The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1913-11-13
BEGIN VALUATION
OF RAILROADS
Preliminary Work for Gigantic Task
Now Fairly Under Way-Judge
Purdy To Have Charge.
SURVEY ALL LINES IN COUNTRY
More Than Hundred Surveying Par
ties, Totalling 1900 Men To In
spect Every Mile of Roadbed


spect Every Mile of Roadbed
BY Congressman Clyde H. Tavenner.
Washington, November 49, That
gigantic task-the valuation of the
100000 miles of railroad in the
United States-is now fairly under
way. The exact methods to be used in
striking the final estimates have not
yet been determined upon by the In
terstate Commerce Commission, but
the preliminary work which must be
done in any case has started. Judge
Charles A. Prouty, who resigned
from the Commission in order to take
charge of the great work, is now on
the job, and is laying plans which
call for the employment of thousands
Of men and the expenditure of thou
sands of dollars.
One of the first things to be de-
termined is just exactly what and
surprising fact that the railroads
themselves are unable to furnish this
information. In general way they
have inventories of their systems, but
few of them are able to show detailed
plats Of their properties, showing
what they own and where it is.
AS result Uncle Sam, under
Judge Prouty's direction, is about to
send out $50 surveying parties-a
total of about 1900 men-to take
the railroad inventory and draw the
first detailed railroad map of the
United States. These parties will ira
vel in special cars fitted up to be
working offices. They will systema-
tically cover the entire country, Sc
curing accurate descriptions Of every
foot of real estate owned by rail-
roads, structures which have been
built, and the like, Every foot of the
right of way will be inspected by the
engineers with these parties with the
idea of determining the character of
work on the roadbeds.
This ground-plan survey" said
Judge Prouty, "will describe the cuts,
fills, grades, ETC., giving measure
ments in detail so that it will be pos
sible to calculate exactly what ac-
tually has been done to bring the
work to It's present status. Bridges
will be measured and described, so
that when the work is done we will
be able to tell the physical facts
about every mile of road-how much
has been made, how much fill, what
kind Of material has been used, what
kind of ballast and how much, and
all such physical facts"
Thus when later the Commission
is trying to arrive at correct val
nation 1t need only to turn to it's own
records to know the character of road
that has been built.
Another enormous task which the
Commission is preparing to start at
once is that of writing the corporate
history of every railroad in the
United States. This history was ex-
pressly authorized by Congress in the
enabling act. The search of court,
legislative and railroad records will
take the investigators back rs years
to the beginnings of railroad build
ing in the United States. The method
of financing the first narrow-gauge
spurs must be learned, If possible,
and the financial history traced all
the way up through the consolidation
and absorption of railroads into the
systems we know today.
To give this work form, Judge
Prouty has adopted the expedient of
naming a number of specimen rail-
roads of comparatively recent con-
struction and having their histories
worked up as models to follow in the
work of compiling the facts connect
ed with the larger and older systems.
For this purpose the group of models
includes the San Pedro, Los Angeles
& Salt Lake, in the far west; the
Norfolk & Southern in the east; the
Birmingham, Atlanta & Atlantic in
the south, and the Kansas City South
ern or the Iron Mountain in the mid
die west.