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‹Better GutenbergHandbook of Railroad ConstructionChapter XVI — Management · 19 of 20Contents›

Handbook of Railroad Construction

by George L. Vose

19 of 20 · Contents · Download EPUB

Chapter XVI Management

All that is required to render the efforts of railroad companies in every respect equal to that of individuals, is a rigid system of personal accountability through every grade of service.—D. C. McCallum.

Organization of Employees

397. Railroad management may be divided into two grand departments,—

Financial management.
Operating management.

The first of these does not properly come into a work of the present kind. It embraces the entire system of accounts. Its officers are a president, secretary, treasurer, attorney, and directors.

398. The operating management is subdivided as follows:—

The mercantile department.
The mechanical department.

The first embracing every thing relating to the adjusting of tariffs, the transport of passengers and freight, the embarking and delivering of goods, and the weighing and measuring, ticket and receiving offices, steamboat, stage, and railroad connections. The second, the maintaining the road-bed, superstructure, bridging, masonry, buildings, and fixed stock in working order; making all repairs, renewals, enlargements, and alterations, and the purchase, inspection, maintaining, and operating of the rolling stock. These departments are again divided and subdivided until we come to the minutest details.

Note.—That part of Chapter XVI. in italics is extracted, by permission, from the elaborate Report of D. C. McCallum to the stockholders of the New York and Erie Railroad, (March 25, 1856).

399. The following general principles govern the formation of an efficient system of operations.

First. A proper division of responsibilities.

Second. Sufficient power conferred to enable the same to be fully carried out, that such responsibilities may be real in their character.

Third. The means of knowing whether such responsibilities are faithfully executed.

Fourth. Great promptness in the report of all derelictions of duty, that evils may at once be corrected.

Fifth. Such information to be obtained through a system of daily reports and checks that will not embarrass principal officers nor lessen their influence with their subordinates.

Sixth. The adoption of a system, as a whole, which will not only enable the general superintendent to detect errors immediately, but will also point out the delinquent.

400. A system of operations to be efficient and successful should be such as to give to the principal and responsible head of the running department a complete daily history of details in all their minutiæ. Without such supervision the procurement of a satisfactory annual statement must be regarded as extremely problematical. The fact that dividends are made without such control does not disprove the position, as in many cases the extraordinarily remunerative nature of an enterprise may insure satisfactory returns under the most loose and inefficient management.

All subordinates should be accountable to, and directed by, their immediate superiors only. Each officer must have authority, with the approval of the general superintendent, to appoint all persons for whose acts he is held responsible, and to dismiss any subordinate when in his judgment the interests of the company demand it.

401. The following table shows the rate and direction of subordination for a first class railroad:—

{Road-master.{Section men.
{Superintendent of Road.{Section men.
{{Road-master.{Section men.
{{Section men.
{
{{Foreman Machine shop, Machinists.
{{Foreman Blacksmith shop, Blacksmiths.
{Superintendent of Machinery.{Foreman Car shop, Carpenters,
{{Foreman Paint shop, Painters.
{{Engineers (not on trains), Firemen.
{{Car-masters, Oil men and cleaners.
{
{{Conductors{Brakemen.
{{Mail agents.{Engineers (on trains).
{{Ticket collectors.
General Superintendent{{
{General passenger agent.{Station agents.{Hackmen.
{{Switchmen.
{{
{{Express agents.
{{Police.
{
{{Conductors.{Brakemen.
{{Engineers (on trains).
{General freight agent.{Station agent.
{{Weighers.
{{Gaugers.
{{Yard-masters.
{
{Supply agent.{Clerks, Teamsters furnishing supplies.
{Fuel agent.{All men employed about the wood sheds.

Duties of Employees

402. The General Superintendent has entire control of all of the heads of departments; he issues his orders to the heads only, and is the main agent for transferring the resolves of the directors to the operating department, and the channel through which the reports of the departments go to the directory.

The Superintendent of the Road has complete charge of the road-bed, superstructure, bridging, masonry, and buildings; also all removals, enlargements, and alterations. He should be a thorough civil engineer, able in every respect to build a railroad from beginning to end.

The Superintendent of Machinery has charge of the purchase, inspection, repair, and operating of all of the rolling and fixed machinery, of shops, engine houses, turntables, tanks, and weigh scales. He is responsible for the good condition, proper adaptation and efficiency of the entire equipment of engines and cars.

The General Passenger Agent fixes, under the direction of the president and general superintendent, the prices of passenger transportation, has charge of all conductors, ticket sellers, station police, mail and express agents, of stage, steamboat, and railroad connections, and of all operations incident to transporting passengers.

The General Freight Agent has charge of all persons occupied at all of the stations in forwarding and receiving merchandise, in measuring and weighing, in receiving money, and bookkeeping, station agents, and train hands. He makes and regulates, with the approval of the president and general superintendent, the tariff for freights; contracts with connecting roads, and insures the benefits of such agreements, examines all claims for damages to freight, and sees that such are properly settled.

The Agent for Wood contracts, with the approval of the general superintendent, for the supply of the necessary amount of fuel; attends the measurement, inspection, and delivery at the proper places; registers each month the amount of fuel supplied and used, and the location and amount on hand.

The Supply Agent has charge of the supply of all materials in use in all departments; iron, timber, engines, rails, bridges, and every thing in use upon the road; charging each department with its correct quantity and quality of material received.

Road-masters will have charge, under the superintendent of the road, of the maintenance of the road-bed and superstructure of divisions of from twenty-five to fifty miles in length, depending upon the care that the road-way may need. They will have charge of gravel trains, and of wood trains, which run under the orders of the superintendent of the road. They should pass over their divisions at least once per day. Under them are placed section men, having care of ten miles each, being supplied with the proper tools and signals. They must pass over their respective sections at least once per day in a hand car. They should see that every switch, frog, chair, and rail on their section is in proper order, and report at once any defects, which cannot be remedied by them, in the track, to the road-master.

Engineers are subject to the superintendent of machinery when off, and to the conductor when on, the trains. None but a man well acquainted with the details of machinery, and who has served in a locomotive machine shop, and is in every respect temperate and steady, should fill this berth.

Foremen of the blacksmith, machine, carpenter, and car shops, are subject to the superintendent of machinery, and have charge of the repairs and cleaning of the engines, cars, and other machinery.

Car-masters have charge of the men employed in cleaning, oiling, and examining the cars and their wheels. The cars should be thoroughly examined at the end of each trip, and at each stop, by an inspector who accompanies the train and looks to the wheels, axles, boxes, and brakes.

Conductors.—A conductor of a train should be a machinist, a prompt, active man, who should station himself on the top of the cars in such a position as to see the whole train, and able at any moment to communicate with the engineer. He should direct the running of the train, and control the engineer and the person who takes the fares. The latter should confine himself to the inside of the cars.

Number of Trains to Be Used

403. This is determined by the quantity and quality of the material to be transported, and by the character of the road. The train should not be so heavy as to be beyond the power of the engines upon the steepest grades, nor so light as to increase unnecessarily the number. A road doing a large passenger business must accommodate the public as far as possible as regards the time of departure and arrival, and the connections with other roads. A freight road must regard more the character of the road. Some classes of freight (ice, beef, etc.) do not admit of delay. As we increase the number of trains, the ratio of time employed in actual work to the whole train under steam is decreased, as there must be much time lost on sidings in waiting for trains to pass. Liability to accidents is also incurred. Commercial circumstances, more than any other, will determine the proper number and class of trains.

Amount of Service of Engines

404. This is much less than is generally supposed. The number of engines required to perform any amount of work is considerably greater than the number actually in motion, because of liability to accident, time required for cleaning and repair. The New York State Engineer’s Report for 1854 gives, as the number of engines on 2,500 miles, 668, or one engine per 3¾ miles. Also, 668 engines run per annum 11,393,000 miles, or 17,055 miles per annum per engine; thus requiring.00005863 of an engine per mile run per annum.

This is very nearly fifty-five miles per day, (313 days per annum). Also, 968
2500 gives 27
100 of an engine per mile of road, and the same report gives the following:—

One locomotive for 3¾ miles of road.
One passenger car for 2½ miles of road.
One freight car for 32
100 miles of road.

Or each mile needs

27
100 of a locomotive.
40
100 of a passenger car.
3 freight cars.

Or to one engine 781
100 passenger cars, and 1072
100 freight cars. From Lardner’s Railway Economy it appears that the average daily run of an engine is forty-two miles, or seventy-five miles per day, working four days in the week. That the daily service is two hours working, and three and three quarters hours standing with steam up. The maximum annual mileage mentioned by Lardner is that upon the Belgium lines, and was 21,737. The maximum in America has been, as far as we have been able to ascertain, 22,000, and this for eighteen years.

Note 1.—Two little eight ton, four wheeled, Stephenson engines, cylinders 10 × 16, four and a half feet drivers, inside connection, copper fire-boxes, have averaged 22,000 miles per annum, with trains weighing forty tons exclusive of engine and tender, for eighteen years, costing about $700 per annum each for repairs, or $3.18 cents per mile run, upon the Bangor and Oldtown Railroad (Maine).

Note 2.—In the Report of the Railroad Commissioners of the State of New York for the year ending September 30, 1855, is the following:—

One engine is required for each three and a half miles; or one engine in constant use for five and a quarter miles. The average run per annum by each engine in actual use is 22,823 miles; or 16,302 to all of the engines. Also, as regards the work done by cars.

Effective in constant use.Miles per car.Distance run per annum per car.
Passenger,650445.126
Baggage,24611———
Freight,75000.3511.970

the number of miles being 2,615.

Expenses, Receipts, Profits

Expenses

405. American railroad reports as a general thing do not analyze the cost of working. The gross expense is given, and in some cases is primarily divided. Besides the retrospective use of a minute division of expenses, which enables us to see what system is the most economical, there is a prospective use, namely, the formation of estimates for future operations and a correct base for establishing tariffs. If the circumstances of the traffic remain the same, an estimate of what the cost will be at any time is easy; but if they change, the data for the estimate change also. That we may at all times possess these data, we should know every year just the cost of working each article of traffic. It is not enough that the gross receipt exceeds the whole expense; even then the road may be working unprofitably. Unless each item of transport pays for itself, we are taxing unjustly some other item, (except, indeed, in such cases as adopting low rates in order to fill trains running in one direction which would otherwise run empty). An analysis of cost will also show whether or not it is best to attract an increased amount of business by a reduction of rates.

406. The whole cost of operating and of maintaining a railroad may be generally and specially divided as follows:—

{Cost of Road-bed.
{Cost of Superstructure.
(A) Interest on construction and equipment capital.{Cost of Buildings.
{Cost of Engines.
{Cost of Cars.
{Fixed machinery.
{Road-bed.{Material.
{{Labor.
{
(B) Maintenance of way and works.{Buildings.{Material.
{{Labor.
{
{Superstructure.{Material.
{{Labor.
{{{Working.{Fuel, oil, and waste.
{{{{Salaries.
{{Passenger.{
{{{Maintaining.{Material.
{{{{Labor.
{Locomotives.{
{{{Working.{Fuel, oil, and waste.
{{{{Salaries.
{{Freight.{
{{{Maintaining.{Material.
{{{{Labor.
(C) Maintenance of the fixed and rolling stock.{
{{{Working.{Warming, lighting, and cleaning.
{{{{Oil and waste.
{{Passenger.{
{Cars.{{Maintaining.{Material and labor.
{{
{{Freight.{Working.{Oil and waste.
{{{Maintaining.{Material and labor.
{
{Fixed machinery.{In shops.{Machinery.{Oil and waste.
{{On road.{Tanks and tables.{Materials and labor.
{{Conductors.
{{Ticket Sellers.
{Passenger.{Clerks.
{{Brakemen.
(D) Salaries of hands employed in and about trains.{{Porters.
{
{{Conductors.
{Freight.{Station agents.
{{Brakemen.
{{Weighers and gaugers.
{Passenger.{Warming and lighting.
{{Police.
(E) Station expenses.{
{Freight.{Warming and lighting.
{{Police.
{Salaries.
{Travelling expenses.
(F) General superintendence.{Office expenses.
{Stationery.
{Advertising, &c., &c.

The actual general division of the operating expenses upon the New York State system of roads was, for 1854, as follows. (See State Engineer’s Report).

Way and works,1,123dollars per mile of road.
Machinery,2,072dollars per mile of road.
Salaries on and about trains,640dollars per mile of road.
Stations,30dollars per mile of road.
General superintendence,333dollars per mile of road.
———
Total,4,198dollars per mile of road.

That the detailed expenses may be charged to the proper departments, and that we may be able to take out the exact cost of working any one class of trains, or of carrying any article of transport, the following form should be filled.

407. TABLE SHOWING THE GENERAL AND DETAILED EXPENSES OF WORKING AND MAINTAINING THE RAILROADS OF NEW YORK STATE, FOR 1854, AND THE NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD FOR THE YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1855.
WAY AND WORKS.LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES, CARS, AND FIXED MACHINERY.Station expenses.Salaries of employees in and about trains.General superintendence.Grand Total.
Nature of the item is shown in horizontal columns.Road-bed.Superstructure.Buildings.Total.LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.CARS.FIXED MACHINERY.Whole cost of machinery oiling on the road.Repairs and material.
Warming and lighting.		Conductors.
Brakemen.
Weighing.
Loading.
Porters.
Watchmen.		Stationery.
Salaries.
Offices.
Travelling.
Advertising.
Agencies.		Cost per passenger or per ton, per mile run, or cost per mile of road.
Passenger Locomotives.Freight Locomotives.Total cost.Passenger cars.Freight Cars.Total cost of cars.Repairs, oil and waste, labor, and machinery.
Name of railroad.Fuel.Oil and waste.SalariesWhole.Repairs.Total.Fuel.Oil and waste.Salaries.Whole.Repairs.Total.Operating.Maintaining.Total.Operating.Maintaining.Total.
_
Cost, in dollars, per mile, upon N. Y. State Railroads35114022F. 51344 F.841———3711801905
4538827P. 56839550140585237822202311223551915461368501451954520625144655 P.1072———2461702056
Cost in cents, per ton, or per passenger per mile run, N. Y. and Erie Railroad..020.161.010F..191.015 F..466.023.240.045.965
.157.021.107.285.109.394.205.018.080.303.081.384.778.020.079.099.022.045.067.166
.035.207.011P..253.018 P..511.026.159.0531.002
NOTES.RECAPITULATION.SUMMARY.DEDUCTIONS.

408. The following general measures are recommended by Lardner in his Railway Economy, as being the means of obtaining increased economy in the working of railroads.

1st. So to manage the traffic as to cause the cars to carry more complete loads.

2d. To encourage the transport to long distances.

3d. To regulate the tariff so as to give the largest possible number of cars to each engine.

4th. To adjust the tariffs where the business is chiefly in one direction, so as to attract return traffic, that the cars may not run without a load.

5th. Not to increase the number of trains beyond a reasonable accommodation of traffic.

6th. To diminish as far as possible express trains, if it be not practicable to abolish them altogether.

Receipts and Profits

409. The distribution of expenses, as we have seen, is somewhat complicated, and is systematically done upon a very few roads. The classification of receipts is, however, very easy, and is properly detailed in nearly all railroad reports. Upon the New York State railroads, the following was the division for the year 1854.

Average receipts per mile of road,

Passengers,$4,074.16
Freight,3,776.72
Extras,427.28
———
Whole,$8,278.16
Whole expense,$4,710.14

or fifty-seven per cent. of the receipts.

Receipts per mile run by trains,

Passengers,$1.32
Freight,2.02
Extras,1.67
———
Whole,$5.01
———
Average,1.67
———
Whole expense per mile run by train,$0.97

Average receipts per passenger and per ton, per mile,

Passenger,1.95cents,
Ton,2.79cents,
———
Average of passenger or ton,2.37cents,
———
Average expense of passenger or ton,1.38cents,

410. Upon the New York and Erie Railroad for the year ending September 30, 1856.

Receipts per mile of road,

Passengers,$3,397.34
Freight,7,143.42
Express and mail,397.84
———
Whole,$10,938.60
Whole expense per mile of road,5,263.00

or forty-eight per cent, of the receipts.

Receipts per mile run by trains,

Passengers,$1.16
Freight,2.13

Average receipts per passenger and per ton, per mile,

Passenger,2.02 cents,
Ton,2.37 cents.

411. Upon the New York State roads,

Average number of passengers per mile run,57.4
Average distance travelled by passengers,81.4
Average tons per mile run,90.0
Average distance, whole number of tons carried,177.0
Length,496 miles,
Freight tonnage,150,673,997 miles,
Passenger,84,069,398 miles.

412. It is of course an object on every railroad to make the gross receipts overbalance the gross expense by the largest possible amount. The elements which determine the gross receipts are,

The charge per mile, for transport,
The number of units transported,
The distance carried,

of which the company’s directors can control the first only, except as adjustment of rates may attract business.

Reduction of tariff, to a certain degree, has the effect of increasing the receipts by augmenting the number of fares; but the reduction may be carried too far. So, also, for a certain distance, increased rates will increase the whole receipts; but in this case, also, the extreme must be avoided. The point to be arrived at is, evidently, that at which the difference of expense and receipt is the greatest, and this is not necessarily when receipts are the greatest.

We can make the receipts nothing either by making the charges so large that nothing can bear them, or so small as to vanish. Even when the receipts are 0, we still have the expense of moving the empties.

By forming a table in which one column shall show the different charges, and the second the corresponding amounts transferred, with the consequent receipts and cost of working, we shall find which rate of charge will give the greatest difference between expense and receipt.

Express Trains

413. Express trains are a source of vast expense, directly and indirectly, which can never be repaid by any practicable tariff to be levied upon them. Dr. Lardner, (1850):—

Resolved, That this meeting recommend the adoption of a higher rate of fare upon express passenger trains, corresponding in some degree to the increased cost of such trains.—American Railroad Convention of 1854.

Increased Cost of Working

This is due to the extra wear and tear of engines, cars, and road, from increased speed, and also to the delays occasioned to other trains in motion at the same time.

The influence of express trains is felt not only by themselves, but by nearly all the trains upon the road.

Note.—To determine the most economical speed, regard need only be had to the variable elements of cost, namely: cost of power, and maintenance of superstructure, and rolling stock; assuming the power expended as the resistance, and the cost of repairs of machinery and superstructure as the velocity, we form the following table:—

Velocity in miles per hour.Resistance in pounds per ton.Hours con. in going 300 miles.Product of column 2 × 3.Cost of repairs.Result.
108.630258100358
159.320186150336
2010.315154200354
2511.612139250389
3013.310133300433
3515.28.60131350481
4017.37.50130400530
4519.86.67132
5022.66136
6029.15145
10066.53200

The result is found by adding the product of columns 2 and 3, or column 4 to column 5, from which the minimum cost is seen to be produced by a very little more than fifteen miles per hour. The variable (and above assumed) element is the rate of increase of cost of maintenance.

All trains in motion at the same time within a certain distance of the express, must be kept waiting with steam up, or be driven with extra velocities in order to keep out of the way.

Where the time table is so arranged as to call for speed nearly equal to the full capacity of the engine, it is very obvious that the risks of failure in “making time” must be much greater than at reduced rates; and when they do occur, the efforts made to gain time must be correspondingly greater and uncertain. A single example will be sufficient to show this:—

A train whose prescribed rate of speed is thirty miles an hour, having lost five minutes of time, and being required to gain it, in order to meet and pass an opposing train at a station ten miles distant, must necessarily increase its speed to forty miles an hour; and a train whose prescribed rate of speed is forty miles an hour, under similar circumstances, must increase its speed to sixty miles an hour; in the former case it would probably be accomplished, whilst in the latter it would more probably result in failure; or, if successful, it would be so at a fearful risk of accident.

But a failure in either case would have the effect of retarding the movement of the opposing train, deranging the time of those of the same and of an inferior class in both directions, involving, perhaps, on the part of the latter, the necessity of similar struggles for time, and thus may prove the primary cause of accident to all trains whose movements may have been affected thereby.

The first cost of locomotives, (assuming the cost to increase with the weight,) is thirty per cent. greater for express trains, than for those of the second or third class.

The cost of repairs being assumed as the product of the weight by distance run, and this distance being the same, is as the weight, or increased thirty per cent. (This assumes the power to be equally well adapted.)

The cost of cars does not (though it ought), differ much for express or slow trains; the cost of repairs will certainly be increased.

The interest of construction capital to be charged to expresses, will be, their mileage proportion plus any expense which may have been incurred in reducing curves and grades; the proportion of repairs of superstructure, charged to expresses, will depend on their weight. The locomotive causes 25
29 of the wear of rails, and as the weight of the engines is increased thirty per cent., the increased wear will be of 15
58.

The use of stations and of employees costs no more for express than for accommodation trains.

The repairs of locomotives will be nearly, if not quite, as the product of their weight by the distance run; and this, from the above, will be thirty per cent. greater on an express than on an ordinary train, the distance being the same.

The carriages for express trains ought to be at once stronger and more convenient than those for the slower work, the shocks arising from irregularities in the rails being very much greater as velocity increases; and the runs being very long, passengers require easier seats, even, in some cases, accommodation for sleeping. The cost for repairs, therefore, of express cars, would be somewhat greater than for any others.

Cost and Maintenance of Way and Works

As the speed is increased, the relative effect of grade and curves is lessened, but the absolute danger of passing curves is increased. Express trains require larger radius of curvature, or greater elevation of exterior rail than others, which extra elevation causes an unnecessary resistance to all other trains. The rails to resist large and heavy wheels must be heavier and more firmly fastened. All bridges and viaducts (particularly if on grades or curves), will require more strength to resist the increased shocks to which they will be subject. The wear of rails is nearly as the weight passing over them; the wear of rails consequent upon stopping and starting the trains depends upon the momentum of the train which is to be imparted to them.

The proportion, in which the working expenses are distributed under the several heads on the larger railways of Great Britain, is as follows:—

Direction and management,7
Way and works,16
Locomotive department,35
Cars,38
Sundries,4
———
100

And the percentage of increase due to fast travelling, to be applied to the several items of expense, with the resulting increase in total expense, is shown below.

Direction and management,70=0.0
Way and works,1627=4.3
Locomotive department,3530=10.5
Cars,3810=3.8
Sundries,40=0.0
——————
10018.6

or 18 per cent. increase, nearly.

Express trains, as worked on many roads, run at an unnecessary speed, to make up for frequent stops. Overcoming a long distance in a short time, depends as much on decrease in the number of stops, as increase in the speed.

The following figures show the effect of decreasing the number of stops.

A train running 400 miles, and stopping once in fifty miles, each stop being five minutes, (including coming to rest and starting,) to pass over the whole distance in eight hours, must run fifty-five miles per hour.

Stopping once in twenty miles, sixty-three miles per hour.

Stopping once in ten miles, eighty-six miles per hour.

The following table shows the velocities of the different classes of trains in England, France, and Belgium, including and excluding stops.

EXCLUDING STOPS.
Express.1st class.2d class.3d class.
England,43.932.832.825.2 miles per hour.
France,———27.524.328.1 miles per hour.
Belgium,———26.225.727.6 miles per hour.
INCLUDING STOPS.
Express.1st class.2d class.3d class.
England,36.524.824.817.5 miles per hour.
France,———22.117.919.9 miles per hour.
Belgium,———20.719.318.1 miles per hour.

The distances at which the different classes of trains stop in the several countries, are as follows:—

TRAINS STOP ONCE IN
1st class.2d class.3d class.Express.
England,8 miles,8 miles,5 miles,24 miles.
France,10 miles,6 miles,6 miles,—— miles.
Belgium,6.8 miles,5.6 miles,5 miles,—— miles.

Of the Increased Danger of Fast Travelling

The causes of accident, beyond the control of passengers, are

Collision by opposition.
Collision by overtaking.
Derailment by misplaced switches and draws.
Derailment by obstacles upon the rails.
Breakage of machinery.
Failure of track or bridges.
Fire.
Boiler explosions.

Those causes which are aggravated by fast travelling are the first, second, fifth, and sixth; the effects of all are worse at high speeds than at low.

The proportion of accidents due to each of these causes, taken at random from one hundred cases on English railways, are as follows:—

Collision,56
Breaking of machinery,18
Failure of the road,14
Misplaced switches,5
Obstacles on rails,6
Boiler explosion,1
———
100

In collision by opposition, the engines, tenders, and baggage cars must be demolished before the shock reaches the passengers; in collision by overtaking, the engine of the rear train plunges at once into the last passenger car of the leading train; the force in the last case is the difference of the speeds, in the former the sum. The increase of danger from this cause, attendant upon express trains, is due, first, to the longer time required in stopping, and second, in the greater shock if collision occurs.

Breakage of machinery is more liable to take place while wheels are revolving 25,000 times per hour, than when the speed is less.

Failure of the superstructure of bridges, (particularly when on curves or grades,) is more liable to take place at high than at low velocities.

Accidents from obstacles upon the track, from fire, boiler explosions, and misplaced switches, are no more attendant upon express than upon other trains, but the consequences are worse with the high speeds.

From the analysis above, of one hundred accidents, it appears that eighty-eight per cent. of the cases are due to the causes that are aggravated by increase of speed, and if we assume the aggravation of collision, and breakage of machinery, to be (speed being doubled) as two to one, the danger of travelling a fixed distance, by express, is eighty-eight per cent. greater than by a slow train.

Comparative Cost of Working Heavy and Light Trains

414. The question is sometimes asked, if it would not be better to run a greater number of trains and reduce the weight of engines. A comparison of cost is easily made.

The cost of working trains consists of

Fuel, oil, and waste.
Engine-men’s wages.
Wear of rails.
Conductor and brakemen.
Wear of cars.

Suppose we have to move 1,000 tons per day over any road. If we do it by one engine and 100 cars, the whole cost will be

One Engineer$2.00
One Fireman1.50
One Conductor1.75
Four Brakemen5.00
———
$10.25

And if we move 1,000 tons by ten trains of one hundred tons each,

Ten Engine-men at$2$20.00
Ten Firemen at1½15.00
Ten Conductors at1¾17.50
Ten Brakemen at1¼12.50
———
$65.00

Difference of salaries in favor of the heavy train, of $54.75.

As the whole weight upon the drivers must be the same to move a given load by either method, the only difference in weights of engines will be that upon the truck. To lead well a truck must have five tons upon it. The whole weight upon ten trucks is, then, fifty tons, and that upon one, five tons, which leaves an excess of forty tons to be daily carried over the road by the small trains. The heaviest freight engine will not cost over $15,000; the cost of an engine to draw one hundred tons cannot be less than $5,000.

10 × 5000 = 50000 less 15000 is $35000. 6
100 of 35000 is $2100.

Add to this five times as much fuel used in firing up and standing with steam up, ten times as much oiling, cleaning, and repairing, ten times as much engine house and shop accommodation; also that the cars in frequent trains are much less loaded than in seldom ones, increased delay and chance of accident from increased number of trains, and estimating all of them at $170.00 per day, (the cost of the large engine being assessed at $30 per day, and that of each of the small ones as $20, the daily difference is $170,) and we have, as the whole daily increased cost of working ten small over one large train,

170.00 + 54.75 × (6
100 of 35000)/313 or 6.71 = $231.46 per day,

or $72,446.98 per annum, which employs a capital of $1,207,449.

Branch Roads

415. These lines, when belonging to the main road, are generally worked at a loss; and when independent, are a poor investment. At a meeting of the directors of the Boston and Worcester (Mass.) Railroad in February, 1855, it was declared that out of six branches, but one was profitable. That four of them gave an income upon cost of from one and a quarter to one and three quarter per cent.

Independent branch lines generally share a joint business by the mileage standard; and here is where they lose, for if the branch trains do not traverse the main line, and the tribute passengers help to fill a train which runs at any rate upon the main, then the branch expense of carrying the passengers is to that of the main, as (say ninety to ten), and the branch should take 90
100 of the receipts. In this case the branch is charged with using both the cars and road of the main. If it runs its own cars over the main, (as when the branch is near the terminus,) it should be charged only with the wear of the road.

In like manner several roads, forming a continuous line, should not divide the receipts according to the mileage; but according to the cost of working that mileage. Thus if we have the continuous line below, column one shows the length; column two, the cost of building; column three, that of maintaining; and column four, the division of receipts.

Division.Length.Construction Capital.Maintaining Capital.Result.
1810410 + 4 = 14
2963½6 + 3½ = 9½
3672¾7 + 2¾ = 9¾
41041¼4 + 1¼ = 5¼

Reproduction of Road and Stock

416. Besides the annual repairs necessary to maintain a road in proper working order, there is needed a periodic expenditure for reproduction. Evidently the time will come, upon all roads, when rails and sleepers, buildings, bridges, etc., need to be replaced. Knowing the life of rails, we also know the annual depreciation, and from that can easily find what sum must annually be laid aside, which being properly invested, shall, at the end of the life of the rail, together with its interest, be equal to the cost of renewing.

Rails

Suppose rails to last ten years, the annual depreciation is ten per cent. At sixty lbs. per yard we have one hundred and five tons per mile, which, at $60 per ton, amounts to $6,300. Let the cost of rerolling and relaying be $30 per ton, the depreciation is then $30 per ton for ten years, or $3 per ton per annum, or $315 per mile per annum.

Sleepers

If sleepers last seven years, and cost forty cents apiece, their annual depreciation per mile (at 2,400 per mile) will be $138 per mile (nearly).

Bridges

If wooden bridges cost $30 per lineal foot, and last twenty years, the annual depreciation per foot will be $1.50, and if there is ten feet per mile of road, $15 per annum per mile.

Extras

Allowing for the annual depreciation per mile of buildings, fences, etc., $33, we have as the whole annual depreciation, $500 per mile; and the amounts which yearly reserved and placed at compound interest for each of the ten years, will pay for reproducing the road, are as follows:—

At the end of the 1st year $298
At the end of the 2d year 315
At the end of the 3d year 333
At the end of the 4th year 354
At the end of the 5th year 373
At the end of the 6th year 397
At the end of the 7th year 417
At the end of the 8th year 446
At the end of the 9th year 472
At the end of the 10th year 500

which, at six per cent., gives, at the end of the tenth year, $500 each.

Note.—Reproduction of rolling stock has been proved to be nothing more than repairs, as a locomotive may be fitted with one and another new part until none of the original machine remains. See Lardner’s Railroad Economy.

As the business upon a railroad increases, so does the amount of station accommodation necessary, and also of rolling stock, which increase should be debited to capital, and not to revenue.

The permanent investors in a railroad are in favor of having capital maintained, even at the expense of revenue. The temporary shareholders, and the speculators in stock, wish most to produce large dividends, even at a sacrifice of capital, and would charge nothing to revenue.

The rights of both of the above classes are to be regarded, as the road is often built mainly by the efforts of the temporary investors.

Working Railroads by Contract

417. An experiment has lately been tried upon the working of railroads which bids fair to reduce very considerably the cost of operating; and to render the enterprises more profitable, namely, working the several departments by contract; that is, paying certain persons a fixed price for supplying the necessary amount of power, cars, or material per annum, thus bringing into play private interest and individual enterprise. There is no doubt but that by a judicious system of this kind, correctly applied, many roads which are now worthless could be made to pay, while the value of good roads would be also increased.

Classification of Freight

418. Freight is classified according to its nature, the commercial nature of the country traversed by the road, and the direction of the principal market. The distribution adopted upon some of the large roads is as follows:—

CLASSIFICATION OF ARTICLES.

[Articles marked thus * at owner’s risk.]

Double First Class.

Baskets, * Band Boxes;

* Camphene;

* Carboys, and contents;

* Demijohns, and contents;

* Eggs;

Feathers, in bags;

Furs;

Hobby Horses;

Musical Instruments;

* Plaster of Paris, (ornaments);

Pictures, in frames;

Teazles, in casks;

Wagons, (children’s);

Willow Ware.

First Class.

* Ale, in glass;

* Apples, green, pre-paid;

Bacon, loose;

Batting;

Bells;

* Berries, pre-paid;

* Blinds, (window) in packages;

Bonnets;

* Books, in boxes;

Boots;

Bran, in bags;

Brass, in sheets and pigs;

Brass Castings;

Brass Vessels;

Bread and Biscuit;

Brooms, in bales or bundles;

Broom Handles, in boxes or bundles;

Brushes;

Buffalo Robes, packed;

Buttons;

* Candies and Confectionary, canvassed;

Cane;

Cards;

Carpeting;

Caps;

China Ware;

Chocolate;

* Cigars, in boxes;

Cinnamon;

* Clocks, in boxes;

Cocoa;

Cassia;

Coffee, ground;

Collars;

Combs;

Copper, in sheets and pigs;

Copper Vessels;

Corks;

* Cotton, in bales;

* Cotton Waste;

Covers and Sieves;

* Cranberries;

* Cutlery;

Deer Skins, in bundles;

Doors;

Dry Goods;

Fancy Goods;

* Figs, in boxes;

Fire-arms;

* Fish, fresh, pre-paid;

Flour, in bags;

Forks, hay and manure;

* Fruits, fresh, pre-paid;

* Game, pre-paid;

Garden Seeds;

Ginger;

* Glass, in boxes;

* Glass Ware, in boxes or casks;

Glue;

* Grapes, pre-paid;

Gun Stocks, in boxes or bundles;

Hair, in sacks;

Hams, loose;

Harness;

Hides, dry;

Hoe Handles;

* Hollow Ware;

* Honey;

Hops, pressed;

* Ice, pre-paid;

Indigo;

Ink;

Iron Castings, light;

Ivory;

Japan Ware;

Joiners Work;

* Lemons, in boxes, canvassed;

* Looking-glasses, well boxed;

* Machinery, boxed, light;

Marble, wrought, at owner’s risk of breakage;

Mats;

Mattrasses, double, at 150 pounds each;

Mattrasses, single, at 100 pounds each;

Mill Stuffs, in bags or casks;

Measures;

* Meat, fresh, pre-paid;

Meat, in bulk, salted;

Medicines;

* Melons, pre-paid;

Moss, in sacks;

Nuts, in sacks or casks;

* Oranges, in boxes, canvassed, pre-paid;

* Oysters, in cans or kegs;

Palm Leaf, in bales;

Paper, brown wrapping and straw, (light);

Paper Hangings;

Pelts;

* Porter, in glass;

* Poultry, dressed, pre-paid;

* Prunes;

Rags, (see second class);

* Raisins;

Rake Handles;

Rattan;

Rugs;

Saddle Trees;

Saddlery;

* Sash, in packages;

Scale Beams;

Scythe Snaths;

Shoes;

Shovel Handles;

Soap, fancy;

Soda;

Spices;

* Spirits Turpentine;

Stationery;

Straw Goods;

Teas, (see third class);

Tin Ware, in crates or hhds.;

Toys;

Trunks, empty, 80 pounds each;

Tubs;

Turners’ Work;

* Vegetables, pre-paid;

Veneering;

Wadding;

Warp, on beams;

Warp Beams;

Waste, woollen;

Wax;

Whalebone;

Wheelbarrows;

Whips;

Wicking;

* Wines, in baskets or boxes;

* Wooden Ware;

Wool;

Woollens.

Second Class.

Alcoholic Liquors;

* Ale, in casks;

Apples, dried;

Alum;

Anchors;

Anvils;

Ashes, pot or pearl;

Axes, in boxes;

Axles, iron;

Bacon, packed;

Bagging;

Barilla;

Bark, tanner’s, 1¼ cord per ton;

Beans;

* Beef, in casks or boxes;

Beer, in casks;

Bleaching Salts;

Bones;

* Bottles, packed, (empty);

Brimstone;

Burr Blocks;

Burlaps, in original packages;

* Butter, in firkins;

* Candles, in boxes;

Cannon;

Canvas;

Castings, heavy;

Cement;

Chains;

Chalk;

Chair and turned Stuff in bales or bdls.;

Cider, in casks;

Cheese, in boxes or casks;

Clay, Coal, and Coke, in casks or boxes;

Clover Seed;

Coffee, in sacks;

Copperas;

Cordage;

Crockery Ware, well packed;

Domestics, in original packages;

Dye Stuffs, in woods;

Earthen Ware, well packed;

* Fire Brick;

Fish, dried or salted;

Flax Seed;

Flocks;

Floor Cloth, painted;

Flour, in barrels, 20 barrels or less;

Furnaces;

Grain, of all kinds;

* Grindstones;

Groceries, generally heavy, not otherwise specified;

Gunnies, in bales;

Hoes;

Hams, shoulders or sides, in casks or boxes;

Hardware, except Cutlery;

* Hemp, in bales;

Hemp Seed;

* Hides, green;

* High Wines;

Hoops, shaved or split, 3,000 pounds per cord;

India Rubber;

Iron, pig, bloom, boiler, rod, and bar;

Iron, hoop, sheet, or bolts;

Iron, nuts, rivets, and spikes;

Junk;

Lard, in barrels or casks;

Lead, sheet, pig, or pipe;

Leather;

Liquors, in barrels or casks;

Lime, in barrels or casks;

Marble, unwrought, at owner’s risk of breakage;

Meal, in bags or casks;

Molasses;

Moss, pressed;

Nails, in kegs;

Oakum, in bales;

Oil, owner’s risk of leakage;

Oil Cake,

Oil Cloth;

* Oysters, in shell;

Paints, dry or in oil;

Paper, (white,) in boxes or bundles;

Paper, (heavy brown and hardware);

Pasteboard;

Pepper;

Peaches, dried;

Peas, in sacks or casks;

Pickles, in casks;

* Pipes, in boxes;

Pitch;

Plaster, in casks or barrels;

Ploughs;

Pork, packed;

* Porter, in casks;

Potatoes, in casks or sacks;

Rags, foreign, pressed;

Rakes;

Railroad Chairs and Spikes;

Rice;

Rope;

Rosin;

Saleratus;

Salt, in bags or casks;

Saltpetre;

Scales, in boxes;

Scythes, in bundles;

Scythe Stones;

Shot, in bags;

Shovels and Spades;

Sizing;

Slate;

Soap, (common,) in boxes;

Soda:

Spelter and Zinc;

Spikes, in kegs;

Spirits, domestic;

Starch;

Steel, in boxes or bundles;

Steel Springs;

Stone;

* Stone Ware, well packed;

Sugar;

Sumac;

Tallow, owner’s risk of heat;

Tar;

Tiles;

Tin, metal and plate;

Tobacco, in bales, boxes, or hhds.;

Tow, pressed, (in bales,) owner’s risk of fire;

Twine, in bales;

Vegetable Roots, in sacks or casks;

* Vinegar;

Water, Mineral;

Whiskey, in casks;

White Lead;

Whiting;

* Wine, in casks;

Wire, in rolls and casks;

Woods, in shape, unfinished;

Woods, of value, namely, Mahogany, Lignum Vitæ, Rosewood, Cherry, Cedar, Walnut, etc.;

Wool, foreign, pressed, in bales;

Yam, pressed;

Zinc and Spelter.

Third Class.

Includes the following articles in quantities of 8,000 pounds, and less than 16,000 pounds, in any one shipment from one consignor to one consignee. Same articles shipped in like manner, in quantities of 16,000 pounds and upwards, will be taken at special rates.

Anchors;

Anvils;

Ashes, pot and pearl, in casks;

Axes, iron;

Bacon, packed;

Bark, tanner’s, 1¼ cord per ton;

Beans, in sacks or casks;

Beef, packed;

Burr Blocks;

Cannon;

Cement, in barrels or casks;

Chain Cable;

Cider;

Clay;

Coffee;

Copper, in boxes;

Flaxseed, in sacks or casks;

Flour, in barrels;

Grain, of all kinds;

Grindstones;

Hams, packed;

High Wines;

Iron, pig, bar, bloom, sheet, hoop, or rod;

Iron Castings, heavy;

Lard, in casks or barrels;

Lead, sheet, pig, or pipe;

Lime, in barrels;

Marble, unwrought, at owner’s risk of breakage;

Molasses;

Nails, in kegs;

Plaster, in barrels;

Pork, packed;

Potatoes, in sacks or casks;

Railroad Iron, Chairs and Spikes;

Salt, in sacks and barrels;

Shot;

Slate;

Spikes, in kegs;

Sugar, in casks;

Teas;

Tobacco, in boxes or hhds.;

Vinegar, in barrels;

Whiskey, in barrels.

Besides the above regular articles, are the following special objects of transport:—

Stores;

Cabinet Ware;

Brick;

Charcoal;

Pressed Hay;

Broom Corn;

Boxes of Cigars;

Barrels;

Bags;

Corn in the Ear;

Poultry;

Looking-glasses;

Trees and Shrubbery;

Safes;

Mill-stones;

Steam-engines;

Machinery;

Agricultural Implements;

Lumber;

Live-Stock;

Carriages;

Coal and Coke.

Time Tables

Fig. 158, (see end of volume).

419. The most complete graphic solution of an engineering problem, is doubtless the time table of S. S. Post, Esq., chief engineer of the New York and Erie Railroad. Let the vertical lines represent time in spaces of ten minutes each, and the horizontals, distances, the heavy lines representing the several way stations. Suppose now that we leave station A at six, A. M., and wish to arrive at K at two, P. M., stopping ten minutes at each station; the number of way stations being eight, the whole time consumed in stops will be 10 × 8 = 80 minutes. From two, P. M., and on the line K, go back eighty minutes or to M, and from A draw A B, in the direction A M, which cuts the line B B at B, which is four miles, or thirteen minutes from A. Now, as we wait ten minutes, pass along on the line B B one division (ten minutes) to B′ and start again parallel to A B, arriving at C at one and a half hours from starting. Proceeding thus, we arrive at K at the required time. The inclination of the line shows the speed. Thus, if it passes twenty horizontal spaces in six vertical divisions, we have twenty miles in sixty minutes, or twenty miles per hour.

Suppose now we would start an express train at eight, A. M., from A to arrive at K at one, P. M., (see line 8 F,) it will pass the first train at station F, and will run at the rate of seventeen miles per hour from A to F, at the same rate from F to G, and at thirteen miles per hour from G to 1.

Suppose also that we start a train from K at six, A. M., to arrive at A at eleven, A. M., we pass the before-mentioned trains at E and D.

Also a freight train which is required to pass the above named trains, leaving K at eight, A. M., and arriving at A at one, P. M., will stop ten minutes at G, ten minutes at M, pass the first train at L, wait ten minutes on a siding at two and a half miles from L, and run to A at nearly a uniform rate of speed.

So also may the motion of any train be laid down and traced through the hours of the day upon the table. By plotting the profile of the road upon the line A K, the places are shown at which grades will oblige us to use a less speed. Curves also may be shown by increasing the steepness of the grades; or by making a grade on the profile when the road is level, steep enough to involve an amount of power equal to that consumed by the curve.

Locomotive Registers

420. American railroad reports are, as a general thing, quite destitute of detailed accounts of the performance of the power. Some of the large roads, indeed, are of late improving in this respect.

That fares and tolls may be properly applied to the different articles of transport, the cost of moving each article should be known.

Such items as the salaries of employees, and repairs of machinery, are easily distributed to the proper heads; but the correct amount of fuel, oil, and waste, to be charged to any department, is not so evident. What we require is, the exact amount of fuel, oil, and waste used, and work done by each engine; to obtain which, some system of registering these quantities must be adopted.

The following five blanks being filled, we have all that is required:—

Number 1 is the engineer’s weekly return to the master of machinery, and gives, as seen, the times of arriving at, and departing from, each station. The fuel should always be ready at each station for delivery, in cords and half cords, or in tons and fractions, when coal or coke. It may be delivered either from a small car placed on a pair of rails at right angles to the track, or from a box hung upon a crane, which may be at once swung over and lowered into the tender; the box which is already in, being first removed. The latter method gives the most correct results, as whatever fuel is left at the station may be credited to the engine. The whole operation of wooding would not take longer than it does to describe it, and would lead to a systematic and economical method of working.

The tanks and pumps being charged to construction, we may, without material error, charge the cost of the water supply to the trains according to their mileage.

Number 2 is the wood register, showing the amount of fuel delivered to the several engines from the different stations, and should be weekly signed and returned by the station wood master to the fuel agent. The engineer’s fuel receipts (No. 1) check these reports.

Number 3 is the conductor’s mileage account, giving the exact weight left at, and taken from, each station; and, consequently, the load carried between stations, which is checked by the station master’s return.

Number 4 is the monthly account of the performance of engines, compiled from the weekly return by the superintendent of machinery, and reported to the superintendent.

Number 5 gives the annual performance of each and all of the engines upon the road, and is obtained from the monthly reports, and from those of the repair and transportation departments.

The work done by different classes of cars should be registered in like manner.

Knowing the amount of material used, and also the work done, it is easy to find the cost per mile of moving any article of transport, regard of course being had to the character of the parts of the road traversed by the several engines. An engine working a sixty feet grade should be allowed more fuel than one which works a level only.

Number 1.

A. and B. Railroad. Report of amount of material consumed, and of work done by Engine No. 50, during the week ending July 4, 1856.

————————, Engineer.

MONDAY.Name of train.
Name of station.
Time of arriving.
Time of departing.
Fuel taken.
Whole cost fuel consumed———
Whole time under steam———
Whole time running———

And the same for each day of the week.

WEEKLY MEMORANDA.
Cords of wood used———
Gallons oil used———
Pounds tallow used———
Pounds waste used———
Miles run———
Whole time running———
Whole time under steam———
Time under repairs———
Cost of repairs———
————, Master of Machinery.
Number 2.
—— RAILROAD. AMOUNT OF FUEL DELIVERED TO ENGINES FROM —— STATION DURING WEEK ENDING ——.
Name of Engine.A.B.C.D.E.F.G.H.K.Total.
Monday.Morning.
Afternoon.
Tuesday.Morning.
Afternoon.
Wednesday.Morning.
Afternoon.
Thursday.Morning.
Afternoon.
Friday.Morning.
Afternoon.
Saturday.Morning.
Afternoon.
Total to each engine.Wood Station Master ——.

Number 3.

A. and B. Railroad. Conductor’s mileage return, for week ending July 4, 1856, showing work done by Engine No. 54.

MONDAY.Train.
Station.
Cars taken.
Cars left.
Cars in train.
Weight of train.
Eq’d distance.
Eq’d mileage.
Total equated mileage———
And the same for each day of the week.

Number 4.

A. AND B. RAILROAD. PERFORMANCE OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES FOR MONTH ENDING ——.
Number.Use.Miles run.Time.Wages.Fuel.Oil, waste, and tallow.Repairs.Totals.Work done.Comp, work done.
Working.At rest.Under repairs.Cost.Cost per mile.Cords.Miles per cord.Gallons oil used.Miles per pint.Pounds of waste.Pounds of tallow.Cost of oil, waste, and tallow.Cost per mile of oil, waste, and tallow.Cost.Cost per mile.Cost.Cost per mile.Freight.Passenger.
Equated freight mileage.Cost per ton per equated mile.Equated passenger mileage.Cost per ton per equated mile.
——, General Superintendent.

Number 5.

A. AND B. RAILROAD. ANNUAL REPORT OF COST OF MAINTENANCE OF, AND WORK DONE BY THE LOCOMOTIVE POWER, ALSO THE COST PER TON AND PASSENGER PER MILE, TOGETHER WITH THE NATURE AND AMOUNT OF REPAIRS, THE DIMENSIONS, & THE PRESENT STATE OF THE STOCK, 1856.
Name or Number of the engine.Name of the builder or manufactory from whence bought.Use to which it is applied.Date of commc’g work upon the road.GENERAL CHARACTER AND PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS OF THE ENGINES.Number of miles runWHOLE EXPENSE OF WORKING AND OF MAINTAINING THE LOCOMOTIVES, AND EXPENSE PER MILE.TIME OF SERVICE.RECEIPTS, OR AMOUNT OF WORK DONE BY LOCOMOTIVES.Total equated mileage of engines.Comparative effect of engines.Nature of repairs.Present condition of machinery.
Weights.Capacity of tender in gallons.Cylind’rs.Mode of connection.Driv’g wheels.Relative power, or traction at a mean cylinder pressure of 75 lbs.BoilerCost of enginemen and firemen.Cost of oil, waste, and tallow.Cost of fuel.Repairs.Total.Time, in days, of active s’vice.Time, in days, at rest.Time while under repair.Passenger.Merchandise.Mixed trains.
Whole weight of engine with fuel and water.Weight upon the driving wheels.Weight of the tender with feed.Diameter of bore.Stroke.Number.Diameter.Grate area.Whole heating surface.Area of blast orifice.Gallons of oil used.Miles run to one pint of oil.Pounds of waste used.Pounds of tallow usedCost for oil waste, and tallow.Cost per mile run for oil, waste, and tallow.Cords of fuel used.Cost of fuel.Cost per mile run for fuel.Cost of repairs of engine.Cost per mile run for repairs of engineTotal cost.Total cost per mile run.Cars carried one mile.Cost per car per mile.Freight cars carried one mile.Cost per mile for freight cars.Tons of freight carried one mileCost per ton per mile for freight.Mileage of mixed trains.Cost per ton (gross) per mile for mixed trains.
Recapitulation, No. 1.Recapitulation, No. 2.Recapitulation, No. 3.Recapitulation, No. 4.Recapitulation, No. 5.
Cost per equated mile, per ton, of working freight engines.Cost per equated mile, per passenger, of working engines.Of —— freight engines —— are in working order, or —— per cent. of the whole. Average work of an engine is —— days per annum, and for each day at work —— days repairing and —— at rest.Same as 3; for passenger, in place of freight engines.Relative cost per equated mile of gross to net tons of freight carried. Relative cost per equated mile of gross to net tons of passengers carried.______________________________________________
Engineer and fireman. Fuel. Oil, tallow, and waste. Repairs.Total.Engineer and fireman. Fuel. Oil, tallow, and waste. Repairs.Total.Gen’l Superintendent.

Telegraph

421. The magnetic telegraph has lately come into use as a means of communication along the lines of long railroads, and nothing serves better the purposes of adjusting the movement of trains, of transmitting orders, and of keeping the general superintendent informed at all hours, of the exact condition in detail of the whole road, and of all its trains. The following is extracted from Mr. McCallum’s Report, before referred to:—

“A single track railroad may be rendered more safe and efficient, by a proper use of the telegraph, than a double track railroad without its aid,—as the double track can only obviate collisions which occur between trains moving in opposite directions, whilst the telegraph may be used effectually in preventing them, either from trains moving in an opposite, or the same direction; and it is a well established fact deduced from the history of railroads, both in Europe and in this country, that collisions between trains moving in the same direction have proved by far the most fatal and disastrous, and should be the most carefully guarded against. I have no hesitation in asserting, that a single track railroad, having judiciously located turnouts, equal, in the aggregate, to one quarter of its entire length, and a well-conducted telegraph, will prove to be a more safe and profitable investment than a much larger sum expended in the construction of a continuous double track, operated without a telegraph.

“Collisions between fast and slow trains, moving in the same direction, are prevented by the application of the following rule:—‘The conductor of a slow train will report himself to the superintendent of the division, immediately on arrival at a station where by the time table he should be overtaken by a faster train; and he shall not leave that station until the fast train passes, without special orders from the superintendent of the division.’ A slow train under such circumstances, may, at the discretion of the division superintendent, be directed to proceed. He, being fully apprised of the position of the delayed train, can readily form an opinion as to the propriety of doing so, and thus, whilst the delayed train is permitted to run without regard to the slow train, the latter can be kept entirely out of its way.

“Note.—In moving trains by telegraph, nothing is left to chance. Orders are communicated to the conductors and engineers of the opposing trains, and their answers returned giving their understanding of the order before either is allowed to proceed.

“Their passing place is fixed and determined, with orders positive and defined that neither shall proceed beyond that point until after the arrival of the other; whereas, in the absence of a telegraph, conductors are governed by general rules and their individual understanding of the same; which rules are generally to the effect, that in cases of detention, the train arriving first at the regular passing place, shall, after waiting a few minutes, proceed cautiously, ‘expecting to meet the other train,’ until they have met and passed, the one failing to reach the ’half way post’ between stations being required to back (always a dangerous expedient), and the other permitted to proceed; the delayed train being subjected to the same rule in regard to all other trains of the same class it may meet, thus pursuing its hazardous and uncertain progress during the entire trip. The history of such a system furnishes a serious commentary on the imperfection of railroad regulations.

“The liability to collision under the system referred to has prompted the invention of various expedients for suddenly arresting the progress of trains; and which seem to have been conceived under the impression, more imaginary than real, that the difficulties they were designed to obviate, are unavoidable in their character; but which may, by the exercise of ordinary care and the use of the telegraph, be subjected to perfect control. Some of these inventions undoubtedly possess sufficient merit to entitle them to adoption under any circumstances, whilst others, for the above reasons, are entirely valueless—indeed it is questionable whether a reliance on their use may not in many cases lead to danger, by producing recklessness, and thus increase instead of diminish the evils sought to be avoided.”

422. As a fine specimen of American railroad engineering, and American railroad management, stands the above-named line, extending from Jersey City to Lake Erie, at Dunkirk; embracing with its branches 496 miles of road, employing over 1,000,000 dollars worth of labor per annum, upwards of 200 locomotive engines, and about 3,000 cars; earning annually over 5,000,000, and expending 2,680,000 dollars.

The whole cost of the road up to September 30, 1855, was, with the equipment, nearly $33,750,000. There are 129 truss bridges, amounting in all to 15,692 feet in length; 64 trestle, stringer, and pile bridges, of 5,489 feet total length; 3 viaducts, of length 1,274 feet in all; 167 arch culverts, of from 3 to 30 feet span; 527 box culverts, from 1 to 12 feet span; 92 wood sheds, 14,200 feet total length; 435 buildings; 433 switches, of 387,914 feet available length, and 504,205 feet total length.

Notwithstanding the immense amount of business transacted by such a road, so complete is the organization and management of employees, that the general superintendent, sitting in his New York office, can at any moment tell, within one mile, where each car or engine is, what it is doing, with what loaded, the consignor and consignee, and the time of arriving and departing the several stations, and other trains; and thus at any moment may perceive and correct faults and remissness, and in reality control the whole road.

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