The Washington times., 1901-08-12
SECOND HAND RAILROADS.
Men Who Make Fortunes Dealing
in Cumbersome Property.
The Latest Profitable Profession and
the Methods EmpIoyed--Anythin
From Damaged Locomotive to "a
Weather-Beaten Railway station.

yet been painted on anyone's Office door,
but it soon will be, If the present can ever
be taken as a reliable guide to the fu-
ture
1t is now possible TO buy secondhand
every part of railroad except the right
of way. If you want to build cheap
railroad you can buy secondhand spikes,
secondhand ties, second hand rails, sec
ond-hand fishplates, secondhand frogs,
switches, signals. operating towers. switch
levers lanterns, and cattle guards. There
are also for sale second hand water tanks.
coal chutes, street gates, alarm gongs,
and the batteries for working them, sec
ond-hand bridges, water barrels, and
hand flags You can view a fine stock
of second hand stations, telegraph offices,
baggage platforms, weighing machines,
passenger platforms, sheds, warehouses
grain elevators, turntables, telegraph
poles, wire and picket fences, telegraph
instruments, and fire hose.
Having thus provided for a complete
secondhand track and road outfit, it is
possible to buy secondhand engines, pas
senger coaches, second-class sleeping
cars, private cars, fat cars. coal cars, oil
tanks, freight cars, cabooses, and every
other kind of car. There are also to be
had secondhand trucks, wheels, couplers,
machine shops, wheeljacks, round-houses,
FORCES, brakes of all sorts, roadbed. bal
last, grading machines, dump cars. gas
tanks, and gas COMPRISING plants, wa
ter coolers. wrecking cars, lavatories,
breakdown outfits, boilers. ice houses,
carshops, cinder heaps, ticket stamps,
ticket holders and punches. Even such
decorative accessories as station clocks
and flower gardens are also on sale
AS a matter of fact, it is now possible
to buy. secondhand, everything about a
railroad from a uniform button to a ten
wheel locomotive.
The dealer in secondhand railroad ma
terial is a person of very recent creation
His existence is due to his ability to make
money out of the railroad scrap heap.
Every large railroad desires to make its
equipment as modern as possible. I'm
provements in locomotives, in rails, In
passenger coaches and other equipment,
are constantly being made. Every new
car which a railroad buys usually dis
places an old one. Every powerful new
locomotive put into service sends an old
into the ''boneyard." Until a few years
ago there was no outlet whatever for this
old or displaced equipment, and most of
the scrap heap. H. every railroad yard
there used to be a deep pit. into which an
enormous iron ball could be dropped from
a height. Iron things consigned to the
scrap heap were placed in this pit and
broken into fragments. Afterward the
broken iron was sold to the foundries.
Little by little there arose demand for
this secondhand railroad stock. Con-
tractors, needing locomotives in their
work, often found 1t more advantageous
to buy discarded engine from the rail-
road than to purchase new one. Men
who lived along the railroad tracks In
country districts would bargain for an
old passenger or freight car. stfpulating
that the wrecking derrick should deposit
the car where they wanted it. Thou
sands of these old freight and passenger
cars are serving as cabins. granaries,
barns. or storehouses in the West
1t was not long before there arose
genius who foresaw a chance TO make
fortune in the business of buying up the
"cast-offs' of the railroads. liking the
cars etc, up a little, and then reselllng
the renovated vehicles TO less advanced
roads. The originator of the idea expect
cd to be obliged to establish sort OF
stock yard in which 10 display his wares
but he soon found that this would be un-
find anyone willing to buy discarded
equipment at fair price-for any prlce
that may be repaid by a second-hand
dealer is ever so much better than the
scrap price-that they were willing to
warehouse this material in their own
yards for any reasonable time. or until
the room was actually needed.
The originator Of the secondhand rail-
road business grew rich with such We
locity that other men were attracted to
the business. Today there are scores OF
firms engaged in the business of buying
second hand railroad material. Some buy
ANYTHING fflat they can get others con-
fine themselves to the purchase OF rolf
ing stock; of locomotives exclusively; OF
track equipment; of freights cars only,
and so on. II is lucrative business. but
il is one needing a great amount of capt.
tai to conduct it comfortably and great
cr amount of technica! knowledge to con-
duct il proftahly.
1t is said that the first man who entered
the business was a master mechanic. He
knew that his railroad was about to put
thirty-tive new and heavy locomotives IN
to service. although the engines thereby
displaced had been only a short time in
service He did not know. however. that
the railroad had the slightest idea of
either retiring or discarding the engines
so displaced. He had been told, unorti-
cIally that they We're to be used for
switching and freight. When there came
an order to put the old engines in the
back shop, preparatory to the scrap heap,
the master mechanic was astonished.
Then. so the story goes. the master me
chanic remembered that although the re-
tired locomotives were of dicarded
type, they were. nevertheless, much more
modern and serviceable than the engines
of a certain Western road. He made en-
quiries cautiously AND found that the
Eastern road would be only too glad to
buy the engines if ii could. In the ex-
pectation of winning appreciation. the
master mechanic sought the higher pow
ers OF his own railroad and unfolded his
plan.
The master mechanic did win approba-
ton. What he won was caustic request
to mind his own business. coupled with
the information that the road possessed a
competent sales agent, and had no va
cancy for another.
Instead of being suppressed by this snub
the master mechanic chose to grow angry
and obstinate. He carried his grievance
chance that the railroad was missing. The
friend had some capital; the master me
chanic had some valuable experience. The
friend managed to buy the discarded en-
gines for the merest fraction of their
value. and the master mechanic resign
ing his position, went West and sold the
engines. There is fairy tale ending to
this story to the effect that when the
president of the first railroad heard of
the exploits of his former employee he
discharged the sales agent and installed
the ex-master m. chaDic in his place.
Whether the story Is true or not, 1t has
had its effect on the secondhand railroad
business, for ii has grown to be an axiom
that at least one member OF the firm
should be either a master mechanic or a
master carbuilder. The one understands
engines; the other is supposed to be an
EXPERT on rolling stock.
No railroad nowadays thinks of sending
any old material to the scrap heap unless
it has been first submitted to the inspec-
ton of the dealers in secondhand mate
rial. Not much gets past them. Few cars
are so badly wrecked that the second
hand dealers can see no possible sale for