Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1911-10-28
railaoA0 FREIGHT CARS
PROVE TO BE EXPENSIVE
Railroad Officials Give Out sorae ~
terestins Figures Concerning
This Part Of Equipment

This Part Of Equipment
II the consensus of opin on ~ u
number OF leading operating Ollie tFs
Of Pittsburg railroads on the sutseSs
be of value. there Is no field es
present-day railroading whert n these.
IS so much room for Improvement ux-
wherein such vast saw ng az money
! may be effected, as In designing s.sH
constructing freight cars According.
to these expert judges, the neglect OK
the factors of structural strength
dead weight provision against the
shocks OF impact and pulling. fewness
~ parts, etc. and the general fai tuwe
70 make a symmetrical structure oe
maximum strength and mnimurm
weight. have resulted In an invest
ment of 81 .T29 905, 900 in freight ears.
which probably IS the most expensive
property in the world. This figure ~
arrived at by multiplying the inter-.
state commerce commission report or
the number of cars in the country by
the average cost OF $755. as deter
mined by the Investigations OF the
American Railroad association, the
latest figures of which give the aver
| age annual cost OF repairs and rer.
newals for that class OF rolling stock
| az $S6.af per car, OF which SCI 81 rs
| for repairs and s24.44 for renewal ans
depreciation. Accordingly, the sotaK
amount paid out for maintaining
freight car equipment each year III
/ $1sS DEL 01221, from which II is, seen.
that II 1-2 per cent OF the cost OF
every car is spent upon II every year..
although the figures given do nos IN
clude the loss OF time OF the car. nor
the expense OF deteut on and DELAY
of traffic due to defective equipment.
which would multiply the expense nv
more than three,
Expense Of Painting Cars.
Another phase OF the situations
pointed out by the exrerts whose opn-
ions are cited. Is that the expense or
ma ntalning freight cars Is almost cx-
! Getty two-thirds the entire amotlf OF
! earnings paid out In dividends. from
i which It Is envy TO prove that saving
; OF one-half Of this expense wnultF
sven dividends onethird. And II fss
believed that in time by the empfoy-
; ment of better construction and bet
ter operating methods such reductions
+. will be possible. From the showing
! made the mortality OF railway freight
equ pment would appear TO be akin
10 that OF war whereat General Sher-
mans historic comparison recurs.
! But, how much OF the expense. as
shown by the figures cited Is due to-
ordinary wear and tearg How mueis
: Is dus to accidents from any cause
/ and how much Is the result OF operat
ing methods OF defective construction
! and occurs In ordinary services
These questions are answered by 0Hes
e. the off1clals quoted. Less than
j per cent OF the cars are destroyed per-
! aanum either I'm accidents or by abu
4 sive treatment; for cars are destroy
ed even In switching to some extent
What Car Earns.
AS to earnings and upkeep freigiix
car earns, ON an average, about s2.4a
per day, and II costs nearly "a cents
per day to maintain II. Moreover
every day there are $4,000 crippIe&
freight cars undergoing or awaiting
repairs--sometimes many more
Taking the Pennsylvania, for ex
ample: Last year maintenance OF
freight cars cost s13,S40OS7, or $ag-04
Ter car, which was s3.741,526 more
than the total cost Of the fuel burned
in all It's locomotives. The totaK
freight car mileage was 81 172 6S7 49,
and the cost per freight car mills
therefore, was lis cents. Or, taking
a concrete case, to run freight train
CT 80 cars 100 miles cost for freight
maintenance. $55. compared with
sl2.97 for locomotive ma ntenance aud
Sl044 for fuel or more than two, and
| one-third times as much as the twO
aforementioned items combined. And
the Pennsylvania IS an exemplar for
| railroads quite generally In respect OF
efficiency Of operation and conserya-
ton of equipment