Evening star., 1939-11-05
StreomIinine Attracts
RuiIroud PASSENGERS
By Frederic J. Hdsktn,

l 0V <JSUSEIC y. l70SNJW.
The tempo Of American living u such
that great changes occur without at-
tracing attention. In some other coun.
tries they would be regarded as sensa.
tionally revolutionary, but here they are
taken by Americans In their stride. Such
m important change has been the
renaissance In railway passenger travel
In the last five years and, like most i'm.
portant changes, this has been brought
about by an idea which had the appeal
Of novelty.
A number Of factors usually 20 to pro-
duce any notable alteration In human
affairs. but in this case Of railway pas
senger travel it must be admitted that
the idea Of streamlining trains was the
prime factor in substantially increasing
passenger travel and helping railroads on
the road back to partial prosperity.
The human mind is perennially childish.
The adult is as much attracted by q new
toy as the child In the nursery. That is
the reason why automobile builders put
out new-shaped models every year.
Railway men at length came around to
acceptance Of the idea Of novelty as ap-
piled to the appearance Of railway pas
senger trains. Some of the old hands
scof1ed . good deal and asserted that
the traveller did not care what the out
side Of train looked like so long as it
got him there, but, under the manage
ment Of those old hands, railway traffic
had been falling of disastrously for years.
To be sure, 1t was realized that train
interiors had to be frightened up, too,
and the repeal of the prohibition amend
ment helped.
The average citizen probably does not
realize what had happened to railway
travel since shortly after the World War.
A brief review astonishes. From 1900 to
1920 the number of passengers carried
each year on American railways in
creased from 77,000, 900 to 1926, 900 900,
or ia per cent. There was very little
new building of railways in that period
1t was . doubling and more of travel
over the lines already built. Moreover,
the number of passengers carried one
mile increased from 10000, 600 in 1900 to
100000 in 1920, or 306 per cent. This
was due to the development of suburbs
around cities to accommodate the popu-
lAtions Of which special short-distance
trains were operated. Over this period
railway passenger earnings mounted
from $324,o0o,oo0 to $1,2se, 100000. g..
Then began the long decline In rail-
way patronage due to the trebling to
%. 900 Of the number of private pas
senger cars. The bus lines did their part
and year by year the number Of passen-
gers carried shrank. Look at some of
the statistics. In 1920 the average num-
Der Of passengers per train was s2la.
In 1888 this had dropped to 80. In 1920
the average earnings per train mile were
$218. In 1888 this figure had dropped
to $12S.
Into this parlous situation popped the
idea Of prettying up railway passenger
service. Had railway presidents more
Hollywood experience, they probably
would refer to what has happened as
giving glamour to their trains. BY what
ever name the operation be called, It has
succeeded In high degree. The Amer
ican public, from an attitude Of some
thing approaching forgetfulness Of rail-
ways, has turned to enthusiasm. The
novelty of the trains appearance must
be considered the prime reason for the
alteration. OF course, the United States
Is fundamentally railway minded. After
all, this is the land of Casey Jones and
the Southern 81 and the rattle of the
choo-choo is in every Americans blood.
1t has helped q lot to give glamorous
names to railway trains The Southern
81 was all right in its way, but such names
as Zephyr and Flying Yankee have
yet greater appeal. Then, too, the rail-
roads have not neglected fattery of local
pride and have christened trains with
such names as Des Moines Rocket and
City Of San Francisco. Romance and
history have been remembered in such
names as the Mark Twain and the Rebel.
man might well be moved to travel by
the Rebel when he would not be espe-
cially attracted by No. 49, It pays to
cater to the nursery mind Of America
because dollars are the chief playthings
of the American nursery.
The pioneer of the streamliners, the
first experiment, was the Union Pacific
train City of Salina, operating between
Salina, Kans., and Kansas City. It was
placed in operation on Lincoln's birthday
anniversary in 1885 and continues to
operate. It is blunt-nosed, articulated
train that slips along at 60 miles per
hour, overall speed including stops.
Since 1885 1t has shown an on-time rec
ord Of 994 per cent. So far 1t has tray
eled 653,832 miles and carried 4l4,997
passengers.
These new trains make money. We
have seen how In 1888 the average train
mile revenue was only $1.28. OF course,
there are relatively few Of the new
stramlined trains as compared with the
total Of all that operate in the United
States, but the number constantly is
increasing. There now are 60 well estab-
hshed streamliners and the financial
showing they have made is impressive
indeed.
Compare that average of $1.2s per
train mile with the figures shown by
some Of the streamliners. One of the
most famous trains In the United States
is the old Twentieth Century Limited Of
the New York Central operatino between