San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1881-12-22
ROOM LOCOMOTIVES.
u,,,J,rs Overwhelmed with Business and Unable
10 Fill orders.

.ohhapes to brown stone fronts, has
t,ken in railroad locomotives. They
have not only greatly advanced in price,
Init tine builders are unable to supply
Tho demand. The situation is upparal-
,elad in MI our railroad history. A gen.
tleman who is very high authority in
these matters, when questioned by a
representative of the New York Tele-
mann said: "The demand for engines
"a so great that the roads which can
noysibly dispose of engines second
hand engines-obtain an advance of
from 81 900 to $4,000 over the market
prica for future deliveries, on account
of the advantages gained in their imme'
date use, Some of the largest orders
plared are those for the Denver and
Rio GrnnIe, which road has ordered
about $50 engines within the last six
months, the Baldwin works receiving
the greate>t number of orders.
"Fuur cl So ) Of locomotives are man
ufactured here t the eight wheel, or
American type, the Mogul or six wheel
driver, the consolidation eight wheel
driver, and a class which is modifca
ton of the consolidated, with only one
pair of leading wheels. The cost of all
these engines has advanced 40 per cent.
during the last two years. Taking into
the estimate all these classes the aver
age cost of locomotive is now from
$4,000 to $1,000. The price of tho
heaviest and most costly locomotive
made here is about $lS0,000.
$50 great is the pressure that no 10
connective shop in the country could
build a single engine, if ordered now,
before August of next year without in.
terfering with present orders. The
Baldwin Locomotive works of Phila-
delphia have already orders which will
even cover the entire time to March,
1883 The Rogers works at Paterson
on Friday last closed an order for 100
locomotives. III brief the demand for
railroad engines is far greater than the
supply. BY the way, this pressure of
demand over supply in railroad opera
tons is by no means confined to loco
motive building. The car builders are
quite as crowded. The contractors for
steel rails are equally at their wits end.
From October of last year to October
of this year there were orders for
about 10000 tons of steel rails; and
yet if an order were given to-day for
steel rails for 100 miles of road the
stock could not be delivered before next
July. 1t would be hard, also, for the
foreign manufacturers to fill orders be-
fore next March, and the duty on their
rails would be $2S per ton. Here is
another singular thing: The manufac-
turers of railroad machines and tools,
used in various processes in the con-
struction of locomotives, ETC., cannot
fill their orders. Bement & Sons, of
Philadelphia, about the heaviest firm in
this line in the country, will not be able
to deliver single machine outside OF
existing orders before 1888. OF course
this matter largely governs everything
ntoo g., &c oannnf hn ho6
the locomotives cannot be finished"
"To what do you mainly attribute
this pressure upon the locomotive
builders?"
"The great strain is upon account of
new roads. For instance, this year
5000 miles of new roads and extensions
have been built. The Chicago, Milwau-
kee & st. Paul railroad ordered $50
engines last year"
alas this greater demand caused
many orders to be sent abroad for loco
motives?"
"Three or four months ago an order
was given a firm in Yorkshire, Eng
land, for eight locomotives, as a trial.
1t is supposed that they are for the
Pacific coast. The great difficulty
about buying engines abroad is the
duty. One road in this country is
ready to accept offers for 100 foreign
built engines so soon as this tariff ques-
ton is settled. 1t is estimated that the
average duty would be about so per
cent, so that the eight light built en-
gines that 1 have mentioned, costing