The Delaware and Hudson Railroad Bulletin, October 1, 1937

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Live, Today!

/F all that we could know of life
Need he but for a day,
If life were really one day long,
We'd make that one day gay;
We'd never take the time to frown
To worry, or to sigh,
We'd get the good we could from life
Before the day went by.

Some flowers grow that open wide

At dawn to bloom 'til night;

They keep their faces to the sun

Reflect its beaming light;

They shed their beauty — perfume sweet

On all who pass their way,

And all they ever know of life

Is but a single day.

Really we've but today to live,

The present moment's all;

Tomorrow never seems to come,

It e'er eludes our call.

We need to get the good we can

From all today can give,

So let's resolve that we today

Will love, rejoice and live.

Josephine Anderson.

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; DELAWARE AND HUDSON RAILROAD

CORPORATION

BULLET I N

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ailroa

Oneontan Recalls Pick and Shovel Methods of 50 Years Ago

WHEN The Schen-
ectady S Sus-
quehanna Rail
Road Company's civil
engineers passed through
Princetown, between
South Schenectady and

Kelleys, N. Y., in 1871,
making the preliminary

survey for the projected
railroad to link Delanson
and Schenectady, a little
boy and girl glared at
them with hostile eyes for
the surveyors left grade
stakes at two corners of
the birthplace of the chil-
dren, who thought their
home would be demolish-
ed to make way for the
railroad. Shortly after-
ward the engineers return-
ed, running a new line,
and the railroad eventual-
ly passed the house on the
far side of a nearby creek.
The boy, WALTER J.
DeLaMATER, who was

born there January 1, 1866, third oldest in a
family of four boys and four girls, grew up to
serve that railroad's successor, the Delaware and
Hudson, for nearly 50 years.

MR. DELAMATER'S father helped to build the
three trestles which once carried the S. & S. R. R.
tracks over ravines at Duanesburg, Kelleys, and the
Normanskill near their home. The first was aban-
doned in a subsequent track realignment; the others
were filled in. WALTER was a daily spectator at
the scene of the railroad building operations, watch-

WALTER J. DELAMATER

ing the laborious work of
making cuts and fills with
picks, shovels, and horse-
drawn carts.

At the age of eleven,
WALTER went to work
for a farmer at Knox,
near Altamont, N. Y.,
"doing man's work for
boy's pay," as he quaint-
ly expresses it. He re-
mained on that farm for
three years, receiving "$3
a month, board and wash-
ing" the first year, and
$100 for the eight-month
season of the third.

Each winter he attend-
ed school at Delanson
where his father was then
employed as a car in-
spector. The little frame
school, which stood near
the present site of "DJ"
Tower, had from 40 to
45 pupils, ranging in age
from 4 to 21, during the
winter months. Here
WALTER learned to read and write during the three
terms he attended school. From spring to fall the
older boys left school to work on farms — there
were neither compulsory education laws nor truant
officers then.

In 1880, when fourteen years old, WALTER was
hired as engine wiper by Lawrence Riley, round-
house foreman at Delanson. There were five en-
gines stationed there then: No. 174, the Bobby
Burns; No. 176, David Dows; No. 177, D. M.
Kendrick; No. 178, the Moosic; and No. 75, the

147

fee

R. G. Moulton. All these engines were lump-
coal-burning Moguls, the 174, 176, 177, and
17$ being the first four freight engines on the
division to be equipped with air brakes; the 75
.lhad hand brakes only. The roundhouse force con-
sisted of six men: a foreman and two wipers cov-
ering each of two twelve-hour shifts.

Wipers were hired with the understanding that
they would do other work as opportunity offered,
such as building fires and coaling engines, so that
when a vacancy occurred in the firemen's ranks,
'they would have had sufficient preliminary training
to enable them to fire road engines successfully.
While WALTER was waiting for such an opening,
3be was hired by Yard Master J. H. Whitney to
\waark as brakeman on Conductor M. H. Sheldon's
crew, running between Delanson and Mechanicville.

With the opening of the Hoosac Tunnel, in
1873, a hitherto unheard of volume of freight
began to move over the Delaware and Hudson and
Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western to Boston.
The B. H. T. 8 W. yard at Mechanicville, where
Delaware and Hudson trains were delivered, con-
sisted of only two long tracks; the Delaware and
Hudson had two tracks capable of holding 75 cars
each, and one track of 50 -car capacity. Today
the Delaware and Hudson yard's total capacity is
about 1,250 much larger cars. There was no
ID. W H. roundhouse at Mechanicville then, the
■crews leaving on the return trip to Delanson as
soon as possible after their arrival.

The cabooses of that day were extremely small
■when compared with their modern counterparts.
They had only four wheels, a small cast iron stove
in the center of the floor, and seat lockers along the
rsides, but lacked cupolas and bunks. MR. DELA-
MATER, while "flagging" freight trains, often rode
in the now historically famous caboose No. 10,
in which the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen is
said to have been organized in 1883, and which
is now on public display in Neahwa Park, Oneonta.

After braking on the Susquehanna Division for
three years, between 1882 and 1885, MR. DeLa-
MATER resigned to go to work on the B. H. T.
& W., now the Western Division of the Boston
and Maine, running from Mechanicville to North
Adams, 46 miles to the east. One month after
hiring out he was promoted to the rank of con-
ductor, a position he held for two years.

Returning to the Delaware and Hudson in 1887,
he was promoted by Superintendent C. D. Ham-
mond, in 1889. In 1891 he again left our com-
pany, this time to work on the Mohawk Division
of the New York Central, running over the four-
track main line between Albany and De Witt Yard,
Syracuse. Five months later he was transferred to

the Hudson Division, operating between West Al-
bany and the 72nd Street Yard in New York City.
Although under favorable conditions a freight train
sometimes made the 142 -mile trip in from five to
six hours, there were 100 passenger trains each
way daily between New York and Yonkers, and
freights were often "stuck" in one siding for hours
awaiting a clear track. On such occasions they
were as much as 12 hours on the road.

For "bothering the Empire State Express about
three minutes one day" — MR. DELAMATER'S hu-
morous way of saying he delayed the road's crack
flyer — because he couldn't find an empty siding to
head into, he was taken out of service. He imme-
diately returned to the Delaware and Hudson and
was sent to Oneonta to work as trainman by As-
sistant Superintendent P. J. Connors, beginning
his final continuous period of 43 years with the
company April 1, 1893. For six months, as a
member of Conductor A. J. Osterhout's rounder
crew, he ran to every terminal on the division:
Delanson, Mechanicville, Albany, Nineveh, and
Binghamton, again becoming a conductor in Octo-
ber 1893.

In 1903 he was given his first regular crew,
taking his turn, first in, first out, with the 22
other conductors then "on the rounds" at Oneonta.
Ten crews were marked to Nineveh alone, daily,
when the anthracite mines were working regularly.
The yard at Nineveh had so little storage capacity
that the dispatchers had to figure to have crews
arrive simultaneously from Oneonta and Carbon-
dale, exchanging trains on the main tracks and
returning immediately.

During his long term as conductor MR. DeLa-
MATER held practically every run on the division
at one time or another, his longest "hold-down"
being an Oneonta-Wilkes-Barre run which he held
for a total of ten years between 1922 and 1934,
with short terms as passenger conductor breaking
its continuity toward the end of the period. Al-
though he ran Trains 302 and 305, 306 and 311,
and Sleepers 303 and 312 at different times, his
preference was freight work.

MR. and Mrs. DELAMATER, who own their
home at 4 Fifth Street, Oneonta, have been mar-
ried 49 years and have four children; Roy J.,
an official of a carpet mill in Amsterdam; Dr.
Lyman S., Oneonta Dentist; Stanley, employed by
the Oneonta Ice and Fuel Company; and Mrs.
Helen Clough, widow of a former Delaware and
Hudson engineer, who lives at home with them.

MR. DELAMATER is a member of The Delaware
and Hudson Veterans' Association and the Main
Street Baptist Church, of Oneonta.

148

ems

A Paper Presented at the 30th Annual Agents' Meeting

By J. E. ROBERTS, General Traffic Manager

WHEN I was asked to talk to you about our
traffic situation I was not very happy
about it, having always felt that you ex-
pected something entertaining, stimulating and in-
structive, and was afraid that what I might have
to say would be considered more depressing than
otherwise, or at least something in the nature of
an excuse or apology for our failure to provide
sufficient traffic to meet operating expenses, taxes
and interest charges, which we have failed to meet
in each year since 1931.

So if it is not going to be entertaining or stimu-
lating, let us meet the "excuse, or apology" situation
right at the start. The D. & H. is one of a
group of seven so-called anthracite roads which
have been hard hit by inroads made on their anth-
racite traffic by competing fuels as well as the
decrease in merchandise traffic during the business
depression. Because such a large percentage of
their traffic was anthracite, and because a large
percentage of their merchandise, or other freight
traffic, consisted of manufactured articles which
carry a high rate; and further because the anthra-
cite group is situated in the more thickly populated
section of the East, their merchandise and other
freight traffic was more susceptible to truck and
other competing forms of transportation. Addi-
tionally because this group of roads had enjoyed
such a high earning power (far above the average
for the country as a whole) their failure to make
an earning come-back in favorable comparison with
roads that handle a greater percentage of other
products of mines and forest, and farm products,
has stood out in unfavorable comparison.

We keep a sharp watch on the figures of our
neighbors in the anthracite group, and the D. & H.
has not lost ground in a comparative way, except
to two roads, one of which has a vastly less per-
centage of anthracite to total traffic than we have,
and another which has been selling or leasing out
its coal properties to independent cut-rate operators
who have kept up a better percentage of production
by the doubtful expedient of selling their product
at a reduced price. Whatever may be the ultimate
result of this, it has for the time being resulted in
more tonnage for that railroad.

Furthermore, considering the roads not in the
anthracite group with which we are in competition
for freight traffic, we have not lost ground but have
improved our relative competitive position, so in
what I may have to say later please do not con-
sider anything is offered in the nature of an excuse,
either for the traffic officers or the men in the
field, but rather that it covers some of the difficul-
ties with which we are confronted.

We have just passed through a long period of
slowing down of industry generally, and much of
the poor showing made by the rail carriers has been
due to the marked decline in the volume of traffic
available for movement. It might quite properly
be called a period of re-adjustment in the march of
progress. In years past there have been several such
periods of major disturbances, and each time there
has emerged a greater nation, but it should be kept
in mind that progress leaves many changes in its
wake — and the effect of such changes on our busi-
ness is important.

Now let us review what has taken place on our

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149

Fast Freight

railroad by comparing the gross revenue earned
during the year 193 6 with that for the average of
the years 1928 and 1929, which were the last two
years of a period of marked prosperity. The total
gross revenue for the year 1936 was approximately
twenty-five and a half Millions of Dollars, which
was 62% of that for the average of the years
1928 and 1929. The question arises: Where did
this decrease occur?

Passenger

First let us take up the Passenger Traffic and
get that out of the way because those figures, from
a percentage standpoint at least, are rather sad.

The total passenger revenue for the year 1936
was 36% of the average for the years 1928 and
1929.

The changes that have been taking place in the
last few years have been particularly severe on our
passenger business. Travel requirements are being
met, to a large extent, by the use of other means of
transportation with which you are all familiar.
Our service in connection with the New York
Central between New York and Montreal is well
patronized and is the popular route between these
two points, but other than this our road does not
serve important travel centers.

Effective June 1st, 193 6 the Interstate Com-
merce Commission ordered a reduction in the basic
passenger rate from 3.6 cents per mile to 2 cents
in coaches and 3 cents in Pullmans, and eliminated
entirely the Pullman surcharge. After a full year
of operation since the reduction was made, a com-
parison with the previous year shows an increase of
76% in the number of tickets sold, and a 15%
increase in our revenue, which was accomplished by
using 1 1 % more passenger car miles.

Bus line operation, and especially privately owned
cars, have taken much of our strictly local business,
and the outlook for a return of any appreciable
volume to rail handling is not promising. We
should continue to do well with our through
service.

Milk

The revenue from milk business is another sad
story. The development of this traffic since the
turn of the century, up until recent years, has been
an important source of revenue. It amounted to
nearly a million dollars in 1931, but since that
time trucks have entered the field and there have

Switching Private Siding

150

»

been some changes in the source of supply to the
extent that such revenue has fallen off from year
to year, and for the year 193 6 amounted to only
$257,000 or 29% of the average for the years
1928-1929. A sharp reduction in rates has failed
to hold the business to rail handling. While it
does not improve our situation, it may interest you
to know that the same conditions exist with the
other milk carrying lines. It has gone to the
trucks.

'The Laucentian,' Windsor Station, Montreal

Another source of revenue that has fallen off,
in about the same percentage as the Passenger and
Milk business, is Mail and Express earnings, which
in 193 6 in total were but 39% of the 1928-1929
average. Express by itself was but 25%. The
decrease in total amounted to a little over half a
Million Dollars. Important factors adversely af-
fecting the Express Revenue were parcel post and
the trucks. The decrease in Mail earnings has been
largely due to loss of Mail contracts by reason of
curtailed passenger train operation.

Anthracite

Now turning to the Freight Traffic side of the
question, our Antracite Revenue in 193 6 was 58%
of that for the average of the years 1928-1929.
The loss in revenue was substantial, amounting to
$6,000,000, and while some of it undoubtedly
has been due to the depression, other factors indi-
cate a change has been taking place.

Other fuels have entered the field — fuel oil and
coke have displaced some of our anthracite tonnage,
and some anthracite is moving by truck. To a
limited extent, gas is being used for heating pur-

On Kenwood Hill

poses. Oil burning equipment has been perfected
for domestic heating, and is meeting with public
favor.

Importation of foreign anthracite through the
ports of Boston and Montreal has increased in
recent years and affects the movement from points
on our line, as both Eastern Canada and New Eng-
land have long been important markets for us.
A duty and excise tax, placed by Canada on
anthracite imported from the United States, has
fostered the importation of Welsh coal, and this
action has been in keeping with the policy of
Canada to trade within the British Empire. Still
another factor adversely affecting gross earnings has
been the change in the markets for our anthracite,
and more of it being delivered in short haul move-
ment to connections on our Pennsylvania Division
and less via our long haul junctions.

Anthracite has much merit and the extent to
which it will be displaced in the future will prob-
ably be governed largely by price relationship and
supply of substitute fuels. While we have the
conditions I have mentioned to contend with, I
want to make it clear that anthracite continues to
be an important source of our gross revenue.

•

Other Freight

The revenue from other freight — that is, all
freight excluding anthracite — in 1936 was 75%
of that earned in the 1928-1929 average period.
In this source of revenue the best recovery has been
made.

Other freight revenues may be divided into two
main groups. First, that derived from traffic origi-
nating or terminating on the D. & H., which in
1936 was $8,300,000 or 68% of the 1928-1929
period. The other group is our strictly pass-over
traffic — that received from or delivered to connec-
tions, which in 1936 was $7,100,000 or 84%
of the 1928-1929 period. As these figures show,

(Continued on page 155)

151

THE important position of our agents in their
contacts with the public and their ability to
shape public opinion as the result of these
contacts was stressed by COLONEL J. L. LOREE,
Vice-President and General Manager, in the course
of his remarks at the 30th Annual Meeting of
The Delaware and Hudson Freight and Ticket
Agents' Association, held at the Hotel Champlain,
Bluff Point, N. Y. f September 8 and 9.

Having opened the business session with a greet-
ing extended to the agents and their guests in behalf
of the President and Board of Managers, COLONEL
LOREE recalled the memory of those members who
had been present at the earlier meetings of the
association but were missed at the gathering then
convened. He then turned the gavel over to PRESI-
DENT Edward Martin, of Cooperstown, who

expressed the thanks of the Association to the
President and Board of Managers who had made
the meeting possible. He then requested VlCE-
PRESIDENT W. A. LITTLE, Glens Falls, to con-
duct the business meeting, SECRETARY-TREASURER
H. C. BECKER presenting his report showing 1 1
paid-up members and a substantial bank balance.

J. E. ROBERTS, General Traffic Manager, pre-
sented a paper entitled "Traffic Problems" which is
reprinted in full in this issue of The Bulletin.

H. S. CLARKE, Engineer Maintenance of Way,
discussed the various angles of track maintenance
and possible savings by means of "Welded Track/'
the title of his paper which it is planned to reprint
in a succeeding issue.

The "Question Box," in the course of which the
agents submit questions on points which are not

Hotel Champlain -1

Delaware and Hudson Freight and Ti<
Featured by Addresses of Vice-Pi

clear to them in connection with their work and
the answers are furnished by officers who are
authorities on the subjects under discussion, pro-
voked more than the usual amount of interest on
both sides. The highly technical nature of the
questions indicated the degree of competition now
prevailing among the various types of carriers and
the active interest Delaware and Hudson agents are
taking to see that the railroad gets its fair share
of any available business.

Vice-President F. W. Leamy spoke informal-
ly concerning the financial condition of The Dela-
ware and Hudson Company and its subsidiaries,
the poor showing of the group being due large-
ly to the mild weather of last winter and its
effect on the anthracite business, in addition to
which the refusal of one of the large producers to
name a fair price for the fuel was forcing all to
operate at a loss. It is hoped that the approach
of cold weather and a "return to sanity" will clear
up the situation.

COLONEL LOREE then spoke of the important
position welding has taken in railroad maintenance
work, not only in track joint elimination but in
car and motive power construction as well. The

152

Welcomes Agents

:ket Men Hold 30th Annual Meeting
esidents and Department Heads

Delaware and Hudson Car Department has achieved
the design of a practically fully welded coal car, the
ratio of pay load to light weight of which is higher
than any turned out up to this time. This car
has now been in service for about a year giving
such satisfactory service that it will be used as the
basic design for future vehicles of this sort. While
further lightening of the structure is possible it
can only be accomplished by the use of alloy steels,
the expense of which is not considered to be justi-
fied by the results obtainable in this manner.

After seven years' delay, permission has at last
been obtained, as the result of MR. EDMONDS'
convincing argument, to construct a locomotive
boiler of completely electric-welded construction.
After a long series of stationary tests the locomo-
tive is now ready for road service. (A description
will appear in the next issue of The Bulletin. — Ed.)

Relative to passenger cars, COLONEL LOREE
stated that inquiries revealed that air-conditioning
equipment costs on the average $7,000 per car,
while new coaches of a type suitable for Delaware
and Hudson service can be purchased for 48 to 52
thousand dollars each. Under present conditions
it is impossible to earn the interest charges on such

capital expenditures, the recent wage adjustments
having wiped out the small margin of profit accu-
mulated in the first eight months of this year.

Remarking that there is a more accentuated de-
velopment in the appreciation among railroaders
that we must furnish more service than in the past
to meet competition, he referred to the handicaps
of old rate structures and restrictive laws and inter-
pretations, turning from these to stress our own
lack of appreciation of the power we can exert for
our own protection.

Stating his belief that government has but two
primary functions, the protection of property and
the protection of life, he pointed out how it tends
to expand its various bureaus until it strangles all
individual and corporate initiative.

If each agent could convince but four of his
friends as to the merits of pending or future legis-
lation affecting the carriers, and if they in turn
could each convince only four others, this process
would only need be repeated seven times to form
a group of over two million people speaking to
direct proper legislation. •

Expressing his belief that the national debt, now
over 3 7 billions of dollars and still increasing, will
be in part repudiated by future generations, COL.
LOREE spoke of the gradual progression from dis-
regard of property rights, which has been so
flagrant in recent months, to serious crime.

He closed his remarks with a request that the
agents use their influence in their several communi-
ties to mold public opinion toward a saner approach
to current problems than has been everywhere
prevalent during the past few years.

153

"Uh

Delaware and Hudson Railroad

CORPORATION

BULLETIN

Office of Publication :
DELAWARE AND HUDSON BUILDING,

ALBANY, N. Y.

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

All communications should be addressed to the Super-
visor of Publications, Delaware and Hudson Building,
Albany, N. Y.

Vol. 17

October 1, 1937

No. 10

''It better to be right and alone than to
be wrong and have company/'

Appreciation

NONE of my relatives are D. & H. employes
directly — yet I feel I have benefited in a
large way because the Delaware and Hudson
pays school taxes that have helped pay my salary
in a rural school and I appreciate it," says a young
lady from Unadilla in a note requesting copies of
The Bulletin.

How many other residents of Delaware and Hud-
son territory, aside from our employes and their
families, realize how much the railroad means to
them we do not know. It is not important except
as their support is needed in the matter of opening
the eyes of our law-makers, State and Federal, to
the fact that what hurts the railroads hurts the
residents of the territory they serve. Since rail-
road service covers the entire country, what hurts
the railroads hurts the entire population, with the
possible exception of a few selfish individuals who
would advance themselves by climbing on the necks
of their fellows.

If railroad operating expenses are increased much
more, without a corresponding increase in carrying
capacity, government ownership will be the inevi-
table result. Under government operation the car-
riers will pay no taxes for the support of rural
schools or any other purpose. Instead, the rest
of us will have to produce about 240 millions a
year, which the roads now pay, plus the increase in
the cost of operation which is expected under
political operation.

Labor's Share

THE soapboxers have long used the stock ar-
gument that two per cent of the population
of the United States receives about 70 per
cent of the national income. The rest of us — the
other 98 per cent — have to get along on less than
a third of the income; at least that's the story.

That idea is responsible for much of the "soak-
the-thrifty" tax legislation of recent months.

That it is completely wrong is shown by figures
compiled by the United States Department of
Labor.

-

National income last year was about $49,440,-
000,000, of which $33,109,000,000, or 67 per
cent, went to labor. Labor's share therefore, was
two-thirds of the whole. Incidentally, labor re-
ceived a larger share than in 1929, when its pro-
portion was 65 per cent. — Power & Light News,

Well Done!

GHARLES M. Schwab, head of Bethlehem
Steel and one of the outstanding business
executives of our day, has outlined "Ten
Commandments" for attaining a "job well done/'
designed for daily application by every worker
throughout the country. They are:

1. Work hard. Hard work is the best invest-
ment a man can make.

2. Study hard. Knowledge enables a man to
work more intelligently and effectively.

3. Have initiative. Ruts often deepen into
graves.

4. Love your work. Then you will find
pleasure in mastering it.

5. Be exact. Slipshod methods bring only
slipshod results.

6. Have the American spirit of conquest. Thus
you can successfully battle with and overcome dif-
ficulties.

7. Cultivate personality. Personality is to a
man what perfume is to a flower.

8. Help and share with others. The real test
of business greatness lies in giving opportunities
to others.

9. Be democratic. Unless you feel right to-
wards your fellowmen, you can never be a success-
ful leader of men.

10. In all things do your best. The man who
has done his best has done everything. The man
who has done less than his best has done nothing.

.

154

Traffic Problems

(Continued from page 151)

we have not made as favorable a recovery on our
own traffic as in connection with pass-over traffic
where we are the intermediate or bridge line.

A bright spot is in bituminous coal revenue,
which in 193 6 was 116% of that for the 1928-
1929 average period, the increase amounting to
$400,000. This increase was accomplished in spite
of the fact that the volume of all rail movement to
New England was but 78% of that for the average
period. We enjoyed a heavier movement of fuel
supply coal for the B. 8 M. and Canadian Pacific
railroads, also for the coke plants at Troy.

Another bright spot is an increase of $225,000
in revenue from the movement of iron ore traffic
which has been in keeping with the improvement
in the steel industry. This movement is continu-
ing in good volume.

Our principal competitive routes on Canadian
traffic are the nine gateways between the N. Y. C.
and the C. N. R. and C. P. R. For the year 1930
we carried 53% of the total Canadian business
moving via those gateways and our Rouses Point
route. For 193 6 our percentage was 62. This
indicates that we have also done well by compari-
son in handling the Canadian business.

Trade Agreement
A new trade agreement was entered into by
Canada and the United States in January 1936
under which certain concessions were made by both
countries. It was hoped that this would stimulate
international trade and, while an improvement in
the exchange of goods is indicated by Canadian
Government statistics, very little, if any, of it has
been in commodities which are handled through
the Rouses Point gateway and the small increase
that has taken place there we feel to be due to the

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We serve Albany's Port

Solicitation

We maintain eleven off-line offices, whose duty
it is to service D. W H. transportation and to solicit
freight traffic competitive with other railroads. Such
traffic consists principally of that to and from
D. £> H. competitive stations and that to and
from New England and Canada.

We do not have the figures for the 1928-1929
period, but for the year 1930 the D. & H. carried
50% of the total traffic moving to or from points
on or via the B. & M. railroad routed via all of
the New England gateways, while during 1936
we carried 53% of such business, indicating that
we have maintained and improved our competitive
position on New England business.

general improvement of business in both countries
rather than to the operation of the new trade agree-
ment. It is very important, from a traffic stand-
point, that trade between eastern Canada and the
United States be restored to its former volume, and
we are hopeful that the new agreement may eventu-
ally be helpful in bringing this about.

Pick-Up and Delivery

Pick-up and delivery service for Less Carload
traffic became effective in December 193 6 to provide
a complete service and make available to the ship-
ping public a rail service comparable to that offered
by trucking operations.

The service has not been in operation for a

155

IS

Number 2 ,r

at

Ft. Edward

1

sufficient period of time as yet to definitely deter-
mine what the effects will be on our carryings.
For the six months period from December to May
193 7 inclusive, the revenue from L. C. L. traffic
increased $125,000. Allowing for an expense of
$46,000 for performing the added service, a gain
of $79,000 is shown in the gross revenue. This
is 14% over the same period of the previous year.
The service has returned some of the less carload
business to rail handling but after allowing for
the added cost it is doubtful if the net increase in
the gross has been any greater than the general
improvement in business would have provided had
not Collection and Delivery Service been furnished.
However, it is something new brought about by
changed conditions and should be given a fair trial.

Truck and Water Transportation

The broad effect of the development of cheap
water transportation on traffic of Eastern railroads
is perhaps not generally realized, First in importance
has been the development of intercostal traffic via
the Panama Canal, the effect of which on our
business has been accentuated by the development
of the Port of Albany.

There has been a marked increase in the use of
water transportation from Eastern and Southern
points to New England ports handling much traffic
that formerly moved in rail service. Paper is being
handled by water from Canada to United States
destinations. The Port of Albany is centrally lo-
cated, geographically, and within reasonable truck-
ing distances of our important industries. The
important industrial section of our road north of
Albany is paralleled by the barge canal. Both
water and truck competition in this section is very
keen.

During the period of marked falling off in

business there developed intense competition in in-
dustry. Low costs have been a principal factor
in enabling many concerns to continue in business.
Shippers have been looking for cheaper transporta-
tion and have turned to water, and are becoming
more and more water minded. Only week before
last there were loaded at Mechanicville 12 boatloads,
of molding sand, and at Vischers Ferry near Elnora.
4 boats, or a total of 1 6 boats for shipment to the
Great Lakes territory. These averaged about 700'
tons each, a total of 11,200 tons, or 224 fifty-ton.
cars. "We have had a splendid sand business this
year, but if we could have had these 224 cars to
add to that week's volume it would have been of
material assistance. However, this business cans
only be obtained by making concessions in the rate

which the present cost of operation will not now
admit.

Rate Adjustments

One of our problems in meeting truck and water-
competition is the need for quick action on rate-
adjustments. The competing service is in a posi-
tion to make effective at once a contract to transport
the goods. With the railroad, if a joint rate is.
involved it must first secure the concurrence of the
participating carriers, then file a rate proposal with'
the Rate Association. Such association mails the
proposal to member lines, who have 12 days in
which to express their views. If there is opposi-
tion by any road, the subject is docketed for dis-
cussion at the next meeting of the association.
After approval, under the Interstate Commerce
Commission or Public Service Commission rules
and regulations, a tariff naming the rate must be
filed thirty days before it becomes effective. In.
special instances it is possible to secure "short time"
permission from either Commission, but the Inter-

156

state Commerce Commission is very reluctant to
give such permission in the case of truck competi-
tive rates.

All of this may seem very crude and cumber-
some; certainly it operates against us in certain
instances, but I fear we would be in a worse condi-
tion if rail carriers indiscriminately reduced their
rates. A reduction justified from the standpoint
-of a particular carrier might be against the best
interests of the carriers as a whole.

From the rate level comes our revenue, and great
care must be exercised to maintain the level of rail
rates to protect the carriers' revenues. This is a
problem we must deal with as best we can in
meeting competitive situations as they develop.

Fourth Section

You have all heard a lot about the strict regu-
lation of the rail carriers by Federal and State
-Commissions, while their competitors are permitted
to operate with few restrictions. One of the most
burdensome has been what is known as the Fourth
Section of the Interstate Commerce Act and simi-
lar State Laws. This prohibits the carriers from
naming a rate to any destination and at the same
time charging a higher rate to a point intermediate.
This has been in effect since 1887 and, until re-
cently, the Commission has been disposed to rather
freely grant relief from the application of the Act
— but within the past three years pressure has been
brought to bear on all carriers to revise their rates
or routes to bring them within the limits which the
Commission has now decided is the maximum
relief which it will grant. This policy, if main-
tained, will eliminate the D. & H. route between
many points in New England and eastern Pennsyl-
vania or New Jersey. A specific instance of im-
portance with us is in connection with the rates
on iron and steel articles from producing points
in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey to such

points as Worcester and Springfield, Mass. The
circuity limitation of the Commission's decision
in this case has jeopardized the movement via our
route of approximately one thousand cars annually.
Our petition to the Commission for special treat-
ment of our route is now being considered by that
body. In some instances also traffic to and from
D. & H. stations north of Albany may have to
move via our short haul junctions such as Troy
or Schenectady, as against our long haul through
Binghamton or Wilkes-Barre.

We are hopeful that the Pettingill Bill, which is
pending before Congress, and under which the
Fourth Section of the Interstate Commerce Com-
mission Act would be revised and the feature which
we have discussed will be removed, may become a
law. This would relieve the carriers of this severe
handicap and aid them in meeting the competition
of other forms of transportation.

Conclusion

I have mentioned some of the conditions en-
countered in our effort to provide traffic for the
railroad, but we should not judge the future entirely
by that which has taken place during the last five
or six years, a period during which there has not
been sufficient freight moving to operate the rail-
road plant profitably.

The problem today is to secure the maximum
volume of the traffic moving and build up the on-
line business. In any period of general prosperity
we can hope to secure our fair share, but those
roads originating or terminating the greater part
of their total business will prosper to a greater
extent than will the roads which must depend more
largely on pass-over business. There is a sound
reason for this, as originated or terminated traffic
pays better revenue per car, per car mile, and per
ton mile. For example, during the present im-
provement in the steel industry those roads on

Canadian

Border

Station,

Lacolle, P. Q.

157

Train 308, Delanson

which such plants are located have fared better
than have other roads generally throughout the
country.

Under present conditions we must compete for
all of our traffic with other rail carriers and with
other forms of transportation.

Rail rates are regulated by Federal and State
bodies and, generally speaking, rates via all routes
are the same for a given service. Freight train
service between principal markets via the different
routes is substantially the same, and all roads are
governed by the same rules and regulations. In
the solicitation of traffic no one road or route has
any particular advantage over another, insofar as
these factors are concerned. This does not seem
to leave any one railroad with an outstanding ad-
vantage, but there are many other factors which
enter into solicitation of traffic, and I want to say
to you agents and others present that friendship
and good will, plus personal contacts, are our
greatest assets in successful solicitation.

A sympathetic interest in the shippers' problems
as relating to transportation is essential at all times.
We publish a rate between two points and without
undue delay furnish equipment, transport the goods
and make same available for delivery at destination
and have then performed the service covered by
the rate. This is the service usually performed by
any railroad and does not make any particular
impression on the shipper. It is the unusual service
and attention given in times of real need which
make a lasting friend for the railroad and is most
helpful in securing traffic. The cheerful furnishing
of information as to rates, routes, service, etc.,
knowing your own railroad, and advertising it
through personal contacts, and taking a friendly
interest in aiding the shipper to work out his
traffic and transportation problems, are the kind of

services which will influence the shipper to choose
your railroad in preference to another when routing,
his freight. We all have opportunities to do this
and should be on the alert to make the most of
them.

I would like to ask the agents to keep in close
touch with the movement of freight in and out of
their stations. Keep the General Office fully in-
formed. Watch out in particular for the traffic
where we are short-hauled; confer and cooperate
with the shippers and tell us what is needed to
handle the freight in rail service. Some of you
are now doing good work in that direction but we
want more of it. You are our representatives at
your stations, and we need your fullest cooperation.

I would also like to ask all present to keep in
mind always that traffic is the source of our
earning power. It is the little things we do for the
shipper when he is in trouble that create friendship
and good-will, and that is our greatest asset. In
that, there is opportunity for all to be helpful.

•

New Products

TWO new products recently placed on the
market should make a life a little pleasanter
for those who have to do much walking
indoors. One is a non-slippery floor wax whose
novel characteristic is a "higher coefficient of fric-
tion." This quality is said to make it much less
slippery than ordinary waxes and is obtained by
adding approximately 10 per cent of high grade,
light-colored raw rubber to the mixture of beeswax
and carnauba wax used in making floor waxes.
The other new flooring material already has a trade
name — Permex. Floors covered with it can resist
indentation from the heaviest loads of furniture
and the other advantages claimed for it are that it
is nonabrasive, does not absorb oils or stain easily,
does not become sticky or rough, and is not at all
affected by lighted cigarette butts. Permex is made
from the bark which has long been an unused
by-product of paper manufacturing. — Technology
Review.

From Bluff Point

They tell this about one of our office golf
players:

He was teeing off at the first hole, and about
three foursomes were waiting for him. At the
first stroke, which had a world of power behind
it, he missed the ball completely. The waiting
crowd shifted on its feet. Once more he missed
the teed ball. This happened four times. The
crowd was embarrassed, but not so our friend with
the club. With an engaging smile, he turned on
them all. "Tough course," he remarked.

158

Clicks from

ails

Candy— 3,000 Pounds of It-
was eaten by 2,000 French chil-
dren at the conclusion of cere-
monies at the opening by Presi-
dent Lebrun of France's longest
railway tunnel, through the
Vosges Mountains. In honor
of the occasion a local factory
built a chocolate tunnel 15 feet
high for the children of Sainte
Marie aux Mines, and President
Lebrun left the official banquet
to see the children trooping
through the chocolate arch.
Later the candy bridge was
broken up and all present helped
themselves.

An Alligator,

angrily snapping its powerful
jaws, recently emerged from a
waste paper can on a New York
subway platform. Passengers,
who had been waiting for trains,
fled screaming towards the exits.
Police finally lassoed the alliga-
tor, tied its jaws shut, and turn-
ed it over to the S. P. C. A.
When police had rounded up a
handful of witnesses their testi-
mony developed that a man had
put a large bundle into the can
a few minutes before the excite-
ment started.

Dispatching 850 Cars Daily,

the Naihati classification yard of
• the Eastern Bengal Railway, In-
dia, 24 miles above Calcutta,
calls attention to the importance
of the transportation system of
that distant but fast-developing
land. The only yard in the
country to be equipped with a
car retarder system, it can ac-
commodate 7,000 "wagons" at
one time, an average of 850 a
day being handled during the
peak season of the 39 jute mills
which it serves.

*

Charged With Stealing

a towel worth 1 2 cents from
a Southern Railway (England)
train, a man was recently haled
into court. His trial developed
the fact that this company alone
loses an average of 40,000 tow-
els a year.

Amazing Accuracy

is claimed for the new locomotive
weighing machine of the Lon-
don Northeastern Railway, Eng-
land. Fourteen weighing units,
capable of movement to suit any
type of wheel arrangement on a
locomotive, each able to take
up to a 12 -ton wheel load will
permit determination of the
weight of locomotive and tender,
as well as its distribution on the
various axles, in about 2 hours,
of which two-thirds of the time
is spent on the engine and half
as much on the tender. So deli-
cate is the apparatus that a loco-
motive may be weighed, remov-
ed and reweighed with an error
of less than Y% of one per cent.
So sensitive is the scale that the
weight of a man climbing into
the cab is enough to affect the
readings.

+

The World's Largest Escalator

is to be installed in the Dynamo
Stadium Station of the Moscow
Underground Railway. This es-
calator will carry passengers up
a height of 130 feet and will
have a total length of 630 feet.
There will be 26 others, of
smaller proportions, at various
stations on the line.

•■■>

A Locomotive Was Adopted

as the symbol of a British Tem-
perance Society because, in the
words of its president, "a loco-
motive is characterized by its
strength and capacity for con-
tinuous hard work; it is a
heavy drinker, consuming vast
quantities of liquid, but never
anything stronger than water.

*

Streamliners Snarl Traffic

according to officials of Hol-
dredge, Nebraska. So many au-
tomobiles have jammed the
streets near the railroad station
to watch the streamliner arrive
every night that police have
warned citizens they would take
court action unless the practice
of blocking traffic is discon -
tinued.

Standard Gauge

for the Japanese Railways, in-
stead of the 3 -foot 6-inch now
in use is a good possibility, even
though it may cost 400 million
yen (200 million dollars in
normal times) . Shortage of
rolling stock and speeding up of
service are the main reasons for
the proposed change. Passenger
cars recently acquired will need
only to have the axles extended
to suit the broader gauge.

*

Playing Tables on Trains

are a recent innovation on Aus-
trian Federal Railways. They
are available at several large sta-
tions and passengers wishing to
play chess, dominoes, cards, or
other games en route may obtain
one for about 25 cents, regard-
less of the length of the run.
Use of the tables for any pur-
p o s e other than playing of
games is expressly prohibited.

+

An Otter Was Electrocuted

on the Southern Railway near
Windsor, England. The 25-
pound, 3 -foot long animal,
which had apparently come
from the Thames at Romney
Lock, was killed when it came
in contact with a third rail in
an electrically operated zone.

Radio Telephones

are to be placed on certain Jap-
anese trains, despite the opposi-
tion of the Railway Ministry,
the equipment now being con-
structed by the Nippon Electric
Company, and the service should
be available in a few months.

Language Courses

given by Swedish state and pri-
vate railways have been attended
by 722 railway men during the
past winter. Courses which
will last for about \y 2 years
are given in English and Ger-
man.

159

• "

'

*

Persistence

71 T OTHING in the world can take the
£ y place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than
unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will
not; unrewarded genius is almost a prov-
erb. Education will not; the world is full
of educated derelicts. Persistence and de-
termination alone are omnipotent. The
slogan, c< Press on," has solved and always
will solve the problem of the human race.

— Calvin Coolidge.