The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-12-08
RECORD FREIGHT
 HANDLED NICELY
New Haven Road Shared Task Without Serious
 Shortage of Cars

Officials of the New Haven rail- road today expressed pride in the accomplishment of the American railroads. shared in proportionately by the New Haven, this fall in ham, ding without congestion or serious car shortage what has been described by J. J. Policy, president of the As- sociation Of American Railroads, as the most precipitous increase in freight traffic on record"
 Early last summer. the New Ha- ven and the other carriers of the country, following careful study of existing plant and capacity, said that they were equipped to handle at least 25 per cent more business. With all bad order cars and locomotives placed in serviceable condition, they said they could handle 45 per cent more business. By mid-October, however, the railroads actually sur- passed both the 25 per cent and the 45 per cent estimates when they loaded more than 860,o00 cars Of freight @ week and still had capac- ity to spare. This sudden jump in freight business has continued throughout the fall,
 Because of the diminishing de- mand on railroad facilities since the year of record freight traffic in 1929, 1t was natural that the carriers should have fewer cars and loco- motives than then, and that there should have been @ greater percent age of unserviceable cars and bad order locomotives. Demands for service had not | cen great, and against this condition there stood a very important factor, that of in- creased efficiency of plant and op- eration which enabled the railroads to haul more freight with less equip- ment. Nevertheless in September, the railroads set in motion an eX- tensive program of repair and re- building of cars and locomotives and ordered considerable new equipment, the New Haven having more than 1900 men at work reconditioning its rolling stock at its Readville, Mass, shops and placing orders totaling $2,110,0oo for rails and new equipment.
 Before the railroad program could really get under way, however. the big increase in freight shipments took place, starting right after Labor day. A seasonable gain had been expected, but no one could foresee the tremendous influx of traffic which descended upon the carriers almost overnight. The demand for cars was sudden and unprecedented, but the problem was not one of new equipment. It was Q matter of getting the thousands of empty freight cars, scattered throughout the country, to principal loading points as quickly as possible.
 Through the railroads own CO., ordinating organization, the Asso- citation of American Railroads. and with the cooperation of shippers and receivers the empty cars were distributed with dispatch. Cars were loaded heavily and quickly. Ere quency of trains was increased. Lo- comotives, unused for a long time, were fired up and pressed into serv- ice. Movements through terminals were speeded up, and every delay and waste motion were eliminated.
 With traffic at peak proportions up to the present time, the railroads far exceeded their own expectations. and they did the job without congestion, delay or general car shortage. Yet the railroad plant as a whole was