National Republican., 1882-12-11
THE COST OF NEW ROADS.
what the Building OF the "NiOIscl Plate"
IIns Demonstrated.
Rrnhsircnrn

BrudStrCCts.
A few words moro about the Nickel Plate
will be in order here. If there be one thing
moro than another which the building of this
line has demonstrated, it is the utter fallacy
of the idea that parallel roads can be built to
the old-cstablished lines at one-half their
present capitalization. The thing cannot he
done. 1t is doubtful if these old roads, with
all their watered capitals, could be duplicated
to-day for anything less than nine-tenths of
their bond and stock debt IL costs about as
much to build car or locomotive now as ever
it did, so that little or nothing can be saved
on the enormous item of the new roads
equipment That cost, therefore, is the same
for the new and the old road But the diff
ference in favor of the old road when il comes
to right of way and land damages is enormous.
The rise in the value of land makes it inn
possible for the new road to get the ground
TO lay its rails upon, and, above all,
to build its stations, at anything like the
figure the old road did Being first on the
ground years back, the old road bought prop
crty at the low price which real estate sold
before the advent of u railroad caused it to
rise in value; and the growth of population
since has been steadily augmenting this. The
old road twenty or twenty five years ago might
have bought its land by the acre. the new
road coming in to-day would have to buy it by
the foot, for where were only scattered farm
houses villages have grown up, villages have
grown to towns, towns to cities, and cities
have doubled and quadrupled in population
In one small town in Ohio, through which an
old road passes, the Nickel Plate builders
would, it was found, have had to pay $4,000
for lands which the old road had bought when
| the town was represented by a blacksmith S
shop and grocery store. 1t may he said that
| the Nickel Plate has been built from Buffalo
to Chicago beside the Lake Shore, for
| S19,0000O0 of bonds and S50,000,0O0 of
| stock while the Lake Shore has the same
amount of stock and bonded debt of
| $40,000000 These figures in themselves
would seem to disprove the preceding
statements; but they vanish as arguments
against them when you inquire what each
corporation has got for its money. Between
| the equipment of the Lake Shore road and the
Nickel Plate there is no comparison. The lat
| ter would have to spend several millions more
to equal that of the Lake Shore but more
than this are the terminal facilities. These
are the costly ncceSsaries. A road with good
| terminal facilities can do business better,
| cheaper and more eXpcditiously than another
with poor ones. Terminal facilities are Tie
| important things in these days. and their cost
| is enormous. A road may be built, we will
say, for S6,000,00O between two important
cities; but when it comes to getting the
| ground for terminal facilities in them the adj
| dition of two million more, perhaps u sum in
excess of this, may have to be made to the cost
of the road, though possibly only mile added
to its total mileage. The Nickel Plate road
| has no terminal facilities in Buffalo or
| Chicago. The Lake Shore has them in both
! of value of millions The latter road, with
its branches, sidings and feeders, has mile
| age of over eleven hundred miles. The Nickel
| Plate has % straight line, and no more, of
| 52l miles. Nothing but the shrewdness of its
builders in selecting geographical position
| for their line where it would be an object toI
several large corporations to acquire it, brought
| them to u successful end with their enter
prise. As it was, the financial resources OF
the syndicate, great as they were, were put to
severe strain, and the general impression in
| Wall street is that they had too narrow an
escape to make them very ready to embark in
another such venture. Talk about paraileling
old roads has died out. The West Shore road
| which was started years ago as q rival to the
| New York Central, has been on the verge OF
utter collapse Fortunately for its promoters
they have succeeded lately in getting enough
money to finish the road but when it is done
its capitalization will not be much if any less
than that of the New York Central and the
men who lent the money have taken Il big
risk any way one puts it. The ground of theil
confidence is the same as that which the
| Nickel Plate people had-that the geographic
| cal position OF the road will compel division
of business with the Vanderbilt roads. We
may put ii down as a fact that speculative
enterprise hereafter will seek other channels
than that of attempting to duplicate old lines
with roads to be built at half their capitaliza'
tion. Experiment has demonstrated that it can.
not be done