Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-23
CALLFREIGHT JAM.
STATE OF MIND"
Railroad Officials S a y
Present Congestion Is
Less Than Normal
NOT AS BAD AS YEAR AGO

The freight jam" in Philadelphia is
more state of mind than an actual
menace TO the prosperity of the COM
munity, IN the opinion Of prominent
railroad officials, and in support of that
opinion il Is pointed out that i'm times
past there has been much more freight
piled up in the railroad yards here than
at present and nobody gave serious
thought to the matter There Is work
to Doe Gone in getting the freight away
from the terminals. but there H. no uer1
to bc hysteIigll over the matter It was
stated
At the end OF "rreiEht-moying week
there were approximately 1000 carluHus
of freight n the yards or the Pennsyl-
yauiu Railroad waiting TO be unlo2ded.
About a year ago, just prior to the en-
trance of the United states into the
war, there were more thn 1000 cars
on hand. and Il was necessary To place
general embargo on freight shipments
i'm order to give tino TO clear the yards
here. In other words, the congestion
now. iu wartimg5 and in the midst OF
the seyorest winter known IN many
years. is ubuGt ouc-thTd Of what n was
% year ago.
There IS hopeful aud encouraging
moi" I'm the statements given out by
railroad officials today. The auuWs'nrm
yesterday was not hall as bad as it
was feared it would be. There was
little or no interruption Of traffic, he
cause the snow was of the light fluffy
variety that Is easily swept off the
tracks and did not blow into hard, Cum-
pact drifts. There was no such en-
tremely cold weather as to disable ma
Chinery and bring rolling stock tu q
'tandstll. Freight moved in almost q
normal manner.
SHORTAGE or LOCOMOTIVES
The tie-up of freight on eastern rgii-
rad lines is due more to Il shortage Of
locomotives than to anything else, ana
this shortage Is being relieved ua rapid
ly as possible by the diversion Of lo-
comotives intended for France, Italy
ana Russia to use in this country
Just after the entrance Of the United
States into the war, and about the time
/ Of the visit of the French mission to this
country, ii was represented to Govern
menT officials that the all-important need
Of the Allies was FOR locomotives for use
I'm France. In the effort 70 supply this
"ed orders were given that the output
Of all locomotive works in the country
should be devoted to supplying the needs
on the eastern front. In other words
the manufacture Of locomotives for use
I'm this country was for the time discon-
tinued.
When it became apparent that the
movement Of freight ana OF troops in
this country was being hampercd for
lack Of motive power the order to send
all locomotives manufactured to Europe
was modified ana a number Of those
. turned vt by the Baldwin ana other
locomoti . works were ordered into
service - the railroads east of the
Mississippi River. About two weeks
ago 100 Of these locomotives were ap-
portioned among the railroads, twenty
of them going to the Pennsylvania lines
east Of Pittsburgh. In addition to this
supply, the Pennsylvania reinforced its
eastern lines by the transfer of fifteen
other locomotives transferred from the
lines west of Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania Railroad officials today
! had not received notice that 200 sddi-
tlonal locomotives intended for Europe
had been diverted To use in this country.
They Said, however, that such a step
wOuld-help greatly in relieving the situ-
alton, which is becoming more and more
hopeful with each passing day.
The worst center Of congestion i'm tho
A-tioN 81 blNN' - bll Allt III hhlt Wv !
sion Of the Pennsylvania Railroad, be-
tween Harrisburg and Altoona, accord
ing to figures contained in the report of
the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Deliveries IN both directions were found
to be below normal which directly ar-
fccted the situation on the Philadelphia
division Of the road. Eight train crews
have been transferred from eastern ter
minals 10 Altoona in order to protect
eastbound business out of that city.
The increased demurraRe rates ordered
by Director General McAdoo are now
In effect, but sufficient time has not
elapsed TO make it possible to determine
what effect this will have in relieving
congestion of freight at terminals. The
TACT that it is now much more costly
than formerly 10 allow freight To re-
main in the yards will. of course. act as
a spur 10 Cousignees to move their shin
ments promptly, but il remains to be-
seen whether the labor supply and
weather conditions will be such as 70
permit Of any material Improvement in
the situation, even in the face Of the
higher demurraBe rates