The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-12-10
RAILS AND CARS FACE PEAK LOAD
 WITH LESS IN "A
By JOSEPH LATIN United Press Stan COrrespondentl

United Press Stan Correspondent ]
 Washington, Dec. 10 - OUP) - Travellers in the United States will cover more miles in 1924 than in any single year in the history of the country-on diminishing numbers of trains, busses. and passenger cars government transportation authori- teS said today.
 The Office of Defense Transporta- tion anticipates a 1944 mileage in- freight, on railroads that were re- ported to be straining to the limit months ago. There will be virtually no view equipment added, except for locomotives.
 Officials emphasized that the fig ures on anticipated increase do not take into account the additional load expected to be imposed on rail- roads by diversion of passenger and freight normally carried by rubber borne vehicles.
 Pressed into service to absorb this record load will be every piece of rolling stock not considered dan gerouSly obsolete and the most of- ficial hope for is that the country will "get by"
 Railroads also face the prospect next year of having to readjust to lopsided flow of war materials and troops to the West if Germany collapses. Plans already have been made to cope with this situation, with Gulf Coast shipping, operating through the Panama Canal, be- ing relied on to carry much of the additional westbound freight.
 But the big question mark of 1914 transportation is:
 will there be enough tires next year to keep all the essential trucks, busses, and passenger cars on the road?"
 Rubber Director Bradley Dewey answered this question for United Press. He said there is no cause for alarm in this respect if "all do their part" but warned of serious shortages that will hurt the war effort if any group falls down on it's job.
 "The outlook for 1914 is admit tedly tight" he said. If all do their part so that production comes through, and if those who have tires do not abuse them, and if they get out of these tires all the service that is in them, then there is no cause for alarm. But if these things do not come to pass, serious short- ages will impair parts of the war effort"
 Will there be "tires for everybody before the end of the war? Dewey said it would be foolish to dream of tires for non-essen- tial driving "at time when exist ing automobiles must be treasured, when the manpower to build new tires and repair parts si non-exist- ent, when gasoline is short, and when repair mechanics are in the Army"
 He estimated that the synthetic rubber industry will produce 818,0OO long tons in 1944 to fill increased requirements for that year that now total 95O,OOO, compared with 530, 1000 tnos for 1943.
 The difference will be made up from the present stockpile and ex- pected imports of about 80,000 tons of natural crude.
 The railroad picture for 1914 stacks up like this:
 Passengers: conservative govern ment figures estimate that travel in 1943 will total 80000, 900, ,OOO miles. An increase of Is per cent is ex- pected in 1944, and it will be greater If the tire situation gets worse.
 Twelve hundred troop sleepers are being built but 1t won't relieve civilian conditions much because railroad pullmans were supplying only about 65 per cent of army needs, anyway.
 An unestimat ed number of coaches will be withdrawn from active service during the year, and cannot be replaced.
 Freight: ODT anticipates a three to six per cent increase over 1943. While this will be the smallest per- centage increase of the war, officials point out that 1t comes on top of an expected overall 1943 increase of Is per cent in terms of miles, and a 35 per cent increase in 1922, the first year of war.