The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-10-04

Surfing the war emergency.
 warren Q, Kendall, chairman Of the Asoclntlon's car service division, haa his fingers constantly on the traffic pulsO of the nation, keeping fn almost hourly touch with the krolRht situation In every part Of the Unltod States. The divisions lS Alstrlct officers and 4b other repre- nontAtlveS are ever Oil the alert to Wnot areas of congestion which de- lay tho flow of supplies and Ain- intuition overseas,
 Around the Clock
 TO speed war traffic tho AAR hhs % employees working the clock around in three shifts at the 1 lArmy'a pontagon Building, handling both troop and freight movements 1here are 400 in the entire service car dlvislon, about double the pre-" Pearl Harbor stan.
 Kendail has been at his job 27 wears and, to put it briefly, knows Sil about railroads" Before the es- kahilahment of the AAR he was performing the same duties for its predecessor, tho American Railway Association, Previously he had been @unerintendents of transportation for tho Boston and Maine Railroad.
 Kendall loves his work and when he talks about lt you feel there's nothing 60 thrilling and satlsfying a being Q railroad man. When Q nroblen is placed before him no Rnraodiateiy visualiEes it on q vast traffic map of the United states containing Q network Of 400, 900 miles of track. He has trAveled the hlnes so often he knows them ole most mile for mile,
 Knows RectlOns' Needs
 He knows the seasonal requires .ments of all sections of the eoun. 'ary, how many ears Q shipper mas ordered, how many have been fur' nlshed him, and when they were loaded. His records show the nun" Dor of cars awaiting repairs, the surplus cars on particular road and the number short, AS well as the condition of the locomotives.
 Now for instance" no explained Ieo mo, "one perennial problem that confronA tho AAR Is moving the wheat crop out of tho Southwest and Northwest, The Southwest har.. vest comes about June D, About May 1 we have to begin to assem- hie hoxears In Kansas and the Texas Panhandle, We instruct All roads east of the Mississippi to forward d certain number of Western. owned cars to Kansas City and St. Louis every day. To meet the first onrliSh We F,ian to have 2b,000 cars ready,
 'ihe Northwest harvest began earlier than usual this year" ne continued. Right now there ere lB70 grain elevators closed Tor lack of cars, But last year nt this time there were 7ei. The Eastern roads nre sendlng cars to the soo line' the Great Northern and the North Rfn Pacific for distribution in the wheat belt in Montana and the iDaketas"
 Plan Ahead for Crops
 Before 1929 periodic freight car ahcltages were tho expected thing m that year shippers In the North. west formed a Regional Advisory Board where their representatives met with railroad men to plan how nufiicient cars could be provided ae the crops came along This board was 70 successful in furthering mutual understanding that event. uailg i5 boards were established for regions roughly corresponding to these of the Federal Reserve System. ,
 m each region commodity com. ,nittees were formed to plan for Che ahipment of cotton, grain, coal and other products, Members pre- paFed estimates on commodity movements SO unusual situations ecuid Dc foreseen.
 Since Pearl Harbor shippers have niso co.operated with tho AAR by loading cars faster and eeonomiS.. sng or space. Tn the first World War such highly developed car Serv" leo planning was unknown. With the AAis, the shippers and the railroads tackling tho problem together, world war ITS huge traffic moves over the rails with maximum sWift' ness and minimum confusion