Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-12-24
PREDICTS RECORD YEAR
IN FREIGHT HANDLED
Past Records Broken by Rail.
ways in Handling Freight,
Says Railway Age.
EMREp BANNER MONTH
For Week Ending December q the
Railways Moved Si.S.5 More Cnr-
londs Than In tho Same Week or
Any Previous Nenr.

III ever any forecast could safely
no based on facts regarding previous
developments" says tho Railway
Ago. tho following two predictions
may hc safely based upon recent sta.
tst!cs regarding tho movement OF
freight.
First. tho railways will be Of
Tered and Will handle more freight
in 1923 than in any previous year
In history unless prevented by an
other coal or railroad strike
Secondly. demand for railroad
transportation will In 1923 exceed
tho amount OF it that can be fur
nishcd by larger margin than in
any previous year"
The Railway Age declares that
when the present severe winter
weather came. with it's consequent
slowing down Of operation. tn. rail-
Ways had just succeeded in breaking
almost every Kind Of record ever
made In the handling Of freight.
In spite Of the strike Of shop en-
plnycs aud other difficulties" /;
points out. the railways within re-
cent months have made tho follow
ing new records:
Great November Record
J. Th"y moved more freight In
November than in any previous No
v"mbcr in history. and thus far have
broken all records for December In
the four weeks ended on December
? which correspond roughly with
the month Of November. the number
Of carloads 90 freight moved was
ht.,,
NOR" than in 1919. @2l 900 more than
In 1920. ana $4,000 more than in
1921 In tho week ended December
they moved Sl.S75 more carloads
than in the same week OF any pre-
yiuus wear
- Tn, week ended November o..
terminated period OF ten corsocu-
tv" weeks In every one Of which the
railways moved more than a50 0on
carloads "f freight This is the first
time In history that they ever moved
THIS many carloads for more than
seven consecutive weeks
3. The amount of freight moved IL
November and December has SO
greatly exceeded all previous records
tina. II has made tho total carloads
landed in the sixteen weeks ended
on December Q larger than tn.
amount ever moved in the CORE
spending sixteen weeks ~ any Other
year To state the matter in another
way, the total number of carloads
az freight moved since the coal
mines hogan To open late in August
!S l"'.2fo greater than in 1920. the
previous record year.
- In thirty-four o. thir;y.nvc
weeks ended on December = tho rail
ways moved more carloads OF mis-
c"lianeous freight than they ever
ala in tho SANE weeks Of any pre-
Flons year. Tran portation EXPERTS
regard the amount OF miscellaneous
treiSht shipped In any given period
as tn" best Indication or what rcner.
al business activity and tho ,o,a,
amount OF freight business offered
I" the railways in the months I'm
m"dia'"ly ahead Will hc. II the
l"adinSs of miscellaneous freight
curing tn" last mite months are any
criterion. the railroads will be- called
nr"n t" handle record breaking
business for months to come.
%. In" railways ON Monday. Do
c"mhcr H. loaded 1855 cars with
hituminoaS coal. This is tho iar.
est number ~ cars ever loaded with
hituminons coal in one day.
Car Shortage Report.
" ~" lux SIN consecutive weeks
tho total ear shortage reported OK
c"cd"d the largest car shortage ever
reported In any single week %, auy
previous Year. Tho largest nct
shortage ever reported before was
ON September /, 1920. when it was
i'".op" cars Ia the six weeks ended
on November - the net car shortage
WAS never loss than li7.239 cars and
went rs high as l15.5a3 cars On
November 10 the nc; shortage was
l2S.l"l This figure represents "a
substantial reduction. hut IL shows
that I'm spite 81 the fact that the
railways within recent weeks have
broken NIL records with rcspcc, to
the numhcr OF ears loaded and
moved ~ this time OF year. the in.
adequacy "f transportation is stin
almost unprecedented.
The lesson the foregoing facts
suggest /" IA" railways is that mex,
years business Will break all annual
records and that they should nut
forth every effort To secure greater
Utilization OF the existing facilities
and L" improv" and enlarge their
facilities as rapidly as possible.
tn" moral Tor the shippers is tina,
first. they should ship All the freich,
th"N can as soon as practicable and
'hai secondly. they should coon
"rat" with tn" railways in increas-
Ing IN" efficiency with which cy-
'StinE transportation facilities are
'S'G hN loading cars Ia their maxi
mum capacity. 10y loading them and
unloading them a. promptly az nos
sihic and by delaying them in case
81 rcc"ns!Snm"nt as little as posi-
Bile
"Fhr moral for lawmakers and
regulating commissions is that they
should help the railways in every
REASONABLE" way % increase the not
return earned by them in order that
th"N may lac able to raise the Larry.
amounts of new capital which must
d" Invested IL the capacity OF tin.
railways ~ - hc Increased any.
wh"r" near in proportion To tho de-
ihah"S mat MI! b" made upon them
by Industry and commerce."