Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1917-09-07
LUxURIES ON RAIL
No Country Has Such WastefuI
Passenger Service as
Found in America.
NUMBER OF TRAINS REDUCED
Present Condition Is Relic of Old
Days of Unrestricted Competition
Railroad President Was Alb
soiute Monarch.

American love of luxury has no bet
ter example than the passenger serv-
ice provided by the railroads of this
country. Every one knows that Amer
lean railroad trains are far in advance
of those of any other country in COM
fort, and for long distances at least in
speed also, but the travelling public
does not always realize that the great
multiplicity of passenger service pro-
vided between the important centers
of population in this country is no
less a luxury not enjoyed elsewhere
and one which the stern needs of war
may shortly make it necessary to
fOrego.
1t has long been held by some rail-
road managers that the interests of
true economy demanded some reduc-
ton in the number of passenger trains
and one of the first steps taken by the
executive committee of the American
Railway association, which is practic-
ally in control of the nations trans
portation facilities for the period of
the war, was to urge upon the various
companies the propriety of arranging
for a substantial reduction in passen-
ger service, the New York Sun says.
Play Days of RaiIroadine.
The present condition is relic, al
most the last one, of the old days of
unrestricted competition between the
Il ,tn. ss, Of
of the days when rates were made in
the traffic managers office without SUI
pervision by federal or state commits
sions, when cooperation was I'M
dreamed of and each line considered
that its duty lay in running as many
trains as were necessary to care for
all the traffic between any points which
it served regardless Of rival lines
which were certain to share to some
extent in the business.
Those were the palmy days of rail-
reading, the days of brass trimmed
locomotives, of sleeping cars fearfully
and wonderfully decorated, when di-
vision superintendent had the powers
of governor general and a railroad
president was the absolute monarch,
not only Of all he surveyed, but gener-
ally Of all the territory served by his
company. Statistics had not yet be-
gun to play a prominent part in rail-
road management. A soul satisfying
name for the newest crack train was
more important than the mere detail
of earnings per train mile.
Too Many Passenger Trains.
SO it came to pass that when the
day of the railroad czars came to an
end, as the day of all cars seems to
do sooner or later and much of the
authority which had once vested in
service commissions in the several
states, the abolition of passenger trains
became more or less q political Ques-
ton. Any attempt to do away with
one was resisted to the bitter end by
every inhabitant of the district
through which the gaudy flyer passed !;
it mattered not whether the particular
Objector had ever been aboard the
train or not. Public service commits
sions were often reluctant to fly in the
face of public opinion, population in
creased, and not only did the unproft-
able trains remain in service but there
was constant demand for more and
core trains, frequently enforced by the