New-York tribune., 1919-01-08
Gray Says Lack of
Terminals Caused
Rail Congestion
Director of Operations Urges
Construction of New
Freight line at Pittsburgh
to Speed Up Traffic

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7. - Given
proper and adequate terminal facilities
for prompt disposition and unloading,
there is no question of the ability Of
the American railroads to transport all
freight offered, either domestic or for
overseas, according to Carl R. Gray,
director Of the railroad administra-
tion's division of operations, whose re-
port for 1918 was made public to-day
by Director General McAdoo.
"The controlling factor throughout
our experience" says Mr.. Gray, "has
not been in the road transportation, but
at the ultimate destination, and any
serious condition of congestion OBJ
tanning on any of the trunk lines en-
route has been the reflex of the con-
ditions at the terminals themselves"
Reasons for Terminal Congestion
This, he points out, is one of the
principal lessons learned from one
years experience of operation Of the
railroads as a single unit under Federal
control. That such condition exists is
due, he says, to the fact that practi-
caily all transportation in the United
States has been based primarily upon
the desires and necessities of the ship
per rather than upon the abilities of
the conslgnee to receive and digest the
freight.
For the purpose of facilitating the
movement of freight east and west
through the Pittsburgh gateway Mr.
Gray recommends the construction Of
new line to be used exclusively for
freight. "The extraordinary develop
ment of industrial activities around
Pittsburgh" he says, "and the enor-
nous tonnage which is handled locally
make 1T very difficult to use this gate
way for trunk line traffic, and this is
especially true when the through and
local business increases coincidentally,
as is usually the case. Physical CON
dltlons, which embrace a narrow gorge
and large city, render the solution of
this problem exceedingly difficult of
local treatment. 1t is my conviction
that as soon as practicable the trunk
line railroad through Pittsburgh should
be relieved by the construction of an
entirely new line for freight purposes,
connecting them east and west of Pitts
burgh, but avoiding the industrial area.
Asserts Embargo Justified
In the opinion of Mr.. Gray, the linn
tied embargo or permit system put into
effect last year applying to shipments
destined for overcongested terminals
has fully justified itself, and to it's sue
cessful operation is attributed in con-
siderable measure the great improve
ment in freight movement under Fed
eral control.
One Of the prime causes for the
necessity of government control, the
report states, and one of the most
serious conditions the railroad admin
istration was called upon to correct
when assuming control, was the general
lad condition of locomotives and cars.
An extended period of heavy business,
nigh prices for materials, difficulty in
obtaining labor and loss of many of
their experienced mechanics through
the selective draft, followed by an
early and unusually severe winter had
resulted in a general defective condi-
tlon of locomotives and cars which had
reached a point where repair tracks
were crowded and terminals congested
Added to this, the report says, conges-
tion due to failure of shippers to un-
load promptly cars consigned to them,
many of which needed repairs, had
made conditions at important terminals
and shop points such that the me-
chanical departments were unable to
cope with them.
The immediate remedy for these con-
dltions, Mr. Gray says, was not so
much the building of new locomotives
and cars as the proper maintenance
of locomotives and cars that were in
service and more prompt movement of
trains. One of the things done to over
come this problem was to increase the
shop hours of men working in loco
motive repair shops and roundhouses.
Hours Increased
"The plan of considering the condi-
tlon of equipment as whole" the re-
port states, "and taking steps to i'm
prove it by first uniformly increasing
shop hours in all railroads Of the coun-
try and utilizing to their full capacity
the facilities of all shops which could
be only done under Federal control is
really what improved the condition of
the locomotives and cars and enabled
trains to be promptly moved from
terminals with reasonable assurance
that the locomotives would make
successful trips. The result of the
policy. Of nationalzing railroad shop
facilities made it possible to repair at
other line shops 2,065 locomotives for
railroads which lacked sufficient shop