levels of 

education and training. At the lower end of the occupational spectrum, most jobs can be learned in a 

short time and are usually interchangeable. Therefore, there is no great problem in training or retraining. At the middle and upper level occupations, the 

case is quite different. The skilled crafts, for example, require the completion of several years of formal 

apprenticeship training to enter. This fact, along 

with the seniority provisions of union agreements, 

prevents crossing over from one skilled craft to another.

Railroads themselves have been providing training 

to help some workers meet new demands. Railroad 

clerks and the telegraphers have been most affected 

by the introduction of computer technology and 

their contracts with the carriers have provided for 

training workers with seniority to meet the requirements of changed jobs, as in the agreement between 

the Southern Pacific Company (Pacific Lines) and 

the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks,41 effective 

April 1, 1963.

Many of the carriers have training programs, outside of collective agreements, which are directed toward improving and updating worker skills. Training may be given on the job or be provided through 

correspondence or other schools in the community. 

Railroad workers— particularly those in the skilled 

crafts and in some maintenance-of-way occupations 

— often learn about new and changed equipment directly from the equipment manufacturer or the supplier.

Railroad unions, in turn, have also attempted to 

set up training programs to help their members 

qualify for available job opportunities in the railroad 

industry. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen 

and Enginemen, an A FL-C IO affiliate, developed 

an apprenticeship program for locomotive engineers 

approved by the U.S. Department of Labor in January 1966. Most of the carriers have rejected the 

program, maintaining that retraining is not a bargainable issue. This dispute is still before the Federal Courts.

41 Merged with Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and

Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station

Employees in early 1969.

Limitations on Subcontracting. The issue of “contracting out” work is particularly important to the 

shopcraft unions because diesel engine repair and 

rebuilding are frequently accomplished in this way. 

Some maintenance-of-way tasks and the installation 

of new signal equipment are also subject to this 

practice.

Restrictions on subcontracting to avoid job loss 

are sometimes explicitly stated in the union contract. 

When they are not so stated, such limitations have 

been inferred from the clauses which defined the 

scope of the agreement and its coverage. For the 

most part, however, the subcontracting policy that 

has evolved in this industry can be found in the 

various arbitration awards of the National Railroad Adjustment Board. Contracting out is generally 

permissible if the carrier does not have adequate 

equipment or properly trained men for special jobs, 

or if there is an emergency time limit, with the following stipulations: (1) The carrier must justify 

subcontracting; (2) laid-off employees must be used 

before outsiders are hired; and (3) proposed subcontracting must first be discussed witli the union (s) affected.

Displacement Allowances. Nearly all nonoperating 

employees are now covered by contractual displacement allowance provisions modeled after those 

found in the “Washington Agreement,” which provides a guaranteed wage to displaced workers if they 

accept transfers to other jobs. The displacement allowance guarantees an average of the previous 

year’s earnings for a period of 5 years for the firemen and for shopcraft workers; it is paid indefinitely 

to nonshopcraft, nonsupervisory employees.

In 1964, the shopcraft unions negotiated an 

agreement which extended the provisions of the 

“Washington Agreement” to displacements resulting 

from technological change, as well as from other 

causes. The national contract of February 1965 for 

nonshopcraft, nonoperating employees provides a 

similar allowance to all these employees (other than 

seasonal) who had completed 2 years of service 

prior to October 1964 and were willing to accept a 

transfer (see footnote 35 for unions concerned). 

The arbitration award covering the issue of firemen’s employment on diesels extended the displacement allowances of the “Washington Agreement” to 

firemen, with more than 2 but less than 10 years of 

service, who were offered “another comparable job.”

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, WORKING CONDITIONS AND EARNINGS 65

tive bargaining agreements may represent sizable 

cash benefits to the workers affected, as demonstrated in the findings of BLS research into situations resulting from mergers and consolidations covered by the “Washington Agreement.” 42 For 

example, in a 1957 case involving the payment of 

displacement allowances, $375,374 was paid over a 

period of 40 months to 200 operating employees. 

Two-thirds of this sum was paid in the form of partial benefits which averaged $132 a month per 

worker; full benefits averaged $447 a month per 

worker. In another case involving 37 employees, an 

average of $765 was paid in displacement allowances to employees who lost their jobs, and $1,486 

in moving allowances per worker who transferred. 

In addition, the carrier provided affected employees 

with free trips to their new location to look for 

homes and familiarize themselves with their new 

surroundings.

Severance or D ism issal A llow ances— The “Washington Agreement” provides either a continuing allowance or a lump sum payment to employees who 

lose their jobs as a result of merger. The continuing 

allowance amounts monthly to 60 percent of the 

employee’s last 12 months’ average pays. It is 

granted for periods ranging from 6 months to 5 

years, depending on length of service. Payments the 

worker receives from the Railroad Unemployment 

Insurance Fund are subtracted from the allowance. 

The lump-sum payment is higher, but an employee 

who chooses this alternative severs all ties; he must 

resign his rights to recall, to maintenance of fringe 

benefits, and to all other rights which continue while 

on a temporary layoff status.

In the early 1960’s, contracts between individual 

crafts and roads began to extend these “Washington 

Agreement” allowances to layoff or severance resulting from technological change. The agreements of 

national nonoperating shopcraft and nonshopcraft 

employees also extend these provisions to technological change and a wide variety of situations reducing 

the work force. In the 1963 arbitration award which 

resolved the firemen-on-diesels issue, provision was 

made for lump-sum severance payments based on 

seniority. It is estimated that between 1964 and 

1968, some $35 million in severance payments were 

made to firemen whose jobs were eliminated. Altogether, some 17,000 firemen jobs disappeared by 

the end of 1968; some firemen, however, were able 

to move into jobs as engineers.

Although not specifically related to technological 

innovations, the law that created the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak, see page 72) 

provides that the Secretary of Labor has the ultimate responsibility for protecting employees “against 

a worsening of their position with respect to their 

employment.” With the law becoming effective on 

May 1, 1971, the carriers and the rail unions failed 

to negotiate a mutually acceptable job protection 

plan, and Amtrak submitted its plan to the Secretary who certified it as “fair and equitable.”

The Amtrak plan, which the rail unions may 

challenge in the courts, requires railroads to provide 

full wages and benefits, up to 6 years on a monthly 

basis, to workers displaced by Amtrak’s planned 

cutting of the Nation’s 300 passenger trains to 114. 

Estimates of the number of workers to be affected 

ranged from 12,000 to 25,000. Any income a 

worker earned from other jobs would be subtracted 

from these payments. He would be covered for up 

to 6 years and would qualify for any pay increases 

during the “protective” period, while still eligible to 

be recalled to work. The worker would also have 

the option of receiving lump sums of up to 1 year’s 

salary, instead of the monthly payments.

Unemployment Benefits. Railroad workers are covered by a Federal unemployment insurance system 

which operates only within the railroad industry, is 

financed by employer contributions, and provides 

uniform benefits throughout the United States. Benefits are paid equal to 60 percent of the last daily 

rate of pay of the unemployed worker, up to a maximum daily benefit of $12.70. Nearly all beneficiaries are awarded the maximum benefit of $12.70 a 

day. Unemployed workers receive benefits for twenty-six 5-day weeks. For workers with many years of 

railroad service, there are additional weeks of benefits: 14 for workers with 10 to 14 years of service 

or 26 for workers with 15 or more years of service. 

Special provisions allow a worker who has frequently-recurring spells of unemployment to qualify repeatedly for benefits, each time he becomes unemployed.

Unlike the several State unemployment compensation programs, the Railroad Unemployment Insurance (R U I) system does not vary in terms of

4 2 “Studies Relating to Railroad Operating Employees,”

Appendix Volume III to the Report of the Presidential

Commission, Washington, D.C., Feb. 1962, pp. 136-171.

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6 6 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

coverage, benefit amount and duration, qualification 

requirements, and the proportion of weekly income 

replaced. Also, the railroad program is more liberal 

than the State programs in two other respects: disqualification provisions and compensation for intermitten days of unemployment.

Retirement. Retirement is yet another way in which 

the work force may adjust to technological change. 

In 1966, for example, 5.6 percent of all railroad 

workers were 65 years old or older compared with

3.6 percent of all nonfarm workers. A t the present 

time, only about one-third of all railroad workers 

elect to retire at age 65, and few union agreements 

have mandatory retirement provisions, although 

early retirement is possible. In the benefit year, 

1967-68, some 40,000 persons retired. The average 

age of those retiring for reasons other than disability 

was 66.5 years. Between 1963 and 1967 (the latest 

year for which this information is available) an average of 99,000 persons have retired each year, a 

figure far in excess of the net decline in employment 

each year since 1963.

Railroad employees are covered by a compulsory 

pension system, the National Railroad Retirement 

System, which is administered by the Federal Government, but financed by a tax on employee earnings and on payrolls. Pension benefits, starting at 

age 65, are determined by length of service and 

amount of earnings. Legislation enacted in 1966 

provides for the payment of an additional annuity at 

age 65 to persons entitled to an age or disability annuity who have completed 25 or more years of service and who have a current connection with the railroad industry. Beginning with 1971, employees 

forfeit the supplemental annuity if they work in the 

railroad industry beyond a specified closing date. 

This closing date for the years after 1973 is the end 

of the calendar month following the month in which 

the employee reaches age 65, with somewhat higher 

ages applicable for the years 1971 through 1973.

Early retirem ent on a reduced annuity, is possible at age 62 for employees with 10 years or more 

of railroad employment. All employees with 30 

years of railroad service can retire at age 60, though 

the amount of the pension is reduced for men who 

exercise this option. In fiscal year 1967-68, about 

16 percent of all those who retired because of age 

(rather than for disability) did so early and on a reduced annuity; their average age was 63.2 years.

Earnings and Working Conditions. The introduction 

of technological change in the railroad industry has 

affected working conditions and frequently has resulted in adjustments in wage rates. Wage rates and 

working conditions, including hours of work and 

overtime provisions, are covered in the labor-management agreements that apply to most of the workers in the industry. Their basic work schedules differ, depending on the kinds of work they do. For 

example, the basic workweek of the great majority 

of workers employed at terminals— in railroad 

yards, stations and offices— is 40 hours of five 8- 

hour days; overtime is usually paid after 8 hours of 

work a day.

However, train and engine crew members are 

paid according to different rules, in terms of their 

movement over the road. They must either cover a 

specified number of miles, or else have worked a 

certain number of hours, before receiving extra pay. 

Workers in occupations that directly serve passenger 

needs work a stipulated number of hours each 

month before receiving premium pay for overtime 

work. Also, irregular work schedules are common 

among railroad workers who do not have regular assignments but are called in when their sendees are 

needed. Train service must be provided 24 hours a 

day and, thus, railroad workers must often work 

nights, weekends, and on holidays. This accounts for 

the higher-than-average workweek in this .industry 

compared with all manufacturing industries. (See 

table 40.)

The basic wage formula for operating employees 

takes into consideration minimum daily guarantees, 

mileage pay, graduated rates, special allowances 

which are higher than standard rates and mileage 

limitation rules. The pay system for nonoperating 

employees is much simpler and is primarily on a 

time basis, hourly, daily, or monthly.

Average hourly earnings (including premium 

pay) of class I railroad workers are higher than 

those paid to workers in manufacturing generally. In 

1968, for example, class I railroad workers earned 

an estimated $3.39 an hour, on the average, compared with an estimated average hourly rate of 

$3.01 for workers in all manufacturing industries. 

This relationship has persisted since 1957, through 

the spread between average hourly earnings in class 

I railroads and in all manufacturing has ranged 

widely, from a low of 21 cents an hour in 1957 to 

an estimated high of 38 cents an hour in 1968 (see

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TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, WORKING CONDITIONS AND EARNINGS 67

Table 40. Hours and earnings of workers in manufacturing and class I railroads, 1947, 1957, and 1960-68

Year

Class 1 railroads1 All manufacturing2

Average

hourly

earnings

Average

weekly

earnings

Average

weekly

hours

Average

hourly

earnings

Average

weekly

earnings

Average

weekly

hours

1947................................................................................................................................................. $1.19 $55.03 46.4 $1.22 $49.17 40.4

1957................................................................................................................................................. 2.26 94.24 41.7 2.05 81.59 39.8

I960................................................................................................................................................. 2.61 108.84 41.7 2.26 89.72 39.7

1961................................................................................................................................................. 2.67 112.94 42.3 2.32 92.34 39.8

1962................................................................................................................................................. 2.72 115.87 42.6 2.39 96.55 40.4

1963................................................................................................................................................. 2.76 118.40 42.9 2.46 99.63 40.5

1964................................................................................................................................................. 2.80 121.80 43.5 2.53 102.97 40.7

1965................................................................................................................................................. 3.00 130.80 43.6 2.61 107.53 41.2

1966................................................................................................................................................. 3.09 135.65 43.9 2.72 112.34 41.3

1967................................................................................................................................................. 3.24 139.97 43.2 2.83 114.90 40.6

1968................................................................................................................................................. 3 3.39 3 149.16 3 44.0 3.01 122.51 40.7

1 Excludes executives, officials, and staff assistants (ICC group I). 3 8-month averages.

1 Applies to production workers only. SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics and Interstate Commerce Commission.

Table 41. Average straight time pay, by occupational group, class I railroads, 1957 and 1967

Occupational group

Average straight times rates 1 Percent of total employees

1957 1967

Percent

change

1957-67

1957 1967

Executives, officials, and staff assistants.................................................................................................... $4,512 $6,648 47.3 1.65 2.54

Professional, clerical, and general............................................................................................................... 2.300 3.364 46.3 19.27 21.53

Maintenance of way and structures............................................................................................................. 2.002 2.976 48.7 17.32 14.82

Maintenance of equipment and stores........................................................................................................ 2.222 3.196 43.8 24.99 22.70

Transportation (other than train, engine and yard).................................................................................. 2.123 3.113 46.6 11.69 9.34

Transportation (yardmasters, switch tenders, and hostlers)................................................................... 2.631 3.698 40.6 1.44 1.61

Transportation (train and engine service).................................................................................................. 2.385 3.220 35.0 23.64 27.46

All employees (excluding switching and terminal companies)................................................................ 2.288 3.302 44.3 100.0 100.0

1 Includes "straight time paid for” in train and engine service, and “ time actually 

worked and paid for at straight time rates” in other services.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission.

Table 42. Employee compensation, class I railroads, 1965

All employees

Compensation practice

Percent of

Per hour

compensation

Paid for Working time

100.0 $3.71 $4.04

87.8 3.26 3.55

78.5 2.91 3.17

2.0 .07 .08

6.9 .26 .28

5.0 .19 .20

1.5 .06 .06

.4 .01 .01

.3 .01 .01

12.2 .45 .49

8.0 .30 .32

5.0 .19 .20

2.3 .09 .09

.7 .03 .03

4.2 .16 .17

3.3 .12 .13

.9 .03 .04

1 Includes military, jury, funeral, and personal leave, not presented separately.

3 Includes savings and th rift plans, not presented separately.

NOTE: Due to rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals. 

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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68 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

table 40.)

Average straight time rates in class I railroads 

rose by nearly 45 percent between 1957 and 1967, 

as can be seen in table 41. This rate of increase was 

exceeded in every major occupational group except 

in Transportation (train and engine service), Transportation (yardmasters, switchtenders, and hostlers), and in Maintenance of equipment and 

stores.43

Straight time pay for time worked is the major 

component of employer expenditures for the compensation of employees. To arrive at total compensation, it is necessary to include employer payments 

for overtime and other premium payments, payments for leave time (vacations, holidays, sick 

leave, and other leave), terminal (severance) payments and expenditures for legally required insurance programs and private welfare plans operated 

for the benefit of employees. In 1965, average compensation of all class I railroad workers amounted 

to $4.04 per working hour,44 $3.17 of which was 

straight time pay, and 87 cents pay supplements. 

(See table 42.) By 1967, the BLS estimated total 

straight time pay per hour of working time in class I 

railroads had risen to $3.51, and supplements to 

straight time pay to $1.00 a working hour.45 Total 

compensation rose by about 11 percent in the 2-

year period, from $4.04 to $4.51 an hour. Straight 

time pay increased because of pay raises that were 

negotiated while the level of supplemental expenditures grew because of higher employer payments for 

railroad retirements, health and welfare benefits, 

premium pay, and vacations.

43 Wage statistics which provide information for the

years 1957 and 1967 and from which average straight time

rates may be computed for the detailed occupations that

comprise the major occupational group are available from

the Interstate Commerce Commission A-300 Reports, Wage

Statistics of class I railroads in the United States.

44 Hours paid for consist of aggregate hours worked,

paid leave hours, rest periods, coffee breaks, machine

downtime, and other nonleave hours paid for but not

worked, for which employers made direct payments to workers during the year. Excluded are hour equivalents for

which pay was received though actual hours were not involved; for example, hours paid for because of additional

mileage or because of extra work during regular working

hours. Working time excludes paid leave hours. Unless otherwise noted, all rates are expressed as per hour of working time.

45 See “Employment Compensation and Payroll Hours,

Railroads, 1965,” Report 335-3, U.S. Department of Labor,

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Also, see “Pay and Fringe Benefits of Railroad Employees,” by Robert E. Pope, in

M o n th ly L a b o r R e v ie w , Sept. 1968, Vol. 91, No. 9, pp.

45-48.

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Appendix I Tables

1. Railroads and other transportation, new plant and equipment expenditures, 1945-70

[billions of dollars]

Total expenditures

Year Railroads All other transportation

Amount As a percent of 

all industries

Amount As a percent of 

all industries

1945............................................... .55 6.3 .57 6.6

1946............................................... .58 3.9 .92 6.2

1947............................................... .91 4.7 1.30 6.7

1948............................................... 1.37 6.4 1.27 6.0

1949............................................... 1.42 7.5 .88 4.6

1950............................................... 1.18 .8 1.19 5.9

1951............................................... 1.58 6.2 1.47 5.8

1952............................................... 1.50 5.7 1.47 5.6

1953............................................... 1.42 5.0 1.53 5.4

1954............................................... .93 3.4 1.46 5.4

1955............................................... 1.02 3.5 1.56 5.3

1956............................................... 1.37 3.8 1.66 4.6

1957............................................... 1.58 4.2 1.71 4.5

1958............................................... .86 2.7 1.43 4.5

1959............................................... 1.02 3.0 2.11 6.3

1960............................................... 1.16 3.2 1.96 5.3

1961............................................... .82 2.3 1.96 5.5

1962............................................... 1.02 2.7 2.17 5.7

1963............................................... 1.26 3.1 1.98 4.9

1964............................................... 1.66 3.5 2.52 5.4

1965............................................... 1.99 3.7 2.90 5.3

1966............................................... 2.37 3.7 3.38 5.3

1967............................................... 1.86 2.8 3.77 5.8

1968............................................... 1.45 2.1 4.15 6.1

1969 p ........................................... 1.83 2.4 4.20 5.6

1970 e ........................................... 1.94 2.4 3.96 4.8

P—Preliminary.

E—U.S. Dept, of Commerce and SEC. estimate.

SOURCE: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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70 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

2. Class I Railroads, methods of financing, by year, 1957-67

[ thousands of dollars]

Year

Debt issues 1

Stock

issued

Total debt 

Conditional plus stock

contracts & 

deferred 

payments

Corporate 

equipment 

obligations 

(par value)

Other Total

T otal.......... 3,463,175 2,553,008 1,693,253 7,709,436 771,985 8,481,421

1957........................ 279,938 359,501 61,207 700,646 14,912 715,558

1958........................ 113,884 175,180 225,014 514,078 30,393 544,471

1959........................ 138,451 170,505 176,583 485,539 144,544 630,083

1960........................ 150,807 180,193 241,824 572,824 60,765 633,589

1961........................ 107,705 118,215 191,069 416,989 145,783 562,772

1962........................ 178,896 135,980 60,377 375,253 10,923 386,176

1963........................ 211,022 240,900 183,506 635,428 40,884 676,312

1964........................ 435,302 318,976 184,598 938,876 78,389 1,017,265

1965........................ 545,079 258,345 218,227 1,021,651 79,656 1,101,307

1966........................ 798,286 341,968 50,457 1,190,711 44,319 1,235,030

1967........................ 503,805 253,245 100,391 857,441 121,417 978,858

1 Does not include any new debt issues of those companies in SOURCE: T ran sport S ta tis tic s in the U n ited S ta te s— ,

receivership. In 1966, there were none issued by these com- Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington, D.C., tables

panies. 146, 146A, 147A.

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Appendix II Tables

1. Locomotives in Service, by type, 1947-67

Year Total

locomotives

Diesel Steam Other 1

Total secondgeneration 

locomotives 2 

(cumulative)

1947........................................... 41,719 5,772 35,108 839

1948........................................... 41*851 8,089 32,914 848

1949........................................... 40*691 10,888 28*964 839

1950........................................... 40*494 14,047 25,640 807

1951........................................... 40,036 17,493 21,747 796

1952........................................... 37,343 20*492 16,078 773

1953............................................ 35*009 22*503 11*787 719

1954........................................... 32*872 23,531 8,650 691

1955........................................... 31*429 24*786 5*982 661

1956........................................... 30,433 26,081 3,714 638

1957........................................... 30*248 27,186 2*447 615

1958........................................... 29*513 27,575 1*350 588

1959........................................... 29*493 28*163 754 576

1960........................................... 29*080 28,278 261 541

1961........................................... 28,815 28,169 112 534 288

1962........................................... 28,639 28,104 51 484 1,052

1963........................................... 28,449 27,945 36 468 1,886

1964........................................... 28,300 27,837 34 429 2,957

1965........................................... 27,816 27,389 29 398 4,344

1966........................................... 27,886 27,481 25 380 5,763

1967........................................... 27,687 27,309 21 357 6,872

1 The “Other” category includes electric and turbine

locomotives

2 This is a cumulation of new purchases 1961-67. The technology for second-generation diesels was first sold in 1961 and

it is assumed here that all new purchases thereafter were of that

type.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission as summarized

in R a ilr o a d T ra n sp o rta tio n , AAR, April 1965 for years 1948-53;

all other years, F act B o o k 1969 summary of ICC information,

p. 68.

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72 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

2. Piggyback freight carloadings o f 1 or more

trailers, 1955-69

1955

1956

1957

1958

1959

Year Carloadings

168,150

207,783

249,065

278,071

416,508

1960

1961

1962

1963

1964

554,115

591,246

706,441

797,474

890,748

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1,034,377

1,162,731

1,207,242

1,337,149

1,344,123

SOURCE: Association of American Railroads.

3. Automatic car identification (ACI) applications 1

Applications Description of Application

Commercial

1. Intransit weighing (ore)........................ Scanner system, connected to a weigh-in-motion scale, computes cargo weight and transmits with car number to shipper 

and to RR data processing, via teletype.

2. Notice of train arrival, to customer__ Scanner transmits car number and time of train passing to computer center, via teletype. Future: (1) Automatic route-setting 

(2) Automatic payroll information (3) Train Announcement.

Management central office uses......................... Linkage of Traffic, Operating, and Accounting Departments 

through use of car initial and number. Information access results in best car type to shipper, movement control across rails, 

proper charges, and collection.

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APPENDIX II 73

3. Automatic car identification (ACI) applications1—Continued

Applications Description of Application

1. Operational Control............................. Prevention of missed connections, and advance knowledge ol 

power needs, train length, tonnage limits.

2. Car Accounting Department

(Key Punch Section)......................... Closing open records on cars and trailers.

3. Car Accounting Departm ent.............. Automatic audit of per diem and mileage payable and per diem 

receivable.

4. Car Maintenance................................... Mileage calculation as required for car maintenance scheduling.2

5. Equipment Utilization.......................... Keeps car availability records and locates cars for special 

cargoes.

6. Improved Customer Service................. Specific cargo information on delays (why-where-how long to 

shipper or consignee), if there is delay.

7. Car Tracer.............................................. Elimination of car tracer form for closing open records on cars 

and trailers.

Field

1. Hump yard............................................. Scanners at yard entrances—check incoming, outgoing cars, 

provide exact location of inventory; scanners on other side of 

hump crest (combined with yard switching systems) read 

labels, align switches for classification, update inventory file; 

scanner between classification and departure yards—produce 

waybill list.

2. Car Repair Track Area........................ Scanners at entrance and exit to car repair area — Automatic 

inventory of cars in shop, with automatic notification to car 

user.

3. Locomotive Service A rea................... Scanners at entrance—arrival and departure information, 

availability, utilization, maintenance, and I.C.C. inspection 

scheduling.

4. Piggyback Terminals............................. Scanner at each Piggyback Terminal—immediate trailer and 

container inventory, reduce open records.

5. Point of Interchange............................. Scanner shared by connecting roads—receipt and delivery 

information exchange, eliminate open car records.

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74 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

3. Automatic car identification (ACI) applications 1—Continued

Applications Description of Application

6. Interlocking Plant Operation.............. Automatically operate signal interlocker control equipment 

through scanner reading of routing label.

7. Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) 

Machine O peration............................... Scanner identification of train priority, length, and tonnage 

would allow automatic CTC train dispatching from yard, 

enlarging dispatcher territory.

8. Line-of-Road Car Defect Detectors.. Scanners located adjacent to detectors (hotbox, broken flange, 

loose wheel, load imbalance, clearance, and dragging) 

identify defective cars and provide direct radio information 

to car crews.

1 Applications limited to individual roads, pending develop- SOURCE: Data Systems Division, Association of American

ment and adoption of national identification standards. All Railroads, Addresses, Panel Discussion, and Workshop Papers,

applications are experimental unless noted. October 17-19, 1966.

2 Applications feasibility based on Chicago Transit Authority

Tests.

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Appendix III

1. Alternative productivity forecasting technique

An alternative method of forecasting productivity 

developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which 

covers the period to 1980, tends to confirm a continued high rate of productivity increase. In this approach, productivity increments are obtained as the 

sum of the gain due to output increases and a gain 

due to time; the latter includes gains from technical change and more efficient labor-capital 

combinations \ Various transformations of data are 

used to eliminate shortrun cyclical disturbances 

which obscure the longrun behavior pattern of productivity with respect to output. The significance of 

this approach is its use of output as an independent 

variable affecting productivity.

The study was based on quarterly data for the period 1954-66, and thus, this analysis covers periods 

of both increasing and decreasing output, unlike the 

productivity estimates which are based on the experience of the 1961-67 period. Taking the final forecasting equation from the report, which is shown 

below, we find a quarterly rate of productivity 

change cf 1.42 percent with output constant and an

elasticity of productivity with respect to output of

0.20.

Thus, % A Q /L = 1.42% + .20 (% A Q)

Q = Output (weighted combination of 

freight and passenger traffic).

L — Labor.

In using this equation, the temporal variable is 

eliminated. Thus, with no change in output, the productivity growth rate is 1.42 percent per quarter. If 

output increases, as is expected in the future, a second element is added to the quarterly growth rate 

— for each one percent increase in output, an increment of .20 percent is added. Thus, if output were 

to grow by 1 percent per quarter, total productivity 

gain would be 1.62 percent per quarter.

1 See P r o d u c tiv ity in th e R a ilr o a d I n d u s tr y , Report 377,

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,

Mar. 1970.

2. Methodological note on output per man-hour

The index of total revenue traffic (RTU ’s) is an 

output series using different statistical weights to 

combine passenger traffic with freight traffic. These 

weights are derived by dividing passenger revenue 

per mile by freight revenue per mile for 1947-49, 

1957-59, and 1963. The corresponding weights for 

the periods 1947-49 and 1957-59 were 1.88/1.00

and 1.99/1.00 respectively; for 1963 to date, it is 

2.43/1.00. Revenue passenger miles, multiplied by 

the appropriate weight, results in a revenue traffic 

unit quantity which is added to revenue ton-miles 

and then converted into an index number. (For history of output per man-hour since 1939, see appendix m -3 ,4).

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76 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

3. Railroad transportation-revenue traffic (SIC 401) output per man-hour, unit labor requirements, and related

data, all employees, 1939-70

[indexes, 1967 = 100]

Year

Output per— Unit labor requirements

in terms of—

Related data

Employee Man-hour Employees Man-hours Output Employees Man-hours

1939.............................. 31.4 27.9 318.0 358.4 50.5 160.6 181.0

1947.............................. 45.2 '38.3 221.3 261.1 99.6 220.4 260.1

1948.............................. 44.4 37.6 225.3 265.7 96.1 216.5 255.3

1949.............................. 40.9 36.7 245.0 272.4 79.6 195.0 216.8

1950.............................. 43.5 42.0 229.6 238.3 87.1 200.0 207.6

1951.............................. 45.7 44.4 218.8 225.1 95.6 209.2 215.2

1952.............................. 45.3 44.6 220.9 224.5 91.2 201.5 204.7

1953.............................. 45.1 44.8 221.7 223.3 89.4 198.2 199.6

1954.............................. 46.3 46.6 215.8 214.5 81.2 175.2 174.2

1955.............................. 52.2 51.6 191.4 194.0 91.0 174.2 176.5

1956.............................. 54.6 54.0 183.2 185.1 94.1 172.4 174.2

1957.............................. 54.8 54.8 182.5 182.5 89.6 163.5 163.5

1958.............................. 57.5 57.6 173.9 173.5 80.1 139.2 139.0

1959.............................. 61.3 61.2 163.1 163.4 82.9 135.2 135.5

1960.............................. 63.5 63.6 157.5 157.2 82.2 129.5 129.2

1961.............................. 67.9 68.2 147.3 146.7 80.8 119.0 118.5

1962.............................. 73.0 72.6 137.1 137.7 84.7 116.1 116.6

1963.............................. 78.2 77.1 127.9 129.6 83.1 112.7 114.2

1964.............................. 84.4 82.1 118.5 121.7 92.9 110.1 113.1

1965.............................. 92.9 90.8 107.7 110.1 97.8 105.3 107.7

1966.............................. 99.6 97.5 100.4 102.5 103.1 103.5 105.7

1967.............................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

1968.............................. 105.9 104.4 94.4 95.8 102.5 96.8 98.2

1969.............................. 111.1 109.2 90.0 91.6 105.4 94.9 96.5

1970.............................. 111.9 109.7 89.3 91.2 104.2 93.1 95.0

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APPENDIX III 77

4. Railroad transportation-revenue traffic (SIC 401) output per man-hour, unit labor requirements, and related

data, production workers 1939-70

[indexes, 1967=100]

Year

Output per— Unit labor requirements

in terms of—

Related data

Production

worker

Production

worker

man-hour

Production

workers

Production

worker

man-hours

Output

Production

workers

Production

worker

man-hours

1939.............................. 30.5 27.2 328.1 367.7 50.5 165.7 185.7

1947.............................. 43.2 36.7 231.5 272.8 99.6 230.6 271.7

1948.............................. 42.5 36.1 235.5 277.1 96.1 226.3 266.3

1949.............................. 39.3 35.5 254.4 281.8 79.6 202.5 224.3

1950.............................. 41.9 40.4 238.9 247.3 87.1 208.1 215.4

1951.............................. 43.8 42.7 228.5 234.0 95.6 218.4 223.7

1952.............................. 43.5 43.0 229.9 232.6 91.2 209.7 212.1

1953.............................. 43.4 43.3 230.5 231.0 89.4 206.1 206.5

1954.............................. 44.9 45.4 222.5 220.1 81.2 180.7 178.7

1955.............................. 50.6 50.2 197.7 199.0 91.0 179.9 181.1

1956.............................. 52.9 52.7 189.1 189.6 94.1 177.9 178.4

1957.............................. 53.3 53.7 187.7 186.3 89.6 168.2 166.9

1958.............................. 56.4 57.1 177.2 175.3 80.1 141.9 140.4

1959.............................. 60.2 60.6 166.0 164.9 82.9 137.6 136.7

1960.............................. 62.5 63.2 160.1 158.2 82.2 131.6 130.0

1961.............................. 67.1 68.1 149.0 146.8 80.8 120.4 118.6

1962.............................. 72.2 72.4 138.5 138.1 84.7 117.3 117.0

1963.............................. 77.3 76.9 129.3 130.0 88.1 113.9 114.5

1964.............................. 83.5 81.9 119.7 122.2 92.9 111.2 113.5

1965.............................. 92.3 91.0 108.4 109.9 97.8 106.0 107.5

1966.............................. 99.2 97.6 100.8 102.4 103.1 103.9 105.6

1967.............................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

1968.............................. 106.0 104.4 94.3 95.8 102.5 96.7 98.2

1969.............................. 111.4 109.3 89.8 91.5 105.4 94.6 96.4

1970.............................. 112.6 109.9 88.8 91.0 104.2 92.5 94.8

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78 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

5. Leading railroads

Choice of roads

The leading railroads were chosen on the basis of 

a ranking of all of the 76 class I railroads reporting 

to the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1965. 

To make the data more manageable for historical 

analysis, while retaining representative coverage, the 

76 railroads were segregated into groups on the 

basis of man-hour inputs. Companies having over 

20,000,000 man-hours as a labor input were chosen 

for further analysis. Twenty-two companies fell into 

this category. Their man-hours comprised 82 percent of the class I total in 1965.

These 22 were then segregated into three geographic districts to permit some allowance to be 

made for the effect of a different traffic mix on output per man-hour in various parts of the country. 

The roads were then ranked within geographic districts on the basis of Revenue Traffic Units per all 

employee man-hour. The most efficient in each district (southern, eastern and western) was then chosen for further analysis.

As a check on the choice of these roads, an additional tabulation and ranking of the 22 large 

companies was made for 1956. In the 1956 ranking, 

the 1965 leader was also first in one district, was 

second in another and sixth (of 10) in the third district. Still another criteria was applied by ranking in 

accordance with the percent of increase in Revenue 

Traffic Units per man-hour from 1956-65, on the 

theory that the largest change ratios represented 

companies with good or vastly improving managements.

Procedure of study and data adjustment

A merger history of the selected companies was 

used to ensure comparability of beginning and end

Revenue Traffic Units per all employee man-hour 

(referred to hereafter as productivity). The companies that were merged into the parent were included 

in years prior to the merger to avoid incorrect comparisons of man-hours and output.

The revenue passenger miles and revenue tonmiles were combined with the same weights as are 

used in the Bureau’s regular work with the industry. 

Linking procedures were also the same as the regular method.

The data were tabulated for years 1956-66 and a 

weighted average was obtained for the leading railroads. The procedure was aggregation of all manhours and of all Revenue Traffic Units with 

subsequent division of the latter by the man-hours.

Source of data

Revenue ton-miles and revenue passenger-miles 

are published in the Interstate Commerce Commission’s Transport Statistics in the U nited States for 

1956; later data appears in the ICC’s “Abstract of 

Individual class I roads.”

The source of the man-hour data is the individual 

road report on file with the Interstate Commerce 

Commission, “Monthly Report of Employees, Service and Compensation” (4th quarter for annual). 

The man-hours were compiled as follows: From 

Service Hours under Division Via, column 4, “Time 

worked and paid for a straight time rates;” plus column 5, “Overtime paid for at punitive rates;” plus 

Division VIb total transportation (train and engine) 

column 4, “Straight time actually worked;” plus column 6, “Overtime paid for;” plus column 7, “Constructive allowances.” Thus, for each railroad, five 

individual man-hour figures were picked up to yield 

the total man-hours for the railroad.

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APPENDIX III 79

6. Revenue traffic units (RTU’s) per man-hour for railroads and industry, 1965

Year Railroad “A”,

southern district

Railroad “B”,

eastern district

Railroad “C”,

western district

“Best” railroad

average

Average for

industry

Industry

average

as percent

of “Best”

railroad

average

1956............ 435.1 324.6 325.4 369.4 314.9 85.2

1957............ 452.4 321.3 343.9 380.3 320.3 84.2

1958............ 457.3 356.4 362.2 399.3 336.1 84.2

1959............ 494.4 367.3 399.0 426.0 357.3 83.9

1960............ 510.5 374.7 418.7 439.4 372.3 84.7

1961............ 556.2 392.4 470.0 476.9 398.2 83.5

1962............ 583.9 435.8 521.8 518.1 423.5 81.7

1963............ 625.3 480.3 575.1 562.2 450.1 80.1

1964............ 659.6 522.7 630.1 606.6 478.6 78.9

1965............ 686.0 578.7 694.6 652.6 526.0 80.6

1966............ 722.1 588.2 733.1 680.8 563.3 82.7

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics and Interstate Commerce Commission.

7. Road and equipment, constant dollar value series1

The value of road and equipment in 1948 (the 

base year for the series) was obtained from the ICC 

as of January 1, 1949. The 1948 current dollar 

figure was adjusted, using the railroad construction 

index published by the ICC which was rebased to 

make the year 1958 equal 100. The method used 

was to divide the current dollar value (before depreciation) by the index to arrive at an approximation

of the 1948 value of the road and equipment. After 

1948, each year’s road and equipment value was 

obtained by adjusting current dollar gross capital expenditures as published by the Office of Business 

Economics (OBE) by using the ICC index, depreciating that figure and then adding it to the preceding year’s base stock which was also depreciated.

Two depreciation ratios were used to obtain the 

final figures for each year. First, to obtain the new 

base stock, a ratio of .9753 was used as the depreciation factor for that year. This ratio was obtained 

by assuming a 40-year life for the capital. Forty

years is obviously a compromise figure, since part of 

the total value of the capital is that derived from 

land which is more likely to increase in value than 

decrease over time. On the other hand, an average 

of about 55 percent of the capital expenditures are 

for car purchases; these cars are very long-lived, but 

nevertheless, subject to economic deterioration. 

Other major expenditure categories are likewise 

long-lived, yet this equipment, too, wears out. Data 

for the industry from the Internal Revenue Service 

indicate that over the period 1954-64, the ratio of 

depreciation taken to the preceding year’s total de1 See unpublished report, Productivity Trends in U.S.

Transportation Industries by John W. Kendrick, prepared

for U.S. Department of Transportation (control number

C-286-66). Also see Capital in Transportation, Communications and Public Utilities: Its Form and Financing, by

M. J. Ulmer, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1960.

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8 0 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

preciable assets is consistent with the 40-year estimated depreciation schedule.

A second ratio— .9876— was used to depreciate 

reported gross capital expenditures before adding

8. Product and input value in U.S. railroads, 1947-68

them to the previous year end stock. Expenditures 

are treated as being spaced evenly throughout the 

year with only half the investment subject to depreciation on the average.

Year

Gross product 

originated 

(millions, 

constant 

dollars)

Value of 

inputs 1 

(millions, 

constant 

dollars)

Gross product 

per unit of 

in p u t2

1947........................................................................ 10,700 3,482 3.07

1948........................................................................ 10,500 3,324 3.16

1949........................................................................ 8,700 2,912 2.99

1950........................................................................ 9,500 2,841 3.34

1951........................................................................ 10,600 2,952 3.59

1952........................................................................ 10,100 2,827 3.57

1953........................................................................ 9,900 2,817 3.51

1954........................................................................ 8,900 2,377 3.74

1955........................................................................ 9,900 2,482 3.99

1956........................................................................ 10,000 2,479 4.03

1957........................................................................ 9,500 2,399 3.96

1958........................................................................ 8,400 2,065 4.07

1959........................................................................ 8,900 2,122 4.19

1960........................................................................ 8,700 2,058 4.23

1961........................................................................ 8,700 1,976 4.40

1962........................................................................ 9,200 2,067 4.45

1963........................................................................ 9,700 2,090 4.64

1964........................................................................ 10,200 2,151 4.74

1965........................................................................ 11,000 2,170 5.02

1966........................................................................ 11,700 2,160 5.42

1967........................................................................ 11,200 2,068 5.42

1968 3..................................................................... 11,300 2,119 5.33

1 These inputs include fuel, rail, ties, and other materials and

supplies required to carry on day-to-day business operations.

2 This series will have a slight upward bias since it is based on

Gross Product originated by all railroads while the input data

are available only for class I railroads.

3 Preliminary.

SOURCE: Office of Business Economics, U.S. Department

of Commerce and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

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APPENDIX III 81

9. Methodological note on derivation of total fuel requirements and efficiency

The first requirement in assessing the efficiency of 

fuel use in the industry is to convert the several different kinds of fuel into comparable units. This was 

accomplished by coverting fuel from conventional 

units of measure into British Thermal Units 

(BTU’s). Table 72 of the Interstate Commerce 

Commission’s, T ra n sp o rt S ta tistics, lists the basic 

fuels used, by type* and amount. Anthracite and bituminous coal are shown as separate fuels. The bituminous figure includes other fuels, used in small 

quantities, but whose unit measure is “ton.” Fuel oil 

(kerosene), diesel oil, and gasoline are shown as 

separate entities. “Fuel oil” includes other fuels, not 

otherwise shown, measured in gallon units. Each of 

these latter four fuels are shown in ICC’s table 72 

with gallons as the unit of measure. All liquid measures were converted to barrels, using a conversion 

factor of 42 gallons per barrel, since BTU equivalents were for barrel units. This base data was tabulated for the years 1948 and 1954 through 1966. 

BTU conversion factors, for gasoline, fuel oil, diesel 

and coal, as shown in the following table, were obtained from the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Mines, and for wood and electricity from 

P etro leu m F a c ts a n d F igures, by the American Petroleum Institute.

U n it o f B T U c o n v e r s io n f a c to r s

B a se F u e l m e a s u r e (In th o u sa n d s)

1948 1954-66

Bituminous c o a l____ Ton 26,200 26,200

Anthracite c o a l_____Ton 25,400 25,400

Fuel o i l ____________Barrel 6,287 6,287

Diesel o i l __________ Barrel 5,825 5,825

Gasoline ---------------- Barrel 5,218 5,248

W o o d______________Cord 40,000 40,000

E lectricity_________ KWH 3 3

In order to arrive at the end product which would 

be shown in billions of BTU’s, the base data were 

multiplied by the appropriate conversion factor. The 

BTU’s for the seven base fuels were totaled for each 

given year and an index was constructed using the 

1957-59 average as a base.

The number of gross ton-miles of freight and passenger cars and contents was taken from the AAR’s 

R a ilro a d T ra n sp o rta tio n , A S ta tistica l R e c o rd , for 

the years 1948 and 1954 through 1963, and was 

taken from the Interstate Commerce Commission’s 

T ra n sp o rt S ta tistics, table 162, for 1964 through 

1966. An index of gross ton-miles of class I LineHaul Railways was then developed, using the 

1957-59 average as the base. To arrive at the fuel 

consumed by class I Line-Haul Railways per gross 

ton-mile, the BTU index was divided by the gross 

ton-mile index (appendix III-10).

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8 2 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

10. Fuel consumed by Class I line-haul railways per

gross ton-mile1, selected years, 1948-66

Year

Fuel index 

of BTU’s 

used

(1957-59 = 

100)

Index gross 

ton-miles 

(1957-59 = 

100)

Fuel per 

gross 

ton-miles 

(1957-59 = 

100)

1948... 536.8 116.3 461.6

1954... 152.4 100.7 151.3

1955... 150.3 108.5 138.5

1956... 136.3 110.3 123.6

1957... 115.4 105.7 109.2

1958... 92.9 95.8 97.0

1959... 91.8 98.4 93.3

I960... 90.7 97.2 93.3

1961... 88.0 94.9 92.7

1962... 90.7 97.9 92.6

1963... 92.3 100.4 91.9

1964... 93.9 104.0 90.3

1965... 96.6 107.0 90.3

1966... 100.0 111.6 90.4

1 Freight and passenger, cars and contents.

SOURCE: Interstate Commerce Commission and Bureau of

Labor Statistics.

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Appendix IV tables

1. Concentrations of railroad employment, 23 leading SMSA’s, March 1957 and March 1967

Employment 1 

(thousand)

City and State

March

1957

March

1967

Chicago, Illinois............................................................................................... 63.4 48.6

New York City, New York............................................................................ 28.7 19.9

St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois............................................................................. 21.5 15.7

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-New Jersey........................................................ 23.3 15.2

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania................................................................................. 23.8 13.9

Los Angeles-L.B., California.......................................................................... 16.8 13.8

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota................................................................... 17.6 12.2

San Francisco-Oakland, California............................................................... 17.3 11.5

Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas....................................................................... 13.7 10.8

Cleveland, Ohio................................................................................................ 13.3 9.8

Baltimore, Maryland....................................................................................... 13.7 8.6

Detroit, Michigan............................................................................................. 11.0 9.4

Buffalo, New York........................................................................................... 12.2 8.0

Omaha, Nebraska-Iowa.................................................................................. 10.4 7.9

Cincinnati, Ohio, Kentucky............................................................................ 10.3 6.7

Jersey City, New Jersey (Newark).................................................................. 18.3 6.6

Houston, Texas................................................................................................. 7.9 6.3

Louisville, Kentucky-Indiana......................................................................... 8.6 6.3

Portland, Oregon-Washington....................................................................... 7.8 5.7

Sacramento, California..............................................................................•... 5.4 5.7

Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia......................................................... 5.6 8.0

Jacksonville, Florida........................................................................................ 5.4 3.2

Boston, Massachusetts..................................................................................... 5.4 10.1

Total Employment, 23 Leading SMSA’s........................................... 366.4 259.0

Total Railroad Employment, United States...................................... 1,121.0

32.7

698.0

Total, 23 Leading SMSA’s as a Percent of all Railroad Employment ................................................................................................... 37.1

1 While data are generally comparable for 1957 and 1967,

some counties have been added or removed from SMSA’s in the

interim. Where comparisons were made, differences were less

than one percent.

SOURCE: From unpublished Bureau of Labor Statistics

data for SMSA’s; total railroad employment, 1957, 1967, Office

of Business Economics.

NOTE: Total railroad employment 1957-1967 percent

change: —37.7

SMSA railroad employment 1957-1967 percent

change: —29.3

83

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8 4 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

2. Changes in composition of SMSA’s, March 1957 and 1967

Chicago, Illinois..................................

St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois...............

Los Angeles-Long Beach...................

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota__

San Francisco-Oakland, California..

Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas.........

Cleveland, Ohio..................................

Baltimore, Maryland..........................

Cincinnati, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana

Houston, Texas...........

Sacramento, California

McHenry County, added

Lake County, deleted

Jefferson County,-added 12/58

Franklin County, added 10/63

Orange County, deleted 10/63

Washington County, added 12/58

Solano County, deleted 10/63

Cass and Platte Counties, added 10/63

Geauga and Median Counties, added 10/63

Carroll and Howard Counties, added 6/59

Harford County, added 3/67

Clermont and Warren Counties, Ohio, and Boone 

County, Kentucky, and Dearborn County, 

Indiana, added 10/63

Brazoria, Ft. Bend, Leberty, and Montgomery Counties, added 3/65

Placer and Yolo Counties, added 10/63

Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia 

Boston, Massachusetts...........................

Loudoun and Prince William Counties, Virginia, 

added 3/67

Some towns were added in 6/59 and in 10/63. Breakout of railroad data not available by towns.

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Appendix V

1. Railroad unions

BLE

UTU

RASA

TDA

BBF

BMWE 

BRASC 1 2

BRC

BRS

SCP

HREU2

IAM

IBEW

IBFO

RYA

SMW

TWU 2

DIST 50

UTSE

USA

A . The operating brotherhoods

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (Independent)

United Transportation Union

B. The nonoperating unions

American Railway and Airline Supervisors Association 

American Train Dispatchers Association

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and 

Helpers

Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees

Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and 

Station Employees

Brotherhood of Railways Carmen of America 

Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen 

Brotherhood of Sleeping-Car Porters

Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers

Railroad Yardmasters of America

Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association

Transport Workers Union of America, Railroad Division

International Union of District 50, Allied and Technical Workers of the United States and 

Canada (Independent)

United Transport Service Employees 

United Steel Workers of America

BRASC

GLLO

HREU

ILA

IUOE

MMP

MEBA

NMU

RMU

SIU

TWU

DIST 50

C. Marine unions in railroading

Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and 

Station Employees

Great Lakes Licensed Officers Organization (Independent)

Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union

International Longshoremen’s Association

International Union of Operating Engineers

International Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots

National Marine Engineers Beneficial Association

National Maritime Union of America

Railroad Marine Union

Seafarers International Union of North America 

Transport Workers Union of America

International Union of District 50, Allied and Technical Workers of the United Sates and 

Canada (Independent)

1 All unions listed are AFL-GIO, unless otherwise designated.

2 Also appears in Marine Union List.

SOURCE: 34th Annual Report of the National Mediation Board (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1968) pp. 88-89.

85

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Bibliography

I. Federal Government Publications

A. U. S. Interstate Commerce Commission—

A Five Year Market Forecast for Commuter Railroad Cars, (Statement No. 5227), June 1952.

Accident Bulletin, No. 123, Bureau of Transport Economics and Statistics, 1955, 95 pages.

Florida East Coast Railway Company Vs. United States of America and Interstate Commerce Commission, U. S. District Government for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division, (Civil 

Action No. 64—64—CIV-J), July 1964, U. S. GPO: 1964, 207 pages.

Freight Commodity Statistics, class 1 railroads in the United States, 1968.

Report—Section of Railroad Safety, Bureau of Railroad Safety and Service, 1966, 37 pages.

B. Other Federal Government Publications—

Annual Report, Railroad Retirement Board, 1949, 1967, 1968.

Bowden, Witt, Productivity, Hours and Compensation of Railroad Labor, Monthly Labor Review:

Part I, All Employees Vol. 37, No. 6, December 1933, pages 1275-1289;

Part II, Classes other than Transportation Employees Vol. 38, No. 1, January 1934, Pages 

43-72;

Part III, Transportation Employees Vol. 38, No. 2, February 1934, pages 269-288.

Census of Transportation, 1963, U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, pages 

25-45.

Congressional Record, First report on High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965, October 3, 

1966, Volume 112, No. 167.

Feasibility and Cost of Expanded Intercity Air Service in the Washington-Boston Corridor, U. S. 

Department of Commerce Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Document No. P.B. 166-883, 1964.

Indexes of Output Per Man-Hour, Selected Industries, 1939 and 1947-70, U. S. Department of 

Labor, BLS, 1967, (Bulletin No. 1692).

Job Patterns for Minorities and Women in Private Industry, 1966, Equal Opportunity Report No. 1, 

Part II, U. S. Equal Opportunity Commission, Washington, D.C., 1968.

National Transportation Policy, U. S. Congress, Senate, Committee of Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 1961.

Railroad Shopcraft Factfinding Study, Labor-Management Services Administration, September 1968, 

175 pages.

Railroad Shopcraft Factfinding Study, Labor-Management Services Administration, appendix Volume, September 1968, 211 pages.

Science and Technology in the Railroad Industry, National Academy of Science—National Research 

Council, August 1963, 130 pages.

Showing the Implication and the Significance of Automation in Major Switching Yards of the Railroad Industry, Testimony of S. R. Hirsh, Chief Engineer, before the congressional subcommittee 

on economic stabilization, October 27, 1955.

Studies Relating to Railroad Operating Employees, Appendix Volume III to the Report of Presidential Commission, pages 136-171, February 1962.

The 1963 Railroad Arbitration Act, Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 86, No. 10, pages 1187-1188, 

October 1963.

8 7

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8 8 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970’s

II. Books and Reports

American Railway Car Institute Market Forecasting Commitee, Projection of Freight Car Demand

Through 1975, April 1967.

Banner, Paul H., Predicting Transportation Demand, Papers of the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Forum, Transportation Research Forum, December 1966, pages 107—113.

Barger, Harold, The Transportation Industries, 1889-1946, A Study of Output, Employment and

Productivity, National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1951.

Beisher, G. M., Automation— A Key to Railroad Progress, “Addresses, Panel Discussion and Workshop 

Papers,” Data Systems Division Association of American Railroads, Washington, D. C., October 

17-19, 1966, pages 105-106.

Bureau of Railway Economics, Yearbook of Railroad Facts, Association of American Railroads, Washington, D.C.* Edition-1967, 1968, 1969.

Car and Locomotive Cyclopedia, Simmons-Boardman, New York, 1966, Volume I.

Cottrell, Fred, Technological Change and Labor in the Railroad Industry, Heath Lexington Books, Lexington, Massachusetts, 159 pages, 1970.

Coyne, R., “Computerization of American Railways,” Paper presented before Railway Systems and 

Management Association, Chicago, Illinois, 1964.

Crecine, John P.; Moss, Leon H.; and Stucker, James, The Census of Transportation; an Evaluation,

Paper presented at the Transportation Research Forum, 1966, Richard B. Cross Company, Oxford, 

Indiana, pages 87-105.

General Railway Signal Company, Centralized Traffic Control, Bulletin 169, Rochester, New York, 

March 1938.

Hallmann, E. H., Statement with Regard to Job Content of Trainmen and the Effects Thereon of Technological and Operational Changes, Testimony presented before the Presidential Railroad Commission, 

Washington, 122 pages, 1961.

Hultgren, Thor, American Transportation in Prosperity and Depression, National Bureau of Economic 

Research, Waverly Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 1948.

Mansfield, Edwin, Industrial Research and Technological Innovation; an Econometric Analysis, W. W. 

Norton, New York, 1968.

Mansfield, Edwin, The Economics of Technological Change, W. W. Norton, New York, 1968.

Owen, Wilfred, The Metropolitan Transportation Problem, Brookings Institution, Washington, 1966, 

266 pages.

Pell, Hon. Claiborne, Megalopolis Unbound: The Super City and the Transportation of Tomorrow,

Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., New York, New York, 166, 223 pages.

Selected Impacts of Railroad Mergers, prepared for U. S. Department of Commerce by Stanford Research 

Institute, SRI Project No. 11—4895, Menlo Park, California, May 1964.

“Survey of Computers and Computer Usage,” McGraw-Hill, April 9, 1965.

Transportation Economics; A Conference of the Universities— National Bureau Committee for Economic

Research, National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1965.

Ulmer, Melville J., Capital in Transportation, Communications, and Public Utilities: its form and financing, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1960.

Ward, Edward J., Potential New Technologies, Paper presented at the Transportation Reseach Forum, 

Richard B. Cross Company, Oxford, Indiana, pages 325-333, 1966.

Wilbur Smith and Associates, Highway Travel in Megalopolis, New York, 1963, 186 pages.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 89

III. Periodicals

A. Control Engineering—

Aronson, R. L., “Clear Track for On-Line Railroad Controls,” June 1965, pages 95-96.

“Four Views of Train Control; San Francisco Tries Them All,” December 1964, Volume II, 

pages 62-68.

B. Fortune—

“Freight Cars That Pack a Competitive Wallop,” July 1965, pages 132-137.

“The 400-M.P.H. Passenger Train,” April 1965, pages 124-129.

“The Rail Route to a More Mobile America,” July 1, 1966, pages 107—109.

C. Modern Railroads—

Ford, Nancy, “The Great Merger Maze,” October 1966, Volume 12 Number 10, pages 72-82. 

“Intro,” November 1967, pages 50, 60, 62.

Roberts, Robert, “Pennsy Metroliners Readied for Corridor,” November 1967, pages 64-65.

Shedd, Tom, “Where Do Railroads Stand on EEO?” February 1969, pages 40-42, 44-45.

“Tops: Real-Time Control Over 14,000 Miles,” December 1969. pages 47-50.

D. Railway Age—

“ACL Sets Up a New Office Operation to Take a Letter,” December 5, 1966, pages 42—43. 

Barnette, Frank, “What it Takes to be a Growth Industry,” August 18, 1969, pages 14—16, 25. 

Interview with Thomas Goodfellow, President, AAR, “A New Research Effort for the Railroads,” 

March 31, 1969, pages 30-32, 81-82.

“Microwave: There’s Dramatic Growth Ahead,” Robert McKnight, May 23, 1966, pages 18-19. 

“Railroads Cite Shortage of Signal Personnel,” August 15, 1966, page 59.

“Railroads must Rethink Their Basic Goals,” February IQ, 1969, pages 14 ff.

“Remote Control Saves Money,” January 12, 1959, pages 16, 21.

“Six Axle Designs Popular as New AC-DC Diesels Reach the Roads,” October 17, 1966, 

pages 24—26.

E. Railway Signaling and Communications—

“Automatic Car Identification,” (Special Report Part I) April 1968, pages 20, 21, 32, 34. 

“Automatic Car Identification,” (Special Report Part II) May 1968, pages 13-23.

“By 1980 Railroads will have Total Information Controls,” October 1967, pages 23-26.

“Hotbox Detectors Cut Out Journal Losses on B & O,” August 1966, pages 13-15.

Kellar, W. M., Vice-President Research Association of American Railroads, interview in November 

1965, conducted by Railway Age, November 1965.

“Railroads Keep Computers Busy,” September 1968, pages 21-32.

“Railroad Microwave has Big Future,” June 1966, page 16.

“Railway Cybernetics: Train project gets underway,” March 1969, pages 17-25.

“Railway Cybernetics: ACI gets DSD Attention,” October 1969, pages 30, 35, 37.

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90 RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY AND MANPOWER IN THE 1970's

F. The Signalman’s Journal—

“Application of Digital Computers to Solve Traffic Control Problems,” J^nuary-February 1967, 

pages 18-19.

“C&NW Maintenance Crew in Step with 20th Century Signal Technology,” April 1965, pages 87-90.

“I.C.C. Decides Fate of Rule Revisions,” March 1966, pages 63-71.

G. Traffic World—

“Northern Lines, Say they Can Save $39.7 Million Annually by Merging,” March 11, 1967, 

pages 70-71.

“Rails Build Piggyback Facilities,” June 24, 1967, page 46.

H. Other Periodicals—

“A High-Speed Bid for Business,” Business Week, February 4, 1967, pages 126-128.

“Erie Enlarges Croxton Piggyback Yard in Jersey City,” Via Port of New York, July 1969, page 13.

Evans, R. K., “Computers: How do These Machines Relate to Railroading,” Trains, September 1967, 

pages 42-48.

“Railroads on the Automation Track,” Electronics, January 9, 1967, pages 168-170.

“Rundown on Automation,” Trains, March 1961, page 22.

“Personnel Policies in the Railroad Industry,” Higdon C. Roberts, Jr. Personnel Journal, August 

1971, pages 630-36.

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