The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-09-19
watch ON ONE ANOTHER
That Is the Purpose Of the Car Ser
vice Association.
IT'S A NEW RAILROAD IDEA
How the Joint Agreement OF Seventeen
Railroads Is Watched and I'm
forced by One Burcau-Little
known ofIts Workings.

For four and a half years there has
been located in Scranton the headquar-
ters of one of the most modern asso-
Citations connected with latter-day rail-
reading. and one of the most useful in
its relation to the great freight car
ricrS. Yet it is probable that scarcely
more than one in hundred persons.
outside those who have daily dealings
with the railroads. know of the exist
encr of the association referred 10.
which seems all the more strange con-
sidering that this one of many similar
Institutions saves each year hundreds
Of thousands of dollars to the rail-
roads it represents.
Reference is made to the Northeast
ern Pennsylvania Car Service assocla-
tion, a long title which, however. does
not reveal a purpose. Briefly stated
the concern Is an aSsocia ton of sin
teen railroads in this region whose
main office Is in the commonwealth
building, and whose purpose Is to keep
Il check ON one another in seeing that
their joint agreement tn charge dcmur-
rage on loaded ears is enforced.
For several years Pour's manual has
contained statistics showing that the
average daily earnings of the freight
cars throughout the whole United
@liAeS lS u llttl' over VI tltU, no ulIbW
auCe being made for the time the cars
stand on switches or are In the shops.
This is an important fact to remember
in perusing this article about the Car
Service association. as II looks to the
enforcement of Il joint agreement. pIO-
viding that 81 per day per car shall be
collected from consigneeS who fail to
unload their goods within forty-eicht
hours after delivery at a given point.
The difference between the 81 per day
earning capacity of the car and the 81
penalty eNacted from the consigncc
represents a theoretical loss of 81 per
day 10 the company.
Has Been in Existence Six Years.
X was only about six years ago that
an association, similar to the one whose
headquarters is in Scranton, was To-
Gated in Buffalo. 1t represented all
the railroads operating in western New
York, and was fought from the begin
ming by the press and large buyers,
who printed and said things about
more robhlng and screwing by greedy
corporations"
Possibly that accounts for the chip
on the shoulder of A. G. Thomason
when he came from the Buffalo office
to manage the business of the North
the business was a reform which had
come to stay, so the chip never had
blow aimed at 1t; in fact. the business
OF the association Is almost unknown
outside the circle of car-lot consigners
with whom it comes in contact.
Five hundred station agents make
daily reports of loaded cars delivered
at and taken from their stations. A
system of checking in the Scranton Of
flee reveals whether or not car has
been left standing over the time al
lowed for unloading. But the business
of the association does not end with
any agent until the storage penalty
has been paid. In order to guard
against false reports from station
agents an Inspector is located in the
railroad yards of Scranton. Wilkes
Barre. Williamsport and Hoboken. and
it is his duty TO make Inspections a un-
expected times in all the yards in his
district. Dismissal Is meted out to the
agent who has falsified his car reports
a comment made by William +. Hall
stead general manager of the Della
ware. LackawanRa and Western road.
well illustrates what amount of money
the association has saved the large
freight carriers. During the fall and
winter of 1S9O-91 the Lackawanna and
many other roads suffered a car famine.
There We're Not Cars Enough.
Shippers We're making a demand for
cars at a ratio of almost 3 to / COM
pared with the ability of the railroads
to supply the need. The Lackawanna
road proposed not to be caught in such
a prcdicament again, and LOCO new
box cars were forthwith ordered. 1t
was about this time that the associa-
tion began its work in Scranton. A
few weeks later Mr. Hallstead was
asked what he thought of the new idea.
He replied:
II think so well of it that If I had
known what it was capable of doing
! would not have ordered 1000 new box
cars" This remark merely proved
that the association had done much
toward lifting the blockade of loaded
cars and had given the companies roll
ing stock to meet the demands of ship
pers.
The car service association idea
originated in the brain of an Omaha
railroad man and after its adoption in
the west was sought on all sides, chief
ly, however. because it represented a
new method for facilitating freight
transportation and incidentally collect
ed penalties from individuals who had
previously been permitted to hold cars
almost any length of time before re-
shipping to third parties. The privi-
lege of re-shipping is still accorded con.
signers, but the time for so doing is
curtailed to meet the joint agreement
OF the railroads. which agreement Is
looked to by the association.
Yesterday the quarterly meeting of
the Car Service association was held
and was attended by seven representa-