Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-08-04
OF RAILROAD
EXCL S|ON S
ARE OVER.
of the Sunday Spe-
ciaI Train Has Vanished and
Railway Arrangements Are
Disseminating Them,

one feature of railway transporta-
ton which is receiving a great deal
less attention his year han formerly
is the problem Of excursions. In faet'
the roads in some sections of the coun-
try are almost unanimous in eliminate
ing the excursions if possible. This Is
especially noticeable in the Sunday
and holiday excursions.
In former years the Sunday eNcur-
sions of the different roads have been
looked upon as almost necessities ana
were run more because people were in
the habit Of expecting something Of
the sort thar from the pecuniary re-
turns. The excursions, however. OF
tentimes have proved advantageous
from the standpoint of profit.
However, during the past year or
two the transportation problems OF the
different roads have been greatly IN
creased. The scarcity of equipment is
"a serious problem for the railroads to
face at the present time without tho
added problems offered by the puttins
on of extra Sunday trains. For the
purpose of running a Sunday excursion
between two points il Is almost always
necessary 10 mobilize coaches and
chair Ears from different points on
the system for several days in advance.
This takes them out of service for sew
eral days while they are being brought
together and returned. In this time
the roads receive nothing for this part
of the rolling stock.
Most western roads and especially
those in the immediate section of the
country are none too well supplied
with rolling stock, The traffic at the
present time has reached the highest
point i'm the history of the west. Trat-
nc ln Colorado and other points
threatens to reach the point of conges-
ton at times. This Is a busy season Of
the year from a railroad standpoint,
People are now on their vacation. Al
this taxes the capacity of the different
systems 70 a point that IS far out OF
PROPORTION to the benefits that could
be derived from running an excursion
train.
Most Of the roads have ordcrs for
equipment which viii in time alleNl-
ate these conditions. But this time
will not arrive in the near future. The
ear shops are far behind with their
orders and large orders that called for
delivery several months ago are sttll
u"ndeliVcrcd. In some cases roads
orders as far behind as a year. At the
that the factories are taxed ut the
time It * doubtful whether the
deliveries TO the railway systems will
them to more than keep pace
with the gradual increase In business.
Scarcity OF motive power As another
that forces the Sunday cN-
cursion into the background. None IF
western roads have necessary scr
vice and in many eases the engine that
the Sunday excursion Is the only
engine that is left to take trains in
ease of an engine failure OF break
down.
Excursions have .becn found to be
detrimental to the movement Of traffic
both Of "A freight and passenger ma
ture. Traffic Is considered congcstcd
enough already. Every through
freight must s~idetrack for an eNcur-
sion and oftentimes make long delays
in this way. The fewer trains running
On the ri~ght-of-way hat the company
maintains the quicker will be their ser
vice.
Two-cent fares have served In .
to give the excursions a set
back. Even under the mileage book
moro people are enabled -
trips such as they would take on
IA excursion On a regular train. Elk
aursions are not as profitable under
the two-cent fare system they also
TO dctract from the profits of
regular traffic TO a greater extent than
under the old Hat rate Of three cents.
the prospect of a nat two-cent
rate i'm sight the demand for eX-
rursionS will become still smaller and
In q short time Il is expected that the
excursions will be done away with en-
tirely.
ON some systems there have been
orders issued by the head Of
he operating departmnt to the effect
hat excursions must be cut out as
much as possible and "a few systems
cuf them out almost entirely. |