The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-05-17
RAILROADS.
RIGID ECONOMY
The ORDER NOW
NORTHWESTERN ROADS WATCH
ING ALL COMERs CLOSELY.

ING ALL COMERS CLOSELY.
Efforts Being Made to Keep Service
Up to Standard, but at Reduced Cost
Improvements Are Being POST
poned and Cost of Maintenance Cut
to a Minimum.
Special to The Journal.
New York, May 17.-For the month
of March all the northwestern and |
north Pacific railroads reported a de- |
crease Of about per cent in gross
and of nearly 10 per cent in net earn
ings. The figures are about the same
relatively as for the traffic of the |
country at large. With the exception
roads, all lines reported similar re-
suits. Since the end of March the |
managers of these northwestern lines
have adopted more rigid system of
economy. On the Milwaukee, Wiscon-
sin Central, Great Northern, Northern
Pacific and 500 lines the method Of
economy has gone farther perhaps
[ than on the Union Pacific, North
| Western, Canadian Pacific or Great
| Western. It is specifically stated that
| the economies will not disturb the
efficiency Of the service. A local Mil
| WauKee Official from the ST. raul Ill
| vision in New York recently said:
1.-The aim is to cut down the unit
! cost on the road. In other words, we
are trying to get the expense Of NOV
ing the average ton of freight and
| the average passenger one mile down
to the lowest possible figure without
| impairing the efficiency Of the serv-r
ice To do that we must make one
man do the work. of two in many cases
4 and make one engine do the work
1 of perhaps one and a quarter.
SIT is a difficult problem. A rail-
road cannot lay. off number of its
freight and passenger trains, because
is running down. To avoid that and
still make operation cheaper, is the
problem we are all working on at
present. When the passenger bust
ness gets very light we can cut off
coach here and a sleeper there, and
SO save a few dollars of hauling cost.
We can watch Incidental expenses
closely. At such times there is gen.
orally pretty rigid checking up of
conductors accounts, station receipts,
etc. Freight is more difficult prob
lem. The best medium of economy
is the increase OF the car load and
the. train load. Itsis an axiom that a
train consisting of just as many cars
7 as the engine canfhaul over all grades
without helpers, each car loaded ex-
actly to capacity, IS the cheapest train
to operate. In times when traffic
lightens, it is difficult to divide your
traffic so that these two, factors can
be put together. For instance, sup-
pose a station wants ten cars a week
in full times, and loads those ten cars
to capacity. All other stations on the
line have also . their fairly regular
amount of tonnage. The system es-
tablishes it's way freight to pick up
II 90 talr p bar To a wi SiO on
point At that poif1tsa certain number
I Of trains are made up each week for
I a. thru train to- says Chicago. When
: traffic gets lighter,sthe trains made up
A at division points will be either fewer
In number or lighter If they are
fewer the service fs jumped only the
I shippers,s whozMantito know why their
4 shipments are two days or SO slower
sgoaesss OUT lighter &s.an their capacity
there is waste of engine power. Il
These losses are &c. almost , inevitable
in dull times. They are offset by keep.
q ing the maintenance corps at as low
a figure as is possible. compatible with
q safety and with the maintenance o.
z the line in just as good shape as ever
There are thousands of little meth
D DDS in daily use on all the lines of the
northwest. It hits the makers @
rails, the wire men, the carpenters
q joiners, furnishers, etc., pretty hard
r taking it all in all.
81 I'm the great big things the econom!
q is more marked. For instance, I be
ieve that our road has decided t.
hold up, for the time being, grea
e deal of double-tracking That save
Z about $4,000 a mile on the division
It saves about $4,000 a mile in rail
r alone. Then, again, I understand tina
e the Rock Island has held up its bal
lasting in Iowa. That saves it posi-
bly, $1,200,000 a year on those divi
= sions'' a# z-..
The remarks of this official wer
+ approved by the representatives of tn
81 Great Northern Northern Pacific
s. Union Pacific and Wisconsin Central
FL The Union Pacific has not apparently
felt the need for the same degree o
+ economy as the others, but it is .ad
"a mitted that if traffic does not 500
h pick up, some such regime is likel
r on that system alsoa "A Great North
ern man said: 535ss E-':3
"Mr. Hill was wise enough to &c
about year aheadgof the other road
II. in this respect. He started to econo
rnize in this way about twelve month
before the others saw itaconing. TIL
st. only big. expenditure that T know c
80 on his line in the past. eightee
= months, was the work onsthe steam
= ships, and that will pay for itself
the long run. It had to be done.
- Observation-Disclosures. a, AN,