The Delaware and Hudson Railroad Bulletin, January 1, 1938

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/WILL start anew this morning
With a higher, fairer creed;
I will cease to stand complaining

Of my ruthless neighbor s greed:
I will cease to sit repining

White my duty's call is clear;
I will waste no moment whining,

And my heart shall know no fear.
I will look sometimes about me

For the things that merit praise;
I will search for hidden beauties

That elude the grumbler's gaze.
I will try to find contentment

In the paths that I must tread; #

/ will cease to have resentment

When another moves ahead.
I will not be swayed by envy

When my rival's strength is shown;
I will not deny his merit,

But Fit strive to prove my own.
I will try to see the beauty

before me, rain or shine;
I will cease to preach your duty,

And be more concerned with mine. ,

—Selected.

Zh

HUDSON RAILROAD

CORPORATION

BULLET I N

ore

xcursions

Attracted 1,500,000 Passengers in Summer Seasons from 1898 to 1917

i

MORE than 1,500,-
000 excursionists
were carried on
Delaware and Hudson
trains from points on the
Pennsylvania Division to
Lake Ladore, on the
Honesdale Branch, during
the summer seasons of the
years between 1898 and
1917, according to retired

Conductor George

CHAPMAN who ran trains
in this service throughout
the entire 20-year period.

When the excursion
season was at its height
each year as many as
2,500 people rode on
each of several two-en-
gine, 25 -car trains origi-
nating at various cities
in Lackawanna and Wy-
oming Valleys almost
daily. Despite the fact
that at points the single-
track Honesdale Branch
was built on a grade

which rose 121 feet to the mile, two 700-ciass
locomotives, one at the head end and another behind
the seventh car, were all that were needed to handle
these long trains. The coaches were equipped with
retainer valves when built at the Carbondale Car
Shops, enabling engineers to control the train on
the steep descent of the return trip as easily as a
five-car train could be handled ordinarily. To the
best of MR, CHAPMAN'S knowledge none of the
one and a half million excursionists carried was
injured and none of the cars in this service was

GEORGE CHAPMAN

ever damaged or derailed.
From 1874 until the
Gravity Railroad was
abandoned in 1898 Far-
view, at the top of the
range of mountains lying
between Carbondale and
Honesdale, had been the
favorite rendezvous for
excursionists. Narrow-
gauge coaches were pulled
up the nine planes be-
t w e e n Carbondale and
Farview by stationary en-
gines, the return trip be-
in g made by gravity
power.

Excursions came to an
abrupt end during the
World War and this once
tremendously popular
pastime was never revived
although, oddly enough,
the last excursion train,
operated from South
Scranton to Lake Ladore
in 1917, consisted of 25
cars, all loaded to capacity.
While interruptions in his employment during
the early years of his career reduced his last period
of continuous service to 58 years, MR. CHAPMAN
never worked for or received pay from any other
employer from March 1, 1873, until he retired on
pension over 64 years later on June 1, 193 7.
Equally noteworthy is the fact that he was a con-
ductor for over 5 1 years, a record few railroaders
can surpass.

Despite his unusually long service record, MR.
CHAPMAN was only 71 years

3

Born at Sterling, Scotland, May I, 1866, GEORGE
was six when his family came to America, settling
at Carbondale. The next year he was hired by
Superintendent John Bowers as a slate picker in the
Racket Brook Breaker, two miles east of Carbon-
dale, where coal mined at several workings was
prepared for market. About 50 boys were employ-
ed to remove slate from the coal as it slid down
chutes in the breaker. School facilities were then
so poor that most children worked, attending classes
only when breakers were not in operation.

Later in 1873 GEORGE was hired as office boy
by Master Car Builder Thomas Orchard. All the
coal cars and coaches used on the Gravity Railroad
were built in the Carbondale Car Shop, then housed
in the building which now serves as a storehouse
in back of the division offices. With the exception
of metal parts the cars were entirely built by The
Delaware and Hudson force, the wheels being pur-
chased from Van Bergen's Foundry which stood
just south of the present roundhouse. GEORGE
served as office boy, messenger, and in other capa-
cities at intervals until October 1, 1879, when he
became Wreck Foreman Fred Topping's office boy.

When a wreck occurred on the Gravity the 5 -ton
capacity wooden cars were simply pulled clear of
the tracks by the huge horses stationed at intervals
to start trains which stalled on the levels, or a long
pole was used as a lever to pry the wreckage off
the right of way. Cars of three sizes were used
on the two-gauge steam railroad between Carbondale
and Wilkes-Barre: 4}4. -ton coal cars, 9 l /i -ton gon=
dolas, and 15 -ton gondolas. When these larger
units were damaged in derailments, the wrecking
crew "mopped up ff with the aid of a four-man,
hand-operated derrick mounted on a flat car. This
'big hook" of the early eighties would pick up
about three tons; by way of comparison, the steam
wrecking crane now stationed at Carbondale will
lift 160 tons.

In 1880, GEORGE oiled cars on the Gravity,
oil -saturated waste being used to lubricate them then
as now. The loads were so light, however, that
hot boxes" were seldom encountered. MR. CHAP-
MAN therefore saw the "hot box" problem grow
from practically none in the eighties, to the point
where, while working in the main line train service,
he took a solid train of 57-hot-box-crippled cars
south from Ararat at once. Today, frequent re-
packing and inspections, combined with scientific
preparation, distribution, and use c
has reduced their numbers to one in 3
in freight service and one in more than 1
miles in passenger service.

9

Car inspectors were stationed at No. 2 plane
the Gravity where all empty cars returning from

n

Honesdale were carefully examined for
"cripples" being switched out and "dropped
planes to the Car Shop.

in 1880 Mr. Chapman was hired as
iv,:akeman em the steam railroad by Train Master
S. A. McMullen, running north from Carbondale
to Nineveh and south to Wilkes-Barre. The tre-
mendous development which has taken place in
railroading in the past 60 years is graphically
illustrated by his recollection that 25 9 l /i -ton
capacity coal cars were then a two-engine freight
train's tonnage. To move one of these 25 5 -ton
trains north from Carbondale to Ararat required
two engines. Today a freight train with one lead
engine and two helpers will take 6,000 tons, or 24
times as much, over the same grade.

During a business recession in 1884, MR. CHAP-
MAN worked as a carpenter under Master Bridge
Builder George Burrell, repairing the wooden bridge
at Providence which spanned the Lackawanna River.
MR. CHAPMAN also recalls that when he first ran
north to Nineveh the span on the present site of the
gauntlet bridge at Center Village was an all-wood,
covered bridge. To avoid a fire such as had
destroyed the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad
bridge over the Hudson between Green Island and
Troy, May 10, 1862, a Mr. Hatch was employed
as watchman to walk through the 300-foot span
after each train passed to be sure that no fire had
been started by flying sparks.

Beginning in 1885, MR. CHAPMAN was occa-
sionally called as extra conductor and the following
year he was promoted by Train Master McMullen
who assigned him to a Carbondale-Nineveh freight
run with ENGINEER THOMAS McCAWLEY.

For 20 months beginning in October 1917,
MR. CHAPMAN served temporarily as assistant train
master of the Pennsylvania Division, returning to
the train service as local freight conductor. The

next year he again entered passenger service on the

(Continued on page / 3 )

The Cover Photograph

BEAVER, trapped by New York State Con-
servation Department employes on private
property where they had been doing damage
and released on the Debar Mountain Game Refuge,
20 miles north of Saranac Lake, felled the trees
across the right of way of the Chateaugay Rail-
road's Tekene Branch, as shown on this month's
cover photograph. These amazing animals, nick-
named "Nature's Engineers" by some naturalists,
together with their activities in the vicinity of this
old railroad, are described in the article beginning
e 5.

' ■ :

I f

Beaver Dams

d Aband
ene Branch

oo

Fl

Tek

anaone

d

DEEP in the Adirondack^ — 20 miles north of
Saranac Lake as the crow flies — is the aban-
doned embankment of a portion of the
Tekene Branch of the Chateaugay Railroad which,
when forsaken by the human engineers who built
and maintained it, was taken over by nature's
engineers, the beaver. These amazing creatures,
picked by some naturalists as America's most inter-
esting animals, have used portions of the now
weed- and brush -covered embankment in construct-
ing their dams and have flooded an area of several
square miles, completely submerging parts of the
abandoned right of way.

This railroad left the Chateaugay Branch at

•

Tekene Junction, 1.7 miles north of Loon Lake,
and, skirting the base of the Loon Lake Moun-
tains, wound its way 4.5 miles westward, over
unusually heavy grades, to a point known as the
"End of the Iron," at the base of Debar Moun-
tain. En route it crossed Hatch Brook, following
this stream on an embankment to the foot of the
valley lying between Debar and Baldface Mountains.
A 2. 3 -mile spur track ran north through this
valley, terminating at Debar Pond. By building
several dams across Hatch Brook between the em-
bankment and the foothills opposite, the beaver
flooded a large area of what was formerly marsh

Fifty-Pound Male Beaver

land between Debar and Sable Mountains. A feed-
er stream paralleling the Debar Pond spur has also
been dammed in half a dozen places in the first
mile of its length, while on the other side of the
natural divide toward Debar Pond, are several
more dams.

The Tekene Branch was built by the Chateaugay
Railroad Company in about 1888 over a right of
way obtained from the Chateaugay Ore and Iron
Company, to transport lumber out of the area.
The entire branch was abandoned and the rails
taken up in February, 1918, Subsequently the last
mile of the right of way of the main branch and
all of the spur were included in the 9,000-acre
tract set aside as the Debar Mountain State Game
Refuge. In addition to serving as an area where
deer, bear, and other game animals can escape the
hunters' guns, it provides a place where beaver.

Map Showing Beaver Dams on Tekene and Chateaugay Branches

removed from private property at the request of
the owners, may be released.

The story of the beaver itself, together with the
influence it had on the early settlement of New York
State in general, and Albany in particular, is one
of the most interesting episodes in the history of
American wild life. The principal reason for the
planting of a Dutch colony at what is now Albany,
in 1620, was to establish a trading post at which
Old World goods could be exchanged for the Indi-
ans' furs. The best furs, and those most eagerly
sought by the traders, were those of the beaver,
the importance of which is evidenced by the fact
that the official seal of the colony had a beaver as
its chief emblem.

Early historians record that in 1624, 4,000
beaver and 700 otter skins, were shipped from
Albany. Albany's beaver trade grew to the point
where in the year 1658 alone 57,640 furs, worth
nearly $200,000, were forwarded. With the excep-
tion of the Hudson Bay Settlements, no American
point rivaled Albany in the extent of the beaver
trade, Indian and White trappers bringing the pelts
in from the furthermost parts of the state as well
as Canada, the latter despite the law strictly pro-
hibiting the sale of Canadian furs to any but French
West India Company representatives. The fur trade
reached its height in about 1660; thereafter, the
beaver having been exterminated locally or driven
farther afield, the settlers turned to farming. By
1788 the once lucrative fur trade of Albany was
virtually gone.

Conservationists believe that when the White
Man arrived there were 1,000,000 beaver in the
Adirondacks alone; in 1800 there were 5,000; and
not more than five or ten families in 1895. Beaver

approached complete extermination in 1900 when,
ing to estimates, there were only 15 in

Adirondacks. Protective laws and restocking in-
creased their numbers to 40 in 1905, 250 in 1908,
and 20,000 in 1915. Today there ace mote beaver
in the two lodges in the single dam shown in an
accompanying illustration than there were in the
entire Adirondack Forest Preserve at the turn of
the century!

The beaver is the largest living animal of the
order of rodents, or gnawers, with the single excep-
tion of the South American capybara, and belongs
to the same family as squirrels, rats, mice, etc.
However, whereas most of the other members of
the order are land creatures, the beaver is essentially
a water animal, combining the general shape of an
overgrown muskrat, with the webbed feet of water-
fowl, and having a highly specialized paddle-shaped
tail. Adults vary in total length from 40 to 45
inches, of which the tail occupies from 12 to 15
inches, and weigh from 40 to 60 pounds, although
there are records of New York State beaver which
weighed over 100 pounds.

The color above is a dark brown, with con-
siderably darker, dusky underfur while the under-
pays are somewhat lighter, inclining toward a
pale chocolate brown.

The tail is of an oval shape and is covered with
a very dark, hard, scaly skin. It serves as a brace
when the owner is standing up cutting down a
tree, it is used as a rudder when swimming, and at
times as a scull to give increased speed. In diving
when alarmed, a beaver often gives an
slapping the water with its tail, making a
noise.

Although the eyes are small and the range
vision is probaly limited, they are quick to detect
a moving object. Hearing is keen, though the ears
are comparatively short, an inch and a half high,
lined with fur, closing when under water.

1

Flooded Area at Junction of Tekene Branch and Debar Pond Spur

6

of smell is
closing in

also close under water and the sense
ry acute c The mouth
of the incisor teeth to

The hind feet, measuring as much as seven inches
long and five inches wide, are webbed, somewhat
resembling those of a goose, with long, strong toes,
each with a good-sized nail. There are five toes,
the third and fourth of which have what are called
"combing claws" with which the animals comb
their fur. The hind feet are the chief means of
propulsion in swimming. The front feet are not

Beaver Cuttings on Large Poplar; Note Size

Chips at Base of Tree

webbed and are not used at all in swimming, being
held close to the body when the animal is in water.

The two large incisor teeth in each jaw are the
cools with which the beaver does his woodcutting.
At one bite a beaver will cut chips from a tree as
large as would be cut by a large hatchet or small
axe in the hands of a man.

Water being one of the prime requisites of its
mode of life, the first thing a beaver does upon
entering or being released on a given area, unless a
pond is readily available, is to dam a stream.
Branches are cut and placed on the bottom with the
butt ends upstream; then mud, gravel, and frequent-
ly stones, dug from the bottom above the dam, are
placed on the branches. Alternate layers of branches

:k to

a
s

usually
eir

Face of Beaver Dam

and earth are added until the dam reaches the desired
height. Although the dam may leak at first, sedi-
ment washed against it will eventually make it
water tight.

Considerable ingenuity is often displayed by bea-
ver in selecting the dam site and in its construction.
The dam pictured was built in the forn
adjacent arcs, one looping from a huge
two trees, the other from the trees
Before beaver are released at Debar
small dam is constructed to encourage

to locate in a given spot,
proceed to enlarge it su

purposes.

In one instance the caretaker laboriously con-
structed a dam six feet high and six fee
which leaked when finished. The beaver
it eight feet high, and four feet thick
not leak! The beaver then
downstream, backing water up against the first,
thereby equalizing the pressure at the base on both
sides of the dam and insuring its permanency.
Farther upstream they built a third dam
for water storage purposes.

As soon as the dam is finished
a lodge (also called a house or hut) locating it com-
pletely in the water, against the shore, partially
in the stream and the rest on the shore
cases, entirely on land. Lodges built
have entrance tunnels beginning well below water

(Continued on page 12

apparently

aver

fewer

7

M. & L. Rail Fastenings

IT may be said that most railroads appear to
taken steps to modernize permanent way in
order to meet the present demands for higher
speeds and bigger loads. It is, however, question-
able whether the cost of track maintenance will not
rise sharply under modern conditions of traffic
unless comprehensive measures are taken where neces-
sary to bring the standard of the track up to such
a condition, with ample drainage, ballast and the
most substantial construction of rails and ties, as to
assure, without constant attention, a level surface
and good alignment. Even though these means
may have been purchased at a high cost initially,
the safety secured and ultimate maintenance economy

Me rttstificatioa

To fit the track for these conditions, the strength
of component parts must be increased so as to with-
stand the stresses induced by increased weight and
the greater impact effect of higher speeds; alignment
must be improved, and the general standard of
up~keep raised, it being appreciated that the dis-
turbing erTect on moving cars of inequalities in
alignment or surface increases as the square of speed.

Today we are in a situation where it is absolutely
necessary to provide a stronger and better track
structure than was ever before required and essen-
tially one, that, due to the increased rates of pay,
taxes, cost of material, and decreased traffic, can be
maintained at approximately fifty per cent or less
of the average that it cost the railroads to maintain
their tracks between the years 1920 and 193CL

meet this condition, radical improvements
t be made in the standard track construction
now generally used in America,

On The Delaware and Hudson Railroad, for
some years, we have been endeavoring to anticipate

ern

M

am

Li

me

A Paper Presented at the Thirti

fflp H. S. CLARKE, gngin

these conditions by providing each year an increased
mileage of well-drained track, ballast of suitable
type, and adequate thickness; hardwood creosoted
cross ties, switch ties, and bridge ties, increased
weight of rail, steel ties for our yards, improved
track fastenings, etc.

Even through the depression this program of
improvement has been carried steadily ahead until,
at the present time, we have:

175 miles of crushed stone ballast,

225 track miles of 130-lb. and 1 3 1 -lb. rail,

150,000 steel cross ties,

50 per cent of all cross ties creosoted hardwood,

80 per cent of all switch ties creosoted hardwood.

47 per cent of all bridge ties creosoted hardwood.

With the exception of the steel cross ties, most
railroads were taking the same steps to modernize
their permanent way, and it was deemed necessary
to go a long way further to meet the present de-
mands, and, at the same time, maintain reduced
maintenance costs. More radical improvements must
be secured and we looked for the most outstanding
features that might be improved.

1. While creosoted ties decrease the cost of tie
renewals, by preventing the wood from decaying,
the treatment is expensive and, to secure full advan-
tage of the improvement, the tie must be fully
protected against mechanical wear and spike-killing.

Modern Rock-Ballasted Track: Welded 13

Rail

>

. . .

" I

!

■

s Permanent

ieth Annual Agents 9 Meetin

neer Maintenance of Way

2. The rail joint is universally recognized as
the weakest point in the track, and if a joint could
strong as the unbroken section of the rail,
)ints could be eliminated entirely, the problem
track maintenance would be greatly simplified.

It is universally recognized that over 45

now necessary in order to
keep the rail joint in proper line and surface.

4.. More rails are renewed yearly and have their
service life shortened by reason of battered and
chipped ends than for any other cause, thus con-

the major problems w

7

maintenance

5. While new methods of hardening rail
against batter, and a process of reconstructing or
building up rail ends has been developed, these

improvemCBta are only stop-gaps 3-rid roll service
the rail is far from being secured.

the rail joint were eliminated, tougher rails
developed from the use of alloys, which
give longer service against wear.

The development of control -cooled rail elim-
many of the anticipated difficulties from
transverse fissures developing in rails.

To meet the first condition, a heavy double-
r tie plate was developed, canted and crown-
fastened to the tie by means of a compression

7.

screw spike, independent ot
the tie plate became a part of
mechanical wear of the tie.

rail rastenings, thus
the tie and prevented

auge. I

e

lateral force
the s

jremamD

h. Secured to Creos

M. & L, F

sufficient lateral r
plate maintaining the track
high lateral forces set on
track as well as outwa
closely to place when the
of the shoulders, a decrease
applied to the other rail
thrust will be divided mor
two rails.

The fastening of the rails
felt, must meet certain conditions.
must be able to be strongly tightened
so in order to absolutely prevent rails creeping
the ties. They must have some elastic detail in
order to dampen the effect of the stresses developed
in the track, and the movement of the tie in the
ballast from impact. It must be possible, at any
time, even after a number of years, to tighten up
the fastening, to take up wear 5 or renew part or
all of the component parts.

After many experiments with various types of
clip fastenings, the M, & L. fastenings, now used
were adopted; these consist of the double shouldei
plate described, punched to take fastenings.

By these fastenings, the rail is held by means of
two spring clips bolted to the tie plate at
of the crown and bearing on the base of
Since the rail -to- tie-plate fastenings are independent
of the tie-plate-to-tie
to perform only the work it is oesig

Continued or? page 14)

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Delaware and Hudson Railroad

CORPORATION

BULLETI

iL

Office
y ARE

Y-

UBLISHED MONTHLY by The Delaware and Hudson
Railroad Corporation, for the information of the men who
operate the railroad, in the belief that mutual under-
ang of the problems we all have to meet will help us to
them for our mutual welfare.

All communications should be addressed to the Supet-
Publications, Delaware and Hudson Building,

ol S8

January 1, 1938

N«

Fame is a vapor,
riches take wings.
, and that is

popularity an accident,
Only one thing en-
aracter.

-Horace Greely.

You Can't Do That !

, we've been doing

i*

suggestion regarding a cnange
in mecnoas onerea by one of our younger em-
ployes.

Granting that the railroad is a large and complex
organization and that careful consideration must
be given to any changes before they can be put
into effect, nevertheless "the excuse can be worse
than the crime." In other words, the reason given
above for making no change in present procedure
condemns the prevailing practice on the face of it*

True enough, there are some things which we
still do just as they were done a score of years ago/
but that is simply because no one has as yet figured
out what can be proven to be a better way, not
because the better way does not exist or cannot be
developed. So many things have been improved
in railroading in the past decade or two that very
few people, even railroad employes, realize what
has been done.

wn is the fact that the power of freight loco-
motives per driving axle has increased from 260
to 1,171, or 350% in 29 years. We might con-
tinue indefinitely citing improvements in the fields
motive power and car design, track maintenance,
ing and train operation, Improvements in

dining service, sleeping car refinements and a t
sand other things could be quoted if space

One large road recently developed a 4 -cylinder
passenger locomotive of advanced design. Now it
announces the proposed construction of a 16-cylin-
der machine with 4 4 -cylinder engines geared to the
driving axles in such a way as to avoid the dynamic
augment or hammering effect of the unbalanced
rotating and reciprocating parts of the conventional
locomotive which are so destructive to track at high
speeds. On the Delaware and Hudson we have i
operation a locomotive which has the first a
boiler for such service in the world.

Nineteen years ago neither would have
sible. Now each receives thoughtful consideration
until tests prove its worth.

The standards of the transportation industry 19

ars ago are outmoded. Any railroader knows

: standards of service
A new viewpoint and an a
ness of the requirements of 1937, or 1938. tramc
and operating conditions are imperative if
ing

$t

men were discussing the unusual popu

business associate when
remarkeOp in aii the years I have been
nected with this company I have never heard anyone
speak an unkind word about Mr. Blank."

"Did you ever stop to consider that you never
heard Mr. Blank speak an unkind word about
anyone else?" asked bis companion.

Pausing for a moment to consider this simple
explanation, the man admitted that he never had.

What finer tribute could possibly be paid to a
man's character than that he had so disciplined his
tongue that he kept silent rather than speak il
anyone?

Benjamin Franklin had as a motto: "I
speak ill of no man, even in matters of truth,
rather excuse the faults I hear spoken of by
and upon proper occasion speak all the good I
know of everyone-

Speak 111 of No Man"

fi &

r •■

The man who can put that principle into
tice is assured of personal popularity and eventual

any line of work.

Index Ready

AN Index listing all articles, illustration
poems appearing in The Bulletin during
1937 has been prepared and copies will be
request. Address: The Bulletin, T
elaware and Hudson Railroad Corp., Room
uilding, Albany, N. Y.

«,

Higher

il Rat

.-— -- , ,

ded to Offset $664,000,000-1 ncrease in Operating Expenses

EVERY American citizen, as well as every rail-
road employe, has a vital interest in the
outcome of the Interstate Commerce Com-
mission hearings on the railroads' application for
permission to increase freight rates 15 per cent and
raise passenger coach fares from 2 to 2]/z cents per
mile. If granted, these advances may mean con-
tinued employment for many railroad men whose
positions are now in danger and re-employment for
some who have been laid off in recent months. To
the employes of and investors in firms which supply
the 70,000 items railroads purchase in normal
years at an average total cost of about $1,000,000,-
000, these increases would bring an estimated
$50.0,000,000 increase in business with enhanced
prospects of improved employe earnings and divi-
dendSc Millions of life insurance policyholders and
savings account owners will benefit directly through
interest and dividend payments which may follow
the improvement in rail earnings which rate increases
will produce. Refusal of the request may, on the
other hand, have equally far reaching adverse effects
on every American citizen.

Before considering the probable effects of the
Interstate Commerce Commission's decision, glance
briefly at the conditions which have made the re-
uest for rate increases necessary. Since May 1,
933, there has been a 40 per cent increase in the
cost of materials and fuel used by the railroads,
amounting to $275,324,000. Legislation creating
unemployment compensation and railroad retirement
taxes have increased operating costs $80,586,000,
ifter allowance has been made for pensions formerly
paid voluntarily by the railroads. Restoration of
depression wage reductions, together with recent
increases, have added $308,879,000 to expenses.
These three items alone have involved an annual
increase of $664,789,000 in railroad operating ex-
penses since 1933. Meanwhile, the railroads' tax
bill, which includes items not covered in the above
total, has risen from $249,623,190, in 1933 to
$319,752,721 in 1936.

Despite this staggering annual drain on railroad
finances, rate reductions since 1932 resulted in a
saving to shippers of $464,000,000. The cost
of moving a ton of freight one mile was reduced
from 1.275 cents in 1921 to 0.974 in 1936, while
passenger fares dropped from 3.086 cents per mile
to 1.838 cents. If rail rates effective in 1921 had
been charged for services rendered in 1936, the

public would have paid $1,021

per cent more in freight charges, and

000, or 68 per cent more in passenger fares. This

amazing performance was made possible only by

greatly increased efficiency combined with strict

economy measures.

The result of ever mounting operating costs
coupled with reduced charges for services rendered
has been reduced net operating income amounting
to only 2.57 per cent of the investment in 1936,
with a further drop to 2.47 per cent in the first
nine months of 1937. This meager percentage is
all that is left from revenues to cover the payment
of interest on the railroad debt and other fixed
charges before attempting to pay dividends, set up
reserves, or make improvements in rail t properties
and equipment.

Expressed in different terms, the railroads earned
9.9 cents out of every dollar of operating revenue
in 1930; 4.1 cents in 1936; and only 2.4 cents
in the first nine months of 1937. As a result of
the ever shrinking margin between operating rev-
enues and expenses, 40 per cent of America's rail-
roads operated at a deficit in 1936 and this per-
centage has increased to nearly 50 per cent in 1937.
Already 96 railroads, operating 71,386 miles of
track, or 28.1 per cent of America's total, are in
the hands of receivers or trustees, the largest percen-
tage in history.

If granted, what will these increases cost the
American shipping and traveling public? Based on
the 1937 volume of business, the advances, together
with those recently authorized, are expected to
produce $567,000,000 in additional revenues, or
$98,000,000 less than the total increase in oper-
ating costs since 1933. The new freight rates
would average only slightly more than 1 cent per
ton mile of freight moved and less than 2 cents a

mile in passenger coach fares.

Every American citizen's interest in the rate
increase lies in the fact that in normal years the
railroads buy more than $1,000,000,000 worth of
materials for their operations, giving employment
to, and thereby affecting the welfare of millions of
employes of other industries. Their purchases aver-
aged $1,184,000,000 in 1929 and 1930, but
dropped to $559,000,000 for the years 1931 to
1935, inclusive. In 1936, they bought $803,-
1,000 worth of materials and supplies, only to

* !'

again be forced to curtail purchases in 1937 becau;
of recent adverse developments.

Stated another way, the railroads buy 23 per cent
of all the bituminous coal mined in the United
States, 1 9 per cent of the fuel oil, 1 7 per cent of
iron and steel produced, and 20 per cent of the
timber cut. To maintain their standing as one of
the nation's leading buyers the railroads must have
money to spend.

Still another angle to the effect of railroad pros-
perity on that of the country as a whole lies in the
fact that railroads spend for manufactured products
annually a sum which almost exactly equals their
net income. During the 8 years 8 months between
January 1, 1929, and August 31, 1937, the rail-
roads had total net railway operating income of
$5,484,834,000, and spent $5,578,357,000 for
manufactured products. Any increase w
vanced rates produce in the net railway
income will therefore result in the purchase of
exactly the same amount of products of other
industries.

Testimony delivered at the hearings by railroad
managers has been to the effect that the increases
requested will halt railroad failures; improve their
credit; they will result in immediate increase in
employment within and without the industry; they
will add momentum to business and create a spirit
of confidence that would get everybody moving
forward. Refusal of the request would, they be-
lieve, render the railroads unable to give adequate
service and remain solvent; will involve more
receiverships and trusteeships; layoffs of railroad
men and employes of other industries;
in further curtailment of purchases.

The probable effect of the increases on commodity
prices is summed up by Railway Age thus; "Rail-
road rates now average slightly less than 6 per cent
of the value at destination of the commodities
transported by rail. On the basis of this relation-
ship, a general advance of 15 per cent in freight
rates would be equivalent to a general advance of
less than 1 per cent in commodity prices. Or, to
state the matter otherwise, an advance of 15 per

cent in freight rates would impose no burden what-
ever upon the consuming public, unless, in order to
fully offset it the other industries of the country
make an average increase of about 1 per cent in
their prices."

Beaver Dams Flood Branch

(Continued from page 7)

level so that the beaver will not be frozen in in
winter, in which case they might die of starvation.
The conical or bee hive shaped house is then built
up of sticks and mud, the size depending on the
number in the family. One lodge examined was
30 feet in diameter at the base, rose 8% feet above
the pond bottom, and had ten entrances, ranging
up to 18 inches in diameter, most of them starting
at the pond bottom and ending in rooms with
ceilings one foot above water level.

Beaver live exclusively on vegetable matter, prin-
cipally the bark of trees such as poplar, cottonwood,
willow, alder, box elder, different species of birch,
preferably yellow, wild and pin cherry, black and
white ash, soft and bird's-eye maple. At Debar.
Mountain most of the recently cut trees were pop-
lars, although pin cherry bark had also been eaten.

Once cut down, the trees and branches are "log-

>

<

Beaver Dam Showing Lodge in Upper Left Hand Corner

M

ged°* or cut into equal lengths by the beaver, the
pieces observed at Debar Mountain averaging be-
tween two and three feet long. These sections are
then peeled and the bark eaten

The figure of speech, "busy as a beaver," appar-
ently applies only in the fall. During the summer
months the beaver cut only enough trees and
bushes to fill their daily food requirements and
perform only such other work as is necessary to
repair the dam and lodge. When frost is in the
air, however, they work frantically to cut and log
enough trees to provide their winter's supply of
food. The logs are dragged over clearly defined
trails to the shore of the stream or pond and are
stored in the water near the lodge. Eventually the
heap will extend from the bottom to a pile well
above water level. When ice prevents their going
ashore they swim out of the lodge, return with a
log, and gnaw the bark off, pushing the skinned
log out of a tunnel. These water-soaked pieces
float down to the dam and, in the spring, are
pushed over the top to drop below and reinforce
the structure.

Information on the family life of the beaver is
somewhat meager because they mate and bear their
young in winter when confined to the lodge by
ice. Apparently they are monogamous and mate
for life. The young, averaging three or four to
the litter, are believed to be born in April and
May after a gestation period of about three months.
The young wean themselves at from six to eight
weeks of age and begin eating bark. While it is
generally believed that only one litter is born an-
nually, some authorities have found indications of
a second litter having been born in midsummer.

dams built along the Chateaugay Branch
frequently backed water up the tracks, plugged
culverts, and otherwise proved troublesome to track
maintenance forces. As there is no open season
on beaver, except that at times when they become
too numerous a limited open season is designated.
New York State employs two men to trap beaver
which are doing damage on private property and
release them elsewhere. In a single year as many
as 40 beaver have been removed from points along
the Chateaugay Branch alone. Usually they are
relased on state land, such as the Debar Mountain
Refuge, although a surprisingly large number are
liberated on private property at the request of the
owners.

of sediment to be of further use to the animals,

I angle to beaver conservation work
is the fact that once they are established in an area
their dams and the resultant "beaver meadows"
provide ideal breeding areas for wild ducks, musk-
later, mink and racoon. Furthermore,
dam is eventually abandoned, either
because the food supply is exhausted or it is too

the fertile soil which has been deposited in
vides a fine growing place for various s

vegetation. . •;

Authorities differ on the question of the beaver's
intelligence: some insist that his activities indicate
highly developed and complex instincts only, point-
ing out incidents to prove that in many respects
he is most unintelligent. For instance, young beaver
born and raised in captivity, if released in the wild,
will immediately build a dam. Others who have
seen the beaver's work are frequently amazed at his
clever selection of dam sites, his ingenuity in build-
ing the dam itself, his digging of canals, tunnels,
and the erecting of lodges, and credit him with
near-human intelligence.

In his book, The Beaver, Its Work and Its Ways,
Edward R. Warren sums up the question in this
way, "In adapting itself to or taking advantage of
circumstances it does just what a human engineer
does when, before beginning the construction of a
dam, for instance, he studies the surroundings, in-
vestigates the proposed site and the character of the
underlying rocks or soil, and having gained this
knowledge, plans his work accordingly, more elab-
orate and thorough than the beaver does, and more
consciously done than the beaver's work, perhaps.
But the main point is that each adapts itself to
circumstances, and if in the case of the man this
shows intelligence, why not also in the case of the
beaver?"

Lake Ladore Excursions

(Continued from page 4)

weekday train running from Carbondale to Hones-
dale and return, thence to Wilkes-Barre and back
to Carbondale.

MR. CHAPMAN is probably best remembered by
Delaware and Hudson employes as the tall, genial
conductor of the passenger train which made the
190-mile round trip between Wilkes-Barre and
Nineveh weekdays, a position he held for the nine
years prior to the discontinuance of this service
September 30, 1935. His last run, which he held
for the 20 months previous to his retirement, com-
bined his two favorite types of service: he was in
charge of Passenger Train No. 504 leaving Car-
bondale for Wilkes-Barre at 7 A. M., and returned
with the local freight. *

MR. and Mrs. CHAPMAN, who celebrated their
golden wedding anniversary May 24, 1937, have
one son, Guy, an Ontario and Western train dis-
patcher at Mayfield, Pa. They live at 1 1 3 Wash-
ington Street, Carbondale, spending the summer
season at their other home at Waymart. MR.
CHAPMAN is a nitmbtt of The Delaware
Hudson Veterans'

13

Modern Permanent Way

(Continued from page 9)

while the rail, the tie plate, and the tie are co-ordi-
nated into one strong, but elastic and flexible unit.
The old destructive cut spike is eliminated, the
double-shouldered plate maintaining the track to
gauge.

The fastening of the rail to the tie plate and
through that to the tie by means of the spring steel
clips, greatly strengthens the track structure, yet
leaves it sufficiently elastic to absorb the impacts
and loads applied to it. The vertical motion of the
rail and of the tie is greatly decreased over that of
the old cut spike, or cut spike and screw spike
construction, although the normal wave motion of
the rail is permitted to pass freely. The decreasing
of the vertical motion of the tie means a lessened
pounding on the tamped ballast structure beneath
the tie, the incessant pounding or pumping of which
breaks down the interlocked ballast, and causes the
track to go out of line and surface. M. & L. track
construction stays in line and surface for longer
periods of time, resulting in a saving in labor
charges.

The further advantages of the steel spring clips
of the M. & L. track are evidenced by the studies
made of the vertical movement of the rail and tie
as shown by many tests. It was noted in these
tests of the relative motion of the rail to the tie,
the M. & L. track remained substantially the same
in all the tests, which is extremely indicative of the
uniformity of this track structure.

In combination cut spike and screw spike track,
this relative motion varies over a wide range and
this will always be true of straight cut spike or
cut spike and screw spike construction.

The pressure exerted by the spring clip permits

Cut Spike Track Construction

Flash-Welded Rail Joint

the free wave motion of the rail, but does
permit it to progress longitudinally. The ran is
held in place and there is no creepage. So well is
the rail restrained that changes in length due to
expansion and contraction are prevented.

It was this feature of M. & L. construction;
combined with several other facts that led to the
belief that it was possible and practical to weld
rails into long lengths.

The tendency to movement by creeping is caused
by the running of trains and is always in the direc-
tion of the moving train. Where this movement
takes place, it usually extends over comparatively
long stretches of track.

The principal cause is the wave motion of the
rail set up by moving trains. There is usually a
slight upward and then a downward movement of
the rail and ties just preceding a moving locomotive
or train, owing to the flexibility of the rail. The
whole ground also springs for quite a depth under-
neath the track and for some distance each side, so
that there results a wave motion in the rail of much
greater amplitude than at first appears.

Starting with the fact that there is a wave motion
in the rail, it may be explained that if the rail were
continuous, this wave would be propagated along
it simply as an undulating motion and there would
be no onward movement in the rail any more than
there could be in the ground. But by laying rail
in sections of 39 feet or other short lengths, the
propagation of the undulating motion is more or
less arrested at every joint (completely, where the
angle bar is loose). Each section of rail is per-
mitted to move ahead. Hence, running or creeping
of rail takes place successively by sections, one
section at a time; or, at most by a few sections
acting together as one; and this is why steel may
creep and not close the joints.

(To he continued)

14

Clicks from

th

e

ails

i

r

Trains Have Been Flagged

with many things besides the red
flags and lanterns prescribed by
the rules, but few can match for
oddity the incident at Bulls Gap,
Tenn., where a Southern Rail-
way freight made an emergency
stop when the engineer saw a
woman frantically waving her
baby up and down in her arms.
Just around the next curve the
crew found a huge boulder on
the track. Meanwhile, the worn
an, momentarily forgotten in
excitement, had walked away.

4

,-■

It

Different Job" Record

honors for railroad employes are
claimed by G. J. Hardwick, of
the M-K-T at Waco, Tex. In
24 years he has held 1 3 different
jobs in 6 different departments;
they are: clerk in the auditor's
office, trucker, warehouse clerk,
yard clerk, interchange clerk,
night chief clerk, day chief clerk,
brakeman, night freight clerk,
relief yard master, dispatcher,
and ticket accountant.

+

A Fox Hunt

on the railroad recently occurred
in Georgia. The animal, a big
red one, had escaped from a crate
in an express car at Atlanta, Ga„
and had not been recaptured at
leaving time. A hunting party,
minus the usual horses and
hounds, was arranged at Macon
on the train's arrival. The fox
was maneuvered into a corner
and caught by an expressman
who, incidentally, didn't suffer
a scratch in the capture.

*

A Box Car Fire,

involving 1 8 million matches —
500 cases — gave Kansas City fire
fighters some uncomfortable mo-
ments. Answering the alarm,
firemen found there was no hy-
drant in the neighborhood. Af-
ter emptying their chemical tanks
without snuffing out the blaze,
a switch engine pushed the car
to a fire plug 14 blocks away.
All but 60 cases were saved.

The Steam Locomotive

has a staunch supporter In
aged Bavarian peasant woman
who hobbled up to the station-
master to inquire when the next
train left for a certain station.
Smilingly opening the door of a
brand new, motor-driven stream-
liner, the official beckoned her
inside. Scornfully refusing to
board the new unit, she insisted,
Tve bought a ticket for a train
and by a train I'll travel/' No
one could convince her that the
streamliner was anything but an
automobile, and the determined
old lady sat down and
for the next steam train.

Asleep on the Track,

with his head resting on one
rail and his legs sprawled across
the other, a man was saved from
certain death by the alertness of
L. & N. Engineer Mulvaney of
passenger train No. 51. The
engine ground to a stop five feet
from the man whose dreams ob-
viously were strongly influenced
by alcohol. Police removed him
to a cell which though somewhat
confining, was better than the
morgue.

The " City of Denver"

streamliner caught a trout in its
headlight. When it reached Chi-
c a g o , employes noticed two
things: the headlight was brok-
en and inside the shattered lamp
lay a dead trout. The explana-
tion was, as the train sped east-
ward at 80 miles an hour, an
eagle zoomed into its path. In
the collision the big bird fell,
dropping the fish which shat-
tered and entered the light.

+

The Wolverine

n

was recently stopped west of
Battle Creek, Mich., by a broken
cylinder head. A telephone line-
man working on a nearby pole,
tapped an available circuit, gave
the engineer's message to the
yardmaster in Battle Creek, and
another engine was soon on its
way to replace the disabled one.

What Agent Can Match

the fast-loading record of the
Pontiac, Mich., Railway Ex-
press force which put 1 74 pieces,
weighing 12,190 pounds, inside
a car in just ten minutes? Just
before train time a motor car
company asked the agent to get
these shipments aboard the ex-
press car. The railroad agreed
to hold the train 10 minutes
only and the instant it stopped
the entire force feverishly set to
work. The last piece was push-
ed into the car just as the con-
ductor, watch in hand, gave the
engineer the signal to go.

A New « Flash" Boiler

is being tested in France, Theo-
retically, water sprayed into it
as a mist "flashes" into steam by
instantaneous contact with the
dry walls which have previously
been heated to the desired de-
gree. Its use for transportation
purposes is claimed to be prac-
tical.

+

Build a Better Mouse Trap

and the world may beat a path
to your door, as the old saying
goes, but unless there is addi-
tional business on the way, rail-
roads will ignore you. That is
the attitude of Burlington offi-
cials who have asked permission
to abandon a 20.5 -mile branch
between Koyle, Iowa, and Cains-
ville, Missouri. The only in-
dustry on the line is a mouse
trap manufacturing plant, which,
according to the brief filed, is
adequately served by trucks.

+

A Grade Crossing Accident

in which a light coupe struck
and derailed part of a freight
train, resulted in less than $300
worth of damage to the auto-
bile, but cost the railroad nearly
$10,000. Included in the rail-
roads' bill were charges for:
9,000 damaged ties, other ma-
terials, a $750 signal destroyed,
repairs to seven derailed cars,
wreck train operation for several
hours, and other labor costs.

15

.

•

Qflfje

eiir

A FLOWER unblown, a
jf~\ A tree with fruit unharvested;

A path untrod; a house whose rooms
Lack yet the heart's divine perfumes;
A landscape whose wide border lies
In silent shade "neath silent skies;
A wondrous fountain yet unsealed;
A casket with its gifts concealed —
This is the Year that for you waits
Beyond tomorrow's mystic gates.

— Horatio Nelson Powers,

■