New-York tribune., 1920-03-04
-Unscran1bling'
Tests Ingenuity
OF Rail Owners
Dissolution Of War.Created
Systems FAR Advanced,
but Related Problems Re.
quire Months Of Work
Freight Cars Scattered
Weaker Roads Must Now
Fight for Traffic That
us. Diverted Their Wav
By Stanley Frost

Specsoi Dispatch TO Ths yr<oune
WASHINGTON. March s.-The prob.
.em. OF undoing many things which the
railroad administration has done to the
railroads under centralized control, OF
'unscramblinx" organization. traffic ar
ranEements and agencies, is one OF the
legAcies which come to the private
owners With the resumption Of control
Of their lines and which will have to be
worked on for months before the situa
tion becomes stabilized again.
There have been several kinds of
scrAmbling, some beneficial and likely
to remain, some of worth only for the
war period, some decidedly harmful to
the interests Of the roads affected. A
part Of the unscrambling was done be-
sore the roads were turned back, by
the governments itself, another part
simply dissolves and takes care Of it
self, but considerable part remains.
Part of the Process Completed
The most obvious Of the processes
we're the changes in operating control.
b.. which roads or parts OF roads vera
foinsd in what were practically new
on the war traffic The dissolution Of
tais part Of the organization began
almost as soon as the armistice was
signed. and for moro than year the
baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania
have been back in practically their
original condition, so far as operation
''s concerned. Since January there
have been several other changes. The
hoe ~.
Western Maryland has been taken out
of the b. & O. system and rcsstablishea
rs separate road; the Chesapeake &
Ohio has been restored to unified man.
agemcnt, as have the Illinois Central
the Frisco. and other dismembered
lines, and the little roads which were
disconnected from the big systems that
own or lease them have been restored.
10 large extent, therefore, this part
of the unscrambling is complete.
Less satisfactory has been the ham
ding Of equipment. There are al
ways many freight cars which nave
:;rrayed far from home. and the pub
&c has hardly noticed that there have
lately been more than usual. But the
government did away with ali the safe
guards which the roads have used to
l.eep control Of special equipment OF
il!gh value, and es result marr cars
that arc urgently needed at definite
places are widely scattered.
Wheat Cars Carry WaterzneIons
The wheat cars Of the Northern Pa
cine constitute an example. It takes
specially built car to handle wheat,
strong, waterproof and immune to
mice. The Northern rnc1ac his thou
SANDS OF such cars, built to care for its
immense grain traffic and costing far
more than ordinary box cars. Under
private control no such car ever left
tile line till the officials were sure
ehcy could get it back. But the gov
errmeEt had other things on it's mind,
and to-day these expensive vehicles
can be found full Of potatoes in Maine
and OF Natefnelons in Florida-prod-
nets which do not appreciate their lux
urious quarters. Meanwhile, the North
,Sn Pacific is using ali kinds of expedi-
el:.s to make it possible to handle
wheat in ordinary cars.
The government has done what it
could to unscra,nblo the cars, TOO, but
shis is a matter shat will take months,
There are not enough cars in the coun-
carriers the 80 cents a day it has to
pay for temporary conflscation of some
other roads equipment looks very
small: 1t will hold on to what it has
and the other road can whistle. The
Car Service Commission will grapple
with this situation, but its efforts will
keep several men busy long time.
Far more serious has been that form
Of scramb1ing known as "divetsion Of
traffic." under which cars Of freight
that would normally 40 by one road
have been sent over another. This has
seldom meant that the road from which
the traffic was take. did not have
plenty to do, but in s,me cases that it
was lett to handle only tie less profit
able kinds OF freight.
This diversion was especially iu.-
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