Evening star., 1960-09-02
TRAINS

Continued From First Page
York, Washington and Balti-
more.
Various Federal and District
government agencies report no
immediate ill-effects from the
strike.
The Post Office Department
put into service its emergency
plan to keep the mail rolling
out of Washington - particu-
larly to the north. Trucks have
been leaving Washington at
the rate of one an hour since
the strike started hauling mail
to points north. Some first
class mail has been put on
planes when space is available,
and bulk mail has been trans
ferred to truck and rerouted
over other railroads, a Post Of
flee Department spokesman
said. s4
A Post Office spokesman
said 2O,505 pounds of first
class mail that would have
Travelled by the Pennsylvania
Railroad has been shipped out
of Washington on airplanesl
since midnight Wednesday. He
emphasized that most of it
was shipped to points ncrth
of Washington and was put on
whatever plane space was avail
able.
Supplies StOckpiled
The strike is not expected to
cause any immediate showdown
in Federal construction in the
area, according to the General
Services Administration.
Most of the contractors
stockpiled material before the
jobs started" he said.
He added that the GSA,
which operates power plants for
Federal installations here, has
a good coal supply" and antici-
pates mo problem we can't cope
with"
Rexford G. VESSELS, District
procurement officer, said it is
still too early to say whether
the strike will delay District
contracts. He said the District
probably had some supplies OH
the sidings in idle Pennsylvania
Railroad freight cars but I'VE
won't know for several days"
Both retail and wholesale
grocers in the area said they
didn't anticipate any big prob
lens. I'VE get most of our sup
plies by truck anyway, and
those who don't will switch to
trucks if the strike continues"
said a spokesman for one retail
chain with more than so stores
IL the area.
No Freight Pileup
A spokesman for the Balti-
more & Ohio Railroad said his
line was having mo problem"
handling the freight and mail
transferred to it because of the
strike.
There is no evidence of a
pileup of either mail or freight
in this area as a result of the
strike" he said.
He added that the Post Of
flee Department is sending
most first-class mail by trucks
and that there is ample room"
in our freight cars for the bulk
mail.
He pointed out that a num-
ber of shippers began routing
their freight to other railroads
earlier in the week when it
became apparent that the
Pennsylvania Railroad would
be closed down by a strike.
Railway Express Agency, one
of the largest freight shippers
by rail, said it is using stand
by plan to reroute its express
shipments normally handled by
the Pennsylvania Railroad. In
addition to using other rail-
= roads, it is using trucks where
necessary to keep traffic f1ow-
ing, a spokesman said.
Hardest hit area along the
Eastern Seaboard appeared to
be the Delmarva Peninsula.
Representative Johnso
Democrat of Maryland, said the
strike is a serious economic
blow to the region and asked
President Eisenhower to inter-
vene.
He said parts of Delaware,
Maryland and Virginia might
face a serious power shortage
for lack of rail-hauled coal. The
strike also would be damaging
to the seafood, poultry and
canning industries of the area.
Mr.. johnson said.