Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-23
Jam al Station
Brings 7 Halls
In Ticket Sales
Bus Passengers Also
Forced to Wait Hours
For transportation
\ Pictures on Page A-S.J

Crowds too great for the rail-
roads to handle caused Union
Station to halt for more than
nine hours yesterday the sale
OF tickets on all trains going
south. Sales also were sus-
pended on Baltimore g. Ohio
trains going west.
Thousands of servicemen and
civilians hon1eward bound for
Christmas waited hours for the jam
to break. Many would-be travellers
gave up and went home.
A ban on ticket sales for SOUTH
bound trains, clamped on at II am.
yesterday, was lifted at $3.50 pm.
only to go back on from $50 until
9:45 pm.
Embargo" Denied.
Sidney Kerl, superintendent of
the Washington Terminal Co., said
the railroads had placed no "em-
baro" on sales and suspended them
only temporarily to keep the
passengers within the limit of
available facilities.
The Baltimore g. Ohio Railroad,
which stopped sales for westbound
trains several hours during the day,
halted them again at $3.50 pm.
Tickets were available to New York
only because those trains we're
running like trolley cars" Mr.. Kerl
said.
One reason for the tie-up was
that fewer trains ran out of Wash
ington Saturday than Friday. Mr..
Kerl estimated that 400 trains left
yesterday, compared to 430 the day
before.
Although travellers were still too
numerous for the train space avail
able, the total number of persons
congregating in the station dropped
considerably yesterday from the
all-time high reached Friday. Thou
sands got on trains and others gave
up.
Bus Travellers Wait.
The Greyhound Lines stopped
sales on buses going to st. Louis for
more than two hours yesterday, but
most OF the bus travellers could buy
tickets, although they had to wait
for hours to get transportation.
Servicemen suffered with civilians.
A few obtained tickets by pleading
emergencies. Most of them settled
down for the long wait.
Ticket sellers were telling would
be purchasers only that they had
received orders to make no sales
for the South until further no.
tice." Puzzled travellers asked each
other for details and wild rumors
spread. The Office of Defense
Transportation and the Association
OF American Railroads had to
squelch one report that all civilian
travel would be halted.
Half the ticket windows had
closed by 10 pm, while not more
than two or three persons stood in
front Of lighted windows to get
tickets on north and some west
bound trains.
All Seats Filled.
Many of those who waited had
come in from Philadelphia and New
York to change trains at WASH
ington. They filled all the seats
in the station, including BARRIERS
chairs and telephone stools, sat on
their luggage and curled up on the
floor.
It took 20 sailors headed for a
port of embarkation, carrying their
Christmas trees with them, to wake
up sleeper travellers. The sailors.
who got their shipping orders Just
when they thought they were going
home for Christmas, marched in
with five gaily decorated trees and
sang carols in the concourse.
Christmas travel throughout the
Nation reached an all-time high.
The New York Central system tenn
porarily suspended ticket sales for
eastbound trains from Chicago and
for trains operating between Toledo,
Ohio, and Erie, Pa. At Cleveland,
tickets were being sold for only one
westbound train, the Associated
Press reported.
Thousands Left at Chicago.
Chicago's railroad stations re-
ported the worst holiday traffic Jam
in history. Although the Nations
railroad center handled 1000 cars,
thousands of travellers were left in
the stations.
Airlipes reported 40 to so pas
sengers on waiting lists for each
flight. At Washington National Air
port, many were disappointed be-
cause most of those who had made
Christmas reservations kept them.
Greyhound lines to the South and
Southwest. not affected by the cur
rent strike, and railways buslines
were running from four to eight
buses where they normally ran one.
Greyhound had cleared most of its
passengers by 6 pm, but new
(See TRAVEL, Page AS.
|lF0r East Rubber