Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-09-04
FREIGHT MOVEMENTS.
Heavy Demand on the Southern Pacific
Company for Cars.

Heavy Demand on the Southern Pacific
Company for Cars.
The Southern Pacific Company is just
now feeling pressure on its freight trans
portation facilities that it has never felt be-
fore. Every available car is pressed into
service and is used SO as to get the greatest
amount of service from it. The operating
department is seeing to it that cars are re-
turned from other lines as promptly as
possible and fruit cars are constantly being
hauled back empty from the East TO sup
ply the demand here. With all this sew
eral thousand more cars could be put to use
if the company had them. All this is be-
cause the aggregate freight business of the
State at the present time exceeds that OF
any former year. 1t is also result of the
fact that the principal PRODUCES of Califor-
MIA all move at about the same time.
From the first of August to the beginning
of the rainy season the grain, fruits, hops,
raisins and other products of the State are
in movement, and the present activity will
increase rather than diminish up to the be-
ginning of the rains.
There has been heavy wheat crop in
the San Joaquin valley, as well as in other
parts of the State. and interior shippers are
clamoring for cars which they cannot get.
If the company should provide more grain
cars it would not help matters, however,
faster than it can be handled there. The
capacity of the warehouses and other facili-
ties at Port Costa, where most of the grain
of the State is sent, is about $50 carloads
day. This amount is now being handled
daily and 400 carloads are kept waiting on
sidetracks. Car Service Agent Richardson
says that if all the cars wanted by shippers
were supplied the only result would be a
blockade of cars for ten miles on both
sides of Port Costa.
The Unprecedented fruit shipments of the
present season have created the greatest
pressure. There are 1,316 cars built ex-
pressly for fruit transportation now en-
gagged in carrying California fruits to the
Eastern markets, besides other cars pressed
into the service. OF these 2S4 are refriger-
ator cars belonging to the California Fruit
Transportation Company of Chicago. There
are 125 refrigerator cars belonging to other
companies. These refrigerator cars are run
on fast freight time. The Southern Pacific
Company owns no refrigerator fruit cars,
but has 615 ventilated cars in use, with
about 300 similar cars belonging to the
Union Pacific. Fruits shipped in these
cars are sent through on passenger train
time. On Saturday night whole fruit
train started East from Sacramento, rum
ming as the second section of the regular
second class passenger train. Over twenty
carloads are sent East from Sacramento
daily. These 1900 cars fail to meet the
demand, and the shipments would be still
greater if cars were plenty. In order to
keep pace with tine great demand most of
the fruit cars are being rushed back empty,
an unusual thing in railroad operation.
The Southern Pacific Company has about
10000 freight cars, of which IA, 500 belong
TO the Pacific system. This is an abundant
supply for nine months in the year, and
more are not built for the reason that sew
eral thousand cars would stand rusting
most Of the year. The company does not
expect that the demand for cars will be so
large next year.
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