New-York tribune., 1921-04-25
Wabash Earnings
Only l%, Despite
Record Revenues
increase y i'll Freight Traffic
r Fails to Help Operating
Ratio: Deficit $454,o4O
After Years PAYMENTS

N 1920 the Wabash earned +b,
'.sgest gross revenue in the history OF
the property, s59,ss2,2s an increase
OF -z.so per cent over 1919. The in
crease in freight traffic, measured
In tons. was lat per cent. Notwitb-
standing the increase in traffic and the
increase In rates during the latter part
OF 1920, the operating ratio Of +ho
wabash was 9S.l3 per cent in 1920. as
compared with sl.2s per cent in 1919.
Inc corporation. which received
rental for the first two months and a
guaranty of operating income for the
next six months and operated the rail
road on its own responsibility for onIv
iour months, had II surplus after the
payment OF interest charges of Sl.9S3.-
S4o. Inc company has OUTSTANDING
Sioo,4S-s9oi, so that only a. little oyer.
l per cent was earned on the stock.
me actual operation of the property
nrst by the government and then hv
the corporation left deficit of s454 :
s4o after the payment OF expenses and
taxes. Total operating expenses in
1920 were SoS.S59 ,935, an increase Of
Sl4,2i2,366 Of this increase S5.413.338
was IN transportation expenses cont
OF pocket cost of handling freight and
passenger business), and S5.377125 in
maintenance of equipment The increase
IN transportation expenses is not out of
iihe with what other roads have been
showing in their 1920 annual report.
out the increase in maintenance Of
equipment expenses is large. It IS
an increase of 57.46 per cent. Repairs
OF locomotives alone cost S6,953.377 in
1920, as compared with S4,s55,108 in
1919.
The Wabash operates PATS miles of
railroad IN the highly competitive ter
ritory between Chicago, St Louis, Kan
sas City and Omaha. 1t was, until the
recelvership some years ago, a Gould
road It was reorganized six years ago
under the auspices of Kuhn, Loeb e. Co,
and the 1920 annual report is the fifth
one OF the reorganized company. The
reorganization was thorough and the
per cent profit-sharing preferred A
stock, of which there is S64,1S4 400 out
standing, was rated as 3 semi-specula-
tive attractive investment for a bust
ness man. The company, however, did
not have al opportunity to demon
|-rsse the earning power of the prop
ertS before the government took the
road o0er in the last of December, 1917.
The total tonnage Of freight carried
by the Wabash in 1920 was S16,S45,54l,
OF this 27.76 per cent was furnished by
manufacturers and miscellaneous prod
ucts, which include refined petroleum
and it's products. The tonnage Of
petroleum in 1920 was $4,000, a slight
increase over 1919, Products of mines
furnished 3S.7S per cent of the total
tonnage. of which bituminous coal was
the principal product. Products of
agriculture furnished 17.4S per cent.
The principal changes in the character
Of the traffic in 1920, as compared with
1919 was a decrease OF 2S.35 per cent
in the tonnage OF animals and meats
and other packing house products. an
increase of i1.75 per cent in the ton
mage of products of mines and an in
crease of 23.67 per cent in the tonnage
Of manufactures and miscellaneous
products.
The freight density on the Wabash,
by which is meant the average number
of tons of freight carried one mile per
mile of road, is 1,S46,429 This is a
heavy volume of freight traffic for q
single-track road. The Wabash is single
track except for certain congested lines
as, for instance, the line from Decatur,
H.. to St. Louis, and a stretch of line
east and west of Detroit and stretch
Of line east from Kansas City.
The average train load of revenue
freight on the Wabash in 1920 was $50
tons, an increase over the previous
year Of a little over II tons. The aver
age loading per loading car was 23.44
tons, an increase of little less than a
ton per car.