The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-09
Branch Line Business.

- ~ e g. - q eoee sAF"n
Branch Line Business.
@. How do the branch lines Of North
Dakota compare with those of the system
with respect to the amount Of business
furnished?
A. For the six. months ending Dec I'll,
1897, the average number Of tons of freight
per month per mile of road was, on all the
branches Of this system except Dakota, 49,
729; for Dakota, 36 $40. The period constd-
cred Is favorable to North. Dakota, because
the principal movement of grain occurs in
October. November and December,
@. How do YOU distinguish between To-
cal and through business? What is the av-
erage haul upon the through business of
the system, and upon the local business
conducted within the state Of North Da-
kota7 -
A. Local business Is that which origin
ates at one po!ntc and which is transported
to another in the same state. Through
business is that which originates at points
without and Is Transported to points within
the state, or vice versa; or business orig
mating at points without the state and
passing through Or beyond 1t. &,
For the four years, 1894 to 1897, inclusive,
the average haul upon interstate business
was 679.4 miles, and upon local business
in the state Of North Dakota, "a miles.
Local Business Costs More.
O. Does It cost more or less to transport
local than to transport through business?
And Why?
+'s( A. For the siD months ending Dec.t 81,
1897, the averagesnet tons per train mile on
the branch lnes+in North Dakota were 1913;
for the same period the average net tons
per train mile on the main line, Dakota
division. 1were 303. maintain that the cost
Of conducting transportation is approx
Inately proportionate to the tonnage hauled.
would Indicate nj ha
ling local business is about 2.2 times that
of handling through, business. The period
considered is very favorable to the state Of
North Dakota, because within 1t the grain
movement occurs; and If the tonnage for
the entire year were taken, or for the first
six months of the calendar year, the dis
parity between the cost of handling through
s and local business would be much greater.
During the months of October, Novenl-
Der and December the costsof operating the
= branch lines will compare very .favorably
with that of the main dfne9 1ssit <::fg- ~.
& This comparison Of the branch with the
madnc lines affords the best possible COM
parison between the cost Of performing a
business local to- the state of. North Da-
kota and a through, or interstate business
because IL. the main lines were deprived Of
the through, or interstate, business, the
density of traffic would be about the same
as upon the branches. zoo
.,e sys Use of Different Engines.
The engines generally. used upon the main
line are Wnat are known as mOgulS; those
used on the branches are, as a rule, eight
wheel standards. and though they are light
1t is found tmpracticabie to load them to
more than about one-half their capacity,
except during the short period when the
grain Is moving. For the month Of Deem
Der, 1897, the average net tons per train
mile, on the main line of the Dakota diyi-
sion were 1893; on the branch from James,
town to Leeds, 92.S; Fargo to Edgeley and
La Moure, 1901: Sanborn to Cooperstown,
GIL; jamestown to La Moure, 1853; and on
the Missouri division tthe greater portion
2so.2. " ~ Wv 0' - ~ ~ se'N'
The business of the branch lines in North
. Dakota is not profitable, and the service
rendered is that which Is required by the
communities rather than by the business
offered; thus, the distinctively local service
in North Dakota consists of way freight
ton and Minor. daily freight between
Grand Forks and PembinaI mixed train,
daily except Sunday. between Fargo and
Edgeley; a mixed train, daily except Sun
tri-weekly mixed train between Jamestown
and Cakes, jamestown and Leeds, and Car
rington and Sykeston.
The cost Of handling local business, as
defined, must IN comparison with the
through business SO far as the state OF
North Dakota is concerned be charged with
the expense Of loading and unloading, and
the greater expense OF train service due TO
the greater number of stops, the incident
GREATER consumption Of fuel, incident wear
and tear, and consequent repairs to equip
ment. Also the slight difference In the IN.
creased wages paid to crews. by reason OF
overtime or constructive mileage. Tnere.
fore. the claim that the. cost OF the local
business bears the same relation TO the cost
of the through that the tonnage hau ,,,ed ny ny
local trains bears to the tonnage nauled by
through trains is very liberal 70 tne STATE.
O. What in your judgment is the rela-
ton between operating expenses ano e saia
reference to the business, interstate and
local. which is transported upon tnem j., anu anu
the operating expenses ana earnings " ene
same lines with respect 10 local BUSINESS
alone?
Expenses and Earnings.
I have already stated that the expense Oh
conducting transportation constitutes aDou'
60 per cent of the operating expenses vi a
railroad. For the roads OF the oni'eu
states as whole, it is somewhat more
than 30 per cent; upon the Northern "a
o,Nc A. 20 sometimes more and sometimes
a little less. The operating expenses OF the
system NAV be considered as 60 per cent OF
the gross earnings. For the year ending
June 30, 1897, they were 61.2S per cent; l
have commended that the business Of the
branch lines afforded fair illustration OF
the nature and extent OF the business unat
would be transacted by that potti9n , OF odt
If were engaged in atstrictly local business
This is an exceedingly liberal supposition,
for the reason shat the tonnage OF the
branch lines which L have used in arriving
at this conclusion includes a great deal OF
business originating at points upon these
lines and destined to points outside OF the
state and vice versa, which 1t Is not prac-
iicar,ie for me tosseparate. II this were ex-
Guided. the tonnage transported over the
branch lines would be only the strictly
local and the number of net tons hauled
per train mile would be quite insignificant.
{ have shown that for the six months end
ing Dec. 81, 1897, the cost OF conducting
TRANSFORMATION upon 1.-THE branch lines was
about 20 times that of conducting business
upon the main line, from which conclude
that the cost of transporting purely local
business would be about twice as much a.
that of the through. gor interstate business.
The cost OF conducting local transportation
would therefore ICamount to go per cent OF
the gross earnings, and as the general and
maintenance expenses amount to 80 per
cent the total cost Of operation for local
business alone would amount to 80 per cent
of the gross earnings.
am of the opinion that the cost OF per-
forming local business would amount TO
from two and one-half to three times the
cost of performing an Interstate business,
from which 1t would appear that the lines
in North Dakota could not be operated, with
respect to local business, except at loss.
On conclusion of the direct examina-
ton of Mr.. Kendrick, Attorney General
Cowan asked few questions in the
way of calculating certain points, but
nothing material was developed, and
the hearing adjourned until this morn