Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1888-02-17
CHASING THE CARS.
How the Great Railroads Keep Track Of
Their Rolling Stock.

hOil1nB otOchs
Car chasers are among the most inn
portant employees of the great trunk
lines of railroads. The title exactly
describes their business. On some rail-
roads they are called travelling car
agents. The department head who en-
ploys them is also called variously the
car agent, the car accountant or the
superintendent of rolling stock. These
officials have as many as dozen as
sistants on some of the great roads,
nine or ten being clerks at $50 or $40
month, and the rest being chasers who
travel all over the country on free
passes hunting up missing cars, and
who receive $12O or 800 a month and
expenses.
Great railroads have immense num-
bers of cars. The Central railroad Of
New Jersey has about 35, 900 of all sorts;
the Pennsylvania railroad 10000 or
10000. These cars are at the present
moment in every State in the Union.
They 60 wherever the freight with
which they are loaded is billed to, and
thus are scattered from Winnipeg to
Mexico and Los Angeles to Bangor. A
most minute and thorough system, OBJ
tanning on all railroads except the very
smallest, records every movement of
every car. This system operates at all
junction points, where the agents re-
cord the ownership and number of
every car that passes from their road
to connecting line, and Immediately
notify the roads whose cars are thus in
motion, as well as the car accountant
of their own road. These notifications
are made by postal card. In each
general Office car account books are
kept, and the movement of the COM
pany's own cars are recorded from
day to day. Whenever a loaded car is
emptied on foreign road, that road
uses it to carry load of freight back
in the direction of the road to which
the car belongs. 1t pays at the rate of
seven-eights cent mile for this use of
its neighbours property in this way, and
if it should happen that there was no
freight to be shipped in that direction
within a reasonably short time. the
empty car is sent along and mileage is
paid on it as if it were laden.
1t is when number of cars are lost
sight of that travelling agent is sent
out. Sometimes it happens that the
cars are on little branch roads idle and
overlooked, sometimes they have fallen
into the hands of company that is
short of cars and full of business, and
sometimes other equally simple causes
delay it. If it is in use by company
short of cars, that company pays mile
age on it, until it sometimes happens
that car is worn out and paid for be-
fore it is returned. or else it is never re-
turned at all. If a car chaser demands
the return of his company's cars, they
are sent home, but often others are
seized and put to use when his back is
turned, and he is travelling elsewhere.
If a car is smashed up in railroad ac-
cident, it is either rebuilt, new one is
made, or the price of the car is paid to
the owners by the company on whose
track the smash-up occurred.
Every contingency is provided for in
the system that has grown up among
the great roads. Recently the master
car builders of the country agreed on
set of schedule of prices for every con-
ceivable damage to cars, and the result
is going to be that the rolling stock of
all the roads will grow more and more
uniform in style and quality, since it is
agreed that only serviceable parts
shall be put on cars that need mending,
no matter how expensive and fanciful
those parts may have been originally.
~ Y Sun