Locating the factory

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CM
CO

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TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT

LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.
H BETHLEHEM, PA.

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COPYRIGHT, Ip22

LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND

RAILROAD COMPANY

BETHLEHEM

"The first charge of industrial managers
is proper plant location. This factor satis-
factorily taken care of ris a step forward
to success."

— VICTOR V. KELSEY, in Chemical and
Metallurgical Engineering^ August 31,
1921.

"In the days when naive chambers of
commerce beat brass bands about the
country to get any industry whatever to
locate in a city, many serious mistakes of
production location economics were
made."

— J. GEORGE FREDERICK, in Industrial
Management, September i, 1921.

LOCATING
THE FACTORY

LOCATING THE FACTORY

MANY enterprises are handicapped
by being poorly located, and many
other enterprises are profiting by
being well located. A poor location often
places a manufacturer at a serious disad-
vantage as regards competition, while a good
location gives him a distinct advantage over
his competitors. But many manufacturers
do not realize or consider the great influence
exerted by location on the success of an
enterprise.

The increasing costs of transportation,
power, labor, and other factors, however,
have focused the attention of an increasing
number of business men on the importance of
this problem. The proprietors of many well-
established plants will promote their success

AND IfEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

by re-locating their enterprise, and all those
who are planning new enterprises should
give this subject detailed study.

The United States Steel Corporation found
it profitable to build a whole new city, but
the American Rolling Mill Company finds it
profitable to remain where it is; Henry Ford
advocates that factories move to rural towns,
while William Miller Booth states that "The
modern American city is the nucleus of suc-
cessful manufacturing." These seem like
conflicting opinions, but if we will examine
the basic factors that should govern the
locating of a factory, manufactory, or other
enterprise, we will see that selection and
decision can be made scientifically, accurately
and safely.

There is one universal yardstick that can
be used by all industries to measure the worth
any location: the yardstick of Ultimate

tqfits. In the last analysis this should be the

fading factor. Yet all too frequently a
ufacturer is swayed by relatively unim-

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LOCATING THE FACTORY

portant considerations, considerations of the
moment; such as, bonuses, free sites and tax
exemptions, whose effect wear off and leave
him stranded high and dry in a locality
wholly uneconomical from a manufacturing
and distributing point of view. /

Take the experience of certain manufac-
turers in Minneapolis, for example. In 1897
Minneapolis "bought" 20 industries through
free sites, bonuses and stock subscriptions.
Twenty years later, only one of the original
20 survived. Minneapolis is an excellent
location for many industries, but evidently
it is also a poor location for others.

There are approximately 285 cities in the
United States, each with a population of
more than 25,000. Every one of these towns
is probably a good location for one or more
industries and the very best location for at
least one. The sagacious manufacturer \yill
uncover that one location which is best for him
—and locate THERE.

For when his location is right

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LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

conditions being equal) a manufacturer is in
position to compete for the total available
trade on equal terms, at least, with his
competitors. But if his location is wrong
(other conditions being equal) he is handi-
capped to the precise extent that the location
handicaps him. A wrong decision in this
respect, therefore, becomes a serious matter,
affecting profits and dividends; while a right
decision is of lasting, cumulative,|importance
and value.

[*'.

LOCATING
THE FACTORY

FACTORS THAT DETERMINE
DIVIDENDS

"The subject of locating industries through-out
this broad country, probably on account of its
ample area, has received less constructive attention
than most other industrial problems." . . ."It may
be stated that the most profitable location for a
factory is where the cost of production plus the
cost of distribution is at a minimum. It is evident,
then, that the profits of any particular industry
are directly related to the choice of the site."

— H. H. McCANNA, in Industrial Manage-
ment, June i, 1921.

THE activities of almost all business
enterprises may be classified into
four divisions: Financing, Account-
ing, Manufacture, Distribution.

Of these four, Financing and Accounting
are influenced but little by the location of a

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LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

factory. To be sure, banking facilities and
accounting facilities must be provided by the
locality and by the design of the plant, but
when we measure the value of a location by
our gauge, Ultimate Profits, the significance of
banking and accounting facilities as an
influence that should determine where a
factory should be situated, is almost negli-
gible. In considering Financing from the
viewpoint of raising Capital for the enterprise,
J. Russell Smith, Ph. D., in his book, The
Elements of Industrial Management, says,

"Capital is scarcely worthy of discussion as a
locating factor, because of its mobility. When the
other factors combine to make a prospect of profit,
there y granted politi:al stability, capital will goy
whether it is :o build a huge mill and town in the
woods of Maine for the manufacture of paper, to
dig oil wells in the mosquito-ridden swamps on the
Gulf of Mexico, or to aid in the search for precious
metal in the frozen reaches of the upper Yukon. "

The two phases of industrial activity that are
affected most incisively by the location of the

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LOCATING THE FACTORY

factory, are Manufacture and Distribution.
/Economies of production and distribution are
usually dependent in large measure on the
site selected. Thus the importance of having
the factory correctly situated is emphasized,
for production and marketing are the two major
divisions of business activity that bear most
directly on a manufacturer's profits.

But the forces that make for low manu-
facturing costs and the forces that make for
low marketing costs are often not in harmony.
For instance, power may be "dirt cheap," or
raw materials plentiful, at a point so far from
the markets for the article manufactured that
its price at the markets would be prohibitive.
And it is equally true that all the forces
that promote low manufacturing costs may
not work together; neither do the factors
affecting distribution always pull in the same
harness. Raw materials may be abundant
at points where labor is wholly absent, and
to which labor cannot be induced to migrate;
freight rates may be low to points where the

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LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

market is overcrowded, but high to markets

practically free from intensive competition.

, So it is evident that the selection of the

best location for a factory cannot be based

* -wholly on factors that affect either Marketing

facilities or Manufacturing facilities alone.

The effect of the different factors, or opposing

>i/ forces, must be weighed, and that location

selected which combines the greatest number of

favorable factors in the greatest extent.

In his article "Choosing the New Plant
Location"* H. H. McCanna of the E. I.
duPont de Nemours Company says,

"There are certain fundamental factors which
enter into the solution of every plant site. It is the
weighing of these factors, and establishing the
relative importance of each that assists most in
drawing scientific conclusions and deciding upon
the proper location of the plant. The main factors
may be classified as follows:

J "PRIMARY FACTORS: —

A — Markets — foreign, domestic, national and local.
B — Raw Materials — principal and secondary.

ndustrial Management, June i, 1921.

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LOCATING THE FACTORY

C — Transportation — rail, water and motror truck.
D — Labor — male, female; skilled, unskilled.
E — Power — coal, fuel oil, electric.

"SECONDARY FACTORS: —

A — Climatic requirements, if any.

B — Public utilities required.

C — Dependency on municipal environment.

D — Dependency on municipal laws or ordinances.

E — Advertising value of plant.

F — Financial aids — capital, bonus, free site. t

G — Disposal of plant wastes.

"In outlining the above factors it will be seen that
the primary ones are those which usually enter
most prominently into the production and distri-
bution costs of the product, which as stated previ-
ously, are kept at a minimum by a properly selected
site.

"These are the items then that should receive
careful and thorough study and should be weighed
in relation to each other for any particular industry.
It is understood, of course, that in various indus-
tries, the importance of these factors will differ and
in some industries some of the secondary factors
will assume major importance.
"But the more consideration that is given toward
establishing the relative value of these factors,
the more likely it is that the proper site will be chosen.''

LOCATING
THE FACTORY

THE PRIMARY FACTORS

"All other things being equal, an industry naturally
locates nlear the market which it expects to serve;
for, commonly, the founding of an industry comes
either because of a demand from a market or from
an effort to create such a demand."

— DEXTER S. KIMBALL, M. E.

A — MARKETS. — Generally speaking, the
market that a manufacturer wants to reach,
is the pivotal consideration that should
I govern his choice of plant location. For
unless he can sell his goods, he can realize no
profits/Normally, it would be unwise for the
manufacturer whose goods are used by the
sheep-herder on the slopes of the Rockies to
locate in the heart of the New England States;
and it would be equally difficult to reach the
Southern cotton fields or the shoe centers of

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LOCATING THE FACTORY

Lynn or Brockton, Massachusetts, from a
factory on the Pacific coast, if competitors'
plants were located closer to these markets.
If the product is one that appeals to the
whole rank and file of the population of the
United States and the manufacturer does
not, or cannot, cover the entire country,
it may be advisable for him to locate in or
near the heart of one of our most thickly
settled districts. But if the product appeals
to a well defined class of people, he should
consider where the largest number of this
class are to be found.

/From a geographical standpoint, many of
our larger markets are clearly defined, even
though political boundaries are not recog-
nized in the world of production. For example,
"The Industrial United States includes the
section north of the Ohio River and the
Mason and Dixon Line, and efast of the Miss-
ississippi River, with smaller sections like the
Birmingham district in Alabama, the Pueblo
district in Colorado, and Kansas City in Kan-

LEHIGIJ AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

sas and Missouri/'* A manufacturer whose

.product is used by other manufacturers: such

' ^ as, lathes, machine tools, or heavy machinery,

should probably erect his plant at a point

[ x convenient to one or more of these great

fhanufa cturing centers.

Conditions which exist in the business
world today lay stress on the side of distri-
bution; the producer must go to his market
where formerly the market came to him.
Usually, then, a factory should be located at
; a point from which its product can be
shipped with equal promptness and cheap-
• ness to each of its principal sales centers.

B — -RAW MATERIALS. — Second in importance
to the market is the location of raw materials.
^If a market is accessible and all other things
are equal, a plant, to secure its greatest advan-
tages, will always find it desirable to locate
Jiear its raw materials. Insofar as the cost of

hn C. Duncan, M. S., Ph. D., in The Principles of Industrial

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LOCATING THE FACTORY

raw materials is concerned, that location will
be the best that will make the total resultant
freight charges of all raw materials the,

minimum.

/This is why paper mills are found near the
forests, and packing houses near the stock-
raising regions. The best location for a blast
furnace (given a market) is a site where ore,
coke and limestone may most conveniently^
be brought together./In the manufacturie df^
paving brick, it has been estimated that the\
relative weights of clay, finished product, and
coal are approximately 40, 30, and 3. In a
case of this sort, it is evident that proximity
to market and to clay beds is of utmqst /
importance.

The raw materials used by some manu-
facturing plants are composed largely, or
entirely, of the finished products of other -
plants. This is true, for instance, in the
production of fine electrical specialties. But
the same principles govern the correct loca-
tion of these industries, as govern the correct

,-Tr-r "« „ .,.,,,„„.,„. '

LJ[J[ UB Wl m' IH) IIU Hl1

LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

location of other industries; the manufacturer
should locate his factory as conveniently as
practical, to the source of his raw materials.
The location of the actual materials used
by a manufacturer as his raw materials is
always an important consideration, but the
fact must not be lost sight of that the location
selected will, in many cases, be a compromise
between the availability of raw materials and
the accessibility of markets. A correct compro-
mise, in these respects, usually results when
the factor of Transportation is considered.

C— TRANSPORTATION.— Transportation usu-
ally limits the size of a manufacturer's market
more than any other one factor/ For except in
the case of patented articles, such as novel-
ties which cannot be duplicated, and branded
articles so widely advertised as to be really
specialties, transportation charges wall-in the
area that a manufacturer can profitably reach.
These transportation charges are the row-
freight charges on both raw materials

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LOCATING THE FACTORY

and finished product. But the crux of the
problem of transportation usually lies in the
relative costs of transportation for raw
materials and for finished product; i. e., thex
ratio between the freight rates on the materials
that go into_the product and the freight
rates on the product to the points where it is
marketed. The ideal location, in this respect,
is where these combined charges will be lowest.
7As between waterways and railways, the>
former have the advantage of cheapness,
whereas the latter have the advantage of
greater speed. Frequently the part-rail and
part-water route is the most economical.
In reaching the Pacific coast, for example, a
manufacturer situated in the East may ship
by rail to an Atlantic seaport, thence through
the Panama Canal to the Pacific port, and •
frequently undersell his Competitors located
in Illinois or Wisconsin who are forced to use_
an all-rail route.

/A manufacturer who is situated so that he
can make or receive shipments over more than

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LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

one railroad, is more likely to receive better
service and enjoy lower freight rates, than the
manufacturer so situated that he is at the
mercy of one railroad. Thus, a manufacturer
located along a belt-line railroad which taps
the trunk-line railroads entering a large city,
is in position to use any one of these trunk-
lines for any of his shipments; moreover
transfer charges will be absorbed in the rates
quoted him by all the trunk-line railroads-

The growth of many of the "Industrial
Districts adjacent to belt-line or connecting-
line railroads in cities like Chicago, Kansas
City, Minneapolis and St, Paul, is due
largely to the superior transportation facil-
ities afforded a manufacturer located along
side of such a belt-line railroad.

The advantageous effect of competition
between railroads on the rates a manufac-
and the service he enjoys, is well
tkd by the example given by Edwin J.
^ Dv,Jn his book Rat/way Traffic*

Alexander Hamilton Institute.

[20

7 A PTT>P V

. . . "Boston is served by both the Boston and
Albany and the Boston and Maine Railroads. The
connection between the two roads is formed by the
Grand Junction Branch of the Boston and Albany,
which meets the Boston and Maine at Somerville.
The Grand Junction branch terminates at East
Boston, where, at the railroad docks, lie many of
Boston's oversea lines.

"Suppose a carload of export freight is shipped
from Nashua, a point reached only by the Boston
and Maine. To put this freight on shipboard will
cost the Boston rate plus a switching charge on the
Grand Junction branch of the Boston and Albany,
21-2 cents per hundred pounds, minimum $5 per
car. The $5 per car is what the Boston and Albany
charges for switching the car to its docks; the
Boston rate is the Boston and Maine's rightful
compensation for hauling the car from Nashua.
Only the Boston and Maine reaches Nashua, and
this railroad need make no sacrifice in the matter of
absorption of switching charges, in order to get
the car to haul.

"If the export car originated at Buffalo, the New
York Central and the Boston and Albany would
of course, haul it to the Boston and Albany docks
for the flat Boston rate. The car could be moved
from Buffalo via the West Shore and Boston and

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LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

Maine. But these roads could manifestly charge no
more than the Boston rate from Buffalo to the
Boston and Albany docks, for the Boston and
Albany and the New York Central stand ready to
haul the car there at this flat rate. Therefore, the
Boston and Maine must absorb into the Buffalo-
Boston rate the switching charge which the Boston
and Albany sees fit to make for hauling the car
to the docks from the junction at East Somerville.
Now the Boston and Albany does not care to en-
courage the route via the Boston and Maine of
traffic which it can itself carry, so on the competi-
tive traffic its charges for switching are 41-2 cents
per hundred pounds, minimum $9 per car. The
Boston and Maine stands willing to absorb this
charge on export traffic.

"That is, switching charges are absorbed, not
added to the rate, in the case of competitive
traffic, and they are not absorbed in the case of
local or non-competitive traffic."

In addition, it must be remembered that the
lanufacturer located at Buffalo, in the fore-,

ing instance, would have open to him a
loice of more than one gateway for his
traffic. He might ship via the Great

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LOCATING THE FACTORY

Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, via
Boston, New York, Philadelphia or Balti-
more. Thus he is benefited by competition on
the seas as well as on land.

It is obvious that the factor of transpor-
tation costs has a big bearing on the Ultimate
Profits a manufacturer will enjoy, and that
there are many phases of this complicated
problem which must be considered. Although
the preceding illustration deals with ocean-
bound shipments, the same principle applies
to domestic shipments, and affects the small
shipper just as much as the large shipper. No
manufacturer should decide upon a location
for his factory until he has very carefully
weighed ALL the elements of transportation
that will affect him. And since the subject
of rates is an intricate orie, most manufac-
turers will profit by the counsel that only an
expert in these matters can give. /

D — LABOR — No site for a .factoj;
desirable one unless a sufficient supj

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LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

kind of labor needed by the industry is avail-
able in the neighborhood or can be attracted
to the locality; otherwise there is but little
assurance of success. Perhaps the labor
factor has caused more factories to re-locate
than any other one consideration.

But in those industries where the bulk of
the labor is unskilled, or semi-skilled, as in
smelting plants and cement plants, the
factors of Market, Raw Materials and Trans-
portation will predominate, for the working
population can be moved to the plant
location from elsewhere. There are industries
in which the worker will seek the enterprise,
but there are also many industries where the
enterprise must seek the worker.

When the latter condition obtains, Labor
becomes an important factor in deciding
where a plant should be erected. It is usually
exceedingly difficult to induce skilled labor
to migrate. It takes time to build up an
industrial community of skilled workers and,
is a rule, skilled workers do not wish to leave

LOCATING THE FACTORY

their environment without a considerable
increase in wages, or other compensations. On
the other hand, labor conditions are so
unsatisfactory and troublesome in many
large labor centers that manufacturers have
moved from these points for this cause alone.
A consideration of the labor factor includes
a study of the relative merits of city, country
and suburban locations, for a given industry.
The comparative advantages of these three
is admirably summed-up by Hugo Dimner in
Factory Organization and Administration , as

follows :

'"As between city and country sites, the city
presents the most flexible labor market. Skilled
labor is most easily obtained on short notice in a
city. In the country labor is cheaper, and the work-
men are likely to be more contented. They are
likely to marry and have homes in pleasant
surroundings, and the inducements for the wasting
of their earnings are not so great as in a city. At the
same time, in dull times the country factory is
looked to as bound to exercise a paternal interest \
in the employees and town, — a responsibility from i
which the city factory is relieved.

LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

"A suburban site, convenient to a belt line
railway such as exists in most of the larger trade
centers, presents many advantages of both city and
country. It permits the purchase of sufficient
ground for a factory site to allow for future expan-
sion. It has the labor market of the city to draw
from, and offers the workmen who choose to live
close at hand the opportunity of pleasant home
sites."

One of the factors that induced the recent
location in Huntington, West Virginia, of a
large new Thermos bottle plant was the
unbalanced labor situation there, between
rriale and female labor. There has been an
abundance of labor for men at this point —
in the railway car shops, etc. — but the women
of the town who wanted to work have had but
little opportunity. This phase of the labor
factor is an important one for many manu-
facturers to consider, both in regard to the
employment of women as a class, or other
types of labor as a class.

Just as is the case concerning Markets, Raw
Materials and Transportation, the nature of

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the industry determines the degree of influence
Labor should exert on site selection. But it is
at all times essential that sufficient depend-
able labor be at hand to completely satisfy
the requirements of the enterprise.

E — POWER. — Before the days of steam and
electricity practically all industries requiring
power necessarily sought water-power when
choosing a manufacturing site. And even
today, water-power is usually the cheapest
source of energy that a plant of any kind can
have. In some industries where raw materials
and water-power are found in close proximity,
and the transportation costs on the raw
materials are greater than these costs for the
finished product, factories using these raw
materials should be built beside a waterfall in
the region where the raw materials are found.
But the use of coal and electricity has
greatly modified the importance of water-
power as a source of energy. Not only are the
waterfalls frequently too small to allow for

LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

growth, but their location is far from the
markets for the product. New England got
its start in manufacturing because of its
abundant water-power, but at the present
time large parts of the manufacturing districts
of New England have outgrown their puny
waterfalls and are dependent on coal imported
from Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

For most industries, the fuel bill is a
relatively small item in the costs of manufac-
ture, which superiority of efficiency in labor
or manufacturing methods easily offsets.
Of course, inexpensive power, whether coal,
electricity, fuel oil or water-power, is always
a factor to be carefully considered in selecting
a factory site. But this factor, like each of the
preceding factors, must always be considered
in relation to the other factors which may
modify its importance.

Seldom, indeed, does it happen that the
existance of any one consideration should
determine an industrial location. The manu-
facturies that permanently flourish are usually

LOCATING THE FACTORY

those that are located in a district where
they can count the greatest number of desirable
primary factors.

The Waltham watch, however, is made at
Waltham, Massachusetts, primarily because
this location is away from dust and soot. This
is an instance where a Secondary Factor is of
primary importance. Not infrequently, for ^
given industry, other factors enter in, which
modify or limit a manufacturer's choice of
sites.

1 LOCATING
THE FACTORY

THE SECONDARY FACTORS

"I knew a wise man who had it for a by- word when
he saw men hasten to a conclusion: 'Stay a little,
that we may make an end the sooner/ " — BACON.

IN some few industries, the effect of
climate is highly important, but in most
industries, although the cost of heating a
factory in a cold climate may be of some
importance, the climate as a locating influ-
ence is practically negligible. In the testile
industries, for example, climate formerly
had considerable influence, but now such
factories are kept at the proper degrees of
temperature and humidity by artificial means.
Of course, a healthful, invigorating climate is
conducive to increased production, and for

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LOCATING THE FACTORY

this reason a site where such a climate is
found may be desirable.

The public utilities supplied by a district,
the municipal* environment and the laws of
the state and ordinances of the town or city,
should always be looked into carefully when
choosing a factory location. It is important
that the means of transportation for workers
to and from the plant be considered, for this
and other environments of the factory will
have bearing on the contentment of labor.

One of the chief objections to factory sites
in rural districts is the difficulty encountered
in according skilled workers, accustomed to
the conveniences of city life, similar conven-
iences in the country. In any location, the
spirit of the inhabitants, the local laws, and
the attitude of the people toward the enter-
prise should be investigated. "The temper of
a city is told by the spirit of its people. No
prospective manufacturer wants to try to do
business in a town which is itself antagonistic
or indifferent." Of course, the laws relating to

LEHIGH AND NEW EN&LAND RAILROAD CO.

buildings, construction, sewage, smoke, noise,
etc., and the water supply, fire protection,
sewage facilities and similar items should not
be overlooked.

Usually the advertising value of a plant
should not be considered at all in choosing a
location. This is a field wholly removed from
the usual functions that devolve upon the
factory itself and except in very unusual cases,
a consideration of the advertising value of a
site, may lead to false conclusions. The
advertising value of almost any site is
passive; it is not a BIG constructive force.
Advertising funds should be used for strictly
advertising purposes; they should not be used
to purchase property.

The dangers arising from being unduly
influenced by offers of financial aids has
already been pointed out. This does not imply,
of course, that such offers are at all times
and under all conditions to be looked at
gkance. Frequently such offers are made in
faith and if accepted will prove profit-

LOCATING THE FACTORY

able to the manufacturer and to the locality
offering these inducements. But they must
not be considered as FIRST considerations;
other more important considerations take pre-
cedence over them. This is shown by Charles
W. MacMullen, president, Clark, MacMullen
& Riley, Inc., Consulting Engineers, when he

says,

"An encouraging feature of present day industrial
development is the increased care exercised by the
manufacturer when selecting a location for his
new mill or factory. Too often in pre-war times he
was unduly influenced by an invitation from some
small industrial center to locate there, on the
assurance that his plant would be free of tax
burden for a specified number of years. As an added
inducement the cost of the land in such cases was
apt to be very low.

"Swayed by these and other minor consider-
ations, the manufacturer would buy a site and
build in this vicinity to find, too late, that his
factory, finished and in operation, was not properly
placed with reference to raw materials, low power
rates, good water supply, suitable labor conditions
and within reasonable distance from a market."

*From The Textile World, July 23, 1921.

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LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

/ Facilities for the disposal of wastes is an
important factor in many manufacturing
processes. At some locations these must be
taken care of by the individual manufacturer,
in others sewage systems are available, in
still others, refuse and waste may be fed into
nearby streams. State laws frequently have
bearing on this matter and should be con-
sulted before decision is reached.

There are many other considerations that
should be investigated and weighed in
choosing the site itself;/such as the nature of
the land, ifs contour and soil, the shape of the
plot and similar elements. But these are de-
tails that follow the more important factors
dealing with location in general. The important
thing is to select the right location or locality,
the site itself should then be carefully chosen.

From this condensed survey of the principal
factors that should ordinarily determine the
best location for a factory or manufacturing
plant, it is evident that the manufacturer
about to locate his industry, or the manu-

34 .

LOCATING THE FACTORY

facturer who is considering re-locating his
disadvantageous^ situated plant, must care-
fully contrast, compare and consider many
different factors if he is to find the one loca-
tion that is the very best one for him. His
investigation of all suggested sites must be
drastically thorough and his final decision
must rest on the rock-ribbed foundation of
Fact, Truth and Correct Principles.

He should not rely wholly on the reports of
people or organizations interested in boosting
some particular locality, for their reports must
almost necessarily be colored by their enthu-
siasm. The Census reports and some of the
Departmental reports of the Federal Govern-
ment will disclose much valuable information,
and some of the bulletins issued by the several
States may be of assistance. In addition, the
counsel of someone thoroughly experienced in
the problem of scientific plant and factory
location should be called upon. In this
respect the service offered by the Lehigh and
New England Railroad may be very valuable.

[351

LOCATING
THE FACTORY

A STRATEGETIC RAILROAD

"The development of any manufacturing business
today and the plans for growth in any industry
hinge on this one idea — specialization."

— E. H. AHARA, General Superintendent,
DODGE MANUFACTURING COMPANY.

IN effect, the Lehigh and New England
Railroad is a large belt-line or connecting
railroad which crosses and connects with
all the principal trunk-line railways in the
eastern part of the United States. It provides
the same advantages to industries located
along its lines as the belt-lines around cities
provide for the industries situated along their
tracks. The chief difference is that the Lehigh
and New England Railroad serves a larger
territory.

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LOCATING THE FACTORY

It extends from Nesquehoning in Carbon
County, Pennsylvania, to Campbell Hall in
Orange County, New York, and embraces a
district rich in manufacture, agriculture and
natural resources. It forms a gateway to the
rich New England factory district, and gives
ready access to all the adjacent Atlantic
seaports for ocean-bound or canal-bound
traffic. It taps the anthracite coal fields, the
Portland cement district of the Eastern
Pennsylvania, and traverses a section of the
country rich in slate, limestone and many
other raw materials of great importance to
many different industries.

It should be remembered that "a big
majority of our industries today are included
in an area bounded by lines connecting
Portland, Maine, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
St. Louis, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland.
This area comprises about one-twelfth of the
total area of the United States and about )
one-half of its population." And although
location along the lines of the Lehigh and New

[371

LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD CO.

England Railroad is not the best for every
form of industry, it is an excellent location
for many different enterprises.

The Lehigh and New England Railroad
knows that its prosperity depends upon the
prosperity of the industries it serves. Conse-
quently, its officers are interested in having
only those industries locate along its lines
who will be best located when located there.
To this end this railroad places at the
disposal of the manufacturer who wishes to
thoroughly investigate all localities that may
prove desirable, its full facilities for the anal-
ysis of factory and plant locations.

Data and records of great value, many of
which the average manufacturer would not
be in position to consult, are accessible to the
Lehigh and New England Railroad. Its
research work and reports are made in the
interest of the manufacturer, impartially
and comprehensively, in the same way the
manufacturer himself, or his engineering
specialist, would make them. This contact

[38]

LOCATING THE FACTORY

with factors and figures in which the manu-
facturer considering factory or plant location
or re-location is intimately concerned, is
offered to those interested without cost or
obligation.

A resume of the scope, importance and
value of this service will be furnished on
request.

Traffic Department

LEHIGH AND NEW ENGLAND

RAILROAD COMPANY

GENERAL OFFICES

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA

[39]