The Washington times., 1936-12-04

The new alert Edwin c. Hill
and progressive factors in trans
portation alienated from the rail.
roads what was once their chief
aSset-the good will and con.
fidence of the public. The plight
Of the roads was put very frankly
by William Averell Hartman,
chairman of the board of the
Union Pacific. He said that the
railroads are now thoroughly
aware of the fact that, to regain
public favor and confidence, they
must put into operation Swifter
and more comfortable trains and
accord the public service of
greater efficiency and conSidera-
tion.
It is obvious that back of Mr..
Harriman'S pronouncement was
his vision Of twenty million pri-
vate automobiles and public buses
flashing along the country's
smooth, well-tended highways; Of
three million laden motor trucks
rumbling on their busy way from
city to city, and overhead, the in.
cesSant roar of the planes bearing
passengers, mail and freight at
speeds up to 200 miles an hour.
INDISPENSABLE
Then, too, think about the hold
ers Of stocks and bonds, who have
not been very happy in recent
years. The railroads have been
kicked about a lot and have been
the victims of adversely, but, for
all their sins, they come pretty
near to being the very skeleton Of
our American scheme of life-in-
dispensable to our comfort, con-
venience and prosperity.
The railroads consolidated our
far-flung States into the richest,
most advanced nation of the
world. Their operation is scarcely
dependent on wind or weather and
their safety Is a proverb.
Wipe out the railroads over
night and see what would happen
to the vast and continuous flow
of mail and money, of valuable
ores and coal, of grain and live
stock, food and lumber, of fabri-
Gated Steel of leather, cloth and
clothing, of the very neceSsaries
Of life.
Every hour of the day and night
thousands of trains are in SiInul-
taneous operation passenger
trains. expresses, fast and slow
freights, mail trains, work-trains.
More than $4,000 locomotives
draw them.
A million miles a day is the run
of the passenger trains. In an
average hour, about $4,000 persons
board them, bringing what rail-
road men call the passenger-mile
total up to sixteen billions annual
ly. A million and a quarter tons
of freight, worth billion and q
half dollars to it's owners, are
borne in a tremendous fleet of cars
which load at the rate of nearly
1000 an hour.
It is this mass transportation
which the railroads have provided
as their contribution toward the
advancement of the United States
in commerce and to promote
among its people.
But, of late, the railroads have
been steadily losing ground. Their
passengers are hardly a third as
numerous as they were seven
years ago, and their freight haul
age barely half as heavy.
Now, however, has arrived the
awakening to realities; to the
knowledge that something must be
done, and at once, to recover the
good will and faith of the public.
And to this end there has already
come on many roads a reply in
which are revolution
ary.
In the words of President F. E.
Williamson, of the New York Cen
tral: I'VE are trying to revive the
and romance that people
used to see in the railroad busi-
ness" In this light, the major
roads have put in service trains
which are both a delight and an
to passengers. These
new trains are constructed OF
alloy or stainless steel,
and drawn by Diesel electric loco
are streamlined, air
conditioned, dustless and capable
of flashing speed.
NOTHING TOO GOOD
The railroads have, at last, real
lied that the only way in which
to compete successfully with other
forms of transportation is by in
the patron. They have be-
come pasSenger-consc Nothing
is now too good or too expensive,
if it will assure satisfaction to the
customer.
There are 10 major railroad
routes in this country with all of
the 900 operating lines as tribu-
tarieS, and on every last one of
them, as we come up to the New
Year, Improvements are progress
ing apace.
One of the first benefits ex-
tended to travellers was the under.
taking of the Pennsylvania Rail.
road to electrify it's line between
New York and Washington, to do
away with the smoke and dust
Six years ago came the
air-conditioning of cars by the
Baltimore and Ohio and the Chesa-