Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-03-07
NEWS OF THE. RAILROADS.

coal is much better now than 1T was Il
month ago, and consequently they are
making much better time.
The Maine Central section men are
engaged in doing their spring cleaning
on the first nine sections out from
Portland On some other sections
they are just cutting bitches through
the snow piles to let the water run Off
a little later.
The Lackawanna r. r. has just COM
pleted some new repair shops at Scran-
ton. Pa. These car shops are equipped
with every modern appliance for re-
pairing cars and locomotives and have
n complete system of tracks connect
ing all the buildings.
Boston & Maine civil engineers are
Mt work surveying around Deerlng
Junction and the rumOr is that the
interlocking switch system which has
been in use there for some time ana
which has not given much dissatisfac-
ton is to be replaced by dlfferent
system.
Station Agent +. L. Flynt of the
Maine Central railroad has just COM
pleted figuring up the total tons OF
general merchandise forwarded from
and received at the Pennington sta
ton during the year 1902, as follows;
Received, 25,l25 tons; forwarded, AZ
$40 tons.
Freight business has been booming
on the Boston & Maine the past ten
days. and extra freights have been sent
out every day on one division or the
other. Much perishable freight, such
as apples, cabbage and potatoes Is pc
ing shipped to Boston from points in
eastern Maine.
The Boston & Maine has just sent
ont notices stating that j. Il. Harden
assistant foreman of the b. & M. car
shops at East Fitchburg. has been APP
pointed general foreman of the Bos-
ton & Maine shops at Portland in the
Mace of the late George l.. Miller. HIS
appointment took effect Monday
March 2.
The bill which has recently been in
troduced before the New York State
Legislature to compel locomotives &c
carry three men in the cab Is meeting
with severe opposition from the engi-
neers. They feel that n third mar
would be i'm the way and instead OIL
making accidents less frequent. would
neers saw that the third man would
take their attention and advance sew
eral more arguments against the bill
One locomotive engineer stated tha'
no had never known of n railroad
wreck which could have been prevent
ed by having n third man in the cab
Two of the men who most severely op'
pose the measure are the engineers
10
Empire State express. At the presen
time it does not look as If the proposed
bill would pass the Legislature.
The potato, starch and hay ship
ments of the Bangor & Aroostook rail
road for the month of February and FOL
the last six months are considerable!
smaller than for the same time the yea
previous. There are a number of rea
sons for this and one of them is tina
on the Il. & A., as on roads all over tn
country. there is a great scarcity o
heater cars or in fact any cars il
which potatoes could be shipped. Fol
lowing are some figures for both thu
month of February and for the last 81,
months are compared to the CORE
spending months a year previous
During the month of February, 1908
the Bangor & Aroostook railroad car
ried 32S,604 bushels of potatoes making
n total of 1,903,227 bushels carried
from August to March 1. 1923. Thi
Is about 62 per cent of the amour
which the road carried in the sam
months of 1912. During the mont
of February just closed 1,17S,2S
pounds Of starch were shipped via tn
Is. & A. making the total shipment TO
the past six months of August 1 t
March 1, 1923, S.691,017 pounds. Dur
ing the six months, 34,761. 800 pound
of hay have been shipped over the roa
of which 6,173,S90 pounds went for
ward in the month of February, 100;
Some idea of the business which tn
Bangor & Aroostook is doing and of tn
great resources of the county of ARGOS
took may be gained by a glance a
these figures. AS stated the past yea
has been an off year with the ARGOS
took farmers and these figures, larg
as they are, should not be taken as a
average of the amounts usual
shipped by this road.