The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-04-20
LOCOMOTIVES :"
GROWING SCARCE
Cannot Be Turned Out Fast
Enough to Accommodate
Increase in Traffic. So

Bernard PetEchaft of the Baldwin
Locomotive Wnrks, stopped over in the
Twin Cities yesterday. Mr.. Petsohaft
is on his way west for vacation, &C
companied by Mrs. Petschaft and Mr..
and Mrs. Augustus Shroff, of Pitts
burg.
In an interview last night Mr.. Pet
schaft declared that the shortage, rail
way. companiessare experiencing is now
soRe- of Locomotive. rather than one of
cars. The car shortage has been Sc
we're, but it is now considerably re-
lieved. The locomotive shortage exists
and continues to grow more serious.
THE condition of affairs existing"
said Mr.. Petschaft, is due very largely
to the extraordinary efforts that have
been made by the railway companies
in the east to raise the blockade that
has existed during the last few months.
Every engine that could haul few
cars has been kept in service and
worked necessarily. An engine cannot
work without rest any more than
horse can. 1t Will go on for certain
length of time without collapsing, just
as a horse will, but when 1t does col
lapse it is simply mass of scrap iron,
while in the case of the horse a rest
Il
strain has put large number of loco
motives temporarily out of business
and a lesser number are permanently
disabled.
TT is little use ordering cars now, be-
cause every car builder in the country
has more orders on his books than he
can possibly deliver for a long time to
come, but what use is there in ordering
great numbers of cars when there are
not locomotives in service to haul them.
TT is all verysswell to say that the
railway companies and the locomotive
and car companies have been remiss
in their duty to the public because they
did not anticipate so tremendous a
wave as has reduced the transportation
system in this country to SO chaotic a
state, but the fact remains that. even
the best posted zmen in the United
States on such matters could not5have
anticipated sue4l,8h avalanche of traffic.
1T is absolutely not to be doubted that
If there had Abeen such anticipation,
every effort WOULD have been made to
meet the dema4ldsRs in fact such effort
has been made5WTFh the facilities avail
able. but everything that could be done
merely served to lessen the trouble
without perceptibIy aileviating its
-Four years ago there were turned
out in the United States during the
year 1886 engines. In 1901 29,584 en-
g1neS We're manufactured. The increase
turned out to fhave been less than half
sufficient, especially in view of the fact
that of the 1928 engines added to- the
annual output IN four years. about one
third were for switching purposes and
not for general traffic movement.
There is very little prospect of a
cessation of the present great traffic
demand. The resources of the country
and the railway mileage as we'll as the
| railway usage HAYES increased out of
knowledge and the railway managers
of the country have tremendous prob
lens to solve within the next few years.
Long lines of single track will have to
be doubled if the business is to be
taken care of, and the capacity of loco
motive and car manufacturing plants is
being increased as rapidly as possible
to meet the inevitable strain that must
be-smet for all future time so far as
J it is now possible to determine"