Evening journal., 1921-04-18
SAVE MONEY ON
engine REPAIR
p. R. R. President Finds
Outside Labor Cost Less
Expensive
MAKES REPLY
TO UNION HEAD

Samuel Rea, president Of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, today auth
orized the following statement in
connection with recent published
statements concerning alleged high
prices paid for the repair Of rail-
road equipment in outside shops:
From March I. 1920, when the
Pennsylvania Railroad resumed the
management Of its property. to De-
cember 81. 1920, locomotive and
freight car repair work done outside
~tne rallroad's own shops has amount
ed TO about six per cent. of the total
cost Of this work.
Locomotive and car repairs. from
March 1st to December 31st. 1920.
cost the railroad approxima ately
'S140, 100000. OF which $500. 600.
was for repairs in outside shops. In
other words. out Of every dollar
'spent for repairing PENNSYLVANIA
Railroad cars and locomotives. about
60 cents was spent for outside work.
In newspaper articles published a
few days ago. William II. Johnston.
International President OF the Ma
.'chinists' Union. is reported to have
said:
only recently the Pennsylvania
RAILROAD. in having 200 locomotives
repaired in the Baldwin shops. spent
S3,5OO.OO0. I'm excess Of the cost il
the road had done the work itself
Between $4,000 and S25 600 were
spent in rebuilding obsolete locomo
'tives that originally cost $4,000
thirty-three years ago"
THE total number Of Penna. loco
motives repaired under contract was
200. on the other hand. $3.50 To-
locomotives were given classified re-
pairs in the railroads own shops in
addition to a very much greater
number Of locomotives that were
. given lighter repairs requiring more
than twenty-four hours work each
All the locomotive repair work on
1 the Pennsylvania Railroad during
this period cost s79.112.S 500. out OF
+ which approximately S4.5O0. 900 was
for outside contract work.
THE lowest bill for any single To-
~ comotive repaired in outside shops
q was s12,661.13 and the highest s29.
S36.10. The oldest locomot re-
nj paired was thirteen years old. and
4 the newest. one year old. instead OF
j being thirty-three years old and OBJ
Il solete. The smallest locomotive re-
Il paired weighted 235. 900 pounds. and
u the largest 435. 900 pounds. Tho
i original cost OF the cheapest was
Il S19.S13; and the most expensive
sS3.56O instead OF $4,000. as quoted
above.
The number OF freight cars re-
paired outside was approximately
n
1.415.435 freight cars repaired in the
Pennsylvania own shops. The car,
repaired at outside plants were all
n heavy repairs whereas the above
figure for cars repaired at the shop,
OF the railroad includes heavy and
light repairs. All the repair work
TO Pennsylvania Railroad freight
cars. during this period. cost SCI.
soc, 900, Of which approximately So.
3 100000, was for work performed un.
. der contract. In outside shops.
THE fact is that the direct labor
cost OF doing this work in outside
shops was much less than in railroad
7hops. For instance: Direct labor
required to repair 3 3.O66 Of these car,
81 in outside shops cost s6Os.494. Tn,
oame work in railroad shops would
have cost the Pennsylvania Railroad
&1.0OO,86O.
The labor cost outside was AZ
per cent. less. Outside concern,
paid their men on a piece work basis
Under the so-called National Agree
ment." the Pennsylvania Railroad
had TO pay its men by the day.
The situation which necessitatet
letting out equipment repair worI
20 outside concerns was the follows
1. ION March /, 1920. all avail
able shop space on the Pennsylvani,
Railroad was filled with locomotives
Undergoing repairs. 749 locomo
tives were out Of service awaiting
heavy repairs, and about 654 NOR,
were undergoing repairs requiring
more than twenty-four hours worl
The number OF bad order freigh
cars, under and awaiting repairs OF
that date. was more than 5000.
2. AT the same time the Penn
W sylvania Railroads own shops werl
working to their utmost capacity
turning out an average Of 500 repair
4 ed locom olives and l41, 900 repaire,
freight cars a month. 1t was evi
n dent that large part OF the rail
roads shop facilities and availabl
working force would be required 4
take care Of equipment in service OF
. March /, 1920 All the man-powe
9 sbtainable was being used on thi
work and the recent curtalment O
working forces was not put int
smect until after this situation hai
been remedied an dthe monty on ac
count Of a falling of in business.
' 3. aside from the fact that tn
& capacity OF the Pennsylvania's shop
M .nd the available working force
Is were exhausted at the time, on ac
~ count Of the condition OF the equip
t< ihent, traffic demands upon the rail
St road necessitated getting outside az
sistance. Congestion at Pittsburgh
IS. was serious; tons Of steel were beini
*: placed on the ground with no car
E available TO move f.: abnorma
quantities OF goods awaiting ship
-I ment were piled up and the suppl
W >f cars. not only for general freigh
- business but to the coal regions 81
PARTICULAR, was entirely inadequate
4. THE only immediate remed
.: was 20 get every available car an
locomotive in service to move tn
Pennsylvania's share OF the country
business.
Therefore. this company accepte
such contracts as the United State
Railroad Administration had mad
and which were not yet complete
md let contracts OF its own on whicl