Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-12-04


York and Chicago--Six Thousand
Freight Trains in Constant Motion
--How Freights May be Reduced
Three-Quarters.
From the New York Graphic, Nov 30
A new and important railroad
movement is said to be on the tapis.
1t is understood that the management
Of the New York Central and Lake
Shore Railroads are contemplating
the formation ola joint company, with
a view of having exclusive freight
tracks all the way from Chicago to
New York and Boston. The extra
two tracks between Albany and
Buffalo are nearly completed, and the
plan is to continue the extra double
tracks from Buffalo to Chicago. When
this is done it will be possible to
carry freight at very much cheaper
rates than it can now be handled on
the Baltimore q Ohio Railroad, not
withstanding the horter distance on
the last mentioned railway. 1t is be-
lieved that the freight can be trans
ported on an exclusive freight track
at rates not very much above those
charged on the Erie canal. The
trains are to be run at the rate of
eight miles an hour, which is the
rate that gives the least wear and tear
Of track land cars. On uniform
time table the freight track not being
hampered by passenger trains or
trains Of unequal rates OF speed, an
incidentally large amount of business
can thus be done. Under such an
arrangement it would be possible to
run trains which would be less than
half mile apart. Now, as the dis
lance from New York to Chicago is
about 1000 miles, if we allow that
under such regulations as the above
there would be three trains of from
ten to twenty cars per mile, we should
have the enormous aggregate, on the
two tracks, of 5000 trains constantly
in motion. Such stupendous
amount of business as this would en-
able the companies to reduce freight
charges to u point far below anything
now thought of. Under uniform
time table it would be possible to
throw open the freight business to
general competition and take private
cars upon the line in the same way
that private canal boats are taken
upon our canals. This would give
free trade in freight in its most per
feet form. With a quadruple track
it is believed that the Central Rail
road could defy competition and
carry freight at one-third the charges
of the Baltimore q Ohio Railroad,
and the immediate effect of the
change would be the ruin of the Erie
Railroad. The way this grand
scheme is to be carried out is as yet
undetermined, but it is contemplated,
we are assured; in fact it is forced
upon the New York Central by the
cxigencies of the situation. OF course
in taking this departure, the New
York Central will cut loose from all
connections with other trunk lines,
and will undoubtedly force the Penn
sylvania Central into a similar ar
which would give these
two roads the practical monopoly and
complete command of the freight
business, at the same time meeting
the growing demands Of the country
for cheap freight.
The cost of this vast improvement
would be commensurate with its I'M
portance, but, after all, would not
to such a sum as to be i'm
possible for such a powerful corpora
ton as would be formed by the com
bination Of the New York Central q
Hudson River, and the Lake Shore
IL Michigan Southern companies.
The first named company, with the
lease of the Harlem Road and its adj
ditional tracks now nearly completed
between Albany and Buffalo, has
practically Il quadruple track from
New York to Buffalo, and of the
whole distance between Buffalo and
Chicago-54l miles-thc Lake Shore
and Michigan Southern has now 1913
miles of double track. There re-
mains, therefore, but 2l9 miles of
single track to be llid to make that
section double track railway, and
but 54l miles more of double track
to complete the quadruple track from
New York to Chicago. At the latest
prices paid for honest and economical
this work could be
done for 1875, 100000. The united
capital Of the two roads amounts to
$3.50, 300, and the funded debts
of the two roads are about S64,O00,-
900. Ar addition of S25 100000 to
the latter would make the aggregate
liabilities of the combined company
to S22S, 100000, which, with
the new tracks proposed and present
length of main road and branches,
would make an average Indebtedness
per mile of single track Of less than
$780, 900.