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I

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

FRANCES LOEB LIBRARY
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN

I
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FREIGHT
TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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FREIGHT TERMINALS

AND TRAINS

INCLUDING A REVISION OF
YARDS AND TERMINALS

BY

JOHN A. DROEGE

8CPBRINTKNDBNT, PROVIDSNCB DIVISION
N. T. N. H. AND H. R. R. CO.

McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY

239 WEST 39TH STREET, NEW YORK

6 BOUVERIE STREET, LONDON, E. a

1912

JUL 2 2 1935

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PREFACE

The favorable reception accorded "Yards and Terminals/' published
by the Railway Age Gazette in 1906, and the many requests for a revised
edition, encouraged the writer to undertake this revision. The results
have been practically a new book. The scope has been greatly enlarged
and the treatment broadened, so that the new material exceeds by a
considerable amount the revised portions of the former book. Hence
it seemed both wise and necessary to give the book a new title.

The volume is essentially a treatise on freight transportation in all
its ramifications. The subject is treated from the viewpoint of the
engineers who plan, build and maintain, and the officers who operate
the various plants which are cogs in the great machine. The importance
of the freight station, where the freight is received or delivered and
cared for prior or subsequent to road movement, as well as the respon-
sibilities and methods of the agent are recognized. The viewpoint of
the yardmaster and his subordinates is developed at length; as is that
of the trainmaster and train forces, on whom devolve the safe, expe-
ditious and economical movement of trains. The mechanical depart-
ment is considered, and the important relation which the engine terminal
and its operation bear to train and yard service is discussed in detail.
The attitude and problems of the management, responsible for favorable
net returns, are constantly kept in mind.

It may* seem that the volume is made unnecessarily large by the
many detailed descriptions of yards, terminals and equipment. Because
of the expressions of many readers of the former volume on the value of
such details, it was deemed unwise to curtail them. No two terminals
are alike in their physical and traffic characteristics. Every illustration
of successful design or description of good operating methods is conse-
quently of assistance to the railroad man who is seeking new ideas to
help solve his own problems.

It has been the writer's aim to present fairly all shades of opinion
on questions of design and operation and, to that end, he has quoted
freely from the opinions of recognized experts. In most instances
acknowledgment is made in the text where these quotations appear.
Ine writer wishes further to express his grateful appreciation to the
lailway Age Gazette, the Engineering News, the Railway and Engineering
Review, and other railroad and technical periodicals, and to the many
railroad officers and others for valuable information and assistance.
Frequent quotations have been made from the committee reports and

vi PREFACE

codes of the American Railway Association, the American Railway
Engineering Association, and the Master Mechanics' Association.

For constructive criticism the writer is indebted to Charles B. Breed,
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and William J. Cunningham, Assistant Professor of Trans-
portation, Harvard University. In addition to helpful suggestions on
other parts of the book, Professor Breed wrote Chapter IV — "Track
and Maintenance Details'' — and Professor Cunningham, Chapter XXI
on " British Freight Service."

Providence, R. I.,
July, 1912.

CONTENTS

Chapter I'aQu

Preface v

I. The Terminal Problem 1

- II. Terms and Definitions 13

^ III. General Requirements of Terminal Design 17

IV. Track Construction and Maintenance Details 39

, V. Classification Yards 60

VI. Operation of Yards 101

VII. The Yardmaster 115

VIII. Management and Discipline 126

IX. Loading Cars 139

X. Making up Trains 148

XI. Time Freight Service 165

XII. Team Delivery Yards 173

XIII. Uve Stock HandUng 184

XIV. Weighing Freight . . ' 193

XV. Records and Statistics 205

^ XVI. Water Front Terminals 224

XVII. Coal Piers and Storage Plants 242

XVIII. Ore and Lumber Docks 255

• XIX. Grain Elevators 264

XX. Freight Houses 273

XXI. British Freight Service 299

XXII. Transfer Stations 315

XXIII. Mechanical Handling of Freight 327

XXIV. The Freight Agent , 351

XXV. Operation of Freight Houses 359

XXVI. Refrigerating, Ventilating and Heating 374

XXVII. The Engine House 387

XXVIII. Engine CoaUng Plants 412

XXIX. Ash and Sand Plants 433

XXX. The Engine House Foreman 445

;
I

VI 1

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

CHAPTER I
THE TERMINAL PROBLEM

On June 30, 1911, there were in the United States 243,299 miles of
single track, 23,454 of second track, 2429 of third track, 1677 of fourth
track and 87,524 of yard and side tracks; a total of 358,383 track-miles.
For every 3 miles of railroad there is in use to-day 1 mile of switching or
terminal tracks. A glance at these figures indicates clearly that the
terminal feature of railway operations is very important. It has been
computed that the switching mileage of some of the larger roads reaches
as high as 35 and 40 per cent, of the entire number of revenue train miles.
With the general increase in business handled, and density of traffic, and
the mbre insistent demands of the public for quicker movement and
delivery, the difficulties of the problem will increase rather than decrease.
The importance of terminals and terminal operation, therefore, justify the
most careful and comprehensive study.

The following statistics based on figures in the 1910 annual report
of the Interstate Commerce Commission (the latest complete report
available at this WTiting) are surprising to one who has not studied
the results, indicating as they do, (1) that only 55 per cent, of the capacity
of freight cars is utilized; and (2) that the average miles each freight
car is moved per day is ridiculously low.

On June 30, .1910, the railroads of the United States owned 2,133,531
freight cars having an average capacity of 36 tons each. These cars
carried 1,849,900,101 tons of revenue freight an average distance of
138 miles. Altogether the cars made 18,355,815,771 miles in revenue
service, of which 12,857,357,254 or 70 per cent, were loaded, and the
total revenue ton-miles amounted to 255,016,910,451. Dividing the
total revenue ton-miles by the total revenue loaded freight car-miles,
it will be seen that the average load per car was but 19.8 tons or only
35 per cent, of the average car capacity.

According to the 1910 statistics, the mileage of yard tracks and sidings
in the United States represented 24.4 per cent, of the whole, while in
group 1 (the New England states), it was 28.8 per cent.; in group 2
(New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and
District of Columbia ), 32 per cent.; in the western country, group 9

1

2 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

(Louisiana and part of Texas and New Mexico) and group 7 (Nebraska,
Montana, Wyoming, No. Dakota, So. Dakota and part of Colorado) it
was 18.1 and 19.7, respectively. In 20 years, 1890 to 1910, it increased
from 21.6 per cent., in group 1, to 28.8 per cent.; in group 2, from 24.4
to 32.5; group 7, from 12.9 to 19.7; group 9, from 10.5 to 18.1, and in the
United States, as a whole, from 16.8 to 24.3 per cent. These figures
clearly show the increasing importance of the terminal problem with
relation to road movements. That the relative increase of the percen-
tage of yard tracks and sidings in the United States was 44.6, per cent,
running up to 52.8 and 72.4 in groups 7 and 9, respectively, and only
28.7 and 33.4 in groups 1 and 2, respectively, tells a story of short-
sightedness years ago, in not providing for necessary expansion where it
was most needed and before industrial development and increased
property values rendered it almost prohibitive.

It is not possible to ascertain the average daily mileage of serviceable
cars from the Interstate Commerce figures because they do not take account
of cars out of service for repairs, or cars stored in periods of depression.
On an average about 7 per cent, of a railroad's freight cars are in the
repair shops. The percentage out of service because of a surplus of
equipment varies within wide limits. But taking an average month, it is
shown by the monthly statistics of the American Railway Association's
Committee on Relations between Railroads, that in May, 1911, freight
car performance was as follows:

Mileage of 144 roads reporting, 223,680
Revenue freight cars owned, 2,174,628
Per cent, of cars in shop, 7 . 83
Freight car mileage, 1,626,664,629
Average miles per car per day, 23 . 7
Per cent, of loaded car mileage, 67 . 4
Average ton-miles (revenue and non-rev-
enue) per car-mile (loaded and empty), 14.2
Average ton miles (revenue and non-rev-
enue) per loaded car-mile, 21 .2
Average ton miles (revenue and non-rev-
enue) per car per day, 338

Since the average speed of a freight train from terminal to terminal,
including road delay, is from 10 to 15 miles per hour, it is plain that 2 to

3 hours in a train will give a freight car the average mileage per day
shown by the above statistics. This indicates that freight cars are in
motion just about 10 per cent, of the time, and since but 55 per cent, of
their capacity is utilized, when loaded, irrespective of empty car move-
ment, a clear indication is given of the need for railroads to pay particu-
lar attention to methods and facilities which will on one hand increase
the percentage of car capacity utilized and on the other hand reduce the

THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 3

delay to freight cars in loading, unloading, and movement through yards
and terminals.

The average gross freight revenue per ton-mile on all the railroads of
the country in 191 1 was 0.754 cents; in round figures about three-quarters
of a cent. The cost of terminal handling is approximately 25 cents per

Fig. 1. — Map of New York and tributary railroad frontage.

car handled, which includes switching in two yards. This estimate is
based on an average load of 10,000 to 12,000 lb. of merchandise freight.
About 25 cents per ton more should be added for handling at the out-
bound freight-house and a like amount at the freight-house of final

4 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

destination. Added to theae charges is a similar cost at each of the
transfers through which a shipment may move. This handling cost
aggregates a total of 70 to 90 cents a ton, without accomplishing any
actual movement toward destination, an equivalent to the average
gross revenue obtained for a 65- or 70-mile haul.
I There are but two roads actually entering New York City to-day as
freight carriers, although sixteen make it a terminal. The fourteen
others find it necessary to use water transportation to deliver freight to
and move it from the city. There are, nevertheless, nearly one hundred
transportation companies (rail and water) having freight stations in
New York City. Some of these companies have as many as six or seven

Fio. 2,— The only freight yard in New Vork— East GSth Street.

different stations. Fig. 1 is a map of New York City and its harbor,
showing railroads entering it and their yards and terminals. A recent
casual visit showed thirty-five loaded trucks in line in front of one dock
on West Street, New York, and this is not uncommon. It costs $7 a day,
including driver, to maintain a two-horse truck in New York City. It is
claimed that hundreds of these trucks are kept waiting in line, in this city,
from 2 to 6 hours a day during seasons of heavy traffic movement. The
loss due to congested and inadequate terminals from this item alone is
enormojis.

Handling freight traffic in and through New York is doubtless the
most complicated terminal problem in the world and from it alone many
lessons may be learned. New York being the greatest port of entrance

THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 5

to this country, the increasing volume of traffic together with the growing
demands for quicker movement would in themselves present endless
operating and traffic problems. But added to this is the constant tend-
ency on the part of industries and warehouses to crowd the water's edge
to an extent which either necessitates the confinement of railroad lines
to their present limits or compels enormous expenditures to secure more
territory, as has recently been done by the Pennsylvania railroad. The
foreign commerce of the port of New York is very nearly one-half that
of the entire United States. The view shown in Fig. 2 is characteristic
of the railroads' rapidly vanishing foothold in New York City.

Handling New York's freight traffic requires an enormous water fleet '
to care for the lighterage, and an extensive system of water-front piers, •
docks and float bridges for the transfer of freight between the rail and
water lines, in addition to the large freight yards for classifying, deliver-
ing and forwarding freight cars. There are no exact records of the num-
ber of boats engaged in the New York harbor lighterage business, but the
figures at hand indicate that there are about 10,000 craft engaged in this
work in New York harbor. About 1000 of these are steam vessels and
the remainder are without power. Within the harbor limits there are
about 50 dry docks and plants for marine construction and repairing,
representing investments aggregating about $10,000,000. To show
what has been done and what may be expected in the way of future
development the following figures of the length of available wharf berths
along the New York harbor water front are given.

Manhattan,

Brooklyn,

Queens,

Kichmond,

Bronx,

N. J. Shore — Amboy to Fort Lee,

Water-front miles

Length of wharves

44

93

132

197

116

132

51

69

105

113

Total,

448

Total,

604

B>

30

96

Total,

478

Total,

700

The Department of Docks and Ferries collects from leases and wharf-
age more than $5,500,000 annually. In addition to the thousands of
tons of freight handled by lighters there are about 1000 cars handled on
floats daily between Canal Street on the North river and Jackson Street
on the East river. The usual charge for lighterage, as prorated, is* 3
cents per 100 lb., and the claim is made that in some instances the actual
cost runs as high as 3.75 or 4 cents.

The railroads brmg about 13,000,000 tons of freight into New York
annually, of which nearly 11,000,000 tons require dray age and over

6 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

' 2,000,000 tons are lightered. About 4,500,000 tons are exported from
New York annually, of which 75 per cent, requires drayage and the
remainder lightering. Fig. 3 is a typical New York water scene looking
northward up West Street along the North river.

It is safe to predict that in time freight will be moved continuously
into and through New York through river tunnels. Passenger tunnels
are in operation and have demonstrated the feasibility of similarly
handling freight. Large, or larger, classification yards will be built on
the Hackensack meadows, in New Jersey, a few miles from the Hudson

Fiu, 3.— North River wnter front— Xew York.

river. Tunnels under the narrows or upper bay will link Staten Island
and New Jersey with Long Island, which, with the bridge route over the
East river, now building, will complete the route to New England, elimi-
nating the I4-milc slow and expensive float movement between the roads
on the New Jcr.sey shore and the terminii in the upper part of Manhattan
with the rail lines leading into New England and the Canadian Provinces.
The Baltimore & Ohio now has terminals on Staten Island; a tunnel
thence to Brooklyn under the lower bay would give this road, and its
allies, the Reading and Central of New Jersej', direct all-rail connection
with New England.

THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 7

It is only during a comparatively recent period that the southern
states have supplied the northern and northwestern markets with early
fruits and vegetables in any considerable quantity. It has now become
a regular part of the business of some of the coastwise railroads to haul
watermelons and other fruits and vegetables north during certain seasons,
and, a few weeks later, to haul similar commodities in the opposite
direction. Florida, Georgia and other southern states may ship melons
or strawberries to Virginia, Maryland and points north, while the melon
growers of Virginia later on supply the Georgia and Florida markets
when the southern crops have become exhausted. This is made possible
only by cheap and prompt transportation and the extent to which this
condition may be developed is diflBcult to overestimate.

It is well stated by Wellington in his " Economic Theory of Railway
Location," that in planning a railroad there are three ends to be attained:

" 1 . To sell all the transportation possible. \

"2. To dispense with all the train-miles possible. '

"3. To reduce the cost of running trains per mile.

"As respects freight traffic, rates must in the long run be made equal, not
simply from station to station, but from the door of the consignor to the door of
the consignee; in other words, all additional cost for cartage or switching service
and something more as compensation for the trouble (usually a very considerable
addition) must be borne by the railroad, before it is in a position to compete at
all/'

The terminal problems confronting railroad managers are usually
those which involve the correction of errors previously made or, more
accurately, the providing of facilities at an enormous cost which could
have been furnished at a moderate cost had the terminals been properly
designed when the roads were built. In some instances these conditions
were due to lack of foresight. In many cases, however, it was the par-
amount desire of running a line to a large city and the failure to provide
sufficient funds to carry the line well into the terminal city. Or, in the
words of Wellington,

" Had it not so often happened that roads which have expended millions for
the construction of long lines to a certain place have then begrudged or failed to
raise the necessary additional money to carry their line into it, contenting them-
selves with hanging to the skirts of the town somewhere where they can be .
reached by horse-cars or hacks and drays, it would seem incredible that business
corporations could so frequently commit an act of folly which can fairly be
paraUeled with that of building a long bridge and erecting every span but one —
assuming, on account of some difficulty with foundations, or what not, that a
ferry would be good enough for that because it would be 'such a little one'."

There have been notable exceptions and these are the lines which are
now successful in making money on freight traffic even at the prevailing

\

8 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

low rates. As a result of this policy the railroads are now adding to,
revising or remodeling existing yards and terminals, while the creation of
new yards is not so common. For this reason the "ideal" or "model"
yard is mainly interesting in that it affords a guide for revising ex-
tensively, remodeling or adaptating existing inadequate yards.

The relative importance of terminals and main line has been given,
taking into account the cost of operating and the miles of track in use.
' Viewed from the standpoint of the amount of capital invested the im-
portance of terminals is even greater. The terminals alone represent a
1 greater amount of money than all the remainder of the properties of the
i roads. This statement is true even when smaller or intermediate
stations are omitted and only the great water terminals and general inter-
nal distributing centers, known as division terminals or yards, are in-
cluded. Their relative financial value in the countries of Europe is
necessarily even greater than in the United States. In England alone
hundreds of millions have been spent in remedying initial errors to enable
successful transportation lines to reach the centers or interiors of great
cities. Millions have been spent by the larger roads in improving their
various terminal points, and apparently such additions will always have
to be made.

One of two great railway systems in the far northwest, in competitive
railway building, is said to have expended between $11,000,000 and
$12,000,000 for terminals in a single coast city to care for an extension
180 miles long, which amounts to a charge of $64,000 per mile of line for
' terminals alone. Terminals for a new four-track trunk line in New
I York City would cost anywhere from $125,000,000 to $150,000,000.
Even on the Jersey water front they would cost $75,000,000. This
amounts to from $75,000 to $150,000 per mile for the tide-water terminal
alone, for a line from Chicago to New York.

In Chicago, the problem is presented in a form more concentrated
than in many other places. The business district comprises about one
and a half square miles. It is almost completely surrounded by railway
terminals, 25 trunk lines, having their freight and passenger stations
ranged around this one point. Naturally with these railroad terminals
depositing their enormous volume of freight in so circumscribed an area
the conditions soon became unbearable. It was estimated that 112,000
* tons of freight a day were handled at the terminals around the business
section.

To relieve this congestion the Chicago freight subway w^as begun in
September, 1901. Over 65 miles of subway have been completed, and this
is being added to. It is the only subway in the world designed especially
to relieve the freight congestion of the streets. The tunnel is egg-shaped,
with concrete walls 10 in. thick and a 14-in. bottom. The height of the
tubes is 7.5 ft., width 6 ft., inside measurement, and their average depth

THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 9

below the street level is 40 ft. The work of the construction went ahead
rapidly, the ground being of a character favorable to rapid progress. The
first 5 miles were built in 2 months.

Most of our larger freight terminals are examples of evolution from
smaller to larger yards. Like Topsy, they "jus' growed." Additional
tracks were hung on wherever there happened to be a vacant
piece of land and where the least grading was required. In many cases
it was necessary to get any additional track facilities that could be had
and at any place available to avoid congestion or blockade on the line.
In other cases it was due to lack of foresight. The bill has been paid
many times over.

To reduce the number of cars in service a road must handle them
promptly. They must be moved over the line at the economical speed
which has been found suited to the characteristics of each part of a line.
The penalty for detentions can now be figured down to a penny. It does
not require much detention, due to congestion in terminals, or awkward
or reverse movements, to run into large amounts in a month.

One railroad company took records on three separate occasions and
found that from 81 to 84 per cent, of all the cars on the road, at the time
the records were taken, were not in motion. In the ordinary course of
business, cars in good order stand in yards from 3 to 10 hours. This is
about the time needed to haul them to the next division terminal. In
busy periods, then, it would seem that cars in good order should be
kept in motion about half the time; but they are not and there is a field
for an immense profit by working to approximate this ideal condition.
For example, in a tei^nal handling 4000 cars per day, an hour's reduction
in standing, effected either by improvement in design or operation,
makes a daily saving of the time of 166 cars, which at the present per
diem rates amounts to $50 or $55 per day. An expenditure of nearly
$400,000 to overcome this, would be justified.

The detrimental effect of the yard aptly described as one where " all
tracks lead into it, none run out of it," may readily be imagined and the
loss it occasions the operating road estimated. In a meeting of the Asso-
ciation of Transportation and Car Accounting Officers, one of the largest
roads in the country testified that the average time of all freight cars in
terminals on its line had been 18 hours. This it succeeded in reducing
to 13 and hoped eventually to get down to 5. The 5 hours' reduction
effected was remarkable and remunerative. It does not require an
exceptionally large yard, in these days of heavy freight movement, to
handle an average of 1000 cars per day. The 5 hours per day saved would
represent 6000 car-hours, equivalent to 213 additional cars in service
which, valued at $1000 each, are worth to the railroad company $213,000.
To figure on the earning capacity of these 213 cars the railroad would
secure an additional revenue, during times of brisk traffic, of $400 to

10

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

$500 per day. To attain this end in half a dozen main and divisional
terminii would justify the expenditure of considerable thought and
money. Anywhere from 60 to 85 per cent, of the freight cars on a line,
at a given time, are not in motion.

As already stated, a modern box car, with its airbrake and other equip-
ment, costs about $1000. The annual cost of maintenance, barring
accidents, is somewhere between $65 and $90. A cheaply constructed
warehouse will provide the same volume of storage space as a box car at a
cost of less than $250, and its maintenance cost is about one-fifth that
of the box car. There are shippers, nevertheless, who deem it a great
injustice not to be permitted to use freight equipment freely for storage
or warehouse purposes.

Fig. 4. — Ten years' increases in material and labor costs.

The difficulties under which our railways work to meet the increasing
cost of labor and of all material required in their construction, maintenance
and operation, while freight rates do not increase but in many instances
decrease, is graphically shown in Fig. 4 by one large road, comparing the
years 1897 and 1907.

The necessity for revising terminal facilities is made impressive by a
study of those instances which increase the cost of a railway's living, as
the terminals usually present the greatest opportunities for operating
economies; not only in themselves but in their considerable effect in

THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 11

reducing the cost per train-mile on the road by furnishing easier move- \
ment into and out of yards and better train classifications.

The broff^d-minded, liberal and competent engineer of to-day gets alii
the information to be had from practical operating men before he plans
his yard and avoids making many of the blunders of the past which so
seriously impede opeiation. It is not necessary to go a thousand miles
from anywhere to find track scales erected by an engineer in the middle
of a 50-car double-end connected track. The yard was one of the most
awkward and extravagant to operate; the yardmaster asked for scales
l)ecause he needed them — and he got them. This is merely typical of the
many errors made because of a lack of co-operation. There is an improve-
ment in co-operation between engineering and operating men to-day. An
engineer is not permitted to arrange for the construction of a manufacturing
plant or a steamship until he has the views of the men who are required to
operate it afterward; neither should he construct a terminal or yard, the
operating cost of which is usually dependent on proper design and in
which errors are more difficult and costly to correct. A designer — be he
the designer of a house, a yacht, a machine or a yard — needs all the prac-
tical knowledge and light to be had on the subject. " Sunlight kills germs."

Stopping, starting and detaining freight trains is extremely costly,'
and much of this waste is due to inadequate and ineflBcient terminals.
The cost of stopping freight trains seems to have been given little study .
and is not fully understood. Many trainmasters, most train dispatchers,
nearly all maintenance-of-way men and yardmen seem to labor under
the impression that shutting off the engine throttle and again opening it is
about all there is to the performance. In some cases they make an
allowance for a few minutes of lost time. Exact figures covering the cost
of stopping a freight train are not to be had. It depends on the charac-
teristics of road, grades, weight of train, and other operating conditions.
There is perhaps no data of a more reliable or satisfactory nature than
that given by Wellington in his "Theory of Railway Location" where he
discusses the objections to grade crossings from all standpoints, including
that of the necessary stops to trains:

"Nevertheless from an economical point of view, abolishing the stops at
grade crossings is by far the most important, especially when, as is so frequently
the case, they reduce the number of cars hauled below what it otherwise would
be. To reach this conclusion we need not adopt any of the wild estimates which
give the cost of a stop anywhere from a dollar up. Without going elaborately
into the details of the estimate, to discuss which properly by items would take
considerable space, from 30 to 60 cents may fairly be taken as the cost of a stop,
apart from all effect on length of trains. An estimate of 40 cents per stop for
average trains on lines doing considerable through business can hardly be con-
sidered excessive, and at this rate the cost per year of each train per day stopping
at the crossings is 365 X $0.40 = $146 per year."

12 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Mr. J. A. Peabody told the Railway Signal Association (October,
1905) that, after an exhaustive series of tests, he estimated the cost of
stopping and starting a six-car passenger train from and to 45 miles per
hour at 35 cents; and of a 1500-ton freight train from and to 15 miles per
hour at 56 cents. On this basis he figured $8000 as the cost for inter-
locking an entrance to a yard from a double track with cross-over, four
derails, four high signals and six dwarfs, and operating cost per year
$2800, made up of interest on cost at 4 per cent., $320; depreciation at
7 per cent., $560; maintenance, $840; operation, $1440. With 17 trains
a day, the annual cost for stopping ($2800) just offsets the interlocking
cost per year; with 30 daily trains, a net saving yearly of $2130; 70
trains, $8695, and 100 trains, $13,625.

While operating officers may from actual observation appreciate the
importance of, and the necessity for correcting yard designs or adapting
them to meet increased or changed traffic conditions, it is usually desir-
able to place an actual money value on such changes or improvements.
As this is largely guesswork and dependent on so many conditions it is
more difficult to estimate approximately than would be any other line
of railroad improvement or betterment work. Some comparatively
slight changes in tracks, connections or switches, may be made, by
which, through reduced interference, cutting out lost motion, or by more
direct or fewer switching movements a yard engine may be dispensed
with. Estimating the expense of such an engine with its crew, fuel,
supplies, etc., at $40 per day of 12 hours, we have a saving of $14,600 per
year which, capitalized at 5 per cent., represents $292,000; from which
it would appear that any lesser amount could profitably be expended
to attain this result.

If, by correcting errors or improving the track lay-out a saving can
be effected in the time of the crews of say 5 hours a day in the aggregate
(and this, in a large yard, is ordinarily looked upon as a comparatively
small matter) there would be saved $3194 per year, assuming the time of
the road crew to be worth 75 cents per hour and leaving out the value of
the engine or the demand for it. This saving represents the interest on
$63,880.

It should not be assumed that an amount for the corrections or addi-
tions may profitably be expended merely because it is known that a
saving in operation may be effected representing the interest on this
amount, unless it is probable that the saving will be continuous. In
this character of work the greater part of the money spent is for labor
and much of it for material of a nature tending to deteriorate. It is
therefore impossible to recover the principal, should the earnings cease.

CHAPTER II
TERMS AKD DEFUnTIONS

For many years there was diversity among railroad men as to the
usage and meaning of terms, and the names of certain parts of railroad
equipment. The writer recalls numerous instances when he was com-
pelled to ask conductors or yardmasters whether, in telegraphing for a
"pair of trucks," one truck was wanted or two! The Master Car Builders'
Association helped out mankind generally and the railroad world par-
ticularly when it caused the Car Builders' Dictionary to be prepared and
published. While we still have With us a few conductors and yard-
masters who will ask for "a pair" of trucks when only one is wanted,
it is possible to educate them, and there is now an authority for their
enlightenment.

The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Asso-
ciation, now the American Railway Engineering Association, in 1901
made a list of terms with accompanying definitions, relating to terminals
or yards, which was recently revised. Its committee made the prelimi-
nary explanation that the word "terminal" had been taken to include
all the facilities provided for terminal work on a large or small scale;
while the word "yard" related only to the one set of tracks which were
used for the switching or storage of cars. Following are the definitions
given by that society:

Terminal. — An assemblage of facilities provided by a railway at a terminus or
at intermediate points on its line for the purpose of assembling, breaking up
and relaying trains.

Ycard. — A system of tracks within defined limits provided for making up
trains, storing cars and other purposes, over which movements not authorized
by titme-able or by train order may be made, subject to prescribed signals and
regulations.

Receiving Yard. — A yard for receiving trains.

Classification Yard. — A yard in which cars are classified or grouped in accord-
ance with requirements.

Gravity Yard. — A yard in which the classification of cars is accomplished by
gravity.

Poling Yard. — A yard in which the movement of cars is accomplished by the
use of a pole operated by an engine on an adjacent parallel track.

Summit or Hump Yard. — A yard in which the movement of cars is accom-
plished by pushing them over a summit, beyond which they run by gravity.

Body Track. — Each of the parallel tracks of a yard, upon which cars are
switched or stored.

13

14 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Ladder Track. — A track connecting successively the body tracks of a yard.

Lead Track. — An extended track connecting either end of a yard with the
main track.

Running Track. — A track reserved for movements through a yard.

Relief Track. — An extended siding long enough to allow an inferior train to
continue running.

Stub Track. — A track connected with another at one end only.

Spur Track. — A stub track of indefinite length diverging from main line.

House Track. — A track alongside of (or entering) a freight-house, and used
for cars receiving or delivering freight at the house.

Industrial Track. — A track serving one or more industries.

Team Track. — A track where freight is transferred direct between cars and
wagons.

Special Tracks. — In a typical yard there will be several tracks devoted to
special purposes, varying with local conditions. These will include caboose tracks,
scale tracks, coaling tracks, ashpit tracks, bad order tracks, repair tracks, icing
tracks, feed tracks, stock tracks, transfer tracks, sand tracks, depressed
tracks, etc.

Rail and Water Terminal. — A terminal where freight is transferred between
railway cars and boats.

Wye. — A triangular arrangement of tracks used for turning engines, cars or
trains.

Transfer Slip. — A protected landing place for car floats with adjustable
apron or bridge for connecting the tracks on the land with those on car float.

Incline. — An inclined track (or tracks) on a river bank at a protected landing
place, with adjustable apron and cradle for connecting to the track on a car float
for transfer of cars.

Lighterage Pier. — An open or covered pier at which freight is transferred
directly between cars and boats.

Station Pier. — A pier having no rail connections, where freight is received and
delivered by car floats.

The definitions prepared by the American Railway Association re-
lating to main tracks and train movements also have bearing upon yard
work and some of them are given below:

Train. — An engine, or more than one engine coupled, with or without cars
displaying markers.

Regular Train. — A train represented on the time-table. It may consist of
sections.

Section. — One of two or more trains running on the same schedule, displaying
signals or for which signals are displayed.

Extra Train. — A train not represented on the time-table. It may be desig-
nated as:

Extra. — For any train, except work extra;
Work Extra. — ^For work train extra.

Superior Train. — A train having precedence over another train.
Train of Superior Right. — A train given precedence by train order.

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS 15

♦

Train of Superior Class, — A train given precedence by time-table.

Train of Superior Direction.^ — A train given precedence in the direction
specified in the time-table as between trains of the same class.

Time-table. — The authority for the movement of regular trains subject to
the rules. It contains the classified schedules of trains with special instructions
relating thereto.

Schedule, — That part of a time-table which prescribes the class, direction,
number and movement for a regular train.

Main Track. — A track, extending through yards and between stations, upon
which trains are operated by time-table or train order or the use of which is
controlled by block signals.

Single Track. — A main track upon which trains are operated in both direc-
tions.

Double Track. — Two main tracks, upon one of which the current of traffic is
in a specified direction, and upon the other in the opposite direction.

Three {or more) Tracks. — Three (or more) main tracks, upon any of which the
current of traffic may be in either specified direction.

Current of Traffic. — The movement of trains on a main track, in one direction,
specified by the rules.

Station. — A place designated on the time-table by name, at which a train
may stop for traffic; or to enter or to leave the main track; or from which fixed
signals are operated.

Siding. — ^A track auxiliary to the main track for meeting or passing trains,
liniited to the distance between two adjoining telegraph stations.

Fixed Signal. — A signal of fixed location indicating a condition affecting the
movement of a train.

{Note. — The definition of a "fixed signal" covers such signals as slow boards,
stop boards, yard limits, switch, train order, block, interlocking, semaphore,
disc, ball, or other means for indicating stop, caution or proceed.)

Yard Engine. — An engine assigned to yard service and working within yard
limits.

Pilot. — A person assigned to a train when the cngincman or conductor, or
both, are not fully acquainted With the physical characteristics, or running rules
of the road, or portion of the road, over which the train is to be moved.

(The definition of "yard" as given by the American Railway Engi-
neering Association, is taken from the definitions of the American
Railway Association and is- therefore not repeated.)

The American Railway Association's Codes of Car Service and Per
Diem Rules, contain the following definitions :

Home Car. — A car on the road to which it belongs.
Foreign Car. — A car on a road to which it does not belong.
Private Car. — A car having other than railroad ownership.
Home. — A location where a car is in the hands of its owner.

' Superiority by direction is limited to single track. Some roads, particularly
in New England, discard the "right by direction" and use what»is commonly termed
the "positive meet." Under this arrangement trains of the same class wait at
meeting-points indefinitely, unless the "meet" is changed by train order.

16 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

«

Home Road.— The road which owns a car, or upon which the home of a
private car is located.

Home RouU.— The line of intermediate roads over which a foreign car was
moved from home.

Home Junction. — A junction with the home road.

Home Route Junction. — A junction on the home route.

Switching Service. — The movement of a car to be loaded or unloaded, or the
movement of a car between railroads, at a charge for the service rendered within
designated switching limitsj the road performing the service not participating
in the freight rate.

CHAPTER III
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN

The business of a freight carrier is to move freight from one point to
another for a consideration and the least and cheapest possible handling
enables it, ordinarily, to do this at a profit. As rates are usually rigid or
have a tendency to decrease, the only way to increase the margin of
profit and in many cases create it, is to reduce the cost of transportation.
One of the best, if not the very best way to accomplish this is to reduce the
number of cars needed to handle the business. Under the existing method
of reimbursing foreign roads at per diem rates for the use of their cars, this
holds absolutely true. It was frequently possible under the former
method of payment on a mileage basis to hold a number of cars on tracks
without expense beyond the interest on land and tracks occupied, and
doubtless this is the principal reason why so many yards were operated
in an expensive and awkward manner. Tracks were built for storage
purposes rather than for switching. Under present methods of per diem
payments, cars standing around unnecessarily are a daily loss and a drain
on the margin of profit. A reduction in the number of cars used means
a reduction in the cost of handling. As already explained, this holds*
true whether a road uses its own or foreign cars. The desideratum is to
handle the business with the fewest cars possible. All good operating
methods and principles dovetail into this.

In the construction of new terminals or the revision or enlargement
of those already in existence, the operation of the entire railroad should
be carefully considered. It is not enough to keep close watch on the
efficiency of each yard or terminal separately. It is just as important
that the same attention be given to co-ordinating their work and
having it fit in with other phases of operation. In many cases it may be
desirable, if not essential, to go beyond the limits of the road itself and
study the methods, yards and character of traffic of immediate connecting
lines, also probable changes in character of traffic and methods of handling.
The construction and operating departments should confer closely and
freely. It is usually wise to include a representative of the traffic de-
partment also, in order to obtain his views as to the necessity now and
hereafter for faster time and more prompt deliveries. The traffic de-
partment should be consulted more especially with reference to the prob-
able future volume of business to be provided for, its character, direc-
tion and new routes to be opened up with a tendency to divert traffic
2 17

18 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

from established routes to or from the lines carrying it through the ter-
minal under consideration.

The writer has in mind a case on a trunk line where a "yard" con-
sisting of two long tracks, with a cross-over half way, sufficed for many
years to enable changing of engines, inspection, etc., to be done with
reasonable promptness for a comparatively heavy business. In the
course of a few years it proved entirely inadequate and had to be increased
to something like ten times its orginal capacity, although the traffic of the
road had not increased in anything like this proportion — certainly not to
exceed 15 per cent. This was due to the fact that the road originally
handled a traffic consisting of about 80 per cent, of bituminous coal,
requiring little or no separating or classifying and only ordinary movement
as to time. New connections and traffic arrangements, a thousand miles
away, produced a condition by which the traffic percentage changed.
The general merchandise freight, stock, meat, etc., which formerly was
20 per cent, of the road's traffic increased to more than 50 per cent.
This required different treatment.

Of late y^ars, the tendency is to rectify the common error of leaving
the matter of design — both for new and for revising old yards — entirely
to the engineering department (usually with insufficient data as to exist-
ing conditions and probable future conditions) or letting the yardmaster
decide the whole question. It is now the general practice to get the
fullest possible co-operation between departments.

An excellent plan was adopted by one railroad company a few years
'ago, when confronted with the necessity for revising some of its most
important yards. The general manager appointed a committee con-
sisting of the chief engineer, the principal assistant engineer, and the
superintendents, engineers and assistant engineers of all the divisions
entering the yard under consideration. The superintendent in immediate
charge of the yard in question acted as chairman and the committee
met once a week for 2 months to prepare plans and report. The entire
committee, during the first part of the period of its existence, visited
large yards on other roads. The sub-committees meanwhile prepared
detailed information x;oncerning the yard to be revised. The officers
engaged in this were divided into:

(1) A sub-committee to gather all the statistics of the operation and
traffic of the yard.

(2) A sub-committee to make various sketch plans to be discussed
by the general committee.

(3) A sub-committee to read and abstract a number of the important
articles on yard design and operation in the technical journals and books
for the preceding period of 10 or 15 years. These abstracts were accom-
panied by sketches of yards described and in shape to be readily studied
by^^the general committee.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 19

After the preliminary work of obtaining statistics and preparing
plans, the yardmasters and their assistants were requested to attend one
or more meetings of the committee and were invited to criticise the plans.
The committee also interrogated the yardmasters and men with a view
to informing itself fully as to details.

The fewest possible number of division terminals should be built,
consistent with reasonable length of locomotive runs and the physical
characteristics of the road. The latter frequently determine the point
at which engines are turned. Handling locomotives at terminals is
expensive. Where from 100 to 150 engines are turned per day the cost
of handling ranges from $1.10 to $2 per engine. This does not include
removing ashes from pits, handling coal, sand and water, or furnishing
steam heat in firing up. The cost during severe winter weather, or
where boilers are washed out more than once in 2 weeks, often exceeds
these figures. The cost of turning an engine on the turntable depends
on the power used to move the table. With hand power it is from 4 to 8
cents per engine. Power driven tables are economical where more than
75 engines are turned per day; the cost per engine turned ranging from
2 to 4 cents. This is discussed more in detail in Chapter XXVII.

It is a mistake to suppose that when facilities are inadequate the
only thing to do is supply more track room. Merely to "extend" yards
or tracks is a practice which cannot too strongly be condemned. Design
is more important than car space. It often happens that a terminal
with limited track room, but well designed, will permit the movement
of more cars in a given time than one having much greater track room.
The taxes and interest on the real estate occupied and the material used
in construction often form a substantial fixed charge which should be
carefully considered. The size of the yard or terminal should be kept
to the smallest necessary number of lineal feet of track. It should be
planned and constructed so that every foot of track may be used profit-
ably and economically. A mistake in design, requiring unnecessary
or expensive movement is a continuous handicap which is difficult
afterward to overcome. Like Tennyson's Brook, it "goes on forever."

The study should by no means be confined to the one terminal under
di.scussion. Its relation to other terminals and to the operation of the
entire line should be carefully considered and a well-defined and compre-
hensive policy mapped out. An exhaustive study may show that some
yards may be abandoned entirely and others reduced.

Some roads believe that each division terminal should do its own
switching — that is, that they should do only such work on trains as will carry
them to the next division terminal without further switching. Others
start their trains from the system terminals made up to go as far as
practicable without rehandling. Each method has its good points, but
there are cases where the switching is unnecessarily duplicated. Occa-

20 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

sionally these expensive methods cannot easily be avoided because of
inadequate facilities at vital points. On the other hand, unfortunately,
it is frequently due to officers in charge of general train movements not
fully understanding the situation in detail, or failing to take time to
study the problem closely enough to arrive at an intelligent solution.
This subject is treated at length in Chapter VI.

It may perhaps be assumed that a road is working on a well-defined
and carefully thought-out policy regarding its freight divisions. Many
instances, however, have passed into history where certain track changes,
grade or curve reductions, shop installations, acquirement of additional
track mileage, and wage schedule changes, have made it desirable or
essential that a freight division be added or eliminated. A change of
this kind has an important bearing on the terminals. An expression of
opinion should be obtained from the management as to the likelihood of a
general revision of division lines or traffic channels in so far as they may
affect the terminal situation.

Some years ago an important railroad in this country was operating
its main line in five freight divisions. As the physical characteristics and
traffiic conditions permitted, it was decided to operate in four divisions,
with about 160 miles of line in each. One division disappeared and the
operating expenses were materially reduced, but the troubles of the
yardmaster began. None of the old terminal yards, except those at the
two ends of the road, were of any further service. They represented so
much dead track. New terminals were built, but the outlay required
for rouhd-houses and the usual accompanying facilities was so heavy
that these yards were curtailed. Ample track room was provided in the
course of time but until then the trainmasters and yardmasters spent
many sleepless nights and the business of the company suffered.

The problem of providing and handling freight at great centers of
population and industries, is often perplexing. The general disposition
is to put in large classification and train terminal yards outside of cities,
purchasing land within city limits for commercial yards and houses only,
handling cars between such houses (or team yards) and the classification
yards by yard-transfer-engines. Land costing $7 a square foot should
not be used for ordinary switching of trains, when suitable sites in subur-
ban districts, usually susceptible to more advantageous development,
can be purchased for a few cents per foot. The financial side of the
question resolves itself, broadly, into whether the cost of the transfer
service (minus the saving by less road train mileage) will be more or less
than the interest, taxes, etc., on the excess cost of inside property. The
engine houses and attendant facilities should be located near the classi-
fication yards and consideration should be given to the probability of
objection being raised by municipalities to the "smoke nuisance" and the
noise of switching if within city limits.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 21

It is hard to figure on the future and ordinary foresight dictates a
policy of preserving or providing the greatest possible amount of
elasticity in the terminal. There are two general methods by which this
can be done, if permitted by property limitations, physical characteristics,
and the size of the appropriation. The first plan is to design and con-
struct the terminal so as to make possible the transfer of work during
an abnormal rush of business or an emergency from an overcrowded
part of the yard to another part that may not be worked to its capacity.
Emergencies may include accidents on the line, a heavy run of business
in one direction or of certain kinds of freight, a shortage of power on a
certain division, a bunching of power due to various causes, and delayed
passenger trains. The other plan, which perhaps is more in the nature of
supplement than an alternative, is to design the terminal so as to enable
any of the yards to be enlarged at any time. This is a wise course, too,
because of the possibility of unforseen changes in traflSc conditions.

The doubling of the volume of freight traffic in the past 8 years has
made it necessary to limit the size of a yard and add others in series and
to avoid yards too large for economical and satisfactory operation. A
paragraph in the Pennsylvania Railroad annual report for 1902 indicated
this:

" Experience having shown that yards may become too large for the prompt
and economical movement of traffic, these new yards will be used for coal, coke
and limestone, and through the relief thus afforded, the Altoona and Harrisburg
yards will be amply sufficient for the general merchandise traffic."

The question really resolves itself into "What is the limit in size of a
freight-yard unit?" A large number of units can be placed in proximity,
provided the entrances and exits are so free that the movement to and
from any one unit will not interfere with the others and it is, therefore,
the ground available which usually limits the size of a collection of units.
A unit consists of a receiving, classification and departure yard, to-
gether with car repair, caboose and engine tracks. One set of depar-
ture, car repair, caboose and engine tracks often serves two or more sets of
receiving and classification tracks. The number of receiving tracks will
depend on the density of traffic and liability to interruption from wrecks.
After laying out one unit, care must be taken to avoid impairing its use-
fulness by placing another one so that the movements conflict.

So far as practicable cars should move continuously in one direction
from loading point to unloading point. Reverse movements should be
avoided, as they cause unnecessary mileage of cars and engines, loss of
time to freight, interference with switching and road movements,
and additional wear and tear on rolling stock in stopping and reversing
the direction of its movement. The expenditure of considerable money

22

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

to keep the movement continuously in one direction may be justified by
the saving in operating expenses.

On double-track roads, tlie terminal should be located between two
main tracks, but this cannot always be done. This principle is shown in
Fig. 7. Property limitations, topographical considerations, necessity
for handling passenger business in the vicinity, errors in original design,
making the cost of revision excessive, and the location of engine-houses
and coaling stations, may prevent. Other things being equal, it is desir-
able at larger division and system terminals to divorce entirely the
passenger and freight traffic. Where this can be done it is to the benefit
of both, while the consolidation, necessary at times, is detrimental. This
applies only to larger points where a reasonably heavy business is being

oo

Fig. 5. — Main tracks through center of terminal — Yards opposite each other.

Fig. 6. — Main tracks to one side of terminal.

^<^

i?r>

Fig. 7. — Main tracks separating and outside of terminal.

handled. Where traffic is light it is usually economical to combine the
freight and passenger business. At large system or line terminals it is of
decided advantage to separate the passenger lines from the freight lines
some distance in advance of the yards. When the passenger terminals
are located near the center of a city, it is often advisable to run the freight
tracks around, where yard room can be had cheaper. Better time can
then be made with less liability of congestion. If tracks through the city
are laid at street levels, the advantage of such an arrangement is apparent.
The objection to separating main tracks around terminals — ^that engine-
men cannot read signals carried by engines on trains in the opposite direc-
tion — ^is not a material one. Where such an arrangement of tracks exists,
the entrances and outlets at either end of the terminal should be protected
by operators in charge of interlocking plants, and outgoing trains should
be governed by signals given them. By the separation of the tracks
there is a minimum of interference through cross-over movements.
Freight and passenger trains in the same direction use the same tracks,

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 23/

and no eoiiuectioii with pjissoiigor tra(5ks need ho made except at the two
ends of the terminal or at the point where the four-track system con-
verges into double traclc. But one side of the passenger train is exposed
to the possibility of entanglement with accidents occurring on the yard
tracks next alongside. This is a safer arrangement than dividing the
terminal by having the passenger or high-speed tracks run through the
center, as sho'wn in Fig. 5. In this plan, yard engines in charge of hostlers
or going to or from their freight trains need not come in contact with or
cross the high-speed tracks. Conversely, passenger trains cannot inter-
fere with the movements of freight engines or detain them.

When the high-speed tracks, for any reason, cannot be run around the
terminals, the next best plan is to run both on one side, as shown in Fig. 6.
As compared with the preceding arrangement this is open to the objection
of compelling freight trains moving in one direction to cross the passenger
tracks in the opposite direction when entering and leaving the terminal.
It will be seen that this will frequently compel freight, trains to be stopped
for passenger trains in the opposite direction, causing some detention and
considerable expense. But one side of passenger trains in one direction
is alongside of a yard track. As in the previous plan, the advantage
exists of enabling interior terminal movements to be made from any yard
to another, to or from engine-houses, etc., without interference with high-
speed trains. Both plans have the decided advantage of enabling a
transfer of work from one yard to another when one part of the traffic
runs abnormally heavy or when emergencies arise. These transfers can
1)0 made without encountering the high-speed track movements at any
point. The advantage of this is that a class of enginemen can be employed
who may not be permitted to go out on the open road because of lack of
familiarity with train rules. Such men are always at hand and in times
of a heavy rush of business or abnormal conditions, it is usually difficult to
secure men who can run on the main line.

To run the two main tracks through the center of the terminal,
dividing the east or southbound side from the other, is often the only
alternative, and doubtless there are more terminals operated on this
plan than there are of the other two combined. The liability to accident
is somewhat greater under this arrangement and there are many objec-
tions which have been briefly reviewed. There are, nevertheless, many
who favor this plan as against running the two passenger tracks on one
side because of the necessity of crossing movements in the latter. These
movements exist in one form or another, however, as the engine-houses,
coaling plants, repair tracks, etc., are usually located on one side and
cross-over movements are made necessary for road engines to or from
the engine-house, cabooses to be returned from the direction in which
they arrived, and cars moving in one direction to be repaired.

Where a four-track road uses the two middle tracks for freight, these

24 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

should be separated to permit of the location of the yards between them.
The Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago remodeled its Conway yard to
accomplish this. Interference with passenger traffic had become annoying.
With the high speed tracks in the middle they are usually run through the
center of the yard. To avoid interference with switching and crossover
movements, it would then be necessary to elevate the passenger tracks
and establish yard connections beneath. "Jump-overs" are used to
avoid interference; the passenger tracks crossing the eastbound freight
track by a separation of grade levels.

It is important, before proceeding with the plans for a terminal, to
make a study of traffic conditions as they exist and as they will probably
exist years hence. After this has been made as accurately as may be, com-
mittees should be appointed and a study of all conditions made. An
examination of available plans of yards already in operation or in course
of construction will be valuable. With this information a summary
should be made of the number of cars moving to and from each of the
divisions centering in the terminal and to and from the industries and
. other unloading points. These figures should show the number of
/ loaded and empty cars and the number of trains, from which a tabu-
lated statement may be worked up, including the average and maxi-
mum number of cars to a train in each direction. In some cases it
may be well to go into greater detail as to the number of cars in a
train, tabulating for each division and each direction, the trains with
fewer than 10 cars, those between 10 and 20, those between 20 and 30, etc.
Figures of movements during certain hours or periods of the day may be
advantageous. From these data a fair estimate may be made of the
capacity needed for each receiving, separating, classification and
departure yard and the length and number of tracks required. Con-
sideration should also be given to the possibility of adopting a different
class of road locomotive on any of the divisions; or of a transfer or an
exchange of power which may affect the length of trains hauled.

Notwithstanding the fact that no two terminals can satisfactorily be
constructed on the same plans, and that local conditions govern largely,
there are a few general principles which should be considered and which
may be applied wholly or in part to the design of any terminal.

In many plans of typical terminals, the yards for each direction lie
alongside of each other. This arrangement is objectionable in that the
engine-houses, coaling plants, ash tracks, and repair tracks, must be
inconveniently located for one yard, or must be duplicated. An engine
coming in from a westbound train must travel to the east end of the east-
b(>und yard to get its return train; and a similar movement in the opposite
direction must be made by the engine arriving on an eastbound train.
By locating the yards so that they will ''head in" on each other (see
Fig. 8), I.e., having the west end of the w^estbound yard terminate near

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 25

the east end of the eastbound yard, the engine-houses and attendant
facilities can be located where they may be readily reached by incoming
engines from either yard, and the facilities for caring for engines may be
concentrated. This applies also to the organization of the employees.
It reduces the engine mileage and cuts out the running tracks needed for
engines going to and from their trains. The caboose tracks should be

^

^^

^ ^ —^^ ^

^ — ^=^

w^ oo

Fig. 8. — Main tracks through center of terminal yards on "lap" principle.

located where the cabooses will not be disturbed in switching, as the men
frequently use them for sleeping quarters. As some crews are usually
assigned to regular or preferred runs, such as fast freights, local or work
trains, it is desirable to have two caboose tracks, and they should pref-
erably be located near the outlet end of the terminal to enable the pooled
or "first-in first-out" crews to drop their cabooses to the rear of outgoing
trains. The writer has, nevertheless, recommended the construction of
classification yards for two directions on the oppoisite principle, i.e.,
heading the yards away from each other. The topography thereby

-^

Fig. 9. — Types of grid-iron ladders.

enabled the utilization of favorable grades to aid switching for both yards
while the principle explained in Fig. 8 would have caused these grades
to oppose switching.

The location of terminal yards should be convenient to the business
terminal of the railroad, to the freight-houses, team tracks, and to the
points of interchange with other roads or divisions, and should be arranged
so that trains can enter or leave the yard without crossing the path of
other movements. When possible, advantage should be taken of natural
grades to assist switching. In some locations, assisting grades cannot be

26 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

had; in others, grades can bo had in one direction; while in others, grades
can be used to help in each direction. The assistance of grades is a great
advantage.

In the foregoing a yard with reference to the movement of traffic in
one direction only has been considered. For movements in bbth direc-
tions a duplication of yard facilities would, of course, be required. A
segregation of the component parts of a terminal in logical sequence
follows:

Receiving Yard. — Considering first a terminal at the actual end of
the line; in the receiving yard, the road engines and cabooses are cut
off and the work of assorting and distributing the cars is turned over to
the switching engines and the crews. The proper length of tracks
depends on the unit selected and is governed by the following factors:

1. Length of train of loaded cars.

2. Length of train of empty cars.

3. Average length of trains.

4. Number of trains of average length per day.

5. Number of trains of maximum length per day.

Consideration should also be given to prospective changes in grade
and to a possible increase in the length of trains entering the yard. The
length of train is the controlling factor and the logical unit. When the
number of trains of maximum length is less than 20 per cent, of the total
number of trains entering the yard daily, the average train length is the
most practical basis for a receiving yard having tracks of equal length.
The yard may, however, be made with a portion of the tracks of suflficient
length for maximum trains and the remainder of the tracks of sufficient
length for average trains. In this case the tracks of each group should
be of equal length, whichever unit (the maximum or the average train)
is taken. The tracks should be of such length as to accommodate a train
with two engines and a caboose. If the average train length is taken as
a unit, the length of track should be such that a train of the maximum
length can be disposed of on not more than two tracks.

The proper size of a receiving yard depends on:

1. The frequency of the arrival of trains.

2. The rate at which cars can be received and disposed of in the separat-
ing yard. The receiving yard, however, should have a sufficient num-
ber of tracks to hold the trains arriving during 1 hour of maximum
traffic.

Separating Yard. — This yard is the second in the series and here the
first breaking up of a train and the distribution of its cars are effected.
The cars entering the yard are usually distributed so that according as
the separations are to be by districts or commodities, the cars destined
to assigned districts or containing the same commodities will be placed

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 27

together on separate tracks. The yard should l)e located in advance of
the receiving yard and in such a way that cars can readily be moved into
it. The number of tracks in the separating yard should be governed by
the number of separations to be made. The length of these tracks
should be determined by the number of cars for each separation and
there should be extra room allowed for emergencies.

Classification Yard, — When the separation in the preceding yard is by
districts, the purpose of the classification yard is to put the cars of the
different districts in regular order. The cars of each district (already
placed on one of the tracks of the separating yard) are switched in the
classification yard in the order required for delivery at destination.
When the separation is by commodities, the cars of each commodity
(already placed on one of the tracks of the separating yard) are further
assorted by classes or grades. Thus, all the cars of grain placed indis-
criminately on a track in the separating yard will be rearranged in the clas-
sification yard so that the cars of wheat, corn, oats, etc., are each grouped
on separate tracks. The classification yards should be located in advance
of the separating yard, in such a way that cars may be readily moved into
it from any of the tracks of the latter yard. It is usually in the form
of a gridiron (see cuts. Fig. 9) and its capacity will be determined by the
number of cars going to a district, with allowance for an excess number or
for emergencies. As an example ; with 36 cars going to a district, two grid-
irons of six tracks each with a capacity of six cars to a track will give such
control to the entire set of cars that it can be turned end for end, or car for
car. This type of yard may be made up of a series of parallel stub
tracks instead of gridirons. Such an arrangement is sometimes termed
a "lancing yard."

It is well to avoid unusual length of classification or assorting tracks,
and where the classifications are numerous no attempt should be made
to provide a track for each classification. In such cases a second classi-
fication yard beyond the first, reclassifying from one of the tracks of the
first into the second yard, would be a wiser plan, unless a yard of enormous
proportions is planned. With a "V" ladder possibly 30 to 36 tracks
may be economically used, one-half running from each ladder, but in
prftctical working it may be desirable to reduce the number to about 20
tracks and reclassify into a second yard. The long ladder increases the
distances cars must travel in switching. (See Fig. 10.)

Departure Yard, — Here the work of the yard engines and their crews
ceases and that of the road or transfer engines and their crews, is begun.
It should be located in advance of the classification yard, so that cars
from all tracks in the latter can be readily moved into the departure yard.
The number of tracks and the length of tracks in this yard are governed
by the same requirements as the receiving yard.

Storage Yard, — The location is important and depends almost entirely

28 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

upon the character of the cars to be stored or held. Three distinct cases
may be mentioned :

1. On some railroads it is known in advance that entire train loads
arriving will have to be held. In such cases the storage yard should be
located with, or held in close relation to, the receiving and separating
yards so as to permit of direct movement of trains to the storage yard and
then to the separating yards as required.

2. The cars to be held may arrive mixed in with cars that are to go
forward. In such cases the storage yard should be located in relation to

^

^

^

^^

, N X

^

Fig. 10.— Types of V-ladders.

the separating yard so that the cars can be moved directly into the
storage yard from the separating yard and then delivered to the classi-
fication yard as required.

3. The character of the freight to be held may be such that it can
be put in district and station order at once. In such cases the storage
yard should be so located in relation to the classification and departure
yards that cars can be moved directly into the storage yard from the
classification yard and then delivered to the departure yard as required.

There are probably other cases, but the three principal ones mentioned
indicate that the location of the storage yard cannot be determined
arbitrarily or theoretically. It must be determined by the character of

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 29

the business in each case. The size should be governed almost entirely
by the number of cars to be held, and the length of the tracks should be
such that a switching engine can readily handle all the cars stored on one
track.

Transportation officers dislike the term "storage.'' It is often argued
that yards and tracks should be built for movement, not storage. Be-
cause of conditions they cannot control (many due to traffic department
requirements) they find storage tracks not only useful but necessary.
To meet purely operating conditions, little storage room would be
required.

Body Tracks. — These should be spaced 11 ft. 6 in., to 13 ft. center
to center, and while the minimum spacing is not recommended for gen-
eral use, it is often necessary in city yards. Curves should be avoided. At
intervals of five or six tracks an extra width of spacing should be given
in order to allow space for drainage and for piling track material, etc. It is
also advisable to allow a space of 15 ft. between the center of a main track
and a yard track, to give ample space for water columns or standpipes,
signal posts and other similar requirements.

Ladder Tracks. — ^Where there are two ladder tracks or where a yard
track parallels a ladder track, these tracks should be spaced 15 ft. center
to center. The extra room is required for the safety of trainmen in throw-
ing switches, and moving in and out between the cars. The angle which
the ladder track makes with the body tracks should be the greatest
angle which the frog used will allow. A No. 7 (8° 11') should be the
minimum number of frog for yard use.

By continuing the curve of the switch lead about 10 ft. beyond the
frog, No. 8 frogs can be used on a No. 7 ladder or No. 7 frogs on about a
No. 6.5 ladder, thereby saving track room and at the same time giving
easy switch leads.

The arrangement of the ladder tracks demands careful study. The
ordinary gridiron ladder is simple and satisfactory, but where more capac-
ity is required the "V" ladder (Fig. 10) may be used to advantage and
gives a larger scope to be reached by one lead. Twenty tracks may be
reached comfortably from a "V" ladder; as a maximum, 30 to 36.
Any increased length of ladder brings about much lost motion and in-
creased distance to be traveled by riders.

The central ladder (Fig. 11) is advocated and has its advantages and
disadvantages. On it are two curves to be turned by the car before reach-
ing the deflecting switch on the ladder. The car that does not run freely
is therefore retarded shortly after obtaining its start, which necessitates
a heavier descending grade. The ladders are ordinarily higher than the
body tracks, to secure the essential gravity movement. An advantage
ia drainage is consequently had and the water is easily carried away from
the ladder tracks and the switches. The ladders being in a direct line,

30 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

at all times in view of the cutter (the employee who parts the cars), he is
enabled to work to better advantage than when his view is occasionally
obscured, as with other ladder designs. The compact location of switches
enables them to be handled more economically if thrown by hand and,
if handled mechanically from a tower, a much better view will be afforded.
The central ladder may reduce crew expense, as trainmen may be avail-
able for service on either side of the yard as soon as they reach the ladder,
while under the usual " V " ladder they are not always in readiness for
cars going to the opposite side until they have reached the distributing
point at the head of the yard. The open space between the ladders
permits locating electric light poles at a point where light is most needed

V ^

Fig. 11. — Types of central ladders.

and where a minimum number of lights will suffice. Where heavy snow
storms are encountered, this ladder possesses advantages on account of
its higher location and consequent freedom from drifting.

There is probably no large yard where the central ladder scheme has
been tried. The flexibility by which the "V" ladder capacity may
readily be extended to meet increasing traffic demands, is lacking in the
central ladder. With the " V, " two or more leads may be operated. It
is contended that on the central ladder arrangement cars run more
freely because they do not reach the curves until they have attained
some headway; but this is more than offset by the additional curvature
introduced.

Lead Tracks, — The connection of these tracks with the main line
should be controlled by a telegraph or telephone office and interlocking
plant, both for safety and to facilitate train movements. The most
efficient guardian is the interlocking plant. Main track movements
should not be permitted indiscriminately. Yard engines should only be
allowed on main tracks when properly protected by interlocking and
other signalling.

L

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 31

The late Walter G. Berg said:

"Another important point is that trains that are to go into the yard or leave
it should make those movements quickly. They should be got off the main
tracks promptly when entering the yard. It is important to have approach
tracks leading to the yard. The great mistake usually made is that the yard
lead track turns out of the main line track. There should be an approach track
or lead-in track approaching the yard switches proper, long enough to accom-
modate at least one train, so that if a freight train is just able to make the yard
ahead of a passenger schedule it can turn into the lead-in track quickly without
having to slow down, or without fearing to meet possibly a switching engine or
some yard operation and have to block the main line for a considerable time.

"Similarly at the departing end of the yard it is very important, especially
when there is not a system of yard tracks known as a departure yard or advance
yard, to have a track leading away from the yard out along the main track for
some distance. There are cases where this lead-out track has been extended
several miles advantageously. It means that when the train is boarded in the
yard ready to leave, it is pulled out slowly into this lead-out track and goes out
of the yard and away from it and then stops with the nose of the engine at the
signal tower, at the head of the lead-out track, and when it gets the board it can
rush out on the main line and make a quick run and get out of the way at the
next passing siding.''

Drill Tracks, — ^These tracks should be so located as to cause a mini-
mum interference with other movements.

Open Tracks, — ^The track selected as the open track should be one
that will enable movements to be made from one end of a yard to
another with the greatest convenience.

Running Tracks, — ^Tracks of this class should be provided for move-
ment in each direction, to enable yard engines to pass freely from one
portion of the cluster to another, also for road and yard engines to get to
and from the engine-house and other points where facilities are located.

Caboose Tracks, — Cabooses arriving at a yard ordinarily return over
the same division instead of going forward. It is usually necessary, there-
fore, to locate caboose tracks between the receiving yard and the depar-
ture yard and to arrange them so that the cabooses can be readily pushed
from a receiving track to the caboose track and then dropped by gravity to
a train departing in the direction from which the caboose has arrived.
There are various ways in which this can be accomplished, but in locating
these tracks care should be taken that only a minimum amount of
switching will be required. The tracks should be so arranged that
cabooses feed "first-in first-out." Occasionally special tracks must be
provided for the cabooses of fast freight trains.

Scale Tracks, — These are usually located between the receiving
and separating yards. It is undoubtedly the best location for auto-
matic weighing because no reverse movements will be required in taking
the cars on and off the scale.

32 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

The scales should be located on the lead over which all cars are passed
on their way to the ladder of the classification yard. They should in
every case be provided with a " dead track " to avoid unnecessary strain
on the scale bearings. If but a small proportion of the cars needs to be
weighed, or if only cars for a few tracks in the classification yard are to be
weighed, the scales may better be located on the ladder of the classifica-
tion yard in advance of two, three, or half a dozen of the body tracks, as
circumstances may require. If but very little used, they may be placed
on a short body track well back from the working part of the yard.
There is a disposition to make scales too long rather than too short. The
long scale is objectionable as it necessitates keeping cars far apart, which
delays switching.

Coaly Ash'pity Sand and Engine Tracks. — ^The engine coaling appara-
tus is usually located on the track leading to the engine-house. Water
and sand should also be taken at the same time as the coal, where this
arrangement is possible. The facilities for supplying coal, water and
sand are sometimes provided on the out-going engine-house track, as
well as on the incoming track. It will be of advantage to provide a run-
around track, so that switch-engines may clean fires, take coal and water
and pass around waiting road engines.

Bad-order Tracks. — ^These are required so as to get the bad-order
cars out of the way of the switching movements. They should be
arranged for easy access at all times. From them the cars are taken to
the repair shops.

Repair Tracks. — ^These should connect with the bad-order tracks
where practicable. Their capacity should not ordinarily exceed 15 cars.
These tracks should be located at points where cars can be run directly
into them from the receiving yards, the same as other cars being
classified. The usual method, and that prescribed by the rules
of the American Railway Association, is to place an inspector's
blue flag in advance of the cars being worked on. This is to prevent
engines or cars from coming in contact with the cars on the repair track
and possibly injuring the men under or about them, engaged in repair
work. A better and safer plan is to put special locks on the switches of
one-half the repair tracks, letting the foremen of the repairers alone have
possession of the key. The yardmen will then put cars in one-half the
tracks while the repairers are working on the other half. When the cars
are ready to be taken out the foreman removes the special locks and
places them on the switches of the tracks last filled, enabling the yardmen
to pull out the cars repaired and make room for placing other bad-order
cars. To hold not to exceed 15 or 20 cars each, tracks longer than ordi-
narily designed for that number of cars are required because bad-order
cars are usually separated several feet to give repairers an opportunity to
get around them conveniently. They should be laid in pairs, about 16 ft.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 33

center to center, and a clear ypace between each set or pair, of about 25
to 30 ft. , for placing and handling material. A narrow-gage track may be
laid in the wide space and small trucks for handling material run thereon.
Small turntables are used to connect them at one end of the repair yard
to a cross track leading to the material yard and supply house. The
writer has had two or three tracks set aside from the body tracks of a
separating yard to be used for light repair work. These were planked
over to enable wheels to be rolled and material handled. One track was
cut out for material, including wheels. This arrangement worked very
satisfactorily as it saved time in movement of cars and switching and it
relieved the regular repair yards of light work which interfered with mak-
ing heavier repairs. In one yard a track alongside of the repair track
was reserved for repairs to cars in fast freight and stock trains and this
prevented and reduced many delays. Wheels were put under stock cars
in 20 minutes without any special exertion and cars were forwarded in the
same train in which they arrived. Under the old method they were
taken over to the regular repair yards and forwarded by a later train.
This usually resulted in 6 or 8 hours' detention and at times twice as long.

Icing Tracks. — ^These should be between the receiving and separating
yards, so that the cars to ])e iced may be readily moved from the receiving
yard to the icing track and thence to the separating yard.

Other Special Tracks. — ^The particular purpose for which such tracks
are required should be considered and they should be so located that
their use will involve a minimum amount of switching and the least pos-
sible interference with the regular yard movement.

Air Plants. — ^.Vn air testing plant is essential in the departure yards
of each terminal. Here brakes may be tested, all leaks closed, repairs
made and auxiliaries charged with full air pressure before the road
engine arrives. Much valuable time of engines and crews may thus be
saved. Such a plant is particularly desirable since the passage of the
Safety Appliance Act with its re([uirements as to the control of trains by
air brakes. Brake apparatus can be maintained better and trains will be
started out in safer condition than when the repairs are made hurriedly
after the engine has coupled to the train and pumped up the pressure in
the main train-line and auxiliaries. Usually the repairs are neglected when
the men are hurried. The cars on which l)rakes are non-operative are
either cut out and air worked through — a very bad practice — or the cars
are switched out and put in the rear of the air-braked cars. This causes
the loss of the braking power of those cars and delay to road engines and
crews while the change is l)eing made. After this switching the air
a^ain has to l)e tested. A testing plant is not very expensive. Usually
one line of pipe can be run from the compressor across the end of the yard,
and connection made with a hose coupling between each pair of tracks,
two tracks being reached with each coupling.

3

34 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS.

Engine Facilities. — ^Engine-houses and the coaling plants, sand plants,
ash pits, water stations and turntables should be located in such a position
as to prevent movements of engines to oir from them or from one part to
another, from being blocked by the movements of road trains or yard
engines. In some yards it is necessary, unfortunately, to have these light
engine movements cross the main tracks. Where this occurs, the engines
should be in charge of regular road runners and the movements should,
if practicable, be under the control of interlocking plants. Where the
terminals for the two directions are on the ''lap" plan, or head into each
other, the engine-houses, etc., can advantageously (at the lowest cost and
with a minimum of delay) be concentrated at one point to serve engines
from two or more divisions. The usual movement for an engine coming
in from the road is to go to the ash-track first and have its hoppers dumped
and fire cleaned or drawn. A hostler has a better opportunity to work
on the fire when the tender is empty because then he has more room in
which to use the long handled tools. Then, too, if the fire is to be drawn
for washout of boiler, repairs or other reasons, the engine is not loaded
up with a tank of coal which may not only be in the way and prevent
repairs to the tender, but is objectionable in other respects if the engine
is to be laid up. The writer once saw several steel tired wheels com-
pletely ruined after having stood under a tender loaded with bituminous
coal for two or three months. Rain had run through the coal and caused
a constant drip of water containing sulphuric acid which cut considerable
depressions into the steel tires and necessitated their removal. The
ash-track is usually elevated, sometimes on columns, and has a depressed
track alongside for empty cars into which the ashes are loaded.

The engine's next movement is from the ash-track to the coaling
plant and it should either take sand and water while taking coal, or at
some convenient point close by. In some cases engines have their fires
cleaned and ashes drawn while taking coal, a conveyor system being used
for elevating coal as well as removing the ashes. The engine is then run
over the turntable and, if necessary, into the round house. The move-
ments from round house to coal plant should not conflict with those in
the opposite direction.

While the above is an outline of the usual handling, it is just the ex-
ception to the rule that is the disturbing element in handling engines
and in all transportation work. An engine is needed for an assigned run;
it may be a fast freight or stock train. A passenger engine is required
ahead of freight engines. Even the yard engine wuth its crew waiting in
idleness may demand preferred attention. In such cases it becomes
necessary to run an engine around others and out of its turn. This
results in a coitesponding or greater delay to other engines to be handled.
The arrangement for handling cabooses in turn may be similarly ])rokcn
up. The fast freight train takes precedence on the road over trains of

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 35

more weight and frequently of greater value and earning power. It
is necessary, therefore, to locate the ash-tracks, and other engine facilities,
in such a position as to enable one engine to be run in ahead of another.
To this end the facilities for cleaning fires, coaling, taking water, sand,
etc., may be advantageously located so they can be reached either from
the outgoing track or the return track. A depressed track under a switch-
ing summit may be utilized to enable light road engines to cross from one
side of a switching yard to the other without interfering or being inter-
fered with. This idea may well be given consideration in connection
with the design or revision of a busy terminal. Tracks used for engines
exclusively require little overhead clearance and comparatively steep
grades may be introduced to attain the very desirable condition of free
and uninterrupted movement of road power. Loss of use of road power
during "rush" seasons is extremely costly. Its value at such times is
many times greater than when lying on sidings " white-leaded " awaiting a
freight movement and it is just at such times that terminal delays in the
handling of power are most excessive and exasperating. Every facility
should be provided to take care of engines promptly during heavy traffic
periods and to prevent yards from choking up at such times. All calcula-
tions for terminal work and work elsewhere should be made to meet the
requirements of the months of heaviest traffic movements. It may be
wiser, in places, to base calculations on the heaviest day^s movement.
The remaining days will then have been provided for.

Telephone service connecting telegraph offices, interlocking stations,
engine-houses, crew dispatchers' and yardmasters* offices with each
other is essential. A local exchange is convenient and a money saver.
Electric lighting should be carefully planned to give ample light and
avoid throwing shadows, especially along ladder tracks and switching
centers.

Tfie yardmaster's offices should be located in the most central point
available and preferably in a building two or three stories high, to enable
him to get a fairly good view of his yards. Separately, or in connection
with the yardmaster's building, a room should he provided for yardmen
to eat their lunches. Another room should be provided with a sufficient
number of lockers, with wire screened doors for ventilation (one to each
employee) so that the men may change clothes before reporting for duty
and after finishing work. Buildings of a suitable character and at the
most convenient points, should also be provided for car inspectors and
repairers and for their materials.

Rest Rooms, — ^If there is no Railroad Y. M. C. A. or men's club room
one of the best investments to be made is a good and well kept bunk-
house for road crews. This should be located at a point where men can be
called quickly as needed, but where it is also sufficiently quiet for them to
obtain rest. The cost of building and maintaining a house of this kind

36 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

is comparatively small and affords substantial returns in better service
from men who have actually rested and are in condition to perform their
duties satisfactorily. It also keeps them away from their cabooses which,
for many reasons, are not desirable bunk-houses while lying around
yards; and from the usual accompaniment of the cheap boarding-house,
the bar-room attachment. A day and night lunch-room, near the bunk-
room, is desirable and can usually be made self-sustaining, but no attempt
should be made to have it earn more than running expenses.

The following excerpt from a report (January, 1903) made by a com-
mittee of the American Railway Engineering Association, aptly sum-
marizes the various phases of yard work and indicates its importance in
relation to the railroad's main function — ^the economical production of
transportation:

"The actual practice in the methods of operating the switching traffic, or
switching movements of such yards and terminals, varies at different yards,
owing to the local conditions of yard plans and traffic. The proper handUng of
traffic is largely a matter of individual ability, and must be governed to a large
extent by the peculiarities of the traffic and the physical characteristics of the
yard. For these reasons, therefore, the operation of the switching traffic can
only be dealt with in a general statement.

"A terminal is composed of the facilities of a railroad in a city for handling
its business and usually embraces all the tracks and facilities. The distance from
the large general yard or cluster to the docks, wharves, freight-houses, team
tracks or other facilities is in some cases as much as 15 or 20 miles. This territorv
is divided into districts, for convenience in switching and for the assignment of
switching crews. Each switching district is usually provided with a small
switching yard, from which the various private side tracks, freight-houses and
manufacturing establishments in the district are supplied with their cars. The
district yard is supplied and relieved by movements to and from the cluster to
the general yard. These latter are made by what are termed Hransfer crews.'

"The movement of a train after its arrival at the general yard or cluster
where the engine and caboose are detached, is as follows : At large terminals the
cluster is usually several miles from the city and is the point at which all trains
are received and dispatched. The manifest of the train is taken by the train
conductor to the yard office immediately upon arrival; from this manifest a
card is prepared for each car in the train, by the train-carding clerk. These
cards are prepared and turned over to the car carder, who takes them to the yard
and tacks the proper card on one or both sides of the car. The cards have various
colors, shapes, letters, monograms, marks, etc., designating the various districts
to which the cars are to be moved. While the cards are being prepared and
attached to the cars, the cars are inspected by the car inspector, so that they are
ready to be moved as soon as carded.

"A yard engine and crew now takes the cars in charge and classifies them,
either by drilling, poling or pushing them over a summit, thus putting the cars
for each district on the track in the separating yard assigned to that particular
district. After completing this work the engine in question commences work on

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TERMINAL DESIGN 37

another train. The conductor doing this work keeps no record of the cars
handled. The next engine to handle these cars is what is known as a 'transfer
engine ' and makes what is termed the ' interior and exterior ' movement of cars ;
that is, movement from one yard or district to another (interior), or to the yards
of various other railroads (exterior). When this engine takes a train to the
district yard or to the yard of another railroad, it has nothing more to do with
the train and may return light to the cluster. If there is a return load at the
yard in question, or a load can be picked up on the way back, this engine handles
the movement. It sometimes happens that one of these engines will have freight
for two or more districts as it proceeds. After the freight arrives in the district
in which it is to be unloaded, some of it is held for orders of consignee, while other
freight of the same lot may be switched to consignee without waiting for orders.
That lot for the freight-house and team tracks, if there is room for it, is delivered
immediately, or as soon as convenient after arrival. That part of the freight
consigned to industries, for which there may be a number of other cars that have
arrived previously, will be held and placed in the order of its age, or ahead of its
turn, according to the wants of the consignee. These latter movements are all
made by the district switch engine; that is, the engine working in that district
and doing the local switching.

** At nearly all clusters or general yards quite a large percentage of the busi-
ness arriving consists of what are termed 'hold cars'; that is, cars which are to be
held at the outer yard until final destination or switching directions are given.
On arrival, these cars are switched to the 'hold' yard and are daily reswitchedin
order to take from among them the cars for which directions for delivery have
been received. When directions are received the cars are carded and treated
just the same as cars which move directly to destination. The 'hold' car is a
great nuisance, as large roads will frequently have 500 or 600 'hold' cars and
receive orders daily for 50 to 100 of them. These must be switched out from
the entire lot, entaiUng a large amount of work.

*'The movement in the reverse direction is made in practically the same way
as the movement from the general^ yard or cluster to the industrial districts;
that is, the district engine gathers up the cars for movement, a transfer engine
takes them to the general yard, where they arc switched to the outbound or
classification tracks. Here the trains are made up in station order, the bills are
prepared by the yard clerk and the road engine finall}'^ couples on and the train
is complete and ready to leave.

"At larger terminals, in order that cars may be readily located and not get
lost, a record is kept as follows: The conductor of the road engine brings the
train into the general yard or cluster and fills out a card, giving number and
initials, kind, lading and condition of seals of every car in the train. The con-
ductor or foreman of the transfer engine fills out a card, stating whether loaded
or empty and the point at which set off or picked up. The district switch-
engine conductor makes a similar record for all cars moved to and from large
industries. These cards are forwarded at once to the car record office and entered
in the car record book, so that the record of any particular car may be found in
the book by turning to the number of the car. Thus it may be found that it
arrived at the general yard or cluster on such a date and moved from the district
yard to some industry on a certain date. The record may also show^ that the

38 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

car has been reloaded from this particular industry and again moved to the
general yard ; or, if it does not show movement from the industry, the car is still
on its tracks. Thus the location of any car at a large terminal may be ascertained
in a few minutes.

"In the movement of outbound freight the cars are carded by the district or
local yard clerk, who works under the direction of the local agent. The agent
prepares memorandum bills, which are sent by train-mail or messenger to the
general yard. At this point the bills are taken in charge by the yard clerk, who
checks the train and prepares the train list and bills for the conductor, a bill or
manifest being furnished to each car in the train.

''The movement of transfer engines, especially those working from the freight-
houses, is made on regular schedules. This is done so that immediately on closing
the freight-houses at night, cars are moved from them into the general yard,
and cars for morning delivery are at the freight-house before they open for
business."

CHAPTER IV
TRACK CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS^

Passing Sidings. — Sidetracks used for train service as distinguished
from those used for storage or for switching movements are often termed
passing sidings l^ecause their function is to permit trains to pass one
another on single or double tracks and thereby to relieve traffic. While
it is necessary that passing tracks shall be connected with the main
tracks ami often by the introduction of facing point turnouts, still it is
not good practice to connect many switching and industry tracks to the
main track, but rather to connect them to a lead track which in turn is
connected with the main track, preferably at both ends, and thereby
avoid many switches on the main line.

In single-track operation passing sidings are frequently arranged as in
Fig. 1 2. Design (a) places the outgoing turnouts directly before the eyes of
the towerman. In such an arrangement two trains headed in opposite

■>v ^

(a) (b)

Fig. 12. — Passing sidings on .single track.

directions on the two sidings may proceed after the main line train has
passed without waiting for each other's movement. If the sidings are
long enough to accommodate two freight trains the second freight can
follow up the first one and wait at the tow^r for orders to proceed. Plan

(b) shows another less desirable arrangement for double siding. Design

(c) is a single siding long enough for two trains, with crossovers located
near the middle of the siding connecting it with the main track so that if
both are headed in the same direction, either train on the siding can pull
out first on to the main track; or, if both are headed in opposite direc-
tions, then both trains can pull out on to the main track as soon as the
main line train has passed.

Similar designs for passing tracks adapted to double main-track
operation are shown in Pig. 13. In design (d) the single passing track
between the main tracks can be used for a train or trains in either direc-

'This chapter was written by Charles B. Breed, Associate Professor, Civil Engi-
neering. Massachufietts Institute of Technology.

39

40

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

tion; it is a convenient arrangement for approaching trains but awkward
for departing trains when there are two trains on the siding.

Plan (e) is simple but not flexible. Plans (f) and (g) are well
adapted for handling traffic from a tower located near the crossover.

-^

^

(5)

(e)

(0

(£)

=^^^

(h)

(0

G)

(k)

Fig. 13. — Passing sidings on double track.

Schemes (h) and (i) are similar in operation to (f) and (g) but have the
disadvantage that curves have to be introduced into the main track.
In (e) (f) and (g) it will be noticed that both main tracks are straight

TRACK CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS 41

whereas in the rest of the designs tliey have been spread apart to admit
constructing middle sidings. Where the main tracks are thus spread
apart in some instances it is possible and good practice to preserve one
of the main tracks straight and put all of the curvature into the other
one rather than to move both of them half of the total amount of spread-
ing required.

Plans (j) and (k) present the most flexible arrangement of passing
sidings; the tower should be located opposite the middle crossovers.
As a rule trains will operate through this arrangement by pulling in at
point 1 and out at point 2.

The turnouts of passing sidings should be equipped with interlocking
switch and signal apparatus operated from a tower, which should be
one of the block signal towers where manual block signals are used. The
tracks of passing sidings should be spaced 16 ft. on centers wherever
possible.

Industry Sidetracks. — ^Industry tracks are, whenever possible, designed
as trailing turnouts rather than facing point turnouts. In fact, it is not
uncommon for a railroad to refuse to construct industry sidetracks requir-
ing facing turnouts leading out from the main track. It is the growing
practice in large cities to construct parallel to the main track an industry
track connected at both ends to the main track, and to this lead track
all of the industry tracks are connected. Since the operation of cars
over this lead track is in all cases slow and is freight service only, there
is little necessity for concern as to whether or not a sidetrack requires a fac-
ing or a trailing turnout. In many cases of industry tracks the physical
limitations are such that the track must contain very sharp curves, un-
usual frog connections with the lead track, and in many instance special
track construction is required. As a rule a sidetrack which has a down
grade toward the main track should not be constructed, but with proper
derailing devices which are mechanically interlocked with the switch of
the turnout even such sidetracks can be made substantially safe so far
as main line traffic is concerned. Grades of 3 per cent, are not uncommon
on industry sidetracks where but few cars are to be handled at one time;
it is common, for example, to have grades of 5 to 7 per cent, on coal
chute tracks.

Care should be taken in establishing the alinement of sidetracks to
obtain proper side clearances, 7 to 8 ft. from centers of track to any
structure which is as high above the track as the car floor; the headroom
should be at least 16 ft. above the top of rail. If the track runs inside of
a building the cars must be so handled that the locomotive, on account
of fire risks, will not enter the building.

It is customary, when sidetracks are constructed, for the railroad to
enter into a ''sidetrack agreement" with the shipper by which the rail-
road agrees to construct the sidetrack and to operate cars over it for the

42

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

shippers' benefit provided he complies with the railroad's rules of oper-
ating and caring for freight cars on sidings and provided he pays for all
of the sidetrack which lies beyond the railroad location line.

In some cases where a sidetrack must connect with a main track and
where the logical connection is a facing point turnout which is prohib-
ited, the arrangement shown in Fig. 14 may be adopted. A trailing
switch is installed in the main track running back as a gauntlet track
along the main track and then a facing switch runs out of the gauntlet
into the industry. This arrangement of course has the objection of
requiring two frogs and two sets of switches although only one frog and
switch is crossed by the main-line traffic, and the liability of a locomo-
tive backing over the end of the gauntlet track causing a derailment on
a traffic track.

Sharp Curves. — In many yards and particularly on industry tracks
very sharp curves exist. On the Jessup Branch on the Erie Railroad,

^

> N.N.\.\.V\\.V\\\V VVVVvWn V

V

N
V

Fig. 14. — Gauntlet track arrangement to avoid facing point turnout.

for example, is an 18° main-line curve on a 2.3 per cent, grade. In the
first location of many railroads sharp curves were installed which have
since been reduced at great expense. In revision of railroad lines it is
not infrequent that the maximum degree of curvature on main-line track
is kept as low as 4°. Road engines, as a rule, are limited to 16° to 22°
curves, depending upon the length of their wheel base and the number
of wheels which have flanges. A good illustration of what can be accom-
plished by careful locomotive design is the recently constructed ten-
driver locomotives on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, which are
designed to operate on 21° curves. Some passenger coaches will not go
around 20° curves unless the truck-swivel chains are disconnected, which
should never be done except in an extreme case where it becomes neces-
sary to place a coach on a very sharply curved track for some special
purpose.

A four-wheel switching engine will, as a rule, go safely around a curve
of 75 ft. radius, and six-wheel switching engines around curves of 90 ft.
to 150 ft. radius, depending upon their design. A single box car can be
pulled around a curve of 50 ft. radius. In fact, two box cars can

TRACK CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS 43

be pulled around curves of 80 to 100 ft. radius if a specially long link
coupler is used between the cars and between the tender and the loco-
motive. On a radius of about 140 ft. the corners of cars are liable to
strike if the equipment is the ordinary M. C. B. coupler. In the terminals
about New York City are several cases of tracks of 80 to 100 ft. radius.

On all specially sharp curves the gage should be properly widened,
rails braced, guard rails set and curvature maintained uniform. It is
advisable to lay guard rails on all curves sharper than 14''.

Following is a short table of degrees of curves and their corresponding
radii given to the nearest foot, and tangent offsets to the nearest tenth
of a foot.

DEGREES AND RADII OF CURVES

Degree

Radius
(feet)

» Tangent offsets for 100-
ft. chorda (feet)

1

5730

2

2865

3

1910

4

1433

5

1146

6

955

7

819

8

717

9

637

10

574

11

522

12

478

13

442

14

410

15

383

16

359

17

338

18

320

19

303

20

288

,9

,7

6

5

,4

,2

,1

8

,7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

7

8

9.6
10.5
11.3
12.2
13.1
13.9
14.8
15.6
16.5
17.4

Radius

> Tangent offsets for 100

egree

(feet)

ft. chords (feet)

22

262

19.1

24

240

20.8

26

222

22.5

28

207

24.2

30

193

25.9

35

166

30.1

40

146

34.2

45

131

38.3

50

118

42.3

55

108

46.2

60

100

50.0

65

93

53.7

70

87

57.4

75

82

60.9

80

78

64.3

85

74

67.6

90

71

70.7

Yard Tracks. — ^The lead, body and other tracks running alongside of
main tracks, especially where passenger trains are operated, should be
spaced 16 ft., center to center from the main track so as to give ample
space for telegraph, telephone, electric light and signal line poles, and
for signal posts, water stand-pipes, mile posts, section posts, whistle
posts, without encroaching upon the prescribed clearance between them
and cars on the adjoining tracks.

' The tangent oflFset here given is the perpendicular distance from the tangen,
line produced to a point on the curve 100 ft. from its beginning. The tangent offset
therefore, represents the amount in feet that the curve deflects from a straight line
in a length of 100 ft In any curve the distance measured perpendicular to the lOO-
ft. chord from the middle point of the chord to the curve is called the middle ordinate,
and the middle ordinate is practically equal to tangent offset divided by 4.

44 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Tracks running parallel to ladder tracks should be 16 ft., center to
center, from the ladder tracks, so as to enable switch lights to be readily
seen and men to have room in which to move while throwing swatches,
for giving signals and cutting cars. When conditions permit it, ladder
tracks should be straight and frogs on ladders should be all of the same
angle.

Under usual conditions body tracks should be spaced 12 or 13 ft.,
center to center, and frogs of greater angles than No. 7 frogs (8° 10')
should not be generally used. The spacing of 12 ft. for body tracks in
a storage yard is satisfactory, but for receiving, departure and classifi-
cation yards, 13 ft. should be obtained w^here practicable. A No. 7 frog
requires the use of turnout curves of about 16°, over which all of the usual
kinds of rolling stock can operate, whereas a No. 6 frog requires a turnout
curve of about 22°, which is about the limiting curve for road engines
and is too sharp a curve for some passenger coaches. It is advisable,
where it can be readily obtained, to use no smaller numbered frog than
a No. 8 frog in yard design and nothing with a smaller number than No!
10 for main-line connections. No. 8 frogs in yards is rapidly becoming
the accepted practice.

When the body tracks make an angle with the ladder track equal to
or in some cases slightly greater, than the frog angle, then every body
track can be connected with the ladder track without danger of the
joint at the heel of the frog coming too close to the point of the following
switch. If the body tracks make an angle with the ladder track of
about twice the frog angle then every other body track can be connected
to the ladder track and the remaining body tracks will have to be jomed
to the next preceding body track.

A common practice is to have every second, and occasionally every
second and third body track, connected by a switch to a preceding body
track instead of running directly out of the ladder. Property limita-
tions, physical characteristics, or urgent need for all space available,
sometimes compel this arrangement. It should be avoided, when pos-
sible, because the better arrangement and compactness of the swatches,
the unobstructed view from end to end of the ladder and the ease with
which the engineman may select his track, read signals, and know his
route, are advantages which may frequently justify a heavy expendi-
ture to secure them. Furthei more, if every body track joined the ladder,
the movement in and through the body tracks is much safer and more
simple because a view alongside from end to end of the train may be
had (provided the body tracks are straight) which permits signals to be
transmitted more readily. In some cases it may be necessary to omit
one or two switches from the ladder to make room for scales, a switch-
man's box, bridge pier or other structure, in which cases it is simply a
question of whether or not the advantage of such location for the par-

TRACK CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS 45

ticular structure outweighs the disadvantage of breaking into the uni-
form alinement of switches on the ladder.

Repair tracks- should have a maximum capacity of 15 cars, spaced
alternately 16 ft. and 24 ft. center to center, and should be conveniently
connected to bad-order tracks.

Team tracks should be stub tracks located in pairs 12 to 13 ft. on
centers; a few railroads prefer to have them constructed in clusters of
three tracks. Between the outside tracks of the clusters the roadways
for teaming should be at least 45 ft. from center to center of nearest
tracks, and where the freight-house or a team track is on one side and
a wall or fence on the other, the minimum width of roadway should be 30
ft. As a rule team tracks should not have a capacity exceeding 20 cars
eacli, assuming 42 ft. as the overall length of a freight car, which is the
modern practice.

Standard Turnouts. — ^The custom is universal to designate frogs by
their number. The standard numbers range from about 4 to 24 pro-
gressing by half numbers. As a rule frogs of one of these standard num-
bers is used, but in special cases a frog of a special number, such as No.
7.32, may be required to fit a particular situation.

The number of a frog is the ratio of its length divided by the spread be-
tween gage lines at the heel, the length being measured from the theoret-
ical point of the frog, where the gage lines cross each other. The actual
point of frog is blunt and in some frogs is several inches from the theo-
retical point. The approximate position of the theoretical point of frog
can be found by stretching two strings along the gage lines of the frog
and noting their point of intersection. If the distance is measured in
feet from that theoretical point of frog to the place where the gage lines
are just one foot apart, then that distance gives the number of the frog
directly. A better, more practical and more accurate way of determin-
ing the number of a frog in place is to divide the total .length of frog by
the sum of the two distances between gage lines at each end of the frog,
all dimensions having been measured in the same unit.

In constructing a turnout the frog and its guard rail are the first
parts laid, and these as a rule are the only parts of the actual turnout
defined by the engineer's stakes. The details of the portion from the
frog toward the switch point are all given on standard turnout sheets
which every railroad prepares and which vary as regards the distance
from the frog point to the switch point (called the turnout lead), the
length of switch rail, the spread at the heel of the switch, the tie spacing
and manv other minor details. The track foreman, however, follows
the standard for that particular frog number and for that particular
stvle of turnout.

A No. 8 spring frog has the same angle as a No. 8 rigid frog, likewise
a Xo. 8 frog on a standard gage railroad has the same angle as a No. 8

46

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

on a narrow gage or industrial track. The number therefore defines the
angle that the outer rail will make with the inner one where they cross
each other. But with a No. 8 frog the turnout lead will be different for
different lengths of frog, of switch rail, spread at heel of switch, etc. ;
and the spread at the heel, for example, will depend upon the weight of
rail used on different divisions of the railroad, for yard tracks, and for
main-line tracks. So that a No. 8 turnout on any given railroad does
not define the entire turnout from switch to frog; there may be three
or four standard No. 8 turnouts on one railroad each one suitable for a
certain class of construction.

Every modern turnout is composed of a pair of split switch rails,
AA/ Fig. 15 which in many instances are half a rail length 15 ft. or 16.5

Actual Lead Dlstanoe

Theoretical Frog Point

Fig. 15. — Standard turnout.

ft. long. The switch rails are joined by splices to the rigidly spiked
stock rails at E and H, both switch rails swing together about E and H
as pivots, at B the switch rail forms a flat angle or wedge which forces
the wheel to pass around the turnout, at C the stock rail is kinked so
as to bring it parallel to BE and at the gage distance away from it.
The portion EG of the turnout is a simple circular curve tangent to the
switch rail at E and to the frog at G. The frog is usually straight from
G (its toe) to J (its heel). The angle which the gage line of the switch
rail BE makes at B with the gage line of the main rail is called the switch
angle. Neither the gage line of the switch nor of the frog are brought
together to an actual point, both the switch and the frog have blunt
ends, so that the theoretical lead distance and the actual lead distance
are different in amount. The trackman is interested in the actual lead
distance which, together with the other usual dimensions, is given in the
following turnout table. This table it should be remembered, will be
slightly different on different roads.

The American Maintenance of Way Association, in an attempt to
standardize turnouts of a given frog number, have assigned certain ar-
bitrary values to the lead distances which shall correspond closely to

TRACK CONSTRUCTION INTENANCE DETAILS 47

1 I ^

" " "^ S 5 * 2 o

■'■g-jg-

i: lill

S.N

§s;

48

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

the computed leads but which shall require little cutting and waste of
rails. This is partially accomplished by using short standard lengths
of rail which are always kept in stock, such as 18 ft., 24 ft., 27 ft. and
30 ft. lengths. The Railway Maintenance of Way Table of Turnouts
with Practical Leads is given on page 47.

In passing around a turnout from the switch toward the frog, as soon
as the frog is reached, the connecting track may be run either straight
by extending the side of the frog or it can proceed by a curve of any
degree provided the curve is tangent to the frog.

If the body tracks of the yard are straight and the ladder is straight
then, w4th the ordinary track spacing used in yards, every body track
can be connected to any ladder track which makes an angle with the
body track equal to the frog angle. The following table gives distances
between frog points measured along the ladder track in the case just
mentioned. It will be seen b}'- examining this table that with tracks
13 ft. on centers and No. 8 frog there is 104.40 ft. between the frog
points. In the table above the lead distance of a No. 8 turnout is given
as 67.98.

DISTANCE BETWEEN FROC; POINTS ON LADDER TRACKS WHEN BODY TRACKS
MAKE AN ANGLE WITH THE LADDER TRACK EQUAL TO THE FROG ANGLE,
(IN FEET).

Spacing of body tracks center to center, (in feet)

Frog

1
1

Frog

No.

No.

12

12.5

13

13.5

14

14.5

15 '

4

48 75

50.78

52.81

54.84

56.87

58.91

60.94

4

5

GO. 60

63.12

65.65

68.17

70.70

73.22

75.75

5

6

72.50

75.52

78.64

81.56

84.58

87.60

90.62

6

7

84.43

87.95

91.47

94.98

98.50

102.02

105.54

7

8

96.37

100.39

104.40

108.42

112.44

116.45

120.47

8

9

108.33

112.85

117.36

121.87

126.39

130.90

135.41

9

10

120.30

125.31

130.33

135.34

140.35

145.36

150.38 1

10

11 '

132.28

137.79

143.30

148.81

154.32

159.83

165.34

11

12

144.25

150.26

156.27

162.28

168.29

174.30

180.31

12

If we assume the lead to be about 68 ft. this leaves 36 ft. between
two adjacent frogs, part of which is taken up by the distance from frog
point to the heel of the frog and the rail splice at the frog heel (usually
7 to 8 ft. in all), and the remaining distance 28 or 29 ft. is clear distance
between the end of the rail splice at the frog and the point of the next
switch. It is Avell to have about 4 ft. clear distance for this distance,
which leaves in the above case about 24 ft. measured along the ladder free
for some use if iiecessiirv. The way this 24 ft. is made use of is to swing
the ladder so that it will make a slightly greater angle with the body
tracks than the amount of the frog angle and then each body track is

i

TRACK CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS 49

not straight up to the frog, but haa a very short curve in it just beyond
the frog as shown in the following sketch, Fig. 16.

If the tracks in this example had been 12 ft. on center the distance
between frogs as given in the last table is 96.37; the lead distance pl^^
proper clearance from frog point to the next switch point would be about
68 -h 12 = 80 ft., which leaves only 16 ft. to be gained by swinging the ladder
track to make a slightly greater angle with the body tracks. The ad-
vantage of laying the ladder track at the greatest possible angle vritl^
the body tracks is that body tracks can thereby be given the greatest'
possible length and still insure that every body track will join the ladd^^
by its own turnout without having to join it through another body tracl^'
as is always required when the angle the ladder track makes withtb^
body tracks is much in excess of the frog angle.

Fig, 16.

It will be observed from the Table of Standard Turnouts that -tlx
cun^ed track of a No. 10 turnout is a 7° 15' curve. This is the curve 1* ^
raUs between the switch and the frog will have if the turnout join. _
straight main line track. If the main line, however, is a 3° curve, tlrx

the turnout curve will be 3° sharper (or a 10° 15' curve) provided -t —

turnout passes out on the inside of the main line curve, and the turr\o-%^^
curve will be a 4° 15' curve if it leaves the main line on the outside of t^Vi.^
main-line curve. If the main-line curve happened to be a 7° 15' cvur-v-^-.
then a No. 10 turnout on the inside of the curve would require a 14.^ -^ — .
curve for the turnout, whereas if the turnout is on the outside o£
main track it will be a straight trade .

The total ength of a crossover between parallel tracks is depexxO.
upon the track spacing, the numbers of the frogs and the lead dist.^xv
While all of these vary with different railroads the following s^^^
table gives some idea of the length of track required for crosso-sr
which the same number of frog is usecl at each end and where t ^
between the frogs is straight.

50 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

TOTAL LENGTH OF CROSSOVER

Frog
No.

Track centers

lift. 12 ft. I 13 ft. ' 14 ft. 15 ft. 16 ft.

ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in.

6

122

6

128

6

134

6

140

6

146

6

152

6

7

142

11

149

11

156

11

163

11

170

11

177

11

8

163

4

171

4

179

4

187

4

195

4

203

4

9

183

9

192

9

201

9

210

9

219

9

228

9

10

204

2

214

2

224

2

234

2

244

2

254

2

11

224

7

235

7

246

7

257

7

268

7

279

7

12

245

257

269

281

293

305

15

306

3

321

3

336

3

351

3

366

3

381

3

Even though it does require an increase in length of track, cross-
overs and turnouts of large numbered frogs (small angles) are being
used in main line connections to permit their operation at medium and
even at high speed. Fig. 17 shows several small-angle track connections
which will permit of rapid handling of traffic.

On some roads to-day No. 24 frogs and 33-ft. switch rails are used
at points where a two-track and a four-track system join, and it is not
uncommon to. operate at the rate of 45 miles an hour through these
turnouts. When the lead track to a yard joins a main line it is com-
mon to specify No. 10 to No. 12 frogs, whereas the frogs used in the
yard may be No. 7 to No. 9.

Three-Throw and Slip Switches. — Split switches of good pattern should
be used in all yard work; slips should be avoided as far as possible.
Three-throw switches should not be used in connection with any work,
where possible to avoid it. There are places where the only possible
solution seems to be a three-throw switch, but it is difficult to conceive
of any situation where a little mental energy will not enable the engineer
to substitute a less objectionable arrangement. The saving in the
operating expenses will soon overbalance the additional outlay of both
energy and capital necessary to secure the result. The liability of three-
throw switches to get out of order, with the close and constant supervision
required, will increase the maintenance account considerably. There
remains the cost of accidents resulting and interference to yard opera-
tions by such obstructions, and the vastly greater probability of derail-
ment or other accident due to mistakes by switchmen.

There are conditions where a three-throw turnout or a tandem turn-
out are the only devices available. The tandem arrangement is one in
which the second pair of switch points do not rest against the first pair
of points, as in a three-throw switch, but they rest against the stock lead
rail; that is, the first pair of switch points is 20 to 30 ft. in advance of

TRACK CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS 51

the second pair of points. The tandem turnout does not have many of

the di

conditi

operati

iaadvantsges which the three-throw turnout has, and there are
ions where entirely separate turnouts are not possible if a flexible
Ing layout is to be devised, but where a reasonably good operating

design can be made by the introduction of a tandem turnout.

FiQ. 17. — ^Typical eftsy-lead cross-overs.

It is sometimes desirable to have a yard cut in two by running a
ladder across the middle of it, and in such cases it is difficult to argue
against the use of the very flexible but expensive slip switches, which
are expensive both in construction and maintenance. Their use enables
any movement from any track in the first yard to any track in the
second half, lying in line or in advance. Fig. 18 shows a track layout
involving slip switches which gives great flexibility in operation. The
only partial substitute for the slip-switch ladder ia a double ladder and

52 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

that does not give the aame flexibility of operation. On the other hand,
it does enable two sets of operatidns to be conducted without fouling
each other, which is an imposailiility with the single slip-switch ladder.
In the double ladder, for instance, a train may be pulled out of the first
yard or may " double " its cars over in or out of two, three or any number
of tracks, while an engine is using the second ladder to separate cars in
the second yard. Much additional ground space is required for the

Fia. 18.— Typical use of double-slips, permitting flexibility in movements.

double ladder, which results in a curtailment of the yard capacity. This
may in itself prevent the use of the double ladder where the capacity is
limited.

Crossing Frog.^On the main line, and not infrequently in yards and
on industry traek.s, crossing frogs have to be introduced. When tlic
angle of the frogs in a set of crossing frogs is less than 9° <about a No. G
frog) it is practically impossible to arrange the guard rails so as to
prevent derailments and it therefore requires that such frogs shall have
movable points, which adds coiL^iderably to the maintenance coat.

The practice is growing to make frog points of manganese steel and
in many cases to provide for removable points. In fact, removable man-

TRACK CONST AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS 53

gaiiese steel switt ; now being used to some extent; iind

recently mang&nese steel has been rolled into the standard rail sections,
whereas only a few years ago all rails made of this steel had to be cast,
requiring extra thick webs for the rails.

Hand-Thrown Switches. — On ladders, the switch stands should be a
good pattern of ground throw, one that does not offer an obstruction
to a man riding on the side step of a freight car or running alongside to
uncouple cars. The lever must lock itself automatically to prevent its
flying over when it has been carelessly or hurriedly thrown by the
switchman. To avoid accident it should throw in the direction the
track runs instead of crossways or at right angles to the track. There
are a good many stands that fill these requirements, A spring switch,
through which a car can trail even though the switch is not set for
the car, may be tolerated in some places but not on a ladder in a
yard, because of the liability to accident and the seriousness of tying
up the whole or most of the traffic in a busy yard while making repairs
to a switch on a ladder track. While it is a subject to be discussed
under the head of organization, or discipline, running through a switch
should be just as carefully and thoroughly investigated and the discipline
applied should be just as rigid as though it were out on the open road
at a point where more serious damage could happen. That it was "in
the yard," and that the switch was built for just that kind of thing, should
not be permitted to influence the case at all; otherwise, the disease
will certainly spread and the results may be far reaching.

There are places where switches may regularly and intentionally be
run through with good operating results. Where movements inside of
a yard or its adjuncts and away from the main tracks are normal, spring
switches may be used in such a manner as to permit their being run
through in one direction regularly. This refers to points where all move-
ments are made over the same track and switches in the same direction.
On electric roads this is usually done at passing sidings where each car
regularly turns to the right (or left) and avoids the delay of having some-
one throw the switch. For engine movements between engine-houses and
coaling plants or ash tracks, this method can frequently be applied with
a saving of time for engines and men and a saving in wages for switch-
tenders. A set of switches was rearranged at a large locomotive coaling
plant and ash track, and by the introduction of four or five spring switches
at points where they were usually kept in one position, at a cost of not
exceeding $300, it was possible to dispense with four switch- tenders, two
during the day and two at night, which alone involved a saving in wages
of $260 a year. Furthermore, there was a considerable economy due to
the possibility of more rapid locomotive movements.

Only solidly coupled switches should be used in main-line work;
because they are less liable to derangement and simpler to maintain

54 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

than the spring switch. After being run through they are usually ren-
dered unfit for service and repairs must be made. It tells its own story;
discipline accompanied by education does the rest. With the spring
or joint connection, a switch, after being run through, may be slightly
damaged and yet to the trainmen appear to be safe. If left in this
condition it may cause an accident later on. The greatest objection,
however, is the possibility of a small obstruction, pebble, snow or ice,
or a bolt or nut falling in between the track rail and the switch rail and
holding the points open while the switch lever is permitted to be seated
and locked.

Switches in yards and particularly on ladders and at other important
points, should be maintained in good condition. The track numbers
should be painted on the targets for the convenience of the switchmen.
It is good practice to assign a set of numbers to each yard. Most roads
have a system of numbering trains, tracks, signals, etc., with the odd
numbers in one direction and the even numbers in the other. The gen-
eral practice seems to be to use odd numbers on west and southbound
trains. A certain set of numbers should be set aside for numbering
main tracks and passing or additional running tracks in conformity with
the general practice. In a cluster of yards it may be well to start the
first series, assuming it to be eastbound on an east and west road, at 10,
and on the westbound at 11. If the eastbound yard contains 8 tracks,
the numbers would be 10-12-14-l&"18-20~22 and 24. The next yard
should then start at 30 or possibly 40. This keeps the numbers in a
certain series, and at the same time allows for the extension of any yard
without disarranging all the numbers. All switches on ladders should
be located on the side opposite the frogs. The targets with lamps should
be low enough to clear the pole of a poling engine.

Power-Thrown vs. Hand-Thrown Switches. — ^The use of power-thrown
switches, or those thrown from a central interlocking point, in connec-
tion with freight terminals, is not uncommon. Where passenger move-
ments are involved, an interlocking of switches which connect the main-
line tracks with the yard, is not only desirable but essential.

Whether or not the ladder switches of a freight classification yard
should be thrown by power is a question upon which there is much to
be said on both sides. The hand-thrown switches on the ground seem
to possess many advantages. From the standpoint of interference with
operation due to labor troubles, the arguments are pretty evenly bal-
anced. When introducing towers and interlocking, men of higher order
of skill and intelligence are employed; and with men of this type, who
naturally have some sense of responsibility and duty, a sudden, unnec-
essary or uncalled-for cessation of work with a view to embarrassing
employers to the greatest possible extent, is less likely to occur. On
the other hand, switches are often manned by crippled men who have

1

I
\

\

TRACK CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS 55

been injured in the railroad's service while in the discharge of their

duties, for whom it is a matter of moral obligation and good policy to

provide employment. The switch-tender who is on the ground may read

the chalked number on the rear end of cars of each "cut/' in summit

or pole switching, and know what to '^line up'' for the next "cut."

Movements can be made closer together because the switch-tender does

not have to wait for a car to pass the clearance point before throwing

the switch for the next movement. In this way much time is saved as

compared with the electric systems which have to be designed so as to

insure complete clearance before the next switch can be operated.

Sw^itch tenders can do much toward keeping hand-thrown switches
open. Their most important work is to keep the points open. When
one sw^itch is open, that switch may be used independently of all others
and one switch snowed up does not interfere with another. There is
considerably less wear and tear on hand-thrown switches. Their first
cost is low and maintenance charges are light. Repairs are readily and
quickly made and in case of a derailment there is usually little inter-
ference with other switches and tracks.

At Perth Amboy the Lehigh Valley has for many years operated
switches on its coal docks by direct hand-power lever machines, not
interlocked. These have given very satisfactory service. The switches
are not far distant from the tower and the operator can readily follow
the movements of cars with his eye. The system is simple and there is,
therefore, little likelihood of its getting out of order. The electric light-
ing is ample for the men unloading coal, but work at night is only done
in emergencies.

Many improvements are being made in the application of electric
power to throwing switches and, doubtless, some improved system may
appear which will meet entirely, or to a great extent, the objections
cited. All things considered, the plan of throwing switches from a tower
or central point, by direct lever movements, not interlocked, is the on
that seems most practical and economical for classification yard ladaer
This view is taken with the knowledge that this method permits /^^^^^
of cars, and that special arrangements must be made for advising
switch-thrower of the position of cars during night, foggy weather, sn
and rain storms. . ,

In some terminals complete systems of centrally operated s^ ^^
are installed. The Altoona yard of the Pennsylvania was probaWy^^^ ^
ftret to install and operate power-thrown switches controlled ir ^p^
central point. During many years of service this system has dco ^ ^^^
waled with ease, reliability and rapidity. The power is ^^^^^^^^^^^Y^es
actuated by electricity. The operator in the tower controls tbe ®^^ i^Y\e
^y push buttons and when one is thrown an indicator shows ^ ^^^^ ^^
car sent to that particular track has cleared the switch so that i

JS

56

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

closed again. The use of an advance "cut report" received from the
conductor of each train to be classified, and of which a number of copies
are made and a copy placed in the hands of each employee engaged in
breaking up the trains, including the towerman, enables the operator
to set up the proper route for each car without receiving any verbal
directions or consulting switching signals.

The admission of air by electrically-controlled valves to the cylinder
directly throws the points of the switch. It is the regular electropneu-
matic switch movement, without the lock cylinder and magnet. There
is no locking movement. In the cabin there are two rows of push
buttons, an upper and a lower one, and there are two buttons for each
switch. Each button in the upper row closes its switch, and the button
below it opens the switch. The ladder and tracks leading from it are
divided by insulated joints into blocks embracing each turnout, and one
of the point rails of each switch is insulated from the main rail. An
indicator, in circuit with the insulated rails of the switch and turnout,
is located on the operating board just above the set of buttons for throw-
ing the swdtch. When the track is clear the indicator show^s white, and
when a car is in the limits of the circuit and in advance of the clearance
point, or the switch has not completed its throw, the indicator shows

Tower

Fig. 19.^ — Gauntlet arrangement to shorten throw connections.

red. A record of 133 cars switched in an hour is claimed, and an aver-
age performance of 95 cars can readily be maintained. The air pressure
is 60 lbs., and the switch farthest distant from the tower is 1500 ft. away.

In the clearing yards near Chicago, out of a total of some 459 switches,
120 along the ladder of the classification tracks are operated by electro-
pneumatic cylinders. These are built on substantially the same plan as
those at Altoona, the central or lock magnet being omitted. The tower
has 10 push-button machines, each machine controlling 12 switches.
Indicators similar to those at Altoona are used.

In the case of small yards the only yard turnout operated by a tower-
man is the lead from the main track at one end of the yard, and it some-
times occurs that that lead is at a considerable distance from an existing
tower which cannot be removed and the lead cannot for physical reasons
without great expense, be extended parallel to the main track so as to join
it near the tower. A method which has been used in cases of this sort is

TRACK CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS 57

shown in Fig. 19. The lead track to the yard is extended as a gaunt-
let track to a point near the tower where the switch can be directly
under the control of the towerman. An electric lock is introduced which
prevents the towerman from clearing the signals until a train has gotten
into the siding far enough to clear the main track.

Clearing Snow in Yards, — In places where there is much snow the
hand-switch has a decided advantage. It requires an army of men to
keep an interlocking plant in operation during a driving sleet or snow
storm, because there are so many parts of the switches, locks, rods,
detector bars, signals and their connections, and every part must be
kept open for movement to enable any switch to be used.

An experiment was tried on the New York, New Haven and Hart-
ford at Providence, R. I., which was successful in keeping switches and
movable frogs clear during a snow storm. An engine w^as equipped with
two 9.5 in. Westinghouse pumps, two reservoirs with a capacity of
52,000 cu. in. and a line of hose 75 ft. long and 3/8 in. inside diameter.
The opening at the end of the hose was of the same size. An engine crew
and four or five men with this apparatus could reach four or five tracks
on either side of the engine. On the morning of January 9, 1906, with
4 or 5 in. of snow, a test was made and a complete set of double slips was
blown out in 4 . 5 minutes. The pressure fell from an initial pressure
of about 90 lb. to 70 lb., but was readily maintained at from 70 to 75 lb.
The engine was again tried in four or five inches of snow a few^ days later
with equally satisfactory results. It would make little difference if the
depth of snow was four of five times as great. It is, of course, necessary
to load up and haul away the snow, but the first and main object is to
get the interlocking plant in operation quickly, and this it accomplishes,
doing the work of from 100 to 150 men. It is difficult, if not impossible,
to get that number of men out and to work during the night in less than
four or five hours, while an engine and crew can be gotten out in a few
minutes.

The use of hydro-carbon for fighting snow is also advocated where it
is available. It was very thoroughly tried out at the South Terminal
passenger station at Boston during the severe snow storms of January
25 and February 5, 1907, and its use has since been continued. On
January 25 there was a fall of 10 in.; on February 4 and 5, 15 to 18
in. fell, with several inches more added by snow blown from the roofs
of the 13.5 acres of buildings comprising the terminal. The February
storm commenced at 10:30 p. m. on the 4th, continuing about 24 hours,
the heaviest part of the snow falling between midnight and 6 a. m. of
the 5th, while a blizzard raged, the wind velocity reaching 40 miles per
hour and the thermometer dropping to 6 above zero. The snow drifted
badly and packed in around the switch points, detector-bars and other
interlocking apparatus. Not a minute's delay occurred to traffic be-

58 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

cause of the storm, although a few of the switches could not be thrown
promptly because water from engines or cars fell on detector-bars
and froze, causing them to stick for a few minutes at a time. The hydro-
carbon was handled by the regular track gang of 33 men and the inter-
locking gang of six men, no extra men being employed. It was handled
in safety distributing cans, capacity 2.5 gallons each, a lighted stream
being sprayed to points where desired. Snow and ice in or about switches
and interlocking apparatus is thus quickly melted. The height of the
blaze is from 1 to 3 in. above top of rail. A switch can be
thawed out in from 3 to 5 minutes. It does not injure ties, it is
claimed that it acts as a preservative, and the heat applied to rails is
not injurious. This South Terminal interlocking plant covers about 15
acres and contains 29 double slips, 43 single slips and some 500 ordinary
switches. The cost for hydro-carbon used in these two sto-rms was
between $50 and $75; the cost of extra labor used in previous storms
would range from $800 to $1000 and at least 150 additional men would
have been required. Permission was given by the underwriters to use
the hydro-carbon. It may readily be obtained at any Pintsch gas
plant at a cost of about 4 cents per gallon.

Lighting Yards, — The proper lightmg of yards facilitates switching
and prevents pilfering from cars. Arc lights on poles not too high, set
in such a position as to prevent, so far as practicable, the casting of
shadows, are most satisfactory. It is particularly important that the
summit of pole engine leads and the classification ladder tracks, be well
lighted. Care should be exercised to avoid placing arc lights in posi-
tions where they may obscure or confuse signal lights. When lights are
badly located they cause patches of bright light and moving shadows
of deep blackness, intensified by contrast. There is more liability of
confusion and accident under such conditions than there would be in
uniform darkness, to which the men's eyes become more or less accustomed.
For lighting hump or ladder tracks the lamps should be spaced 140 to
150 ft. apart and hung 28 ft. or higher above the tracks. For lighting
body tracks the spacing should be such as to render cars clearly visible.

Bumping Posts. — ^For ordinary single-end tracks, bumpers are not
necessary. It is usually better to let cars drop off ends of rails, where
the ground is level and no damage can ensue, if switchmen are inclined
to be careless. In many instances bumpers are abused because switch-
men prefer to trust to them to stop cars instead of riding the cars and
applying brakes. In passenger stations and in many passenger yards
they are necessary to prevent serious accidents which may result from
cars being pushed into or across spaces where persons may be injured;
and because, in many instances, passenger cars cannot readily be coupled
without bumpers to hold cars against the locomotive. On coal or other
trestles bumpers should be erected, as well as on the ends of tracks

TRACK CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DETAILS 59

abutting against buildings, or where persons are employed who are liable
to be injured by a car running oflf the end of a track.

On some roads, in lieu of bumpers , a very simple re-railing device is used ,
made something like the inside rail guard on bridges, except that the
rail comes out closer to the track rail. The diagram, Fig. 20, will
convey an idea of its construction and method of operation. In some
cases, wedges, or inclines, are placed at the ends of the main rails
to enable a car wheel to ascend to the top of the rail after having
been pushed oflf the end of the track. A car dropping oflf the end of a
track so arranged, will generally pull back on again. The cost is per-
haps less than half that of the best-known bumpers.

E

n

« I I 1

I I I I

FiQ. 20. — Rq-railing device as substitute for bumper.

Approximate Cost of Track. — ^The operating officer occasionally needs
to determine approximately what it would cost to extend a track, put
in an additional switch or make some slight track change, possibly for
the purpose of deciding whether the cost warrants the improvement.
For such use the following approximate costs are given.

Where little or no grading is required and partly worn rail is used,
track for sidings will cost $1 to $1.25 per linear foot, including ties. A
complete turnout of similar material (80- to 85-lb. rail) will cost $175
in addition to the track. In main-line work, and with 100-lb. rail, with
rigid frog, a turnout will cost $225 to $250; where a spring frog is used,
about $15 more. This does not include signaling of any kind. A cross-
over of ordinary construction with 70- or 80-lb. rail complete, will cost
about $350 and with 100-lb. rail and spring frogs, about $500.

CHAPTER V
CLASSIFICATION YARDS

A classification yard is essentially a machine for separating trains or
drafts of cars, according to prearranged plans for distributing the cars in
groups according to destinations, routes, commodities, or traffic require-
ments, so as to accomplish their movement to tracks for these purposes.
Classification or "shunting" yards may be operated under the old push-
and-puU method (also called "link-and-pin" or "tail switching"); by
poling; by using an artificially constructed summit or hump; and by
gravity. The use of gravity alone is infrequent but it is often taken
advantage of to assist hump switching, poling and the ordinary push-and-
pull.

"Push-and-puU" switching is neither efficient nor economical. It is
slow, expensive in operation and damaging to cars, the disadvantage
increasing with the use of heavier power. In many yards, and particu-
larly in cities or other points where a crowded condition exists, it is the
only practicable method of handling. Small yards, such as freii^ht-
house, transfer, local delivery and coal yards, are invariably operated
in this manner. In larger terminals it should be done away with as
rapidly as possible. Among other bad features is that of moving cars in
the reverse direction. In most cases many reverse movements of a car
are made before it reaches its proper track in the separation, classification
or storage yard.

The poling method is so far in advance of tail switching, is so suscepti-
ble to expansion, and has made such an exceptionally good record in
passing cars through division, junction and tide-water terminals with a
minimum of delay and of damage, that is it generally recognized as one
of the best methods of separating and grouping cars. It requires an
additional track for the ram or poling engine alongside the entrance lead-
ing to the yard. In some cases yards are arranged to enable the poling
to be done directly from the receiving yard into the separating or classi-
fication yard. The yard engine has a pole attached to the breast beam
which is so manipulated as to come in contact with the poling pocket
on the rear corner of the last car in the "cut" to be started. Usually
a car is built, called a poling car, equipped with four poles, two on each
side; one of which works forward and the other to the rear. This car is
also used for the men to ride on, and is probably a safer method of work-
ing than to use a pole directly from the engine's breast beam, by which

60

CLASSIFICATION YARDS 61

the man guiding it can easily get caught if it should miss its mark or slip
from its hold on the car. Frequently two cuts (known as a double cut)
are started by placing the pole behind the last car in the first cut and
then uncoupling between the two cuts after the cars are under fairly
good headway, after which additional momentum is, of course, given the
first cut in order to give sufficient room between that and the following
cut to enable proper throwing of switches. On a level road the poling
method is very hard on equipment. The cars require a heavy start and
engines are rapidly worn out on account of heavy, quick starting and
reversing. These conditions are aggravated during cold weather when
cars run harder. In such yards it is desirable and usually necessary to
continue the poling track along the ladder. In every switching yard,
a descending grade running with the traffic movement is of great advan-
tage, and it is especially desirable in a poling yard. Without an assisting
grade, a poling yard handling a heavy business requires an engine to push
trains being switched to the front, but when the grade is favorable the
train may be started and, under regulation of brakes, continue to drop
forward at uniform speed as rapidly as the poling engine can work up the
cuts. A descending grade of 0.4 per cent, is valuable, but as heavy as
0.8 per cent, or even 1.0 per cent, may be used to good advantage and
during winter will be none too steep. In larger poling yards it is found
economical to provide an additional track for an engine to work on in
running down into the separating yard and bringing back the car riders,
although usually the poling engine may be used to make an occasional
run when car riders are not returning fast enough. In some yards a car
propelled by electricity by an overhead trolley, running on a separate
track, is used to return the car riders. In one yard, where the company
has an electric plant for other purposes the switch lamps are illuminated
by small incandescent electric lights.

The hump or summit method consists of a natural or constructed
hump, in the lead track or a part of the ladder, anywhere from 6 ft. to
10 or 15 ft. in height, with a grade on either side, ranging all the way
from 0.4 to 3.0 per cent., usually tapering off on the descending side.
The body tracks may be level but a light descending grade greatly
facilitates the work of breaking up trains. By this method cars are
pushed over the summit and after uncolipling are run down from the
hump or summit by gravity. The plan has many points to commend it.
Remarkable work has been done and excellent switching records made
with it.

In gravity switching the grade must be sufficiently steep to start a
car when the brakes are released. The yard engine is then only needed
to start or feed the cars, and when low temperature or other weather con-
ditions are such as to prevent a car from running. Gravity yards are
somewhat uncommon, because it is difficult to find at the proper place.

62 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

a large tract of land of the proper shape and suitable to the economical
construction of such a yard.

In a paper read before the New York Railroad Club, Mr. C. L. Bardo
presented the following results, of an actual series of tests made by him
to demonstrate the superiority of one switching method over others,
having selected for each test a train of 60 cars with 50 cuts:

Tail Pole Summit

Number of cars 60 ; 60 60.

Number of cuts
Crew consists of

50 50 50.

Engineman Engineman Engincman

Fireman Fireman Fireman.

Conductor Conductor Conductor.

, Two trainmen . . Six trainmen . . Six trainmen.

Time consumed 2 hours 1 hour 15 min .... 30 minutes.

Wage expense j $2.44 $2.55 $1.02.

Distance traveled by loco- 24,750 24,750 6,000.

motive, in feet. '

In the tail and pole methods the locomotive travel was estimated at
250 ft. in each direction for each cut made or 500 ft. for the round trip.
In the summit method it was estimated at twice the length of the train
to cover the return trip. Mr. Bardo comments on these tests as follows:

",It will be noted from the table that the last, or hump method, requires one-
quarter the time of the push and pull, and two-fifths of the time of the poling
method. In engine service the hump method requires one-quarter the reverses
of either of the other two. In the number of cars handled there is no difference
between the poling or hump systems, both showing an astonishing economy over
the push and pull method. In handling the train by the first-named method,
assuming that the train was moved 250 ft. in each direction, for each cut, we
find that the engine service is equivalent to 137 car-miles. In addition to the
amount of time required to handle a train under the push and pull method,
due consideration should be given to the question of expense on account of
damage to lading and equipment by airbrake and reversing shocks. The
figures above given were obtained from actual tests, under favorable grade
conditions for the first method, and similar, though unfavorable track facilities
for the other two. The results above noted indicate plainly the superiority of
the hump method over either of the other two, for the classification of trains."

There is much to be said, however, in favor of pole switching and
(\specially where it has the advantage of gravity assistance. The writer
had charge of a large coal yard where 1428 loads were passed through in
10 hours and 20 minutes, or an average of 138 cars per hour. This was
done with a ram and an assisting grade extending throughout the entire
yard. All of these cars were passed over scales and over half of them

CLASSIFICATION YARDS 63

were weighed. The scales were not automatic. The record was a re-
markable one, but it is only proper to add that the conditions of weather,
character of lading (coal), heavy loads, arid good running cars, daylight
hours, trained and reliable help all were favorable.

Diagrams of these yards are well worth careful study, not only by
those interested in designing new yards or remodeling or revising ex-
isting yards, but also by those interested solely in the operation of yards.
It is a mistaken idea that points in the operation of terminals may be
obtained only by watching and studying actual movements; the writer
has, in his own experience, derived many good lessons in operating from
the study of plans of terminals built on different lines from those of which
he was in charge.

One of the strongest points in favor of the pole yard or pole system
of switching is the facility with which cars may be started at varying
speeds in entering the separation or classification yard. This feature is
particularly advantageous in colder climates where there is a greater
range between the extremes of temperature. Some kinds of cars, or cars
of certain construction, will run more readily than others. Those with
well-supported, stiff body bolsters preventing heavy riding on side bear-
ings, will run more rapidly or with less start, particularly through curves,
as in entering ladders and in leaving the ladders and entering the body
tracks. Loaded cars will run better than empty cars and heavy loads
better than light ones. As the temperature drops cars run harder and
in the face of a head, or what is worse, a side wind, or on snow-covered
tracks, a harder push is needed because the cars will slow down to a stop
in a short distance. The pole method has its advantages in such cases
because the start can be made sufficiently strong to meet the adverse
conditions.

It is to be said too, as one of the arguments in favor of the pole system,
that the engine starting the cars works close to the front. The men in
charge are therefore able to keep themselves informed as to the clearance
distance of each body track and to start cars accordingly. They also
have the advantage of receiving signals at short range. This advantage
is particularly apparent during snow, rain, or foggy weather. It pre-
vents damage to cars and contents.

The ease with which a change in switching methods may be made in a
yard arranged for poling, is one of the arguments in favor of such a yard.
The Dewitt hump yards of the New York Central near Syracuse (Figs.
21 and 22) were discontinued temporarily as hump yards during the busi-
ness depression of 1907 and operated by tail-switching, because there
was not sufficient business moving to continue them economically.

The hump, or summit, yard has become the standard with some
railroads. Many yards which have been built within the last few years
have been planned to be operated by gravity switching, aided by the

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

CLASSIFICATION YARDS 65

summit, to give the cars their initial start after separation from the train.
So important is the assistance of gravity in switching now regarded, that
traffic Ls even reversed in direction and a cardinal principle in yard
design violated iii order to take advantage of a natural grade in the
wrong direction. The yards of the Pennsylvania at Greenville, N. J.
(Figs. 23 and 24), Logansport, Ind., and Sheridan, Pa., are examples of
this practice. In other cases, the topography, instead of the traffic, has
been reversed at great cost in order to have gravity assist in the proper
direction. This was done in the new westward yard at Altoona on the
Pennsylvania. It is now a common proceeding to constructvhumps on a
level prairie or river bottom and make a gravity yard. Probably the
largest undertaking of this kind is the yards of the Chicago Union Trans-
fer Railway at Chicago. The company owns 3700 acres of land and the
yards are more than 2.5 miles long. They contain 105 miles of track
and will hold 14,000 cars.

So far as can be learned, the first summit yard in this country was
constructed by the Pennsylvania Road in 1882 at Huffs Station, 2
miles south of Greenbush, Va. Before then, the idea had been applied in
European yard design. Germany had a summit yard at Speldorf in
1876 and in 1888, France had one in service on the Paris, Lyons &
Mediterranean Railway. There is record of a gravity yard in Dresden
in 1846; in Ste. Etienne, France, in 1863; and in Edge Hill, near Liver-
pool, England, in 1873. (See Fig. 25.)

Statistics relating to the performance of the early summit yards in this
country are rare, but there is a record of tests made by the Pennsylvania
Road in its yard at Honey Pot, Pa., on the Sunbury division. On No-
vember 2, 1899, they handled 176 cars in six drafts, one car to each cut,
each car being weighed as it passed over the scale, and the work
was done in 63 minutes, almost three cars a minute — a remarkable
performance.

In the September 30, 1904, issue of the Railway Gazette (London) the
editor, Mr. W. H. Boardman, discussed the theory of summit yards as
follows:

" When a train of cars, uncoupled either singly or in groups, or ' cuts,' is pushed
over the summit, the leading car or cut plunges down the sharp grade at a greatly
increased speed. This acceleration produces a time and space interval between
each cut. It is desirable to know what conditions increase or decrease these
intervals. The space interval may be disregarded if the speed at the last switch-
ing point from the lead, or ladder, is twice the speed at the summit. It is plain
that if two equally easy running cars were instantaneouly set free on a uniform
down grade, they would keep together — there would be no interval between
them; but the change from level, or up grade to down grade allows the front
car to get away at higher speed during the time that the following car moves its
length on the level, and this time becomes the time interval between them.
5

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

CLASSIFICATION YARDS

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FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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CLASSIFICATION YARDS 69

*'This time interval between car centers is a constant all the way down the
incline and through the yard, as will appear quite clearly when the reader recalls
that all the cars would run their distance from the summit to the same stopping
point in the same amount of time; and that the leading car has just a car length
advantage over the following car in beginning its acceleration. The length of
wheel-base has nothing to do with the case. Sir George Findlay, in his valuable
book, *The Working and Management of an English Railway,' seems to have
been in error on this point. If two cannon balls were sent in a guiding trough
over a summit, the time interval between their centers as they rolled down the
incline would vary only with their diameters, and bear no relation to positions
of the points of support.

"It makes no difference (assuming equal ease in running) whether the car is
poised on a pony truck, or supported by 8 wheels with either a long or short
wheel-base. The elements controlling the time interval between car centers are:
Over-all car length, speed in approaching the summit, and increased speed after
passing over the summit. Therefore, if a train of uncoupled cars, each one 40
ft. long, approaches the summit at 1 mile per hour, each car is moving its
length in 27.27 seconds, and, theoretically, this will be the time interval between
the centers of the cars as they rush down the incline to the yard, where the
switch points are moved to turn each car to its proper siding. (In this discussion
we are considering cuts of one car each.) But it is not suflScient to compute the
intervals between the centers of the cars, for the buffers will come in collision
long before the centers touch each other, and meantime undesirable things are
happening.

** There needs to be deducted from the interval between the centers the time
taken to run a car length in the yard. For example, if the initial speed at the
summit is 1 mile per hour, and if the grade from the summit is adjusted to
produce a speed of 3 miles per hour in the yard, where the car would then be
moving its length in 9.69 seconds, the interval between the buffers would be
27.27 seconds— 9.09 seconds = 18.18 seconds. The time interval between the
buffers of any two adjoining cars is, therefore, not a constant; it is a variable on
the incline and in the yard. It decreases in proportion as the cars slow down in
the yard. The derived formula, which is true for any point on the incline or in
the yard, is:

"Time interval between buffers = Time of car moving its length at the
summit —Time of car moving its length on the ladder.

"Reversing this formula in order to find at what speed cars can be fed to the
summit.

"Car-length time on the summit = Car-length time on ladder + Time interval
needed for moving the points.

"If the train is to be broken up in sections of more than one car each, the
same formula is applicable if the length of each section is substituted for the
car length."

The ease with which the summit can be utilized to facilitate separa-
tion in large and small yards and the advantage of operating yards under
this system economically, with light traffic, commend it for general use.
There are many sizes of humps, or gravity mounds, with varying rates of

70

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CLASSIFICATION YARDS 73

grade, both on the ascending as well as on the descending side, and the
distances diflfer throughout which the latter grade continues. In the
diagrams, Figs. 26, 27 and 28, the profiles of some of the principal gravity
mounds are shown.

The gravity-assisting grade for a summit yard may be too long or too
great. This is a most difficult problem to work out, as no hard and fast
rules can be made to cover all cases. Local conditions govern, and
climate is an important factor.

A separating yard with a rather heavy grade throughout would. tend
to increase, rather than to decrease, the expense of operation, as it would
necessitate car riders accompanying each cut until stopped, thereby
making a greater force of car riders necessary. A uniform, moderately
heavy descending grade part way, bringing up on nearly level track, is a
very good arrangement, provided the length and rate of grade can be
nicely adjusted to balance the kind of cars and commodities handled,
together with the temperature and wind resistance during the greater
part of the year. In the Honey Pot yard of the Pennsylvania the writer
has seen classifying done over the summit without car riders accompany-
ing the cars. The freight handled, however, consisted wholly of coal.
It may be remarked that the ground was well covered with coal. In a
yard with a continuous descending grade of considerable fall, say 0.6 or
0.8 per cent, or greater throughout, difficulty is experienced by outgoing
road engines, when they would find it necessary to back up their trains,
or part them, to make couplings.

The tabulated summary of summit inclines on pages 74 and 75 gives
the principal characteristics bearing upon a study of proper grades.
Columns 5 and 8 may be used to assist in the comparison; the velocity at
the foot of the grade is the important factor. Nothing has been added
thereto for the initial velocity of the cars as they are pushed over the
hump. Owing to the difference in the running of cars, as between loads
and empties, gondolas loaded with coal or ore and box cars lightly loaded,
and extremes of temperature, the velocities are of necessity only approxi-
mate and the effect of switches, frogs and curves cannot be considered.
Assuming rolling friction, 8 lb. per ton, which is too high for heavy
cars but not excessive for empty and very light cars a grade of 0.4 per
cent, is required to overcome this resistance and keep the car moving.
The 0.4 per cent, grade is desirable for the classification yard, or at least
a minimum of 0.3 per cent. In some cases, however, 0.2 or 0.25 have
been satisfactorily used. For heavy lading, such as ore and coal, 0.5 to 1.3
per cent, grades seem preferable; while 0.9 to 1.5 may be necessary where
m^ny empty cars are moved. The first grade from the summit down is
important, as it starts the cut quickly, and separates it from the following
car a sufficient distance to allow the switches to be thrown between. It
depends on the length of average cuts and the vertical fall required to

74

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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impart the initial velocity. It is generally assumed, with short cuts and
no scales to be run over, that a short grade of 60 to 150 ft. in length with
a 3.0 to 4.0 per cent, grade, is required; with a slope of 100 ft., a 3.5 per
cent, grade. With a length of from 200 to 600 ft., a grade of from 1.2 to
3.0 per cent, will probably produce the desired velocity.

With scales on the slope, the speed over the scales must be moderate,
say from 3* to 6 miles per hour. The skill of the weigher is a factor in
regulating the speed over the scales. If the hump is any higher than is
necessary to produce this speed, the car must be checked by the brakes.
A 46-ft. scale will weigh six cars per minute at a speed of 4 miles per hour.
It is possible to attain a maximum of ten cars per minute but this spe'ed
cannot long be maintained. Unless a large number of cars in each train
are weighed the summit does not appear to be a good location, because the
weighing is probably done with the car at rest, which would materially
delay the rest of the switching. The scale grade should not exceed 2.5
per cent, for a distance of 100 ft. and perhaps 2 per cent, for a distance
of 50 ft. would be better, locating the center of the scales between 90 and
150 ft. from the summit. The top of the hump should be level for
about 100 ft., or the curve of the top should at least have a pretty long
radius.

The hump may frequently be introduced in an existing yard, with
comparatively light business, and effect a considerable saving in operating
expense, and secure as well greater rapidity of car movement. This
has been done in a number of instances at a cost of $2000 or $3000 and
without eliminating any tracks. The saving in the enormous distance
traveled by an engine wdth the old method of "tail switching/' and
the reduction in damage to equipment and contents of cars, usually make
the introduction of the hump a profitable investment.

The yards of the Michigan Central at East Detroit, Mich., Fig. 29;
of the Burlington at Hawthorne, 111., Fig. 30, and of the Lehigh Valley
at Packerton, Pa., Fig. 31, are successfid types of poling yards. In the
plans of the East Detroit and Hawthorne yards the poling tracks, ladders
and body tracks are clearly shown and the operation may be easily under-
stood. The poling track in the Packerton yard is at theextreme westendof
the eastbound yard where it operates through the ladder paralleling
the main tracks, as shown in Fig. 31. The ladder indicated across the
main part of this yard is a double one and is used to enable its tracks to
be cleared by pushing into the yard east of the ladder when necessary
and to permit assistance to the classification engine in times of heavy
movement.

The summit system was planned in the terminals of the Chicago
Clearing Yards, of the Chicago Union Transfer Railway, near Chicago.
(Figs. 32 and 33.) These terminals are the most elaborate for handling
and distributing freight cars in this or any other country. They were

CLASSIFICATION YARDS

I I

FREIGHT TERMINALS AUD TRAINS

CLASSIFICATION YARDS

80 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

designed to accomplish the receiving, separating and delivering of in-
coming freight and the collecting, assembling and dispatching of out-
going freight for the entire city of Chicago and the 23 railroads entering
there. The summit yards are assisted by gravity in both directions,
occupying a tract of land 13,000 ft. long and 670 ft. wide, and are
connected with all of the belt or switching lines. The general plan. Fig.
32, consists of two sets of classification tracks, each 2400 ft. long,
covering the full width of the yard; double ladders at each end leading
away from an artificial summit; receiving tracks 1600 to 3200 ft. long,
located north and south of the gravity summit.

A poling engine can be used when needed on account of cars stopping
short by reason of heavy winds, cold weather or snow, conditions which

FiQ. 33. — ^Perspective view of summit — Chicago clearing yarda.

have to be reckoned with in that territory. A light engine and car, pro-
vided for the return of the car ridera, runs on the center track or on one
or both of the run-around tracks on the sides of the classification track.

The gravity summit has 1.5 per cent, grades for a short distance each
side to give the cars a quick start from^he summit. This ia followed by a
grade of 0.9 or 1 per cent, for a distance of 1800 ft. dropping off to a
grade of 0.5 per cent, for 300 ft. The foot of the gravity lead is about
400 ft. beyond the ends of the classification ladders. The apex of the
summit is 22 ft. above the elevation of the level body tracks.

It was planned that the Chicago clearing yards should be able to
receive and distribute 4000 cars a day in each direction, when in complete
working order.

The summit yards at De Witt, N. Y., on the New York Central are
shown in Figs, 21 and 22, page 64. A divisional yard was built con-

CLASSIFICATION YARDS 81

sisting of a complete system of receiving tracks, gravity classification
tracks and advance tracks in each direction.

For the eastbound movements, after trains enter the receiving tracks
for that direction, the engines cut off and return by the belt track to the
engine-houses. The cars are then passed over the hump into the east-
bound classification yard, where they are assembled and advanced as
trains into the eastbound advance yard. In connection with this east-
bound movement there are caboose tracks, where the cabooses are cut
off in a convenient location for coupling to westbound trains. There
are also separate eastbound reclassification tracks for making up local
trains. It is the intention also to develop these eastbound classification
tracks with a separate system of advance tracks which will adapt the
yard for both local freight and fast freight service. Car i-epair tracks
are provided as well.

In handling the westbound movement, trains enter the westbound
receiving tracks, where the engines cut off and return east by the belt
track to the engine-house. The cars are passed over the hump or
summit, shown on the drawing, into the classification tracks, from which
they are assembled into trains and taken into the westbound advance
tracks. Car repair tracks are provided and local reclassification tracks
for westbound movements.

In addition to the general movement of heavy-tonnage, slow-speed
freight traffic, the yard also handles fast freight trains, aggregating ten
per day in each direction. The eastbound fast freight trains pull directly
into the eastbound reclassification tracks, change engines and cabooses,
and proceed. The westbound fast freights pull directly into the southerly
tracks where cabooses and engines are changed, and the train moves on.
The only switching of fast freights is the removal of any cripples which
may be found, or the filling out of the trains with additional cars, which
are held convenient for this purpose.

The summit grades are somewhat different from those shown on the
drawing and are substantially as follows: With eastbound traffic, which
consists principally of loaded cars, there is an accelerating grade of 2.5
per cent, for a distance of 150 ft., with a grade of 1 per cent, for a distance
of 1200 ft. through the ladder tracks; the remainder of the classification
tracks being practically level.

In the westbound yards, which handle many empty cars, and where
the prevailing winds against traffic are heavier, the accelerating grade is
about 4 per cent, for a distance of 150 ft. with a 1 per cent, grade for a
distance of 1200 ft. The remainder of the classification tracks are on
a slightly descending grade of about 0.25 per cent.

So far as practicable, every car movement is continuous toward
destination; and in nearly all cases the switching is done over the hump.
From 1500 to 2500 cars are handled daily in each direction. Fifty

6

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FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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trains may be handled' each way during 24 hours, or 3500 cars each way,
making a total of about 7000 cars per day.

A plan of the Washington Southern's Potomac Yards, near Alexandria,
Va., is shown. Fig. 34. Electric-pneumatic non-interlocked switches are
installed, to be operated from two towers; one on the apex of each
hump. The tower for the southbound classification yard cares for
34 switches; the other for 38, displacing 14 ground switchmen. An
average of 2200 cars per day is handled and separated into 27 ''undis-
turbed'' classifications northbound and 26 southbound. One engine
works continuously on each hump. The crew for an engine consists of a
conductor, a cutter, six riders and four switchmen.

In some modern summit yards the receiving yard is practically re-
duced to the one. track on which trains proceed to and over the summit.
In other words, it is expected that trains will be switched as fast as they
arrive, and, barring emergencies, this is in theory what every yard should
be expected to do. When this arrangement works out in practice it ac-
complishes the object of the yard — to provide a rapid means of collect-
ing and classifying cars in order of destination or character of loading
as they come in off the main line, and for dispatching them again.

The westbound classification yard of the Pennsylvania at Altoona
is an interesting type of the use of the summit. This is shown in Fig.
35. It consists, in part, of 15 classification tracks. The westbound
main freight track divides into two tracks which are carried over the scales
and summit. These form the only receiving yard. The lead switches
to the ladder track -are 800 ft. from the summit and the cars run 2000 ft.
down the body tracks. A record was made of 55 cuts, 88 cars, in one
hour, and 984 cars went over the summit in 12 hours of daylight working.
In 24 hours 70 trains, 1491 cars, were handled — ^a train about every 20
minutes.

The following tabulation (made in 1908) shows the maximum daily
shifting records of the summit yards in the Altoona terminal :

,r J ., ., . Car Cuts per

.lard Cars Cuts , , '

droppers car dropper

i

Eastbound freight classification ' 2,033 i 1,280 28 4«

Eastbound coal classification 1,905 906 26 35

Total eastbound 3,992 1,925 54 36

Westbound empty classification 2,727 1,383 24 58

Westbound loaded classification 890 710 11 65

Total westbound 2,978 1,430 30 48

Total east and west 7,277 3,709 78 : 48

CLASSIFICATION YARDS 85

Including all the cars which pass through the several yards, some of
which do not pass over the humps mentioned above, the maximum daily
freight movement through Altoona approximates 10,000 cars.

An interesting experience in operating the Altoona summit occurred
during the winter of 1903-4. As the nights got colder, in the fall, the
cars would not run to the end of the yard. This was partly due to the
low temperature but some of it was supposed to be owing to the timidity
of the brakemen setting up the hand brakes too tightly at the start. As
the weather became colder the trouble increased. Light cars frequently
could not be made to run to the ends of the tracks, although brakes
were kept off. From the summit there was a 2..55 per cent, descending
grade, and from the foot, well into the yard, the grade was 0.7 per cent.
A crib and rip-rap arrangement raised the summit and a grade of 4.0
per cent, was made for a distance of 200 ft., which enabled the yard to
be satisfactorily operated all winter and gave the cars sufficient start to
run them through the classification yard.

It has been shown that the internal resistance of trains in winter is
one and one-half to two times as much as in warm weather, due largely to
the difference in the journal friction at high and low temperatures. Some
of the trouble at Altoona was due also, to the yard being built on made
ground and with the heaving of the track due to frost, more or less
resistance at the wheel tread developed, which liad little or no effect
in summer. The temporary summit was not continued during summer
because of the liability of wrecks from runaway cars with defective
handbrakes or careless brakemen. The grade of 4.0 per cent, is perhaps
the steepest used, so far, with the single exception of the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern at Elkhart, Indiana, where the eastbound track
has a grade of 4.3 per cent, and the westbound track a grade of 5.0 per
cent. The Elkhart yard is exceptionally long, however, and with the
light prevailing grade of 0.16 per cent, the steeper summit grade is not
objectionable.

The writer is indebted to Mr. W. C. Gushing, Chief Engineer of Main-
tenance of Way, of the Pennsylvania Lines, for an interesting description of
an "adjustable" mechanical hump or summit in connection with track
scales at West Brownsville, Pa., used for classifying and weighing cars.
This hump is installed on a firm or solid concrete foundation which does
not settle when cars move over it, as do many humps located on made
ground or ballast. A more prompt and uniform movement of cars over
the hump is thereby accomplished. The grade in advance of the apex
is about 1.5 per cent.; beyond the apex and to the scales 4.0 per cent.,
when the mechanical or adjustable part of the hump is elevated to the
maximum height — 8 in. — and 1.0 per cent, with the minimum
elevation of 2.75 in. The grade over the scale is 0.8 per cent. In warm
weather the minimum elevation of 2.75 in. is used and in cold weather an

86 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

elevation of from 3.75 to 4.75 in. The hump is raised or lowered by means
of stationary double action screw jacks and can be adjusted to the
desired height in a few minutes. The practical results of this feature are
satisfactory. The cost of the mechanical adjustable hump feature
would add about $3000 to the total for ordinary scales.

In the Oak Island yards of the Lehigh Valley (the outlying or auxiliary
yards for the tide-water terminals) a test of the possibilities of the summit
switching method was made for the benefit of some visiting operating
officers of the Northeastern Railway of England. Two trains, with a total
of 153 cars, in 96 cuts were classified in 42 minutes, which included the
time necessary to go back after the second train some distance aw^ay.
There were ten classifications maintained throughout. Two cars went
wrong on account of inferior hand brakes and were returned. The crew
consisted of a conductor, five trainmen and one switch-tender. The time
actually consumed in pushing the trains over the summit was 13 minutes
for the first and 11 minutes for the second; a total of 24 minutes. The
records kept show that at Oak Island in handling 253,000 cars the amount
of damage done, directly chargeable to the summit grade, was less than
$800. It is claimed too, that the damage was more than this prior to
starting the use of the summit method, when the yards were worked under
the poling method.

Available accurate statistics of the cost of switching by any method
are seldom found. The hesitation on the part of operating oflBcers in
giving out any information on this subject is readily understood because
of the fact that conditions vary to such an extent as to make almost any
comparison on a simple cost per car statement practically worthless.
So many explanations and qualifying additions must be affixed to any
cost statement as to render it useless because of its obscurity, even
though we assume that some uniform standard or unit has been reached
on which to base the cost. The "number of cars handled" has so many
meanings and is figured out in so many ways that it is not always
comparable.

In the Pittsburg & Lake Erie yards at McKees Rocks the cost of
handling cars over the summit was a fraction over 9 cents each. During
something over 12 months, there were 253,551 cars in 123,351 cuts run
over the eastbound summit at Oak Island, N. J., at a cost of 11.7 cents
per car, or 22.1 cents per cut for classifying. Of this cost 55 per cent, was
for train-crew wages; 45 per cent, for fuel, water and supplies.

Mr. Gushing obtained the figures of cost of working in 25 different
yards at nine separate periods, in the last 10 years. When these figures
include the yard labor only (yardmasters, clerks, conductors, brakemen,
switchmen, enginemen, firemen, operators and watchmen) the cost
per car handled for terminal yards in large cities, where there is a large
distribution of cars to industries (as in Chicago), ranges from 15 to 30

CLASSIFICATION YARDS 87

cents; in intermediate yards in cities of good size with a fair amount of
distribution to industries (as in Columbus, O.), from 17 to 22 cents; in
intermediate yards in small towns and cities which are junction or
division points, with but a minor industrial development, from 8 to 20
cents, and yards in villages without industrial development, and which
are junction or division points, from 5 to 15 cents.

The manner of operating a yard, whether by gravity or other methods,
does not seem to influence the cost so much as the condition of handling
it ; whether traffic is passing through smoothly or in a sluggish manner.

The accompanying diagrams of a yard for tidewater coal handling
and storage plant, and a yard for tidewater freight delivery were pre-
pared by Mr. C. L. Bardo, as shown in Figs. 36 and 37. The interesting
feature in connection with Mr. Bardo's proposed division classification
yard is the so-called central ladder. Its advantages are summarized
in Chapter III, page 30.

The Pennsylvania yard at Greenville, N. J. (Figs. 23 and 24), is a
recent development of an important tidewater terminal on a large scale
with the hump method of classifying. The greater part of this work is
on submerged land on the New Jersey shore, 3.5 miles south of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad passenger station at Jersey City. The established pier
line lies out in New York Bay, about 1.8 miles from the shore. The water
frontage is 1900 ft. and the land frontage along the present shore
is 2600 ft. The distance between the pier line and the bulkhead line
is over 4400 ft.; thus allowing piers to be built over four-fifths of a
mile long. The area of the submerged portion is 550 acres and of
this the land between the bulkhead line and the shore line amounts to
350 acres.

The Peoria & Pekin Union (Fig. 38), a terminal property within
and connecting the two cities of Peoria and Pekin, 111., and owned by
six roads, is an interesting study.

During the year 1905 there was a total in-and-out movement of
570,000 cars over these terminals; and the total cars handled and
switched on orders, including the above, was 1,116,000 for the year. The
total days engine service for the year was 8900, making a total of 125
cars handled per engine per day. The present mileage of the Peoria &
Pekin Union Railway is 93 miles, composed of 25 miles of main lines, 9
miles of side tracks on line and 59 miles of yard tracks. There is a
total of 560 switches, four interlocking plants and one drawbridge in con-
nection with all tracks.

The records show that the business through the Peoria gateway has
increased about 8 per cent, each year for the past decade and that the
present capacity of this property for economical handling of business
should not exceed 2000 cars per day. It therefore became necessary
to increase the present capacity enough to take care of the natural in-

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

CLASSIFICATION YARDS

90

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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CLASSIFICATION YARDS

92 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

crease of business for the next decade. A new yard was accordingly de-
cided on.

The portion of the yards north of the distribution or hump track
consists of a receiving yard of seven tracks, with a capacity of from 40
to 60 cars each and a departure yard of seven tracks with a capacity
of 50 cars each. A classification yard of 22 tracks with a capacity of
500 cars, lying immediately west of and connected by double ladder
with the hump track, serves to accommodate the classification of both
inbound yards. A 150-ton railroad track scale fitted with automatic
weighing device, is conveniently located on outside track of the classi-
fication yard. All cars to be weighed pass over the scale, which is
built on a 1 per cent, grade, and afterward are pulled back on the
distribution track and sent over the hump to their proper place in the
classification yard. The bad order cars are dropped into the north
side of the classification yard and pushed through into the repair yard,
which lies immediately west of the classification yard and is composed
of 11 tracks, with a total capacity of 200 cars.

The tracks in general are spaced 13 ft. centers with 15 ft. centers
on ladders. The repair yard tracks are spaced in pairs of 16 ft. cen-
ters and 42 ft. center to center of pairs, thus allowing room for a material
or supply track between each pair of working tracks.

The drainage is taken care of by two large concrete culverts of flat
top design, the tops being of I-beam and concrete construction. The
location of the hump is such that it can be raised or lowered as the
weather conditions demand.

A plan of the Balto. & Ohio eastbound yard at Brunswick, Md., is
shown in Fig. 39. The objectionable but unavoidable curvature stands
out prominently. The splendid main track separation arrangement is
apparent.

The Chicago and North Western 40th Avenue yards, Chicago, are
shown in Fig. 40.

This is the largest of the North Western^s yards in Chicago; a little
over 30 miles of track and a capacity of 5000 cars. Normally, 40th
Avenue yard is used exclusively by the Wisconsin and Milwaukee
divisions.

Figure 41 shows the New York Central's West Albany yards. The total
trackage of the yard proper is about 73 miles, with a capacity of 6100 cars,
embracing 393 switches. In addition to the yard itself there are 5.8
miles of track, serving the engine-houses, car shops, erecting and boiler
shops, transfer tables — ^an additional capacity of 311 cars. The yard
labors under the disadvantage of being split into two yards by the east-
bound main-line freight tracks, although no attempt is made to keep
them clear from end to end.

The plans in Fig. 42 are those of the Big Four's yards at Lyons, 111.

CLASSIFICATION YARDS

FREWHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

CLASSIFICATION YARDS

95

^xtfttt of Norfhbtofitt Itnt.

Fig. 42. — Yards at Lyons, 111. — Big Four.

96 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Trains are made up here for convenience of delivery to connecting
lines or consignees at Chicago. The traffic is mostly coal. The hump
feature was closely studied with a view to giving cars, or cuts of cars,
the proper acceleration to send them over the scales at a speed of about
4 miles an hour, to ensure efficient operation of the automatic weighing
device; and then by further acceleration to cause the cars to pass by grav-
ity alone to the desired location is the yard. The northbound hump
represents the latest studies of the engineers in this connection.

The new freight yard of the Lake Shore at Elkhart, Ind., was put
in operation in the spring of 1904 and is a division terminal, classifying
freight in both directions. It was built to relieve congestion at trans-
fer points near Chicago. The Elkhart terminal lies entirely on one side
of the passenger tracks. Between the receiving yard and the classi-
fication yard in each direction, a summit has been built to facilitate the
separating. The length of this terminal is nearly 4 miles. The east-
bound receiving yard consists of five tracks holding from 88 to 90 cars
each. About the middle of the receiving yard is a series of cross-overs
to permit of trains being divided up so that each section can be handled
separately. The classification yard holds about 836 cars. The de-
scending grade, from the summit, is 4.3 per cent.

The summit feature may be utilized to feed cars to loading and
unloading points, such as coaling stations, large boilei* plants for
power houses, ash-track conveyors, freight-houses, etc., and this has
in many cases effected considerable economies and improved handling
generally.

Interesting problems are encountered in locating scales in summit
yards. Ordinarily the scales are placed just beyond the summit.
When out of repair, this may seriously interfere with the handling,
especially when a large precentage of cars passing over the summit have
to be weighed. In some yards two sets of scales are installed and used
alternately.

The Pennsylvania yard at Sheridan, Pa., is an example of develop-
ment. Over 2000 cars, eastbound, have been handled in 24 hours;
ordinarily 450 are weighed and at times, 685. A train of 35 cars can be
put over the hump and separated into 30 cuts, in 25 minutes.

The Harrisburg yards of the Pennsylvania have grown to 10,000 cars,
capacity — 109 miles of track. A consolidation engine, weighing 193,-
000 lb., can push 130 cars over the hump. When the thermometer
falls below 25 degrees, a second engine is put in service. Seventy-two
eastward trains, with 3750 cars; and 66 westward trains with 3644 cars,
have been started in 24 hours.

The Conway yards of the Pennsylvania lines, like Harrisburg, are a
collection of units in which the summit switching method is used. The
standing capacity is 8967 cars — ^the daily movement 2300 cars, with a

CLASSIFICATION YARDS 97

maximum of 2638. Under favorable conditions an 80-car train is
broken up into 60 cuts in an hour.

The Chicago & Eastern Illinois yards at Dolton, near Chicago, Fig. 43,
have had a number of additions to increase their capacity, efficiency
and flexibilty of operation. One of the most important changes was
in the hump of each yard, made by raising the grade of each run-around
track to the elevation shown; the northward yard having the knuckle
of the run-around 1.27 ft. higher than the knuckle of the scale track.

Car movements over each hump are controlled by a semaphore oper-
ated by the man in charge of the hump. Three special hump switching
engines were built for this service — of the 0-8-0 type — 220,000 lbs.
total, all on drivers; 23.5-in. X32-in. cylinders, 57-in. drivers, 200 lbs.
steam pressure. Their tanks will hold 8000 gallons of water, so as to min-
imize the number of trips to the water crane. There are also 14 engines
for general yard work — 0-6-0 type — ^21X26 cylinders, 51-in. drivers
and 5500 gallons capacity tanks.

There are so many conditions governing terminal switching that an
actual case of switching by continued gravity alone is not in use
where winter weather is severe. There are many yards in which cars are
dropped into the tracks of a separating or classification yard during
many months of the year by gravity, without the assistance of poling,
a summit, or " kicking." Except in the mild climates, however, where
extremes of temperature are infrequent it is probably not practicable
to construct a gravity yard that can be successfully operated as such
with all kinds of cars and loads during twelve months of the year. If
the grade is sufficiently heavy to start a car during very cold weather, the
speed attained on such a grade during warm weather will be excessive,
and, on the other hand, if the grade is right to permit of safe handling
during summer, there will be times during winter when cars will not
start and the assistance of an engine becomes necessary.

A terminal worked by gravity solely during the greater part of the
year may, for all practical purposes, be properly termed a gravity yard,
that is, one wherein a car, or a number of cars coupled together will
start on releasing the brakes. To accomplish this, grades from 0.8 to
1.0 per cent, are necessary. In many instances even 1.0 per cent, grade
will not be sufficient to start a car, as for instance, when the journals
and packing in the boxes have become thoroughly chilled or when the
opposite extreme, an excessively hot box exists, or has recently existed.
The Columbus, Ohio, yards of the Pennsylvania Company (Fig. 44)
are assisted by gravity, and consist of a collection of units. The entire
yards were remodeled not long ago.

With the use of much lighter and smaller cars, and an arrangement
whereby brakemen can apply brakes from the side, gravity switching is in
more general and satisfactory use in Europe than in America. There

7

98 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

W\

North end of Bouthbound Dolloo yard— Chicago i Eastern Illinois.

Middle section of southbound Dolton yard — Chicago A Eastern lllin

Fig. 43.— South end of southbound Dolton yards— Chicago & Eastern Illinois.

*

»

CLASSIFICATION YARDS 99

they also use "shoes "to assist in stopping cars. These are chocks made to
fit over the rails in such a manner as to force the car wheels to run up the
inclined upper side of the slioe, from which tliey roll back again, releasing
the shoe. ."Chain drags" are used too, to catch runaway cars. This
is a large heavy chain located in the track in such a way that a switchman

FiQ. 45.— Goods switching yards, Crewe, England — Londoa 4 North- Western.

by throwing a lever causes the hook at one end of the chain to engage
with an axle under the car and the dragging of the chain gradually brings
the car to a standstill.

It is apparent that the first cost of a gravity yard is prohibitive
unless the lay-of-the-land happens to be quite nearly adapted to it

Fio. 46. — Switching horsea, England— Great Northern.

naturally. In 1873 the Edge Hill yard at Liverpool, England, (Fig. 25),
was designed and the work of construction begun. Its design is still con-
sidered one of the best for the prompt and economical distribution of
cars. It is commonly believed to be the first yard of any importance
constructed on the so-called "gridiron" plan for classifying cars by

100 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

gravity. It is also generally assumed that it was the first to use an
advanced method of switching on a large scale and to abandon the
old "push and pull" or "link-and-pin" process, for classifying cars.
It was not unduly costly, for nature had shaped its topography in a
wonderful way at the precise spot where the yard was needed.

A gravity yard was put in operation in 1846 at Dresden, Germany,
and is remarkable for its high cost of construction. At the upper end
a fill 70 ft. high was necessary. From an operating standpoint this
proved very satisfactory. It is about one and a half miles long and
half a mile wide. This Dresden yard is probably the one in which the
first gravity switching was done in Germany.

The conditions in England are different, principally by reason of
the small car and predominating fast freight service. The view of the
Crewe (London & North Western) "goods switching siding" (Fig. 45)
shows an interesting and pretty bit of railroad scenery. The ''shunting"
horses at work on the Great Northern (Fig. 46) are perhaps novel to
many, although horses were used to shunt cars in many places in this
country years ago before our cars grew in weight and capacity.

CHAPTER VI
OPERATION OF YARDS

Yard or terminal operation differs from most other administrative
work, in that the actual arrangement and execution is only its beginning.
The vastly greater and more important duty of the executive head con-
sists of constant vigilance and alertness in estimating the flow and
nature of traffic, and providing an easy channel for it. He must know what
the situation is every hour and minute of the day and night, not only as
to local conditions, but also as to approaching train and car movements,
and must know what is required to dispose of the traffic promptly and
certainly, while at the same time arranging for outward movements and
interior exchanges.

The yardmaster who handles a small yard with two or three yard
engines (the so-called "switchman yardmaster,*' who graduated from
the ranks and knows the work of "following an engine" from center
to circumference) and the yardmaster who handles a large terminal
covering many miles of territory and many combinations of yards, and
who works twenty or more engines, may both be men of ability, but of
very different caliber. Both must be men of the hour, men of initiative
and resourcefulness. As one prominent leader puts it, what is needed
is "action — consistent, insistent, persistent."

The position of yardmaster calls for administrative and executive ca-
pacity. He should be thoroughly familiar with all the details of the work
of his subordinates, but he can better devote his time in supervising
than in falling into the common error of attempting to do the work of
a switchman or clerk. The late Mr. E. H. Harriman's remarks about
a general manager aptly apply: "I want to see him with his feet on his
desk — thinking, thinking!" It is easy to fall into and follow a rut. Con-
stant agitation is necessary to prevent it. Things jar one's nerves to-
day; to-morrow the edges have been rounded off and the day after
nothing out of the ordinary is observed. Constant study and investiga-
tion is beneficial to determine whether:

New cross-overs are needed.

Existing cross-overs can be relocated or turned around to advantage.
Leads can be extended to keep engines off main tracks.
Ladders should be rearranged.
Scales may be more advantageously located.
Switches can be taken into interlocking systems.
Signals should be changed or relocated.

101

102 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Additional water-cranes should be erected or existing ones located to better
advantage.

Engines turned around may work better.
. Train make-up may be improved to save sw^itching somewhere.

Handling of cars may be reduced.

Too many cars are being handled in switching — in some cases unnecessarily
fouling main tracks or leads.

Unnecessary switching or.*' spotting" is being done at freight-houses, trans-
fers, and similar points.

Too many cars are handled in transfer movements, causing loss of time to
transfers and other trains or engines.

Houses and transfers are pulled oftener than necessary.

Industry tracks schedules enable work to be done at times when there is a
minimum of main track interference or conflict with other yard engines.

Local freights arrive and leave at hours when they can be handled to best
advantage.

Local freights can be run nights to relieve other conditions.

Delays are due to slow furnishing of supplies or inconvenient method of
getting them.

Time engines are coaled or watered is the most advantageous.

Hours for relieving engines are suitable.

Time is lost nights, or day or night in winter, by crew not getting in motion
promptly after engines' absence for any purpose.

There are other loose ends to be gathered up. Constant watching*
eternal vigilance, leads to prompt and economical service.

The operation of yards in relation to train service covers, broadly,
the handling of in and out car movements with all the accessories con-
nected with the care of engines and cabooses, such as engine-houses,
coaling plants, ash-pits, sand plants, water stations, repair shops and
supply depots. A general analysis of the features of receiving and for-
warding trains and handling of cars, disposes of the units of which an
inbound train is composed, in one or more of the following movements:

1. Engine to engine-house for return or continuance of trip.

2. Caboose to track provided, or to an outbound train.

3. Cars to be held for orders:

(a) Diversion (loads),

(b) Orders of car distributor (empties),

(c) For anticipated traffic (empties).

4. Cars to be forwarded in other trains.

5. Cars for connections.

6. Cars for industrial sidings. •

7. Cars containing package or l.c.l. (less than car load) freight for freight-
houses.

8. Cars containing bulk or c. 1. (car load) freight for team delivery tracks.

9. Empty cars to be held until needed.

10. Cars containing company material taking various points of delivery.

OPERATION OF YARDS 103

Many of these cars, before being placed as indicated above, must
be weighed, repaired or transferred, and frequently go through two or all
of these processes.

In assembling cars for outward movement the divisions, commonly
termed "classifications," are more varied and complicated because of
the large number of diverging routes and destinations to be considered.
These are governed largely by the capacity of the terminal to arrange
the trains without impeding the movement of traffic, and the capacity
of terminals (in advance or following) to care for their tributary terri-
tories. The following are some of the features entering into the assem-
bling of outward trains:

1. Destination of cars.

2. Character of contents — {e.g., live stock, perishable freight, time freight,
export freight, etc.).

3. Character of trains — {e.g., fast or symbol freight, through ordinary
freight, drop or switching locals, local or package freight trains).

4. The general policy of train classification.

Much can be said regarding the general policy of a railroad in ref-
erence to classification of trains. In making up local freights, the work
is usually done according to methods best adapted to the division. The
common method is to place cars in station order. The first cars to be
set oflf are put next to the engine, next the cars for the second station
and so on, to enable them to be set out with the least possible switch-
ing. In many cases, the merchandise cars (also known as platform,
peddler, break-bulk, l.c.l. or package cars) are kept on the rear for the
two-fold purpose of enabling the engine crew and part of the train crew
to set ofiF or take on the station cars, while the remainder of the train
crew loads or unloads the package freight from or to the freight-house
opposite the rear end of the train. The conductor, with his waybills,
and a part of the train crew, is then enabled to reach the platform cars
quickly from the caboose. Unfortunately it is more often the practice to
make up the local freights with no attention whatever to car arrangement,
usually because the yard is inadequate and hardly able to classify the
through freights properly, thus causing the most important trains (the
divisions locals) to be neglected.

If the cars picked up on the road are kept together in the train
according to destinations, it increases the road work and decreases the
yard work. On the other hand, if they are picked up indiscriminately,
the reverse is true. The classifications to be made at the initial point
of a through train and maintained at each successive " breaking-up "
point, are governed by the road's general policy and are, or should be,
dependent on the ability of each general or divisional terminal to do its
part of the work, or care for a part of the work a weaker terminal is

104 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

unable to perform; on the necessity for fast time; on the character of

the traflSc; and on the number of diverging routes, and connecting lines.

In very general terms, the policy may consist of one of two methods:

1. No classification is to be attempted until last yard of the road or division

is reached, where cars going beyond are separated.

2. Originating and all subsequent yards to arrange cars in groups for final

and intermediate deliveries.

If the railroad serves a few large cities, toward which traffic natu-
rally gravitates, the second method will entail more work than the
first. If the larger terminals are inadequate, the first method will
reduce the work in them, and correspondingly prevent delay or conges-
tion therein. At the same time it will undoubtedly add to the expense
and detention in the terminals in advance. In practice, a compromise
between the two methods will usually be found most economical and
expeditious. A fast or important freight train should be made up at its
originating point classified to final destination on the home road, and
it is not infrequently desirable to classify to a considerable distance
beyond on the line participating in the fast freight service. It is a very
good general proposition to make up as many straight trains (fast and
ordinary freight) to distant points as can be assembled within a reason-
able period of time, if the switching facilities at such originating points
are ample and sufficiently well balanced for this purpose. These trains
should be made up solid for points as far distant as practicable. A
general rule under which cars are held for a solid train for any point to
which there are sufficient cars to make such a train every 24 hours,
has worked out successfully on one road. In many instances freight
would be more expeditiously handled by holding 48 hours, or even
longer, as compared with the "potpourri'' method. Holding the cars
at the originating terminal for this purpose keeps them out of many
intermediate yards and saves extra handling. The remaining freight
may then be more advantageously moved by following out a line of final
classification under the first method. Actual mathematical analysis
will prove that when trains can be made up solid to final destinations, the
first method will actually reduce the switching of cars.

It is the purpose of this work to avoid expressing the views of one
individual alone and perferably to present both sides of every discussion
and the various opinions of those who have given them thought. An
interesting dissenter to the second method of classification is the Rail-
way-Age-Gazette, as follows:

''The matter of switching can easily be overdone. It sounds very well to
talk of lining up a train at a hump near Chicago so that it can run through solid
to New York. There are so many other terminals to be encountered en route
that this admirable theory seldom works out in practice. To begin several

OPERATION OF YARDS 105

hundred miles back to get cars in a certain order at -4 or B to save switching
at Z, the final terminal, is misleading. It is like sitting up all night to avoid
oversleeping in the morning. Perchance at B there is a car for E between two
care for Z. Why then switch out at B, when by the set out at E the switch has
made itself? Again, a car becoming bad order and switched out along the road
may save a switch at the terminal.

This view voices the opinion of a very respectable minority of practical
operating men, who claim that true economy delays the making of a switch {o
the last terminal possible. They would require each division to do its own
switching except in the case of certain fast trains handling special high class
freight. They claim that the ideal conditions justifying initial classification for
distant terminals are almost never realized in practice. The ruling grades on
various intermediate divisions are so different that it is seldom possible to
balance the motive power so as to maintain a train of uniform tonnage over all
divisions. Some of the officials go even further and claim that, as a rule, switch-
ing in station order for the next division is a fallacy born of the trainmen's
disinclination to extra exertion. The irresistible conclusion of their reasoning
is a minimum number of classification tracks at intermediate terminals. ''

It is customary to use worn-out or light engines for yard work.
Light engines are suitable for certain kinds of yard work, and in such
cases there can be no possible objection to them, but in many instances
their use in yard service is uneconomical. An engine in a classification
yard should be sufficiently powerful to handle as many cars as a road
engine brings in, and to start them quickly. It requires just as many
men to man and follow a sniall worn-out engine as a larger engine designed
for this class of service, and it usually burns as much coal, while the
larger engine will perform much more work. Two engines in a yard
will usually interfere with each other and, of course, also interfere
more with road engines than will one. It is questionable economy to
use in yard service road engines not adapted for quick starting and
stopping, and from which signals cannot readily be seen, fore and aft,
and from either side.

One of the first desiderata in a yard is the delivery of incoming
trains with regularity, and another of nearly equal importance is to
have outgoing trains start as soon as they are ready. This is almost
wholly within the province of .the chief train dispatcher and, barring
shortage or bad condition of locomotives, he may substantially carry
out the yardmaster's wishes; or, in edging over, one way or the other,
he may materially embarrass him. Thorough harmony and frequent
conference are necessary. A yardmaster dreads having a number of ordi-
nary freight trains coming in just ahead of a stock or other fast freight
train demanding preferred attention. In such matters the chief train
dispatcher can greatly assist the yardmaster by keeping the yard informed
as to the road conditions, and in turn, informing himself as to yard
conditions. The holding back of freight trains may on the other

106 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

hand be carried to excess and result in greater embarrassment if
they finally come in "bunched" faster than they can be comfortably
handled. There is a line to hew to in this as in many other things,
and it is the intelligent chief train dispatcher with a good supply of
common sense and discretion who finds it. When freight is heavy, and
weather conditions are unfavorable, the chief dispatcher in figuring
ahead, may keep the terminal well supplied with power for outward
movements by adjusting the tonnage rating of locomotives to weather
changes and by insisting on good dispatching. This will also do much
toward getting trains over the road promptly. If the locomotives are
overloaded or if the trains are neglected on the road — remaining too
long on sidings — neither the locomotives nor the men will be available
for early use when they get into the terminal. Unless there is an abun-
dance of motive power and men, a congestion may result because of
inability to start trains out when they are ready. The situation becomes
aggravated by the necessity for holding out approaching trains because
of such congestion. This in turn renders more locomotives and more
men unfit for service.

The chief dispatcher should watch the tonnage rating and make
readjustments as frequently as conditions make them necessary. The
government weather report should be had from the nearest signal station,
both the full detailed daily mail peports and the more frequent brief
telegraphic advices. Weather reports by wire must also be had from
designated railroad telegraph stations along the line at stated times, and
during threatened or existing storms at additional times. Close watch-
ing of these reports and other data will often keep a road open and going
where a little neglect would cause a blockade. A train must never be
permitted to become stalled in a snow storm if there is any possible
way to prevent it. The temperature reports sent at regular intervals
from the different stations are of great value.

Much may be accomplished by having everything in readiness at
all points — ^the decks should always be cleared for action. Enormous
delays occur in many yards made up, in the aggregate, of very small and
almost unnoticeable items. The failure or neglect to have switching
lists, instructions and other clerical matter in readiness for assistant
yardmastere or conductors going on duty, is more expensive than would
be supposed, because it holds up the work of an entire crew while the
conductor is getting instructions. It may be but 10 or 15 minutes, but
at an approximate cost of 6 cents a minute it means a loss of 60 or 90
cents. The composition of approaching trains should be known
in ample time to communicate the information to yard conductors
and others requiring it, so that they may be ready to take hold quickly
after these trains pull in. Time may be saved by arranging fixed signals to
tell enginemen of yard engines which moves are wanted, instead of

OPERATION OF YARDS 107

having them depend entirely on the hand signals of trainman. The
enginemen then need look only in one direction for signals. This is
especially adaptable to engines employed in hump switching.

Dela5's often ensue because car inspectors do not inspect trains and
couple up hose early enough to enable the trains to start on time. After
snow storms there may be delay in cleaning out yard switches, thus
preventing full use of the power and men. If repair tracks are awkwardly
located the time of switching the crippled cars may sometimes be changed
to reduce the interference with the forwarding of loaded cars. Signal
lights may be relocated or added to facilitate transmission of signals
and reduce liability of confusing them. Every added facility in the
way of office * conveniences, filing systems, record books, bill racks,
telephone and telegraph connections, assists in securing economical results.
On the arrival of a freight train, the yard clerk (sometimes called a
" checker" or "chalker'^) goes along one side of the cars with a switch-list
showing car numbers, initials, contents and destinations, checks off the seals
and notes their numbers and condition in the proper columns. In some
yards the clerk takes the card bills handed to him in a package, by the con-
ductor. The card for the first car is on top and the others are arranged
to follow in regular order. The cards are checked against the train and the
seal records noted and are afterward copied in a permanent record. In
his inspection, going down one side of the train and returning on the
other side, he also notes the condition of the doors. The cars are marked
on the switching side, so as to indicate to the yard conductor where the
cuts should be made and the tracks to which they should be switched.
The marking is done by carding or chalking. When a card is used it is
usually of a distinctive color and has a large plain letter or number
representing the final destination within the terminal, or the train and
division for outward movement. The card is tacked on the side of the
car near one end. When chalk is used, the number or letter or abbrevia-
tion for destination, and the date, are noted thus: "B 3/20," meaning
the destination or route for which "B" stands, and March 20. Chalk
is cheaper than talcum; is easier to mark with and more readily effaced
by rubbing or by rain. The permanence of marking is objectionable
because a number of marks on a car would be confusing.

The disposition of the power to the best advantage, with a system
for checking it; the knowlege that it is kept moving without making
false or unnecessary moves; that it is kept properly balanced; and that
it reaches the point where cars require movement; these are prime essen-
tials of successful and satisfactory operation. Regular engine schedules
should be maintained so far as practicable; but while every effort should
be made to maintain them, there should not be the slightest hesitancy
in discontinuing or readjusting them as conditions change and seem to
warrant. In many large terminals, a system of train dispatching by

108 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

the use of telegraph or telephone lines is in effect. A dispatcher may
be assigned to keep records of engine movements at the various reporting
stations and perform additional duties. He should follow up and de-
mand an explanation of apparent detentions. In one terminal a record
board is used instead of the ordinary train sheet. The board is ruled
in squares, with a peg hole in each square. Each yard engine is rep-
represented by a peg with the engine number on it. Horizontal lines
represent reporting stations; vertical lines half -hour divisions progressing
from left to right, there being 48 to represent a 24-hour period. The
arrangement is on the general plan of a time chart. As the engines
are reported they are moved to the corresponding peg hole, at the inter-
section of the horizontal line representing the reporting station and the
vertical line representing the nearest half-hour division to the time at
which the report is received. The peg remains in the hole until the next
report of the engine*s movement is received. The movements may be
copied on a train sheet for permanent record and subsequent study
by the yardmaster.

To work up a perfect set of yard engine schedules in a heavy and
complicated terminals, is a task of no mean dimensions. The road move-
ments, both in and out, must be met on one side, and on the other
the interior movements, which include the freight-house and transfer work*
and the placing of cars on private industry tracks, in engine-house, coal
trestle and team yards, all of which must be dove-tailed smoothly and
accurately. Each private industry track should be visited once in 24
hours on working days, and at about the same hour each day. If the
plant is working it should not be omitted. On the other hand, it
should not be attempted oftener, as other industrial plants may claim
discrimination unless similar service is given them, and this is usually
impracticable. In some instances more frequent switching is given for
operating convenience; it may be necessary to bring about a more
prompt release of cars at a time when cars are in demand.

The use of relief engines is advocated. This enables regular yard
shifts to continue work while the relief engine substitutes for those
requiring coal, sand, water, fires cleaned or light repairs. In some sec-
tions of the country the "eight-hour yards" are in vogue. Overtime
is not usually permitted in these and no time is allowed for meals, it
being the theory that the three shifts cover a 24-hour period without
intermission, a theory which may work out satisfactorily in a classifica-
tion yard, operated day and night every day in the year. It is uneconom-
ical and awkward in commercial yards where the work may be done by
an engine in 10 hours 1 day and where 12 hours or 14 hours are required
the next. The 8-hour arrangement as usually applied permits econom-
. ical work only in multiples of 8 — that is, 8, 16 or 24 hours because of
the prohibited overtime.

OPERATION OF YARDS 109

To get the best results, the power should be very carefully assigned
after the schedules have been mapped out. Light engines, with short
^vvheel base, should be used on curves of short radii or where struc-
tures are weak. Freight cars, coupled, may be moved around curves
of 150-ft. radius, (38 degrees), but engines of ordinary design will not
go around such curves. An ordinary road engine will go around a
curve of 318-ft. radius (18 degrees). By cutting away between engine
and tender to permit short turning, and separating cars by bar-couplings,
curves of 100-ft. radius (57.6 degrees) may be operated. The heavier
po^wer should be placed where tracks, bridges and curves will permit and
where heavy tractive power can be utilized to advantage.

The Edge Hill yard of the London & North Western, Liverpool,
England (built in 1873), was one of the first to use gravity, abandon-
ing the " push-and-puU " method and working on the gridiron plan. It
is to-day one of the most interesting and instructive car-handling ma-
chines. 2000 to 2500 cars ("waggons") come in every afternoon and
evening from the various docks, quays and depots around Liverpool.
From the "reception lines," near the summit, where the road engines
leave the cars, they are sorted by gravity into the "upper group" of
storage sidings, consisting of 24 parallel lines, each taking the cars for
a paiticular train. Just before a train is ready to leave, its cars are
dropped into one of the "departure lines" through two groups of short
tracks called "gridirons." In these short tracks the positions of the
cars are changed to station order. The entire work is done by gravity,
no power being applied at any point, the grade being sufficient to start
a car when its brakes are released. At the neck of each group of lines,
a "sand-drag" is arranged to stop run-away cars. The Edge Hill yard
is described in another chapter.

The plans of the Brunswick, Md. yards of the Baltimore & Ohio (Fig.
39, page 91) have been discussed. They have a capacity of 6500 cars
and handle upward of 2000 cars daily in each direction when business runs
heavy. The eastbound classification yards have 36 tracks, 18 in each,
using a central ladder scheme on each side, with nine tracks to a ladder.
An electro-pneumatic push button machine operates the switches. A
brakeman tags the cars as they come from the receiving yard to the
hump. For example, if a train pulls into the receiving yard with the
first 10 cars for Washington and the next 20 for Baltimore, a tag reading
" 10-4" is put on the front of the first 10 cars, indicating that the first 10
cars in the shift are to go on the Washington track in the classification
yard. The next 20 are tagged in a similar way for Baltimore. The outlet
from the classification yard is by double ladders through the ceriter ol
the yard and asingle ladder on each side, each ladder having nine s^witciies.
Trains from the northern half of the classification yard pull directly out
on the eastbound freight track.

no FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

The Potomac yard of the Washington Southern, at Alexandria,
Va., is a large, two-direction hump, in which about 1100 cars are received
and the same number forwarded daily under normal conditions. A plan
and description appears in Fig. 34, page 82. Twenty-seven " undis-
turbed" classifications are made northward, 26 southward; one track is
used for " mixed " classifications. The cars on the latter track must
be reclassified as the tracks in the southbound yard are insufficient
to enable the necessary 29 classifications to be made. Six engines are
worked nights and five during the day. Two engines work continuously
on the humps, with six car riders, a cutter, a conductor and four
switchers for each engine. About 20 per cent, of northbound and 50
per cent, of southbound cars are weighed.

The yard forces employed in the Chicago terminal district of the
Chicago & Northwestern include about 700 men. On a basis of 10
hours' service as an "equivalent engine day," 105 engines are worked
daily in the terminal territory. Of these, 60 work days and 45 nights.
This requires about 70 actual engines, including those in the shops at
any one time. The engine crew consists of an engineman, a fireman, with
three or sometimes four switchmen to each engine. There are 24 yard-
masters employed (including general yardmasters, yardmasters and
assistant yardmasters), 40 switch tenders and 80 yard clerks or markers.
In the 40th Avenue yard there are 34 engine crews, 17 working days
and 17 w;orking nights. Eight of the 16 transfer crews work out of
40th Avenue. The Wisconsin division yard force there is composed
of one general yardmaster, 11 yardmasters and assistant .yardmasters,
24 yard clerks, 4 train clerks and 8 switch tenders. This includes
both day and night forces. It does not include the office force (5 men)
of the trainmaster of freight terminals, whose office is in the former
40th Street depot shown on the map (page 93) at the junction of the
40th Avenue yard with the Galena division, nor the agent's force, which
includes 18 general clerks, whose whole time is taken up in billing out
the cars.

The tables on pages 112 and 113, compiled from the various details of
operation of yards, gathered by the Committee of the American Railway
Engineering Assocation, give some interesting features. It was with
much hesitancy that the column "Cost per car handled" was added,
because conditions and viewpoints vary so greatly that it may seem
unfair to well-designed and well-handled yards. The higher costs may
be indicative of close work. Or they may be due to a closer analysis
of the situation and the establishment of a basis which includes every
expense entering into yard operations, as well as a scrupulously correct
count of the number of cars handled.

In the Lake Shore's Elkhart and Collinwood yards, the number of
riders employed is dependent upon advices as to composition and number

OPERATION OF YARDS 111

of approaching trains. In other yards it is based upon the number of
cars passing over the hump during the working period of the day. In
the Altoona yard of Pennsylvania a record was kept to determine
the number of cars and cuts each rider was capable of riding for the
entire day; it being placed at about 28 cuts in 12 hours. The number
of riders to be assigned to each hump is then arived at. In the Reading,
yard at Rutherford, Pa., 16 or 17 cuts are classified in from 5 to 7
minutes. If there are more cuts in a train the work has to await the
return of the riders. In some instances, therefore, trains are classified
at upward of 400 cars an hour, for very short periods. The East St.
Louis yards assign the riders from a forecast of business given to the
general yardmaster.

In weighing cars the general practice is to uncouple them, whether
they are weighed while running over the scales on the descending side
of a hump or on a separate track for that purpose. In a few cases
they are weighed without uncoupling. Riders usually walk back to the
humps, an engine being run down to meet them if there is likely to be
a wait. In a few cases provision is made for returning them more quickly.
At Altoona, a pick-up car, handled by a small engine, operates on a track
for that purpose, running alongside the extreme north side of the east-
bound yard. It would be preferable if this track ran in the center
of the yard, but it would probably interfere with the switching work.
In the Conway (Penna.) yard, a pusher engine is used to shove out
tracks in the classification yard and also carries riders back. In a few
other yards electric trolley cars are used to return the riders. Current
is obtained from a nearby company power-house.

Ladder track switches leading into the body tracks of classification
yards are usually thrown by hand and it will be seen from the table
that one man usually covers from 8 to 10 switches. In the Altoona yards
they are operated by direct move electro-pneumatic power controlled from
the tower by a push-button machine. In the Enola yards (P.R.R.),
one man at each hump operates the switches by compressed air.

The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern uses a heavy type of locomotive
(135 tons) to push cars over the humps at Collinwood. Some roads use
two engines. The Chicago, Indianna & Southern at Gibson, Ind., uses an
engine weighing 270,000 lb. on drivers. The Norfolk & Western at
Bluefield, W. Va., uses a 90-ton engine — two engines in emergencies.

In switching over a hump, a uniform speed of about 2 miles per
hour should be maintained without a stop, until all the riders are taken
up. If cars do not run freely a second engine, equipped for poling,
may be placed alongside the ladder and used to good advantage in
starting stopped cars and keeping switches and entrances to body tracks
open. With low temperature or during a heavy snow storm, this will
greatly aid the movement.

112

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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A record in a number of hump yards shows that the time consumed
in switching is from one-fourth to one-third of the total time; and the
time in disposing of one car ranges from 54 to 111 seconds, depending
largely on the distance of the plassification yard switches from the
hump, the rate of grade, the kind of cars and lading, and weather
conditions.

One road operating many hump yards has a rule that the speed at
impact between cars must not exceed 2 miles an hour, and that in
classifying, cars must be ridden home when necessary to obtain this
result.

The Pennsylvania recently installed two electric search-lights in its
Harrisburg classification yards, to facilitate the distribution of cars
in incoming trains. The westbound classification yard at Altoona has
one very powerful electric search-light which affords adequate illumina-
tion at the extreme end of the longest classification track. The light
is operated from the tower and its rays are directed with the movement
of traffic and therefore on the back of the car riders.

CHAPTER VII
THE YARDMASTER

The yardmaster leads an eventful life. Receiving, sorting and
dispatching large numbers of small parcels without error require alert-
ness and accuracy. The yardmaster must have these qualities, but
when, for parcels, we substitute huge, complicated vehicles, occasionally
broken and always breakable, coming in irregular flow and numbered
by thousands, the yardmaster needs to be something more than a parcel-
handler. Every unusual incident hinders him, nothing helps him, for
his work is movement, his danger is blockade. It is quite unlike the
work of the engineman, because the yardmaster cannot make the move-
ment approximate uniformity, nor can he personally perform the work;
he must depend upon fallible mankind. Gars come to him in bunches
to be unloaded, or sorted into new trains, or to be repaired and sent
forward — for his bailiwick is simply a part of the main line movement,
slightly expanded for his purposes of breaking up and marshalling
trains.

A good yard is as nothing if not kept in condition to perform prop-
erly the service required of it. A blockaded yard means a blocked
road, an absolutely useless, expensive tool; and this can be brought
about in a day, not necessarily by doing the wrong thing, but by the
yardmaster not doing enough. In times of emergency, to err on the
side of safety does not mean, as in many other kinds of work, to watch
and wait. Delay is often fatal. The yardmaster must do something
vigorously, even if it be far from the best thing, and he must keep on
going without admitting, for a moment, an impossibility. The ideal
man for this work should have an aptitude and ingenuity for meeting
small and great emergencies, quite beyond the ability to follow rules.
He must be resourceful. In a big terminal the difference in value be-
tween a good yardmaster and a poor one may amount to a president's
salary.

Many yardmasters are retained because they are not well watched.
Their highly expensive operations maj'^ be lower than those of other
yards, although the other yards may be handled more successfully. Appar-
ent success in one yard may be due to congestion existing in other more
difficult or crowded yards which are attracting attention, or to the erron-
eous assumption that yards not complained of are well handled.

The yardmaster who is competent to handle a difficult situation is
not always estimated at his full value. This may be due to superficial

115

116 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

criticism by chief clerks, and others in the offices of the superintendent
or general superintendent who may be without practical experience.
Their superiors are busy and the yardmaster may lack the time or
educational training necessary to convince. An awkward location,
want of facilities, unadaptable motive power, insufficient wages paid to
secure competent or reliable help, bad make-up of trains approaching
the yard, and requirements as to make-up of outgoing trains — ^these are
among the conditions that occasionally give the good yardmaster a bad
name.

The question was asked a well-known transportation officer: "What
kind of a man does it require to satisfactorily run a big yard?" The
reply was " The kind of a man who can run this United States Govern-
ment." The ability to* do things can hardly be overestimated. It is
better to risk censure for doing something than for doing nothing.
When a washout, snow-blockade or other obstruction closes the line
and cuts oflf communication, it is gratifying to discover afterward that
somebody took the responsibility to start relief trains and get things
moving — ^that . somebody did something. There are men of the other
stamp who do nothing unless directed and who have to be told everything
and then do but a part of what they are required to do. They are com-
parable with the engineman who wires the dispatcher that his engine is
disabled and asks what he shall do about it.

The greatest difficulty in securing competent help and in honest,
capable workers securing positions of trust, exists in the very limited
number of persons who may be known intimately by anyone employing
others in positions of responsibility. Many are in need of faithful and
efficient help ; many deserving workers need employment. While awaiting
a train at a point where it stopped to take on a dining-car at the foot
of an Allegheny Mountain grade one cold winter's morning, the writer
was impressed with this fact in observing the actions of a man known
as "Jim" to his fellow-workers. Jim was the pumper at a salary of
$45 per month. His regular duty was to run the pump and look after
the unloading of coal for use on the helping engines. One of the helping
engines took the dining-car from a siding and brought it across the two
main tracks to attach it to the rear of the eastbound passenger train.
Jim left his pump, made the couplings between the engine and dining-
car, gave signals and went up into the interlocking tower several times
to coach the relief signalman who had not been there very long and
did not understand the levers. The engineman and fireman made no
move to do anything outside of their regular work; the signalman was
incompetent to do his own work and made no move outside of that.
Jim alone did things and kept everything going. He was a young man
who had worked at that place and in that same position for years and was
never heard from because he did things right and corrected mistakes of

THE YARDMASTER 117

others. The engineman, the fireman, and the signalman, doubtless^
called on the division officers frequently to explain delays, failures or to
present "grievances." Jim was worth more than all of the others, but
he was kept out of the more responsible and remunerative position he
deserved because the officers did not know him intimately or lacked the
moral courage to change anything at the little mountain station that
might cause them some slight, temporary inconvenience.

To gain and hold the support of his men the yardmaster must have
their confidence and respect. This will be given him if he is a man of
good character and knows his business. Respect is not accorded a
man who is incompetent. In manner he should be quiet and unassum-
ing, but in conduct just and firm. He is assumed to have been one of
the men with whom he works. He should continue to associate with
them sufficiently to know them thoroughly, while preserving the necessary
amount of dignity to prevent even an intimation of favoritism.

A successful yardmaster in a difficult yard had been advanced from
the position of freight conductor. While in charge of a train he had
the draft timbers pulled out of the front end of a refrigerator car loaded
with fresh meat. It was impossible to chain up or replace the drawhead.
Trains were not frequent, it was a long distance to the terminal and
shops, and the business was highly competitive. The conductor made
his plans and immediate action followed. He pushed the car and part
of his train back to the next spur track in the rear. The brake rigging
was disconnected, one truck of the car was run down, the main track
and the other truck on the spur. The trucks were worked back in this
way until the car body stood at right angles to the main track. The
truck on the main track was then worked forward. This turned the
car, end for end, after which it was coupled to the rear of the train and
moved to its destination. That this man was selected from a large
number of employees to fill the responsible position of yardmaster in a
heavy terminal does not seem surprising. The way in which the trouble
was met and overcome is characteristic of the man who is full of
resourcefulness and prepared to meet any emergency.

Because yard- and roadmen are usually kept in separate classes by
wage schedules and seniority lists, and because they perform a different
character of work, a road brakeman seldom makes a good switchman and,
as a rule, a road conductor makes a poor yardmaster. Yardmen, by
reason of their training, fill the position better. A road engineman is
usually of little use on a yard engine. Road- and yardmen are sometimes
used interchangeably, and the work is done, yet few managers know the
ultimate cost of this method..

When the position of yardmaster has been satisfactorily filled things
move smoothly. When or how this is done is not apparent to the
casual observer. Good yardmasters do things. They do not usually

118 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

tell much about what was done or the manner in which it was done.
This is unfortunate because many of their "shop kinks" are valuable
and they would make interesting and instructive reading. In numerous
details they make themselves felt and only their close associates know
how it was done. There was a case not long ago where a yardmaster
who knew his business supplanted another who was supposed to be a
first-class yardmaster and whose yard was being handled without criticism.
It was not so badly congested nor as expensively handled as some others.
The new yardmaster decided there were more men accompanying the
engines than seemed necessary. It was explained to him that cui;ves
and certain obstructions made it necessary to have one man to pass
or repeat signals. He had several of the engines turned around enabling
the engineman to take signals direct. In this manner without detriment
to service, he was able to take one brakeman off each of five engines.
As these men were paid $2.40 per day this resulted in a saving of $12 per
day or $4380 per year. The reader will probably ask why it did not
occur to some one to make this slight and insignificant change by which
the new yardmaster saved double his salary. These little things which
should be apparent to everyone are the ones which often pass unnoticed.

In another case an engine was compelled to work headed toward
a coal-storage plant on the approach grade, placing the engineman on
the outside of a curve and on the side opposite that from which the
switching was done. It was necessary to repeat signals through the
fireman, and, as a result, detentions and accidents occurred. At an
expense of a few dollars the engine was made left-handed, that is to say,
the throttle, reverse lever, air-brake valve, etc., were placed on the
left or the fireman's side. The engineman, thereafter, rode on the left
side and took the signals direct. The saving of one brakeman's wages
was effected and the amount lost in accidents materially reduced. A
simple move and one anybody could have made, yet nobody thought of it.

In many instances money may be saved by connecting up near-by
switches to distant levers through the use of pipe lines, enabling one
switch-tender to cover the work of two or more. The use of spring
switches on inside tracks where movements are normally in one direction,
has already been referred to (Chapter IV,) and is among the many
devices that may be utilized to increase efficiency and reduce operating
costs.

A superintendent whose engines ran into and were turned in the
terminal at one end of the adjoining superintendent's division, com-
plained bitterly of the detention to his engines in the terminal. The
yardmaster spent much time in explaining why the engines could not
be returned more promptly and in this way the stereotyped complaints
and explanations mechanically followed each other. The superintendent
in charge of the terminal, tired of this unproductive work, and made

THEIYARDM ASTER 119

an investigation in person. After a careful analysis he found that
about one-half of the cars in the trains coming in with engines to be
turned were destined to the next division terminal beyond, while about
the same number of engines that were not to be turned had about half
their cars for the first terminal. In other words the through and " turn-
back" trains and their engines were being badly delayed because of the
switching work made necessary by the neglect of the yardmaster at the
last division terminal back, and for which the complaining superintendent
was responsible. There is nothing to be said in defense of the yardmaster
who had not the intelligence or interest in his work to inform himself as
to existing conditions instead of writing letters explaining his own short-
comings. This may serve to illustrate the difference between two types
of yardmasters — ^the broad gage and the narrow gage. This yardmaster
worked in a rut and seemed unable to lift himself out of it without
assistance.

While in charge of a busy terminal yard where 12 or 14 switching
engines were working at one time the writer devised a plan to avoid the
loss of time by each engine and crew of from five to seven men while
the engine was run to and from the engine-house to have fires cleaned, and
take coal, water and sand, or to have minor repairs made. Delays on these
accounts usually occur when the engine is most needed, and they are a
source of annoyance to the yardmaster and expense to the company. A
relief engine was put in service, manned by a hostler and a helper. It
started out in the morning following a regular schedule in going to one
engine, taking it back to the ash-pit while leaving the relief engine for the
regular crew to work with, returning the yard engine to its crew and then
moving on to relieve the next engine. One engine and crew were dis-
pensed with in this way and the remaining engines and crews were kept
moving continuously at the cost of one hostler and helper. This plan
is still carried out in the yard referred to.

The writer was once told by a yardmaster in a busy switching yard
where much placing of cars had to be done for local industries on crooked
and steep-grade tracks, that in the face of enormous opposition he reduced
the number of men in each switching crew by one man. It was claimed
that the work could not possibly be done and that accidents would in-
crease in number and extent. After a test of 1 year his accident account
was found to have been reduced 30 per cent., while an increased amount
of business was handled without additional engines. The accuracy of
these figures is not vouched for, although there is no reason to question
his statement. One can readily see how such a result might be attained.
In a measure it reflects on the discipline of the yard under the previous
management. This is in line with the reasons given by the roads oper-
ating wide fire-box engines as to why an additional man should not be
placed on engines to take the engineman's place in case he dies of heart

120 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

disease. They argued that instead of securing additonal safety the
opposite would probably result, as the two men would spend much
of the time "visiting" and nobody would be on the look-out.

In a certain yard an engine was required to take care of onei of the
freight-houses and as well do certain yard work in a large city and at the
near-by coal pockets. During the fall and winter months when general
freight required much attention the coal would run heavier and it re-
quired several hours' work of the engine each morning to push the loaded
coal cars to the foot of the approach to the coal trestle. They were then
hauled to the top by a cable on a drum, operated by a stationary
engine. From the top of the incline the loaded cars were dropped
by gravity over the various pockets and then by gravity over a switch-
back arrangement to the empty-car track, on which they were returned
'to a track alongside the starting track. This method had been followed
for years; in fact since the coal pier was built. It had never occurred to
anyone that an improvement could be made. The yard engine's
inability to do all its work and the fact that the freight platform was
being neglected, notwithstanding the men worked overtime, did not
start a train of thought an)rwhere. But when an old hoisting engine,
found in one of the scrap piles, was connected up to the stationary engine
boiler at the foot of the incline, at a total expense of not exceeding $100,
30 or more loaded coal cars, or enough for the heaviest day's work, were
placed on the approach tracks at one operation, and from thence were
reached by a cable and drawn, by the stationary engine, to the foot of the
incline. No additional men were needed at the coal pier and several
hours' time was saved each day for the busy yard engine, a saving am-
unting to more than S200 a month.

Close scrutiny of the work at a transfer station, a manufacturing
plant, a shop yard or other "side issue" may develop a feasible and
advantageous change in the manner of doing it, A consolidation with
other work will sometimes make possible a saving of half a day's work
for an engine. A slight change in the track lay-out or the addition of a
switch or two in the yard of some private industry may make possible
a reduction in engine service. Because a reliable conductor has been
following up the work in a district for years it must not be assumed
that he would see all the possibilities for improvement. He may be
conscientious enough to tell about it if he saw it; he is nevertheless
liable to fall into and remain in a rut. Men are creatures of habit. A
condition may to-day be noted in yard operating that seems, and is, en-
tirely irregular or improper. For some reason it cannot be got at imme-
diately and is permitted to exist for a time. After seeing it day by day for
some weeks it begins to grate less harshly on the nerves and after
awhile does not attract one's attention. This is something to be avoided.
It becomes a habit or custom to do yard switching at outlying points

THE YARDMASTER 121

at a certain time of day. It may be done more advantageously at some
other time. A different hour may benefit the work at another point.

Frequent interviews with the managers of manufacturing plants and
other industries req uiring special switching service, will often suggest a plan
whereby work may be cut out to the mutual benefit of both corporations.
Aside from this, however, such interviews usually do good by enabling
the yardmaster to keep in close touch with the road's patrons and learn
of objections to, or irregularities in, the method of doing switching before
they assume the proportions of a formal complaint. The manager of an
industry is encouraged to state his wants direct to the yardmaster,
thereby securing the quickest and most satisfactory result, and he may
give the yardmaster valuable suggestions.

The congested or blocked yard will happen occasionally. No general
plan of action can be formulated to successfully cope with this trouble.
The first attention should be directed to the inward movement with a
view to stopping or reducing it. The demands and threats of shippers
and the traffic officers should not be permitted to influence other action;
they themselves will be the greatest sufferers if heroic measures are not
adopted and faithfully executed. Switching room is as e^ential in a
yard as is an open main track for train movements. The incoming
freight may be stopped by placing a general embargo, by sidetracking
on the home road, or in such other manner as may be determined under
the conditions existing. After the disease has been diagnosed its cause
should be removed. If this is lack of power or improper handling of
power on a connecting division, that difficulty needs attention. A
foreign connecting road may not be moving its cars because of indifference
or inability; a large industry may not be unloading promptly or may be
receiving more material than it can handle. Be that as it may, the cause
of the blockade should be quickly eliminated. Sufficient forces may not
be provided to take out as many cars as are brought in. This can result
in but one thing, and it is only a question of time when the blockade is on.
The blockade troubles may be aggravated by the action of a weak
yardmaster who is overawed by a chief train-dispatcher and permits one
of his main tracks to be blocked. After this track is filled — ^whether a
single track or one of two double tracks — ^the yard is in worse condition
than it was before. It has the additional handicap of reduced switching-
room and increased attention necessary on the part of the organization
to care for main-line trains, while it is in no better shape in the matter of
moving cars. When confronted with a blocked yard, no attempt should
be made to single out preferred or special delivery cars on urgent requests
from anybody. As this stand is taken solely in the company^s interest
and for the benefit of its patrons, it should be indorsed by everybody
from the trainmaster to the president. If the congestion is serious,
the efforts of the yardmaster to single out a few cars scattered here and

122 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

there, instead of taking all in their turn, may cause the condition to
continue for months, or until relieved by a gradual reduction in business
handled. If, on the other hand, he ignores the special or preferred car
orders he may succeed in relieving the blockade in a comparatively short
time. It requires some nerve on the part of a freight agent to decline to
order a car placed immediately for a consignee who presents a bill-of-
lading showing that it is already some two weeks overdue, and who can
point to his car standing on a certain track in the yard, accompanying
his request with harrowing tales of suffering, loss of business, prospective
damage claims, etc. It requires even more nerve for the higher traffic or
operating officers to maintain the same position. The point that is not
usually explained and which cannot always be accurately demonstrated
is that in all probability 99 cars are delayed as a result of giving, or
attempting to give, preferred attention to one car.

The evil of the "hold car" is another obstacle in the way of opening
a blocked yard. Where few hold cars are handled, or where ample
facilities are provided to care for them, the evil may not be a serious one;
other things being equal, the annoyance becomes more far-reaching as
the number.of hold cars increases and the average time of enforced deten-
tion lengthens. While it is generally assumed that the term " hold cars "
embraces only sucji as are detained for traffic reasons, cars held for any
purpose, as awaiting entrance to shops, empties held for loads or orders
for distribution, embargoed cars, etc., will produce the same effect.

The usual move made, when a blockade threatens, is to put away
trains or cars in any tracks that may be convenient in order to tide over
the difficulty temporarily without regard to the hereafter. These tracks
may be convenient to get into but are usually difficult to get out of.
The cars are then overlooked and lost; in any event they cause more
trouble afterward by reason of their getting into the wrong place. These
and other temporary makeshifts should be avoided. A well-regulated
yard, like a well-ordered house, has a place for everything, and every-
thing should be kept in its place. To vary from this practice is sure to
cause trouble. The car that finds its way into the wrong and unusual
track is a trouble-breeder, and will probably cause enough loss of the
time of engines and men to handle several hundred cars that were run
into the right tracks.

The yardmaster who, in person or through his assistants, keeps a close
check on the cars standing last on single end tracks — ^that is to say, the
cars farthest from the switch or connected end of the track — and does
not permit them to stagnate, will ordinarily keep things moving. Double-
end tracks seldom have "ancient" cars on them. When they do, it is
an indication of extreme indifference of employees or inadequacy of
facilities.

There is no detail in handling which is more exasperating than the

THE YARDMASTER 123

attempt to locate responsibility for accidents when engines back or push
cars and permit them to strike too hard. The engineman usually sees no
stop signal; the trainmen gave it in ample time but it was not obeyed.
An excellent rule is one requiring an engineman to consider the disappear-
ance of hand signals when pushing cars ahead of engine as a stop signal.
This practice will avoid many controversies.

The yardmaster, like the general in command of an army, must, above
all things, retain his composure and control his temper. The worst
effect of his failure to do this is in its result in the work of his subordinates.
" Like master like man." Little can be expected of men during disturb-
ing times when they see their leader become " rattled " and going about in
an excited manner talking and gesticulating wildly. The habit of sup-
pressing any visible signs of emotion or chagrin may be difficult to acquire,
but it is one that should be cultivated.

The yardmaster in charge of a terminal should have the authority to
make minor changes and not be compelled to go to someone higher in
authority for approval of them. If he is not competent to exercise this
authority he is not the man for the position, but if he is capable he may
be so handicapped by instructions regarding details, as to render his
administration a failure. The nature of the work often requires quick,
intelligent and positive action. If more engines are needed, or additional
men with certain engines, he should put them on and not be required to
waste emergency time in asking authority to do so and making explana-
tions. Conditions frequently arise where a delay of a few hours or even a
few minutes may cost much more than the expense of preventing it.
A sluggish road movement may be followed suddenly by a heavy run
into the terminal. A derailment in the terminal may create a condition
necessitating help in a certain district, to enable other parts of the
machinery of the terminal to keep up speed. Failure to supply the
necessary help with men or engines may cause a complete cessation of
work through the clogging of one part. The yardmaster should be al-
lowed to act in emergencies and explain later. If he has not the capacity,
he should be gotten rid of.

A certain terminal was badly congested in the early winter, through
a penny-wise, pound-foolish policy. On account of the constant heavy
run of freight this terminal was not cleared until the following spring
when there was a considerable decrease in the freight movement. In this
case the yardmaster and the trainmaster were wide-awake. They had
fully appreciated the situation and anticipated the condition approaching
them, but were not empowered to act. For every dollar they wanted to
spend to keep things moving, the company afterward spent five-hundred.
In this were included heavy claims paid for freight damage by detention.

The reader doubtless knows of similar instances; in any event, he
has read of many cases in the newspapers during the last few years, of

124 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

congestions in big terminals, that seem to indicate incompetent terminal
managers. It is convenient to charge it up, in the newspapers, to " ab-
normally heavy traffic." Somebody should have seen it coming and
received it with guns loaded.

The manager of the terminal, the yardmaster, must^have his organi-
zation in such shape as to require but a small proportion of his time to
be spent indoors. He should have a free hand to come and go at will,
and occupy his mind with the larger and broader proposition while not
overlooking the smaller. It is his duty, and during the season when his
yard is heavily taxed, his salvation to know all he can possibly learn in
advance of heavy and unusual train movements, to prevent his being
caught in a state of unpreparedness. As to how far ahead he should look
for heavy traffic movements, he should look as far as he can see and
farther. This Hibernicism means that he should get information from
those who have the means of knowing more than he does of the probable
amount of freight traffic to be handled. The men at the head of the
traffic department are always well informed on these matters. Their
representatives are scattered over all parts of the country and are
required to made reports to the general officers, in whose offices it is
conveniently tabulated. Frequent conferences with the traffic officers
should secure much information as ta amount, kind and direction of
anticipated traffic. While something of this kind is usually done, the
writer knows of no road where it is gone into as thoroughly as it should be.

The yardmaster should know when his organization is perfectly
balanced and keep it so by making the necessary adjustments as needed.
The terminal system or "cluster" is usually divided into sub-yards or
districts. It is the practice to put one or more engines into each district.
Satisfactory service follows when an engine, with its crew, is kept in the
same work. Because of the comfortable, easy working of this method, an
engine is often continued in its district, although the business may have
decreased one-half, or the engine in the classification yard may be unable
to keep up with its work, whUe the engine in the shop-yard, or at the
transfer platform may have enough spare time to assist the former.
Sometimes the work may be facilitated and the necessity for additional
engines obviated by adding one or more car-checkers, brakemen, switch-
tenders or car-riders. It can be readily figured out how many men may
be added before reaching the cost of an engine and its crew.

Through the follies of red-tape or the employment of men in whom
no confidence is felt, it is occasionally left to the yardmaster to add
engines and crews, as he deems necessary, while to get an additional car-
checker he is compelled to go to Rome and back again. He has to make
out an application which passes through the hands and requires the
approval in turn of the trainmaster, the superintendent, the superintend-
ent of transportation, the general superintendent, the general manager

THE YARDMASTER 125

and in some cases finally — after passing one or more vice-presidents or
assistants or assistants to — ^reaches the president. After all approvals
have been regularly affixed, the return trip is made through the same
channels. This because the car-checker comes under the head of " fixed
force." By the time the yardmaster gets his authority for the employ-
ment of the car-checker the necessity for the additional help may have
passed. It is therefore no cause for wonder if instead of asking for the
assistance of the man to tide him over the impending crisis of a heavy
run of freight, or of bad weather tomorrow or possibly to-night, or even
to-day, he calls for the engine with its five or six men. He adds an
expense of something like $25 instead of $2 or $2.50.

This preponderence of machinery works loss in another direction: A
yardmaster knows he can dispense with the service of one or more clerks,
checkers, switch-tenders or others of the " fixed force " as the business eases
off, in the spring presumably, but that he will again require this help in the
autumn, and probably on short notice. He has also learned from
experience that it will take a long time to get his applications through.
It is not surprising then that he makes up his mind that " a bird in the
hand is worth two in the bush," so he keeps the useless men on the pay
roll all summer.

Much interest was manifested in a recent discussion on 'Heam work
in railroading." Team work is nowhere more needed than in a railroad
terminal. The most capable yardmaster cannot succeed without the
co-operation of his fellow workers. The spirit of "the company for all;
all for the company" is as essential to the success of a railroad as the
rails upon which its traffic moves. Organization, co-ordination, and
system are indispensible to efficient terminal operation.

Abraham Lincoln said:

" When people saw Stephen and Franklin and Roger and James, each working
independently, as they proclaimed, turning out mortised timbers which fitted
perfectly together to complete the framework of a house, with not a stick wanting
and not a stick superfluous, it was natural to conclude that Stephen and Franklin
and Roger and James were operating according to a common plan."

CHAPTER VlJl
MANAGEMEM^ AND DISCIPLINE

Among the many perplexing problems of railroad management, none
are more important or more difficult to solve satisfactorily than those of
organization and discipline. One has but to note the many forms
of organization and methods of discipline on American and foreign rail-
roads to see how authorities differ in their estimate of the essential or
desirable. On one point, however, there is little difference of opinion.
All agree that the sine qua non of discipline is constant and unremitting
vigilance on the part of those charged with the duty of supervision. No
system will take the place of it; no system will succeed without it.

It is not the purpose of this book to deal with the moot questions of
organization, that is, to go into the arguments for and against the divi-
sional type or the departmental type. The Pennsylvania road is the
best example of the divisional plan; the New York Central is a good
example of the departmental plan. On the Pennsylvania the operating
unit is the division, and the division superintendent is in complete charge
of all its operating activities. Not only does he control station operation
and train movement, but to him report the division officers of the main-
tenance of way and maintenance of equipment departments, except in
technical questions of design and standard practice which are decided by
staff officers reporting to the higher operating officers. Thus, the super-
intendent is supreme on his division. Under the departmental plan,
the operating unit is the department. The division superintendent has
direct control only over the transportation department — the operation
of stations, yards and trains — and has no jurisdiction over the mainte-
nance of roadway and the maintenance of equipment. In charge of the
roadway, the division engineer reports to a chief engineer instead of to
the superintendent; in charge of motive power and car maintenance, the
division master mechanic reports direct to the superintendent of motive
power. The lines of authority and responsibility under the departmental
plan do not converge short of the general manager; under the divisional
plan, they converge in the division superintendent.

The departmental form of organization has its highest development in
England, and it may be said to be the general plan for all railways outside
of the United States. Yet it can hardly be said that American railroads
are typically of the divisional type. Many cling to the departmental
form, but the tendency is strongly toward the divisional. Several roads
have a type of organization which is neither one nor the other. The

126

MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE 127

Santa Fe, for instance, gives its superintendents jurisdiction over track,
but leaves the maintenance of equipment to the master mechanics and the
higher officers of the motive-power department. The Frisco Lines have
recently changed from an organization of that type to the straight divi-
sional plan. On the New York Central, the tendency is to strengthen
the superintendent by giving him more voice in affairs of maintenance,
but his authority is not definite nor indicated by the organization chart.

The most recent development in railroad organization is the adoption
of Major Charles DeLano Hine's "Unit System" by the Harriman
Lines. It was first made effective in 1908 on a few divisions of the
Union Pacific and has gradually been introduced on every division of
all the 18,600 miles of the Harriman Lines, with their 80,000 employees.
It is a high development of the divisional plan and the "unit" of
authority is the division superintendent.

The Unit System can best be described by quoting from Major
Hine's writings on the subject. Touching first on some of the defects
in the common form of organization he says:

"The most difficult task in any organization of human endeavor, is to cor-
relate the activities of the workers on the outside with the necessary requirements
of correspondence, records and accounting on the inside. The artisan in the
shop, the traveling salesman on the road, the soldier in the field, the sailor at sea,
the railway man on the line, all have their troubles with the man in the office.
When the inside man knows the outside game at first hand such differences in
points of view are minimized, friction avoided and therefore money saved.
Railway operation is the most exacting of human tasks. Like the conduct of a
household, a farm, a hotel or ship, it is a continuous performance. Unlike those
exacting occupations, it must maintain its own communications over hundreds
or thousands of miles of territory. So complex is its administration that chances
should not be taken of losing money through half-baked decisions of partially
trained office occupants. Most railway officials flatter themselves that when on
the line they maintain a grasp on the office, yet every hour in their absence action
must be taken on matters which, apparently trivial in themselves, have far-
reaching results. This statement is not a reflection upon the splendid ability
and earnestness of railway officers; it is merely a recognition of the fact that a
man can be in only one place at a time; that there are only 24 hours in the day
and only 365 days in the year. The salary of one officer is negligible as a per-
centage of the operating cost of the average unit. Accordingly the system
insists that the second best man of the unit, with practical outside training, shall
stay at headquarters and sit on the lid. In some cases it has been found neces-
sary to appoint another official to perform the previous outside duties of the
senior assistant. In other cases it has been found that the outside work could be

divided up among other members of the staff A railway harnesses

the forces of nature, including its divinely human elements, for one purpose — the
manufacture and sale of an intangible commodity — transportation. The more
closely interwoven the constituent parts of production, the more efficient and

128 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

economical should be the output. When weaknesses develop, when education is
needed as to the increased importance of a given element, the remedy is not
necessarily the creation of a separate department."

Major Hine then explains his remedy. Briefly it is to consolidate
all the subordinate offices on the division with that of the superintend-
ent; substitute an experienced outside man for the chief clerk to
represent the superintendent when the latter is on the road; and break-
down departmental lines by abolishing the titles of the trainmaster,
master mechanic, division engineer, road foreman of engines, chief train-
dispatcher and division storekeeper and in each case substituting the
indistinctive title of " assistant superintendent, " giving each officer
equal authority in all departments but assigning each to his former
specialized work as his prime duty. The underlying principle is to
broaden these men out beyond their departmental limitation and
afford them a training which will fit them better for promotion to posi-
tions of greater responsibility. The system forces men to assume re-
sponsibility and as Major Hine tersely puts it, by so much increases the
protection to the company's interests. More is heard about 'this division'

and 'the company' and less and less about 'my department'

* 'Formerly, office- work was grouped around officials. This resulted in
petty principalities and bureaucratic administration. By tearing down
some office partitions there were razed those figurative department walls
which so often operate to keep in the man who is trying to keep the other
fellow out. Under the new conception the work is grouped by classes.
The technical term among business experts is 'the concentration and co-
ordination of routine and related processes.' "

The methods of discipline in effect on American railways may be
summarized under three headings:

(1) Discipline by suspension from duty with loss of pay.

(2) Discipline by record — the Brown system.

(3) Discipline by both actual and record suspension — a com-

bination of (1) and (2).

Under all three plans, certain capital offenses call for summary
dismissal from the service.

Mr. George R. Brown, while General Superintendent of the Fall
Brook Railroad, nearly 30 years ago formulated and applied what is
known as the " Brown system of " discipline without suspension, " or
punishment without loss of pay. Actual suspension means laying an
employee off for a period of from 5 to 60 or even 90 days, for .which he
receives no compensation. A record suspension is an entry of a certain
number of days (or demerits counts) on the employee's record, while
he continues work and receives compensation. The record suspension
in days or demerits counts is ordinarily the same as would be the number
of days actual suspension under the old system. When an employee's

MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE 129

record days, or demerits counts, reach a certain number — ^usually 100 —
he is dismissed.

The Brown system was new in detail only, for some of its important
features had previously been tried on the Pennsylvania. The essential
features of this system are keeping a record of an employee's irregularities
in the performance of his service as well as of acts of special merit, and
posting bulletins containing brief accounts of the incidents, causes and
lessons connected with each record entry.

Many roads use the Brown system in a modified form. Some use the
"record suspension" for every offense, except for cases meriting dis-
missal ; others use record or actual suspension according to the merits of
the case or the general character of the offending employee; while others
again, use only the bulletin feature. There are varying opinions as to
the real bei!efits to be derived from the record suspension feature and the
effect depends largely on the class of men employed. Theie is, however,
a general belief in the beneficial effects of bulletining a history of each
offense. It is especially desirable in unusual cases and in instances where
ordinary rules are being violated. This has the effect of warning em-
ployees without resorting to objectionable practice of issuing a notice
calling attention to the necessity of observing a certain rule, thereby
implying that other rules are of less importance.

Take the case of a flagman who is disciplined for not going back a
sufficient distance to protect the rear end of his train. Under the old
system, when the facts in the case were not officially promulgated, his
disposition would be to misrepresent to his fellow-workers the actual
cause of his suspension and he would make the case look as favorable to
himself as possible while correspondingly reflecting on the judgment
or ability of the officer directly responsible for inflicting the discipline.
The impression is naturally created that the officer is despotic, or unfair,
and that the employee has been imposed upon. Such impressions have
the effect of creating bad feeling, particularly among the lower classes of
employees. The bulletining with the Brown system changes this and is
the strongest point in its favor.

One modification of the Brown system embraces a record book in
which two pages are devoted to each employee; one for the debit and the
other for the credit side. The usual entries, covering the employee's
age, height, color of hair, eyes, weight, date of service and of various
changes or promotions, are made at the top of the page in blank spaces
provided for that purpose. For each offense requiring disciplinary
action the employee is charged with a certain number of demerit
marks, or nominal days of suspension, and for acts of special merit he is
credited with merit marks, or days, which, in some cases are allowed to
cancel a like number of demerits or days of suspension on the opposite
page. A bad record is followed by dismissal, while a clean record for a

9

130 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

given length of time, say, three months, six months or a year, usually
entitles the employee to a certain number of merit marks, or cancels a
certain number of demerit marks. All roads continue to apply the
penalty of dismissal to cover cases of intoxication, insubordination and
other extreme offenses.

When a record is entered, on either the debit or credit side of the
book, a bulletin is issued containing a brief history of the case and is
posted on the bulletin boards at designated points. Locations, names
of men, dates, and train numbers, are omitted for the purpose of avoiding
attack by agitators and to prevent undue embarrassment to sensitive
employees. For similar reasons and to avoid controversy or comparisons
the extent of discipline is sometimes omitted. It is customary, too, on
some lines to give the actual or estimated amount of damage done where
damage results.

The following is an example of a bulletin taken from actual practice:

" A freight conductor and flagman have been disciplined for failure to properly
protect their train while it was stopped at a point on the main track. The
explanation made by these men was that it being daylight, with a good view to
the rear, it was deemed unnecessary for the flagman to go back farther than
he did. A flagman employed for the purpose and out the required distance will
doubtless succeed in attracting the attention of an engineman who may be work-
ing on the injectors or watching the water gages, and may also arouse him if he
has for the moment dropped off to sleep. Leaving out the question of the engine-
man's neglect of duty in the case, the flagman's attention to duty may prevent
a serious accident and possible loss of life."

Another example from a bulletin is the following:

" By throwing the wrong switch in a divisional yard, a switch-tender caused
cars to 'corner' on a frog resulting in damage to the extent of $1690 and for his
negligence has been disciplined. The investigation developed that he was
engaged in conversation with a car rider, and as a result started for the switch too
late and became confused because of the short time he had to clear the car.
Yard employees, and particularly switch-tenders, need to have their wits about
them and their minds on their work while on duty. They cannot properly per-
form their work when engaged in outside occupation, or ' visiting ' or when they
come on duty without good, clear heads due to insufficient sleep or use of intoxi-
cants during the hours they have been off duty."

It is the usual custom, where book records of employees are kept to
permit an employee to look at his own record at any time, but he may not
look at the record of any other employee.

One of the strongest arguments in favor of discipline without loss of
pay is the prevention of suffering to the family of the employee. During
an actual suspension, the loss of pay entails undue hardship upon inno-
cent women and children. To an employee with a conscience the thought

MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE 131

of pangs of hunger which are causing suflfering to his wife and children, due
possibly, to a miscalculation or error in judgment on his part during a
brief moment while working perhaps with the best intentions, may per-
manently cloud his efficiency; it certainly does not tend to make him a
better man or to engender in him any strong feeling of loyalty or regard
for his superior officers or the company.

Every railroad has its busy and dull season during each calendar year.
There is a time each year when it is unable to give its men sufficient employ-
ment and another season when it is unable to secure a sufficient number
of competent men to perform its work. During this season of heavy
traffic, in many sections accompanied by unfavorable weather, train-
masters, yardmasters, and others are inclined to overwork their men,
rather than employ a number of "green" men. The strain due to density
of train movement and overloading of cars develops all weaknesses in loco-
motive power. The liability of men to make mistakes and cause
accidents is correspondingly increased. Under the older systems of
discipline, the suspension of the trained and experienced employees would
then begin, followed necessarily by the employment of inexperienced men.
The number of accidents and failures of various kinds then further in-
creases. Under the system of nominal suspension this difficulty is done
away with while the record kept still enables the value of the employee
to be ascertained and the educational features are not lost.

On the general subject of discipline, Mr. Brown says:

" It often occurs that the disgrace and injury occasioned by a strict enforce-
ment of a sentence does more to ruin the guilty than anything else, and a wise
provision has been made allowing courts to use their judgment as to carrying out
punishments; this is known as 'suspending sentence.' If the sometime offender
does better, and is not guilty of the same or other offenses, the judge conveniently
forgets the indictment hanging over him, but should he go on committing one
misdemeanor after another, his record rises up to condemn him. I believe in the
practice of 'suspending sentence' with railroad employees.

"With this system the good men are retained, developed, benefited and
encouraged, and the culls are got rid of to the betterment of the service all around.
Every wreck, every accident, every mistake, every loss has taught its lesson, and
these are of no less value to the railroads and to the railroad men than the suc-
cesses. I practice making every mishap a lesson to every man on the road. It
often happens that an accident, or a close shave for one, is the best kind of a
lesson to the man who could be blamed; and if he is retained in the service, he is
a more valuable man than he would otherwise be or one who could be hired to
take his place.''

The Brown system of discipline is incomplete without the accom-
paniment of the credit or merit feature, but this is dangerous unless
cautiously handled. Shall w^e bulletin or reward every meritorious act,
or where shall we draw the line? The writer recalls an instance where a

132 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

passenger-train flagman went back and remained out several hours in a
rain storm, damaging his new uniform. The trainmaster secured the
approval of his superintendent for the purchase of a new uniform. A
generous act, certainly, but with disturbing results. Why should an
employee be specially rewarded for doing his duty? Why should not the
passenger-train or freight-train flagman provide himself with a rain coat
and rubber shoes, and have them at hand during rainy weather? For a
time other passenger flagmen, who had to go back, during a drizzling
rain, or while the dew fell heavily, asked for a new uniforms. They were
highly indignant when their requests were not granted. It is difficult
to draw the line accurately between special merit and duty. The danger
does not exist in rewarding one employee, but in the fact that always
there are many who are not rewarded though equally entitled to special
recognition.

A flagman hanging out of a caboose cupola, saw a broken rail on the
opposite track and signalled a fast passenger train preventing it, by quick
work, from running over the broken rail and possibly from being derailed.
He received a number of credit marks. It was his duty after he discovered
the break to notify the passenger train; he had done just what any em-
ployee should have done. It was not his duty to look at the rails on the
opposite track; he was evidently doing it in a dreamy indifferent way.
While loaking at the rails of the other track he was not watching his own
train, to detect heating journals, break-in-twos, loose car doors, etc.,
and it was his duty to do this. Incidentally it may be added that this
flagman was dismissed some six months later for being intoxicated while
on duty.

An engine ran away from a hostler, and got out on the main track,
running the wrong track, i.e., against the current of traffic. A switch-
tender promptly notified a yard engineman, who got his engine out and
overtook the runaway. He climbed over the pilot of his engine, reached
the cab of the runaway, shut off the steam and stopped it. This engine-
man took some risk, but he received no credit marks. The speed was
low, the actual risk taken was probably no greater there than he incurred
every night in his regular yard work and his action was considered as
being in line with duty.

One of the common, if not the most common error made in disciplining
employees is that of considering the result or effects of a violation of
rules or instructions instead of the actual offense. Trainmasters often in-
flict comparatively light discipline on a flagman who does not go back a
sufficient distance to protect his train, provided no damage has resulted.
But few trainmasters would let a flagman off short of dismissal if his
failure to go back the prescribed distance resulted in several thousand
dollars' damage, loss of life and a badly blocked railroad. Is this not
because the reports in the case with disastrous results will be carefully

MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE 133

read and considered by those high in authority? But is the effect on the
service desirable?

Of the large number of men in positions of authority, who fully
understand what is to be done and how it should be done, but a small
proportion are successful in their dealings with subordinates. This re-
quires a special tact which is seldom acquired. Men cannot be regarded as
so many machines. The human and the humane side of the question must
be considered. An interest taken in the general welfare of employees;
consideration for their families and an occasional "heart-to-heart" talk
with one or more of them will go a long way toward securing their earnest
and hearty co-operation.

Nevertheless, a distinguished railroad president of wide and varied
practical experience in subordinate service, comments as follows:

"The arguments for Brown's system are very attractive, but I do not believe
the method is adaptable to this wicked world. You may catch flies with molas-
ses, but our lives, our fortunes, our civilization we owe to our jails, penitentiaries
and gallows. Next to the influence of the labor unions, I think the greatest
element in the general deterioration of discipline, so manifest in late years, is the
general use of Brown's method. The records should of course be kept. They
were kept by the Pennsylvania hnes before Brown's system was heard of. My
experience leads me to believe that the bulletins soon fail to be read by the men.
If the investigations are properly conducted, with all the men of the crews
present when the finding is announced, and pains then taken to draw and enforce
the lesson, I believe in the long run much better results are obtained. As to
punishment, I do not see how we can safely eliminate it, and in any event the gap
is wide between chiding and dismissal."

President Brown, of the New York Central, laid down these care-
fully thoughtout rules for the consideration and guidance of all his
employees:

"Co-operation between every department of this system is essential to its
success. This means not only sincere, heartfelt interest in the welfare of the
system as a whole, but personal friendship for the officers and employees of other
departments and an eagerness to assist all departments, so far as possible, in
order that the best results for the entire system may be accomplished.

"It should be remembered at all times that the pay of every man in the
employ of the company comes from the same source and that only by serving the
best interests of the whole system can any department serve its own best interests.

" In other words, in order to secure the most effective results for the company
and likewise for every individual in the service, it is of the utmost importance
that the entire staff of the New York Central lines should work together as one
harmonious family and it is the earnest request of the management that this
spirit shall prevail in all departments.

"The spirit of co-operation should extend to the relation of the road and its
employees to the public. The railroad cannot prosper unless the communities
it serves are prosperous.

134 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

*^The public judges the railroad very largely by the attitude of the representa-
tive with whom they come in immediate contact. Kindly courtesy upon the
part of subordinate officials and employees costs nothing to the employees, but to
the railroad it is an asset of very great value."

Mr. W. J. Harahan, Vice President of the Erie, said:

''Good organization and its resulting element, system, are among the greatest
of all requirements, for without them no large business can be properly conducted.
When good organization is attained, system naturally follows and system is
essential because no one officer, beyond a certain grade, is able to physically
keep up with the infinite details occurring in the handling of a large property.
The amount of detail is, necessarily, in proportion to the position occupied, the
work of the minor officer being practically all detail. Let me remark, however,
that there are a great many officers who make the mistake of not knowing enough
of detail, although it is true that many attempt too much. It is impossible to
lay down any definite rules governing the amount of detail which should be
handled, but a man should know enough to be intimately familiar with his work.
The necessity for the most perfect system should be uppermost in man^s mind as
he goes upward. He should surround himself with the most capable men he can
find for the respective positions under him. Some men, by their actions, seem
to feel that brilliant subordinates may detract from them. There can be no
more mistaken idea, nor can there be a more short-sighted policy. A man of
moderate capacity can, in a relatively high position, be successful with good and
capable subordinates — but a brilliant man cannot be successful with incompetent
subordinates, because of the very physical impossibility aforementioned of one
individual knowing the details of a large business. The ability to select capable
subordinates is a most important art and most necessary to success. To do so
properly requires that a man should be somewhat of a student of human nature
and an analyst of the human character; it also requires a close and careful super-
vision of the work of those under him, to know their capability, because there
should always be understudies who can be promoted to the various positions,
otherwise the organization will become weak. Organization and system, there-
fore, are most vital elements; in fact they are the very life-blood of a large corpo-
ration. Each man should be entrusted with whatever responsibilities the duties
of his position and the general organization of the company will allow. To deny
officers' authority is to dwarf and stunt them and thus thwart their efforts. My
personal opinion is that a great deal should be entrusted to the divisional organ-
ization so that the man on the ground could accomplish more, the idea being that
the men selected for such positions should be capable of carrying out such an
organization rather than to attempt to centralize, because such a localized
authority means a more intimate intercourse between the men on the ground
and the public; and, I believe, tends to a better understanding between the
railroad company and the public because the railroad is more literally and

intimately personified in the person of such a representative The

treatment of men is a problem usually solved by the individual as his disposition
seems to dictate. Its proper solution is a necessary element of success. There is
no truer saying than that ' Familiarity breeds contempt.' To become too familiar
with men means a loss of their respect, yet to stand aloof and icily distant means

MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE 135

also a loss of respect on their part and certainly tends to prevent any enthusiasm
for their work. There is a middle course which should be adopted. There should
be an easy bearing between the officer and men which will beget confidence on
their part and make them feel that the officer is their friend and will always do
them full justice whenever anything occurs. If officers coming in contact with
the men are on proper terms with them, they will often be advised of things
inimical to the company's or their interest, especially if the officers display
interest when receiving such advice."

Where two or more roads operate in contiguous territory and pay
their employees on different wage scales, the effect on disjcipline is marked;
the roads paying the higher rates being enabled to maintain a correspond-
ingly higher standard of discipline.

The influence on discipline of wages paid was noted in the following
incident in the experience of the writer. There were two railroads in
the same section of the country, operating under quite similar conditions,
except that one road was financially and physically stronger than the
other. The stronger line had the better track, equipment, signalling,
etc., and in addition to its ability, in consequence, to get its trains over
the line with certainty, punctuality, safety and comfort, paid slightly
higher wages than its competitor. In its terminals the same relatively
superior conditions existed. Better facilities and regular road move-
ments kept its terminals open for free movements and this, in turn, made
employment in the yards and in train service more desirable and more
sought after. The result in the way of discipline may be readily guessed.
The strong road had more applicants for positions than it could accom-
modate; the other line was, at times, hard pressed for sufficient help.
The men who were discharged on the former line because of violations of
rules or decreasing traffic were usually employed by the weaker road.
On the other hand, when men were needed on the stronger line they were
generally recruited from among the most desirable employees of the
weaker, the latter being in effect a preparatory training school for the
former. This was, in itself a system of discipline which worked to the
benefit of the stronger road. On the other line, the effect was, of course,
the opposite and constantly tended to harass and embarrass its operating
officers.

An instance is recalled where a trainmaster undertook to work a
rapid and radical reform on his division by secreting himself at unex-
pected places about the terminals and along the line to watch the per-
formance of his men. It worked for a few days. The men inaugurated
a very complete and successful method of checking the trainmaster. By
a system of hand and telegraphic signals they kept themselves thoroughly
informed as to his whereabouts. The watcher was watched. The
result was the opposite from that desired by the trainmaster and the

136 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

lack of confidence shown in the men did not increase their respect for
their superior officer.

By proper and discreet handling any division or terminal officer
should secure the confidence of his men, at least of the better element
among them, so as to enable him to keep reasonably well informed of any
general violation of rules or serious defects in judgment. This will
enable him to keep the whole machine pretty well keyed up. The men
will do this, usually, for their own protection and the general good if it is
carefully explained to them so that they will see it in the right light and
understand the advantage to themselves.

The following is from the '* Railway Age Gazette" :

"A high corps spirit is one of the valuable assets of a railroad company.
Perhaps in times of close competition it is one of the most valuable. Money
cannot make this; general orders cannot make it; it is a plant of slow growth.
A year of arrogance, or stupidity, or coarse sense of justice, may destroy the
growth of years. We have all seen, time and again, examples of the truth of this
statement; and here we suggest a matter for the serious meditation of the gentle-
men who have suddenly taken on such importance in the railroad world. The
prosperity of a great undertaking depends ultimately on the skill, zeal, and
devotion of its servants. That fact we cannot get away from, although we are
sometimes tempted to forget it. No ability in combination of ownerships; no
lavish expenditure in physical improvement ; no headquarters orders for economy
all along the line, can command prosperity without the devoted co-operation of
the working staff.

"The notions which underlie the modern theorv of railroad

organization are careful selection with regard to physical, intellectual and moral
qualities; steady promotion by merit, with decent regard to seniority, other
things being equal ; constant watch of the corps and prompt removal of vitiating
elements; fixity of tenure."

Hard and fast rules with reference to discipline cannot be made. The
question revolves itself into getting as much for your money as you can.
The law of supply and demand largely governs the labor situation and
operating officers must adapt themselves to the condition. The labor
question is one of the primary factors in building up dicipline. The rate
of wages has an important bearing on discipline. A traffic officer has
said that freight rates were regulated by " comparison, competition and
compromise.'* This holds true of the adjustment of wages.

With the enormous growth of railroad traffic and the consequent
necessity of closer attention to details, with the introduction of intricate
machinery, as in automatic and mechanical signaling, the age of the
specialist in railroad work has been reached. Special training is neces-
sary to care for special branches of railroad woik. The specialist in his
legitimate field, with correct methods and under a proper system of
organization, is of great value to the railroad as a whole andindispens-

MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE 137

able to the special work in which he is engaged. By placing these
expert observers in position to ignore or harass the local or division
officers, however, and having them report direct to general officers, the
effect on the organization may in some instances be bad. A feeling may
be created among subordinate officers that no matter what they do,
whether good railroad practice or not, they are liable to be criticized
by one of the specialists. Under certain methods of organization, these
men may occupy the position of being able to claim what glory there
may be for good results, while not being responsible for any poor showing
that is made. As a rule the specialist is a theorist, strong in his convictions.
He is invariably closely in touch with the head of the company. It is
dangerous to oppose him, except in a diplomatic way, which takes time
and taxes the mind and patience of the operating officer. It annoys
and worries him and takes his mind from more important work. Nothing
is more distasteful to the subordinate officer than the demand for letter-
writing. It causes him to neglect his work and consequently lose touch
with the actual details. It is distasteful to the subordinate because he sees
nothing gained by it, while the time he is frittering away is largely lost
for the work he is anxious to accomplish and which he knows is more
important. These remarks apply only where the specialist is but
partially equipped for his position of authority.

The working officer whose time is largely taken up with office corres-
pondence is in the same difficulty as the engineman who fritters away
his' air pressure on a long descending grade by making a number of light
applications without giving time to recharge his reservoirs. In both
cases the operating officer and the engineman are traveling down-hill
at an increasing rate of speed and both may hit the bottom very hard.

A so-called expert was recently appointed on a trunk line. His duty,
so far as could be determined, consisted in making recommendations to
increase the safety of train movements and following them up to see that
they were faithfully carried out. On the face of it, this seemed com-
mendable and desirable. The expert was an extremist and was in no
way responsible for congestion to traffic or increased cost of handling.
A rapid-fire gun was directed against the division officers; impracticable
propositions were advanced along with a few good ones to prevent
accidents. Some of them would have put the road out of business during
the months of heavy traffic; most of the'm involved increased cost; while
many of the recommendations could not be entertained. They kept the
division officers on the defensive, glued to their desks explaining why
the recommendations should not be acted upon. It did not have the
effect of improving the service because the officers could not give the
work the close personal attention they did before the advent of the
specialist. This is merely one illustrative case where the specialist
retarded the work of the machine instead of aiding it.

138 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Men who are trained in special work only, and not on broad lines, can
only hope to advance in narrow lines. A road foreman of engines, for
example, who only interests himself sufficiently to know that engines are
being properly handled and fired, is hardly competent to fill the position
he holds. Any engineman could or should know and do as much. The
road foreman^s position is one above the capabilities of the ordinary
engineman. If he does not interest himself in matters outside of the
management of an engine he is of little use. It is safe to say he will
not be considered good timber for advancement to a higher position.
The extent to which he interests himself in all operating problems is the
measure of his ability to fit himself to assume increased responsibility.
It is not to be expected that any employee will be considered for a posi-
tion with increased responsibilities and compensation, until he has
demonstrated that he not only is capable of, but actually is, earning
more than he receives in his present position.

The men employed by a railroad are usually widely scattered and
most of them are not under the direct supervision of an officer. Even
the conductor of a train cannot always keep the members of his crew in
sight. It .is essential, therefore, that every man from the lowest to the
highest be impressed with the necessity of doing everything that he
should do and nothing that he should not do. Every employee should be
made to feel that explicit confidence is reposed in him; that the fact of
his retention in the service in itself indicates confidence in his loyalty,
honesty, ability and application. The writer is convinced after many
years of experimenting with different systems of discipline that the so-
called "spotting" method does not always produce the best results.
Men may be browbeaten into doing their work, possibily, with threats of
dismissal or the knowledge that they are being watched and spied upon;
but this work will be sluggish. It will lack that snap so noticeable on
well-managed roads.

Having and showing confidence does not imply absence of supervision.
Of honest, open, intelligent and constant supervision, too much cannot
be had; when railroad officers try to carry out false ideas of economy
there is usually too little. This supervision carries with it constant and
untiring education of employees. The value of this is not generally
recognized. It is occasionally underrated because of the incompetency
of the officers entrusted with educating the men.

CHAPTER IX
LOADING CARS

The President of a trunk line said: "First load your cars; then load
your trains." The car loading is the more important and vastly more
difficult to check and control. The train load is apparent, either to the
eye of an experienced officer passing over the road, or by casual glance
at the train sheets which tell the story of trains run, light engine mileage,
engines underloaded, train tonnage, direction of movement and all the
other ills of train service. Not so with the car loading. If the doors on
empty box cars are closed, the loads and empties look alike, as the seals
may not be detected. Only the closest and most constant supervision
and checking will determine whether the agent and the house foreman
are intelligently doing their full duty. There are the vital questions;
(1) whether the cars are utilized to the fullest extent by securing the
heaviest practicable load consistent with despatch in movement of
freight and avoidance of damage; (2) whether the contents are properly
racked and distributed to withstand shocks in transit; (3) whether
heavy articles are being placed on top of fragile ones; and (4) whether
oil or other freight of that character is loaded alongside of flour. There
are also questions of (5) loading l.c.l. freight into the cars that will take
it to the proper destination or transfer point; (6) of securing proper
weight and kind of cars; and (7) of using foreign cars that would other-
wise travel home empty.

Full cars may not always be obtained because,

(a) of insufficient freight for the destination;

(b) commodities fill up in volume but run light in weight;

(c) of difficulty in loading cars fully and consequent tendency to
start new cars.

The universal use of automatic couplers, and the remarkable increase
in the size and weight of locomotives and cars, increase the liability of
damage to freight and make necessary greater care in loading and
switching. Freight-house men must be taught to load large cars with
package freight so as to prevent shifting. After part of such a car is
unloaded, the remainder must be arranged to avoid shifting. When the
old link-and-pin couplings were in use, the brakemen had to go between
the cars as they were approaching each other to couple and they had to
guide the links with their hands. Sticks were used only in the rule
books and while within the range of the superintendent's or trainmaster's
vision. The brakemen in those days were, in a sense, law-makers. Their

139

140 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

rules, had more weight and were more respected by the enginemen than
those issued by the company. This was natural. The brakemen knew
the safe speed for hand coupling and they did not hesitate, when narrowly
missing the loss of fingers or a hand, to bring powerful arguments to
bear on the engineman, backed by a coupling pin or link. These weapons
have since disappeared. Urging the yardmen to get out trains faster,
to do more work in a given length of time, usually results in more damage
to contents of cars. Many serious breaks-in-two on the road are caused
by damage done to couplers or draw gear while trains are being made
up in the yard. Most yardmasters and their assistants dislike to repri-
mand or discipline employees for doing rough work, so long as there
is no visible damage, because they fear a slowing down in the movements
of the men. Possibly too, .the nightmare of a congested terminal may
have something to do with it.

Employees are liable to become careless in the handling of freight
unless closely followed up. After unloading a half car, they will often
leave the remainder four or five tiers high instead of breaking it down
and arranging it so it will not become damaged when the car is moved.
Freight conductors have been known to unload freight in the rain at
some small station instead of taking it by and returning it the next day.
Failure to remove seals, after unloading a car, may cause error or con-
fusion, when the car is again loaded or started empty. Old side cards
too should be carefully removed after they have served their purpose.

The day may come when American railroads will overcome that pro-
lific source of trouble, the car arriving at its destination without the way-
bill, or the waybill reaching its destination without the car. It will be
overcome by arranging a receptacle inside each box car, into which the
waybills for that car may be placed and the waybill should be a triplicate
copy of the shipping receipt. A car reaching the freight-house or team
delivery yard will have its freight delivered immediately and if the way-
bill at originating point is properly made out, it may also be used for
freight delivery bill and receipt. The saving in clerical work would be
enormous, the loss of time in delivery greatly reduced, and vast economies
effected in switching service and freight handling in the freight-houses.
Until this millenium is attained, the necessity for having waybills reach
destination with the freight is great. Much complaint results because of
the failure to get waybills to destination on time. Claims for lost and
damaged freight; opportunity for theft and delays, expensive handling
and unnecessary clerical work are some of the difficulties resulting.

Increased service from equipment may be brought about largely by
a proper loading system which insures the placing of freight in the right
cars. Proper points should be designated at which freight from each
individual station for all other stations may be transferred. This requires
an intimate knowledge of conditions and a carefully worked out schedule

LOADING CARS 141

subject to occasional revision as conditions change. At each transfer
station a loading program must be worked out, dovetailing into the larger
general plan for the road as a whole. Another is needed for smaller
stations, and finally one for the conductors of local freight-trains. Much
loss and damage to freight, loss of use of freight equipment, slow time,
and improper deliveries may result from lack of intelligent handling or
improper or insuflBcient instructions to the local freight conductors.

Instructions requiring freight to be loaded direct to certain large sta-
tions or to certain sub-stations or piers in controlled territory, with a
specified minimum per car, should be issued to all concerned, including
agents at stations and transfer points and local freight conductors. When
the minimum load is not available, the instructions should specify the
transfer point to which the freight should be sent to be consolidated, or
state how long such freight may be held at originating point to secure the
required minimum for a straight car for any destination. Freight for
certain districts, including a number of smaller stations, is usually loaded
to the transfer station just in advance of the territory, although in many
cases, it may make better time or be more ecoAomically handled by load-
ing it beyond its destination and arranging for its return. The general
object is, of course, to get the greatest possible service out of cars with the
least expense and this involves consideration, primarily, of time and mile-
age. While maximum load is the goal, it is not always in the interest of
economy and good service to seek this blindly to the exclusion of other
features. Foreign cars when not in demand, may be started homeward I
with a light load. In this the judgment of the individual must finally
determine how long it will be permissible to hold the car for a certain
lading. He must figure on the amount of per diem charges involved, the
distance the commodity and the car move, the supply of cars at hand
and the demand therefor, the train service, etc. In the handling of
system cars the officer in charge of car service may, for the guidance of
his subordinates, lay down the general proposition that in the pre-
dominating traffic direction cars should be loaded to their full capacity
and worked to necessary transfer points to avoid as far as possible any
movement without full tonnage. When the predominating traffic
direction changes, his instructions necessarily require revision. The
traffic in both directions may nearly balance for a while, when heavy
loading is desirable. In the direction of light traffic, cars may usually
be loaded light and cars forwarded to stations with comparatively light
loads, to save time and reduce handling. Time is an important element,
as there is naturally keen competition for traffic in the direction in which
light cars move, while the condition in the opposite direction may be such
that no great effort is made to secure additional tonnage. Power or
facilities may be taxed to their utmost and cars in which to move the
business offered may be difficult to obtain. The last contingency may

142 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

again affect the methods of loading in the direction of the empty-car
movement.

It is instructive and impressive to know the value of an ordinary
box car. Under the instructions of the American Railway Association,
a committee of five railway officers analyzed the cost of owning a freight
car, to arrive at a figure which would be proper for rental purposes.
From the mass of figures gathered, covering six years (1902 to 1907,
inclusive) they deduced the following:

T. Cost in cents Cost

Item ,

per day per year

Interest, 5 per cent 9.12 $ 33.28

Taxes .61 « 2 25

Depreciation 5.71 20 .84

Maintenance 14 .42 52 .61

Incidentals 4 56 16.61

Total 34.42 $125.62

It may seem good practice to load cars light, or to load below the
prescribed minimum to certain stations, in order to save time and elim-
inate additional handling. If this tends to delay the movement of empty
cars at a time when such cars are in demand for return loading, it be-
comes objectionable. To illustrate: A station of some importance on a
branch line, perhaps 100 miles away from the main line, necessitates for
every car going there, a haul of 200 miles from the time it leaves the main
line junction until it returns. If the contents of ten or twelve cars may
be transferred into four or five cars at the junction, or the regularly
designated transfer in advance, it will be economy to go to the additional
expense of transferring and incur the risk due to handling in order to
save the mileage and get perhaps two or three days' additional service out
of the seven or eight cars. This is an extreme case and the saving of
the mileage may justify the transfer at any time, although this is depend-
ent largely on the characteristics of the line, the distance, amount of
business, fixed train service, and car supply.

Take the case of a station on the main line, to which a number of
cars may be moving in the light-car direction, and which is located mid-
way between division terminals and transfer points. The object is to
utilize empty-car movement to the utmost by taking advantage of the
light engine mileage made necessary in balancing power. The traffic
conditions may be such as to necessitate cutting these cars out at the
first division terminal, awaiting the local freight of the following day,
and the movement of the empties from the point where released will be
by local freight, one, two, and probably three days later. On arrival at

LOADING CARS 143

the next division terminal they again await their turn on the classifica-
tion lead and move out on some following train. In such cases the
unloading, consolidation and reduction of the number of cars at the first
transfer point reached may be justified by the additional number of
days' service to be gotten out of some of the cars. The saving in per
diem charges is another argument in favor of the additional handling.
The whole question is one requiring constant watching and changes in
the program without hesitation when conditions require.

The points to be studied in trying to effect economies in loading cars
may be summarized as follows:

1. Loading to avoid all transfer if possible.

2. Loading to transfer farthest from originating point.

3. The avoidance of too light loading from transfers to other transfers, as it
is many times more economical and time-saving to hold freight over one day and
secure consolidated tonnage.

4. Consideration and action on the fact that short distances should not
always govern the handling of short-line traffic, as loading to a transfer which
receives and distributes from a large number of stations often warrants longer
mileage to secure prompt movement of cars and freight.

5. The loading of proper cars, especially with a view to quick handling of
foreign equipment.

6. Checking arrival and departure of all cars for transfers and seeing that
they are promptly placed at platforms and forwarded.

7. Reporting to the freight accounting department delays to freight by
non-arrival of waybills.

8. Careful consideration of freight-train schedules in connection with pro-
posed transfer movements.

9. Consideration, in connection with actual experience, of the best method of
forwarding in both directions l.c.l. freight to and from eastern and western
divisions, laying particular stress upon improving transfers within home territory.

10. The proper storing of freight to withstand transportation.

The manager of the transfer station and the freight-house has the
opportunity to contribute largely to good service and to materially reduce
the cost of handling. The one great difficulty at these points is that of
inducing those in charge to take a broad view of the general conditions
on the line instead of confining their vision entirely to their own transfer
or freight-house to the exclusion of the remainder of the line. In their
efforts to reduce the cost of handling at the platforms under their imme-
diate charge they may abnormally increase the cost at other points or
along the line generally. A car to be handled by a local freight may be
badly loaded, and such hurried loading at the transfer may save a few
cents at that point. The rehandling or return of freight to the house
and the reloading or holding for another car instead of loading beyond
the point of delivery and requiring its return, may cost the railroad many

144 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

dollars in consuming the time of an engine and entire freight crew.
The time taken in hunting for the freight wanted, unloading and reload-
ing, damage claims resulting from exposure or additional handling at
points where facilities provided are meager, and the occupation of the
main track to the exasperation of the train-dispatcher and the crews of
other freight trains, are costly. This slovenly work at transfer stations,
and at other loading points is one of the difficult things to check. One
of the best remedies is a wideawake, intelligent trainmaster who unex-
pectedly starts out with a local freight, takes possession of all the
conductors' waybills, and notes the condition of the interior of each car
as the various stations are reached. He will not stop at the question
of loading in station order; method of loading; putting flour in prox-
imity to oils or syrup barrels; safes or stoves on top of bric-a-brac;
freight for points on other divisions or districts having to be rehandled
and returned; but will also note the manner in which freight is being
loaded at transfers on divisions over which he has no jurisdiction. Such
information and any suggestions occurring to him he should convey to
the officers in charge of car service.

It is more expensive to haul an empty car of 80,000 lb. capacity than
one of 40,000 lb. Therefore, if a shipment can be handled in a lighter
car it should be done, and cars ordered accordingly. At the same time,
a heavier car, or a number of heavier cars should be used if thereby the
shipment can be forwarded in fewer cars. The heavy load is most desir-
able for economical operation. Assume an 80,000-lb. capacity car loaded
with grain, to 10 per cent, above the marked capacity. At a freight
rate of 15 cents per 100 lb. this load would earn $132. A 60,000-lb. car
similarly loaded would earn $99 and a 40,000-lb. car, $06. It costs at
least 2 cents a mile to haul an empty car.

The rules for handling explosives and inflammables should be carefully
studied and followed. These are easily obtainable.

While not strictly a part of a chapter dealing with loading cars, it is
believed that the following suggestions (formulated by a committee of
the American Railway Association) for handling oil cars involved in
wrecks, will prove of interest:

1. Action in any particular case will depend on circumstances, and good
judgment will be necessary to avoid disastrous fires on the one hand and the
useless sacrifice of valuable property on the other.

Volatile (or combustible) liquids, such as gasoline, naphtha, etc., in large
quantity and spread over a large surface, will form vapors that may be ignited
at a considerable distance, depending on the kind and quantity of liquid and the
direction and force of the wind. Many of the liquids, regarded as safe to carry
under ordinary conditions and transported in tank cars without the inflammable
placard, should still be treated as dangerous in handling a wreck.

2. When oil cars are leaking all lights or fires near them that can possibly be

LOADING CARS 145

dispensed with should be extinguished or removed. Incandescent electric
lightSi or portable electric flashlights, are safe.

Lanterns necessarily used for signaling should be kept on the windward side
and at as high an elevation as can be obtained. The vapors will go with the
wind. The ashpan and fire-box of a locomotive or steam derrick, especially on
the leeward side of a wrecked or leaking tank car, is a source of danger. Wrecks
involving oil cars should in no case be approached with lighted pipes, cigars or
cigarettes.

3. To prevent explosion of loaded tank cars that are not supplied with safety
valves and are in danger of being subjected to heat from a fire, and that cannot be
removed to a place of safety, the manholes should be opened, but only while
subject to this danger. When manholes cannot be opened, or, on account of
position of the car, valves are inoperative, ventage should be secured by punctur-
ing in the tank four or five small holes near the top, in any convenient way, to
secure ventage equal to that of a hole 3 in. in diameter.

4. Effort should be made to prevent the spread of oil over a large surface by
collecting it in any available vessels or draining it into a hole or depression at a
safe distance from the track. When necessary, trenches should be dug for this
purpose.

It is not safe to drain inflammable oil in large quantity into a sewer, since
vapors may thus be carried to distant points and there ignited. Care should
also be exercised, on account of possible claims for damages, not to permit oil to
drain into streams of water used by irrigation plants or for watering stock. Dry
earth spread over spilled oil will decrease the rate of evaporation and the danger.
A stream of oil on the ground should be dammed, and dry earth thrown on the
liquid as it collects.

5. Sudden shocks or jars that might produce sparks or friction should be
avoided. When possible, jack the wrecked cars carefully into position, after
removing other cars and freight that might be injured by fire. Only as a last
resort should the wreck be cleared by dragging, and when this is done all persons
should be kept at a safe distance.

6. No unnecessary attempt should be made to transport an injured tank car
from which inflammable liquid is leaking. If wrecked, or derailed, and not in a
position to obstruct or endanger traffic, it should have its leak stopped as far as
possible, and left under guard until another tank car, or sufficient vessels, can be
provided for the transfer of the liquid, which should be transferred by pumping
when practicable.

7. An empty, or partially empty, oil car, with or without placards, is very
liable to contain explosive gases, and lights must not be brought near it.

8. Water will not quench an oil fire. If the fire cannot be smothered by use
of earth or wet blankets, effort should be concentrated on confining it and saving
other property.

9. Should a leak occur by the breaking or displacing of the unloading valve
and pipe at the bottom of the car, it can be frequently stopped by removing the
dome cap on top of the tank and dropping the plunger into the plunger seat, as
a shock suflScient to injure the outlet valve and pipes may have also unseated the
plunger.

10

146

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

The Chicago & North- Western found the cost per 1000 ton-miles'
during different years, for settling loss and damage claims, to be:

1898 ! 2.307 cts.

1902 4.149 cts.

1903 6.226 cts.

1904 8.058 cts.

1905
1906
1907
1908

r.210 cts.
6.261 "
8.805 "
13.320 '*

If the clain^s of 1908 could have been settled on the same basis as in
the year 1905 (7.210), the amount would have been $348,750.65, instead
of $644,407.64, a saving of $295,656.99; or approximately, 46 per cent,
less.

To reduce these amounts it was determined to increase supervision
and see that employees were familiar with and observed the rules. It
was decided also to pay more attention to supervision of the receiving,
waybilling, transporting and delivering of freight; 'to employ on heavy
way freight trains two men whose duties it should be to load and unload
and properly stow freight on such trains, the conductor to be held
responsible. The superintendent, as far as possible, was to select the
entire train and engine crew on way freight trains and avoid changes in
personnel of these crews. It was also recommended that inspectors
be appointed at the larger stations to supervise loading and unloading
of freight.

The movement developed that the following were the principal causes
of the increase in loss and damage claims:

(1) Lack of interest by employees. (2) Lack of knowledge of the rules.
(3) Failure to comply with the rules when known. (4) Failure to check property
before receipting for it. (5) Receipting for more than is actually delivered. (6)
Receipting for property as in good order when it is in bad condition. (7) Giving
clean receipts for property loaded by shipper and not checked. (8) Failure to

«

check freight properly when delivered to consignee. (9) Failure to report
shortages, damages and overs promptly and properly. (10) Failure to notify
consignees promptly and properly of the arrival of freight and to keep a record
of such notice. (11) Making greater advances on property than its value
warrants. (12) Delivering property to persons other than the consignee without
the proper order. (13) Mistakes in billing caused by failure to compare waybills
with shipping instructions. (14) Forwarding freight not marked with name of
consignee and destination. (15) Improper loading, stowing and bracing freight.
(16) Loading freight in dirty or leaky or otherwise unfit cars. (17) Carelessness
in taking and transmitting verbal shipping instructions (especially on the
telephone). (18) Improper use of airbrakes. (19) Failure to give prompt
notice of refused and unclaimed freight. (20) Failure to ice cars properly in
warm and heat them in cold weather.

* The average for the United States in 1908 was 1.25 cents; in 1909, 1.13 cents.

LOADING CARS 147

When the general pooling of cars regardless of ownership is arranged,
loading methods will be simplified, the cost of switching reduced and
many other economies introduced. The Committee of the American
Railway Association on Car Efficiency is endeavoring to bring about this
result and it will doubtless succeed. During car shortage periods cars
are pooled — ^not theoretically but actually. Cars are pooled in Germany,
where the agreement for the co-operation of the state railways of the
different states went into effect April 1, 1909 — and each state con-
tributed a certain agreed-upon proportion of cars for joint use.

The spectacle of American railroads, rushing a class of freight cars
off their lines and loading other similar cars in the same direction, thereby
hauling many more cars than are necessary to move the freight and
" cross-hauling '' empty cars — that is, empties in both directions at the
same time — merely to avoid a book-keeping balance against a road, is in
striking contrast to the logical, business-like methods of our German
friends in this respect. Undoubtedly the pooling of freight cars will
eventually be brought about and stop the enormous leak, and when it
does come, it will be surprising to all except those who have given the
subject much study, to observe the greatly improved efficiency in the
handling of the car supply as well as the extensive economies resulting
from the heavy reduction in car-mileage.

CHAPTER X
MAKING UP TRAINS

General principles, — The first destination of a car is governed by its
contents and the loading program. The general practice of getting
trains out of terminals as a matter of convenience to that particular
terminal alone and without regard to the safe movement over the line to
the next terminal, cannot be condemned too severely, unless extreme
conditions compel it. It means duplication of work at the following
terminals and the loss of time along the line. Lack of system is per-
nicious and unbusiness-like. There are cases, however, where the
facilities at one terminal are so inadequate that a part of its work must
be shifted to another.

Make-up policy, — Trains should be made up to go to single destina-
tions as far as practicable; but this frequently entails too much delay in
waiting for the necessary number of cars at the starting terminal to get
a solid train. Where it is impracticable to make up a train with all it^
cars for one destination, the cars should be assembled with a view to
running the train without further switching, to the most distant breaking-
up point possible. The only limitations to carrying out this method are
the time cars may be held to get enough together for one destination or
breaking-up point (for reclassifying) and the ability with the facilities
provided, at the starting point, to hold cars for that purpose without
causing congestion or interference to an extent that will increase the cost
of switching. The subsequent saving in time and work will justify a
considerable detention at the originating terminal. The limitation is
apt to be the needs of the consignees.

Following out this general plan, it is to be expected that a few of the

cars in such through-trains will "fall by the way-side" because of hot

journals, broken trucks and other car disabilities. Where these cars

cannot be made ready to go forward in the same train without undue

detention, arrangements should be made to forward other cars for the

same destination in their places. In the absence of such cars, those for a

divisional terminal may be added, to enable the full tonnage rating to be

maintained, unless the direction is that of light traffic, but they should

be placed so as to permit of their removal without delay or unnecessary

switching. The distributing trains for the division and the local freights

are supposed to be made up in station order, with first cars to be set oflf

next to engine, and so on.

148

MAKING UP TRAINS 149

Position of platform cars. — The cars containing the "break-bulk" or
platform (l.c.l.) freight are usually placed next to the caboose, although
practice varies considerably in this respect. On a heavy local run, in
districts where the track occupation is dense, this plan possesses consid-
erable merit. The front part of the train may be engaged in doing the
switching for the station and industries, while the platform cars are
placed alongside the freight-house and being worked at the same time.
Where the conditions alluded to warrant it, many trainmen may, in this
manner, be worked to advantage.

Livestock. — It is considered good practice to handle livestock at or
near the front end of the train, to reduce the shock, and to facilitate the
quick delivery on arrival at destination.

Explosives. — Cars containing explosives must not be hauled in a pas-
senger train; nor in a mixed train when it can be avoided, and at least
15 cars from the engine and 10 cars from the caboose in through road
freight trains when length of train will permit; in local freight and shift-
ing trains, these cars must be coupled in the air service and placed as near
the center of the train as possible. They must be placed between box
cars not loaded with inflammable articles, charcoal, cotton, acid-, lumber,
iron, pipe, or other articles liable to break through end of car from rough
handling. When explosives are loaded in steel underframe cars, such
cars may be placed in train between steel hopper cars. All cars contain-
ing explosives must have air- and handbrakes in service.

When handled in yards or on sidings, cars containing explosives must
be coupled to an engine with a car between unless it is practically impos-
sible to do this, and they must not be cut off while in motion. Couplings
must be made carefully and unnecessary shocks avoided; nor must other
cars be permitted to strike such cars. They must be so placed in yards
or on sidings that they will be subject to as little handling as possible,
removed from all danger of fire, and, when avoidable, engines on parallel
tracks must not be allowed to stand opposite or near them.

Explosives include black or brown powder, dynamite and other high
explosives, smokeless powder for small arms, fulminates, blasting caps,
electric blasting caps, ammunition for cannons, explosive projectiles and
detonating fuses. A square placard on each side with the name
explosive designates a car containing explosives.

Inflammahles. — Tank cars containing inflammables must be placed at
least five cars from engine and five cars from caboose, if possible; if
length of train does not permit this they must be placed as near the
middle of the train as practicable. In switching, a car containing inflam-
mables must not be started down a ladder track, incline or hump, until the
preceding car has cleared the ladder. It must also clear the ladder
before another car is allowed to follow. A car containing inflam-
mables is designated by a diagonal placard placed thereon.

150 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Empty or loaded fiat cars, empty oil tanks, and, at times, empty or
loaded gondolas, with low sides are required to be kept at the rear end to
minimize the liability of such cars having their bodies broken in two; es-
pecially when handled in long trains partially airbraked. This precau-
tion is hardly necessary with the modern heavy capacity steel flat and
gondola cars as they will withstand a more severe shock than wooden
box cars. Passenger cars on freight trains should be kept at the
rear end to avoid damaging platforms and straining their longitudinal
framing.

Loads and empties, — A general rule to keep the loads ahead and
empties in the rear, is an old and good one. There is some difference of
opinion as to the merits of the claim that trains so made up pull easier.
In some dynamometer tests no difference was observed. Trains made up
with loads ahead are less likely to part on hilly or "choppy" roads, and
there is reduced liability of damage to equipment and contents where
the slack runs in and out in making stops. This shock is more severe on
partially airbraked trains than on fully equipped trains. The enactment
of the safety appliance law, requiring among other things that at least 85
per cent, of the cars in a freight train shall be equipped wth working air-
brakes, makes more difficult what was already a difficult and complicated
question in train make-up, but the problem is now becoming easier on
account of the almost universal use of airbrakes on freight equipment.
In 1907 the Master Car Builders' Association amended their rules govern-
ing the joint use of freight cars by specifying that cars not equipped
with airbrakes would not be accepted in interchange. This action has
relegated the non-air car to local service on its owner's lines and it is
rapidly disappearing. On July 1, 1911, 99.3 per cent, of freight cars
belonging to roads reporting to the American Railway Association, were
equipped with airbrake.

Doors to be kept closed, — It is difficult to keep car doors closed on
empty cars. Aside from the physical effort required to close many doors,
the conductor generally thinks that the open door is the natural symbol
for an empty car. When men are disciplined for moving empties as loads
and vice versa, it is perhaps not surprising that this view is taken. This
appeals more forcibly when a conductor and one brakeman are handed
cards for 90 or 100 cars and told to clear the yard in 10 minutes. Tramps
will more readily board trains containing cars with open doors and there
is greater liability of losing doors along the road when open than when
closed and latched or hasped. A door partly open, in falling off may
cause considerable damage to property and serious personal injuries have
been inflicted on double-track roads and along passing tracks where freight-
car doors scraped the sides of passenger trains. There is more resistajnce
in a train of empty box cars with open doors, due to the wind or air
resistance, and sparks from the engine may lodge inside the car and set it

MAKING UP TRAINS 151

on fire. Perhaps 90 per cent, of freight cars have doors which open by
moving to the left, in the car door run-way, as the car is faced from the
outside. In a moving train, therefore, the doors on the left side are more
liable to open because the stops tend to move the doors forward. The
doors on the left side are consequently more likely to spread out or fall off
than those on the right side.

Rating locomotives by cars. — Some roads, as a matter of convenience,
or because of peculiar local conditions, continue to load their road en-
gines according to the number of loaded cars for which the rating is made.
Two empties are then rated as one load. The best results are obtained
where the tonnage rating is used and with this a uniformity of loading is
secured that at once increases the average train load and improves the
general train movement. A record kept by one trunk line of a large
number of freight trains showed that 2000-ton trains ran all the way
from 27 to 65 loads; the lesser number being a train consisting entirely
of steel coal cars of 100,000 lbs. capacity, loaded to 10 per cent, in excess
of marked capacity. This, in itself, will indicate the unfairness of the
method of rating engines on a car-load basis, and the unsatisfactory
results to be obtained therefrom.

Rating by tonnage. — ^A satisfactory tonnage rating system must
make allowance for lightly loaded cars, for empty cars, and weather con-
ditions. The rating should, in the first instance, be made to fit average
conditions. Actual service tests form the best basis, but the mistake is
frequently made of selecting an engine in the best order, a picked crew,
good weather and daylight runs, and giving special attention to dis-
patching. When it is attempted to haul this maximum tonnage under
adverse conditions, such as bad track, heavy head or side winds, low
steam pressure due to poorer coal than usual, the train is stalled. The
yardmaster is the controlling factor and he must combat the temptation
to overload engines merely to open or clear his yard for the time being.
The inability of the engines to move and promptly return for another
load is too far in the distance for him to figure on, and he therefore loses
sight of the fact that, in the end, he has only added to his troubles. Trains
move with more difficulty during the night. Hand signals cannot be
interpreted as easily as in the daytime, telegraph offices are more infre-
quent and men are not as active, mentally or physically.

Train resistance and tractive power. — Those having the supervision
of making up trains should know how to determine what an engine is
capable of drawing over a road of known grade and curvature under
certain weather and atmospheric conditions. The tractive power of the
engine; that is, the pull in pounds exerted on the drawbar in the rear of
the tender, must be known, and then the resistance of the train to be
moved.

152 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

The theoretical drawbar pull in pounds may be found by the formulas
arranged in the following table:

Tractive power
Type Operated simple , Operated compound

Single expansion

Two-cylinder compound

D iR + 1) D

1 15 Ps Ps

Tandem compound ' ^ ( . 66dA^ + . 25di^) ( . 66dfc* + . 25di^)

^ , , . , 1.8 Pdih 1.7 Pdih

Baldwin compound -

^ ,. , . l.QPdH^a l.QPdih

Four-cylinder compound

P«» boiler pressure in lb. per square inch.

d « diameter of cylinder in inches.

8 » stroke of piston in inches.
2) » diameter of di lying wheals in inches.
di — diameter of low-pressurs cylindar in inches.
<2a» diameter of high pressure cylinder in inches.
R = ratio of cylinder volumes.

An engine with 20-in. X 26-in. cylinders, 60-in drivers and 200 lb. steam

pressure on pistons would, according to the formula for simple engines

/.8 X20QX20 'X26 _ _^\ , _ _^ lu . .• wv. •

\ fiO =2/,/33j have 27,/33 lb. tractive power at the nm

of the drivers. All of this is not available at the rear draw bar of the
tender because part of it is used in overcoming the friction of engine
machinery and the rolling resistance of the engine and tender. The
American Locomotive Company estimates the machinery resistance as
22.2 lb. per ton of engine on drivers, and considers the rolling resistance
of engine and tender to equal the rolling resistance of a heavy car — say
4 lb. per ton. If this engine has a weight of 115,000 lb. on drivers,
43,000 lb. on forward truck (total 158,000 lb.) and the tender when
loaded weighs 97,000 lb. the resistance of the machinery would be 57.5 X
22.2 = 1276 lb. The rolling resistance of engine and tender would be
(79-h48.5)X4 = 510 lb. or a total resistance of 1276 + 510 = 1786 lb. to
be deducted from the tractive force available at the rim of drivers. The
net draw bar pull, therefore, would be 27,773-1786 = 25,947. Taking
again the American Locomotive Co.'s figures for resistance of 40-ton
cars at 10 m. p. h. (4.65 lb. per ton), it will be found that this engine should

haul -r';>r =5500 tons on a straight and level track. Such an ideal
4.65

condition, however, rarely exists. If the road is fortunate enough to
have a limiting grade as low as 0.4 per cent, the resistance of the grade
would be (at 20 lb. per 1 per cent, grade) 8 lb. per ton, or, plus rolling

MAKING UP TRAINS 153

resistance, (4.65 lb.), 12.65 lb. per ton. The rating for the engine, then,

25 947
would be ^r^- or 2051 tons, which is equivalent to 51 cars averaging

40 tons each.

For four-cylindered compound engines, the Baldwin formula is often
used:

in which, A = high-pressure cylinder, and Z= low-pressure cylinder.

All computations as to the hauling capacity of locomotives are based
on the assumptions that engines have ample grate area and boiler capacity
to supply cylinders with steam at maximum pressure and that there is
sufficient weight on the drivers to prevent slipping before the maximum
tractive power has been exerted. A committee of the Master Mechanics
Association in 1887 recommended these ratios of tractive power to
weight on drivers:

Passenger engines, 25 . per cent,

Freight engines, 23.5 per cent.

Yard engines, 22 . per cent.

on tires half worn.

The train resistance may be made up of the following three parts:

(1) Resistance on a level straight track.

(2) Resistance due to grade.

(3) Resistance due to curves.

The resistance on a level straight track has been the subject of a
great many experiments, which, however, have failed to determine
satisfactorily a formula for train resistance which is applicable to trains
of different character. It ranges from 3 to 8 lb. per ton.

The resistance due to grade is capable of an exact mathematical
determination.

The resistance due to curves has been determined by practice suffi-
ciently well to meet the ordinary requirements.

Resistance on Level Straight Track. — This resistance is composed of,

(1) Rolling resistance due to deflection of rail and roadbed under the loaded
train.

(2) Journal friction between the journals and bearings of axles.

(3) Atmospheric resistance on the front of the train, the sides and tail.

(4) Oscillation and concussion.

We know very little about the amount of resistance due to rolling
friction, and practically nothing about that due to oscillation and con-
cussion, but more or less information has been determined by experi-
ments with reference to journal friction and atmospheric resistances.

These four resistances are usually classed as one and termed Level
Straight Track Resistances, and are as a rule given in the form of pounds

154 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

of resistance per ton of weight of train. This quantity is determined
experimentally by various methods, and from these experiments a great
many formulas have been derived applicable to the special cases. All
of these fail when applied to practical tests and we must necessarily
fall back on the results of dynamometer car tests.

Resistance due to grade, — It is customary in America to express grades
as a certain per cent.; that is, a certain number of feet vertical rise in
100 ft. horizontal. This on a 1 per cent, grade means 1 ft. rise in 100
ft. horizontal.

By mechanics, with a very slight approximation, it can readily be
shown that a grade of 1 per cent, is equivalent to a resistance of 20 lb.
per ton of weight of train.

By examining the formula and experiments for level straight track
resistances, it will be seen that in case of freight-trains running at ordinary
freight-train speed the resistance in pounds per ton is somewhere in the
vicinity of from 4 to 8 lb., which when compared with 20 lb. per ton
resistance due to a 1 per cent, grade gives a very practical appreciation
of the relative importance of lower grades on freight-train lines.

Resistance due to curves. — It is usual to express the resistance due to
curves in the form of a grade, and the best practice appeara to be to con-
sider that the resistance due to a 1 degree curve is practically the same
as a 0.04 per cent, grade, and for a 2 degree curve it is twice as much;
and so on.

Since the resistance due to grade is 20 lb. per ton for a 1 per cent,
grade, for a 0.04 .per cent, grade it will amount to 0.8 lb. per ton. So
that the resistance due to a 1 degree curve could just as readily be
represented as 0.8 lb. per ton of train.

For example: If a 6 degree curve occurs on a 0.4 per cent, grade, the
resistance due to the curvature would be 6X0.8 = 4.8 lb., and the resist-
ance due to the grade would be 0.4x20 = 8; or the total resistance due to
grade and curve would be 12.8 lb. per ton.

If to this is added the level straight-track resistance obtained from
one of the above formulas (depending upon whether the train is a pas-
senger or a freight train), the total resistance in pounds per ton for any
given train at any given place on the road such, as on the ruling grade,
can be computed.

Limitations in practice, — Having given the actual tractive power of a
locomotive, its working limit, due to the track and other conditions, can
be determined. An engine will draw a heavier train over heavy, well-
supported rail than on a light rail section, with ties spaced at con-
siderable length, and no ballast, or ballast of such a nature as to permit
the ties to move or sink. On such inferior or light track there would be
a succession of depressions as the engine passes over it, although to the
eye it may appear to be fairly well surfaced track. The difference in

MAKING UP TRAINS 155

movement might be compared to a ball running down a well-constructed
bowling alley and the same ball rolled over a piece of lawn, both being
perfectly level. On the smaller rail section the point of contact between
the rail and driving wheel tread is less, reducing the adhesion. When the
rail or tie, or both, are worn, the results are less satisfactory. The design
of the rail head also aflfects the adhesion somewhat. Engines regularly run-
ning over a light rail section were found to have greatly reduced adhesion
on heavier rail sections afterward, because of the grooves worn in tires.

Locomotive capacity. — After the working tractive power has been
determined, the number of tons the locomotive can haul at a given speed
over the maximum grade can be readily determined by dividing the
working tractive power of the locomotive by the total pounds per ton
resistance as determined by the method given above.

Use of sand, — Sand for increasing the adhesion between the loco-
motive drivers and the rail is, at best, a necessary evil. On a good clean
rail the train will roll easier, but if slightly wet or greasy, the engine
drivers will slip for want of adhesion. Sand, judiciously used, will tend to
prevent the slipping by increasing the adhesion, but it will also cause
the train to draw harder. It may be used too freely, thereby increasing
the troubles instead of diminishing them. The ideal condition would
be a sandy rail for the locomotive drivers to pass over and a wet clean
rail for all the following wheels of the train. This condition would be
approximated by a pneumatic blast or a sweeper behind the last driver
to blow the sand off the rail. Inexperienced enginemen stall their trains
on sand about as often as they prevent stalling through slipping. Over
interlocking plants sand must not be used on account of movable point
frogs, slips and switch rails, although often needed badly at those
particular points because of the lack of surface of a full rail. The size and
contour of the rail section greatly affects adhesion; as does the condition
of the driving wheel tires.

Engines are loaded al terminals from three entirely distinct viewpoints,
viz.:

1. To move the maximum tonnage consistent with speed requirements
on the line.

2. To move the maximum tonnage per day, for a long period of time,
including all engines both in or out of service, and

3. To move the tonnage at a minimum cost per ton-mile.

These methods are affected by such helping or assisting engine service,
doubling of hills, setting off or picking up of cars between terminals
where grades change, and double-heading, as may be required. The
tonnage per engine depends on—

1. Rate and length of maximum or "ruling" grade.

2. Average grade.

3. Amount and degree of curvature.

156

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

4. Density and character of traffic.

5. Running time allowed.

6. Average gross weight per car.

7. Location and extent of passing track facilities.

8. Weather conditions and temperature.

9. Wind velocity and direction.

10. Condition of rails.

11. Car journal lubrication and condition of journals.

An economical tonnage rating is estimated by one authority to be
80 per cent, of the maximum available drawbar pull, under favorable
circumstances. This may be determined by the use of a dynamometer
car and should be confirmed by service tests. On one division of a large
road it was claimed that by dropping from the full maximum rating of
100 per cent, to an 80 per cent, rating for comparative months in
two consecutive years, the tonnage per engine mile was increased 13 per
cent., and per train- mile 16 per cent., with a decrease of 9.3 per cent, in
coal consumed per ton-mile. If these figures are correct they can only
be explained by the large number of cars set off with the higher rating
by stalled trains.

An exhaustive series of experiments conducted by Prof. Edward C.
Schmidt, in charge of railway engineering at the Experimental Station of
the University of Illinois, resulted in the preparation of the following
table of the "values of resistance at various speeds and for trains of dif-
ferent average weights per car" applying to trains running at uniform
speed on tangent and level track of good construction during weather
when the temperature is not lower than 30° F. and when the wind
velocity does not exceed about 20 miles per hour.

TRAIN RESISTANCE — POUNDS PER TON

Speed
m. p. hr.

15

20

Averag
25

;e we

30

5.4
5.5
,5.5

dght

35

4.8
4.9

s pe

40

4.4
4.4

ir ca

45
4.0

r, iE

50
3.7

L tons

55 60 i 65

3.53.3|3.2

i

3.53.33.2

1

70

3.1
3.1

75

3.0
3.0
3.1
3.1

Speed

m. p. hr.

1

5

7.6

6.8

6.0

5

6

7.7

6.9

6.1

4.13.8

6

7

7.8

7.0

6.2

5.04.5

4.1
4.2

1
3.83.63.4

3.23.1

7

8

8.0

7.1

6.3

5.65.014.6

,

5.75.14.6

3.93.63.43.3

i 1

3.2

8

9 !

8.1

7.2

6.4

4.23.93.63.4

1

1 1

3.3

3.2,3.1

1

9

10

8.2

7.3

6.5

i5.8

5.2

1 1
4.74.34.03.73.53.83.23.2

1 , * ' 1 1

10

MAKING UP TRAINS

157

From the foregoing it ^11 be seen that the resistance on straight
level track ranges from 3 to 8.2 lb. per ton, under varying conditions of
car weights and speeds.

The arrangement of loaded and empty cars in the front or rear of the
train also affects train resistance. Mr. J. M. Daly in a paper read before
the New York Railroad Club, October 20, 1905, estimated the resist-
ance when heavily loaded cars are placed in the rear of the train and
empty cars in front at 10 per cent, greater than when the loaded cars
are placed in the front end of the train. Assuming the resistance of a
loaded car in the head of the train as a basis it is undoubtedly true that
as the car is placed in consecutive positions farther back in the train
the resistance increases in small proportional amounts, due to a corre-
spondingly increased distance the train weight extends from the locomo-
tive. The flange friction in curves is increased as the major portion of
the train weight is placed farther from the locomotive.

Fig. 47. — Tonnage computing machine.

Tonnage computers. — ^-\ simple equated tonnage computer is shown
in Fig. 47, devised by Mr. J. M. Daly, General Superintendent of Trans-
portation of the Illinois Central. The object of tonnage computer is to
make it possible to load locomotives uniformly, regardless of the number
and varying weights of the cars in the trains. The method of adjusting
the tonnage and getting the locomotive ratings under this plan is as
follows :

The reduction, if any, to be made from the maximum tractive power
of the locomotive to allow for the resistance of the engine itself and the
tender, also for weather and rail conditions, defects in power, necessity
for speed, etc. must be decided upon. If an engine has a maximum
tractive power of 40,000 lb. and the desired reduction is 10 per cent:,
the rating of the engine will be 36,000 lb. draw-bar pull. Next, there

158 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

must be a unit rating on which to base the resistance of the cars. As the
average gross weight of cars is about 40 tons, this weight has been taken
by Mr. Daly as his basing unit.

In determining the tonnage rating of a locomotive, it is given a train
of as many cars weighing 40 tons, as will cause it to exert 36,000 lb.
draw-bar pull on the ruling grade in moving the train at the required
speed. If, for example, it can haul 50 of these cars, its rating will be
2000 tons of such unit; but because of the less resistance per ton of
heavy cars, it can haul more than 2000 tons of cars weighing 50, 60 or
70 tons. Conversely, because of the higher resistance per ton of light
cars, it cannot haul 2000 tons made up of cars weighing 30, 20 or 15 tons.

If the locomotive is given a train of cars all weighing 50 tons gross,
it will be found that it can haul, say 42 cars, totaling 2100 tons. There-
fore, to find what the equivalent engine loading of the heavier car would
be on the 40-ton basis, divide 2000 tons by 42, which gives, approxi-
mately, 48 tons. Carrying out this same determination for other weights,
Mr. Daly has found by experiment that expressed in terms of equivalent
resistance of the average car weighing 40 tons:

A 70-ton gross weight car has a loading equivalent of 62 tons.
A 60-ton gross weight car has a loading equivalent of 55 tons.
A 50-ton gross weight car has a loading equivalent of 48 tons.
A 40-ton gross weight car has a loading equivalent of 40 tons.
A 30-ton gross weight car has a loading equivalent of 32 tons.
A 20-ton gross weight car has a loading equivalent of 25 tons.
A 15-ton gross weight car has a loading equivalent of 22 tons.

The computing device is designed to add together the equivalent
instead of the actual gross tonnage of the cars by automatically recording
less than the actual weight of heavy cars and more than the actual weight
of light cars.

Description of comptUer. — The machine is 14 in. X 14 in. and weighs
28 lbs. It has a circular face plate marked with tons and fractions of tons.
Within, and concentric with this plate, is a narrow, perforated ring, the
perforations coming opposite the divisions on the plate. At the center
are two registers, one showing the number of cars and the other the ad-
justed tonnage. To work the machine, the point of the stylus seen lying
below the machine, is inserted in a hole in the movable ring opposite a
figure and the ring rotated to the right until the stylus strikes a stop under
the plate. The stylus is withdrawn and the operation repeated as many
times as there are cars to add, tlie machine adding the equivalent tonnage
each time and showing, on the registers in the center, the total equivalent
tonnage and also the actual number of cars that have been added. For
example, if the waybill calls for a 60-ton gross weight car, the stylus is
put in the hole opposite this number and the ring rotated to the stop.

MAKING UP TRAINS 159

The register adds only 55 tons, instead of 60 tons; for a car weighing 30
tons it adds 32 tons. When the register shows 2000 tons — if that be the
locomotive rating — ^the train is complete, whether its actual tonnage be
2300 or 1900 tons. The drawbar pull in either case will be the same
under like conditions of good track, etc. The advantages and savings
claimed for the device are as follows:

Equalized resistance to all freight trains.

Accurate computation of train tonnage.^

More accurate handling of waybills.

Saving of one hour per train in departure from terminals because of quicker
computation of tonnage.

More room for incoming trains at terminals because of quicker dispatch of
outward trains.

Saving of fuel on engines held waiting for conductors to get the waybills and
foot up the tonnage; and then to either set out or pick up cars to balance the
rating.

Saving of overtime and fuel on trains held out of yard waiting to get in on
tracks occupied by trains ready to leave.

Carbon copies of the daily reports of individual train tonnage are sent
to the superintendent, the master mechanic, and the superintendent of
transportation, and reach their respective desks the next morning. The
officers are thereby kept in close touch with the business, and can take
immediate steps to fill out trains better. They are also kept better
informed as to the condition of the motive power as measured by its
performance. Weekly and monthly reports are compiled from the
totals of the daily reports with very little expense; three hours' work
each month will suffice. The device does away with the mental calcu-
lation, thus eliminating many chances for error; it relieves the conductor
of annoying work, giving him more time to look after the physical han-
dling of his train. It will increase the average miles per day of both
engines and cars.

By checking waybills and computing the tonnage in advance of train
movement, missing waybills can be located and "hold cars" can be
located and switched out of the train make-up, thereby avoiding delay to
road crews after reporting.

The basic principles of correct train loading were stated by the com-
mittee on "ton-mile statistics" in its report to the American Railway
Master Mechanics' Association, Saratoga, June, 1902, as follows:

"The ton as a unit for making up trains, using the actual weight of cars, has
proven more efficient than the car, because it is a more accurate measure of
weight and hence the work done by the locomotive.

"The fact has been established beyond successful contradiction that there is

no constant relation between the weight of a car and the power required to haul

* As compared with computation without the aid of any mechanical device.
The results, of course, are shown in equivalent, not actual, tons.

160 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

it, but that a ton of empty car requires more power to haul it than a ton of partly
loaded car; and this requires more power than a ton of fully loaded car; also, that
the greater the capacity of a car the less the power per ton required to handle it
when fully loaded.

"The ideal system of tonnage ratings would be one which takes these facts
into consideration and would measure accurately the resistance a train will
develop, regardless of the number of cars — loads, empties or partly loaded cars —
it contains, or their weight or capacity, as it is the resistance a locomotive is
capable of overcoming which a tonnage rating should measure, rather than the
number of cars or tons it is capable of hauling."

Application of rating formulas. — Whatever formula for tonnage
rating may be in use, it should be intelligently applied. Necessary reduc-
tions in tonnage rating must be made when conditions on the road are
abnormal. An overloaded engine may be a source of greater less in
operating than an underloaded engine. Yardmasters should anticipate
as far as possible a sudden fall in temperature, high head winds or side
winds, snow, sleet, rain and fog and load engines starting out from the
terminal accordingly. A rail is in worse condition after a slight rainfall
than after a heavy rain which clears it of all grease and oil.

The extremes of heat and cold occasionally render it necessary to
suspend the operation of all formulas. During the excessively hot spell
of some two w^eeks during July, 1911, many men were overcome and had
to be taken off their trains to the hospital or their homes. Accidents were
numerous. It would have been unwise during such a period not to
lighten up engine loading enough to enable trains to keep under way,
rather than remain on siding, or dragging up hill at low speed, thereby
reducing the number of men available for service, and possibly inviting
accident. Extreme cold is similar in its final effects, but works through
different channels. When a combination of cold and dampness stiffens up
journal bearings to an extent that a train cannot be started out of a sid-
ing after a 30-minutes stop, although with greatly reduced tonnage,
prompt and unusual steps should be taken by the train dispatcher, and
he should conveniently forget the ordinary rules for tonnage rating
when from excessively low temperature the water freezes in the injector
feed pipes, as has been known.

On many roads a reduction of from 5 to 10 per cent, in the tonnage
rating is made for wet rails and 10 to 15 per cent, during the winter season.
On one road train-dispatchers are instructed to reduce the normal
tonnage rating 5 per cent, when the thermometer falls to freezing, 32°
Fahr., 10 per cent, when l)elow 20°, 15 per cent, when between 15° and
10°, 20 per cent, between 10° and 0°, 30 per cent, between 0° and
— 10° and 40 per cent, when below —10°. Reductions are also made
by request of the division master mechanic for engines in bad condition
and for engines just out of the shop being broken in.

MAKING UP TRAINS

161

A very valuable contribution to the limited store of exact knowledge
on the effect of extremes of temperature on the resistance of trains is
contained in a paper read by Professor Edwin C. Schmidt before the
Central Railway Club, January, 1912. He gives in detail the result of
several tests made to determine the relative resistance under normal and
low conditions of temperature. It is shown that the difference is greatest
at the beginning of the run because in winter it takes longer to warm up
the journals to the point where lubrication is most effective. The tests
indicate that the rolling resistance, which averaged 4.5 lb. per ton on one
division in summer, increased to 6 lb. per ton with low temperature, or
an increased demand of 33.3 per cent, on the hauling power of the engine.
These figures take into account only the rolling resistance on a level tan-
gent; grade resistance is not affected by changes in temperature. It fol-
lows, therefore, that low temperature calls for a greater reduction in the
tonnage ratings of low-grade lines than on roads with heavy grades. Pro-
fessor Schmidt compares two divisions, the first with a ruling grade of
0.5 per cent; the second with a ruling grade of 1 per cent.; and shows by
the following table that the necessary tonnage rating reduction in winter
on the first is 14 per cent, and on the second but 10 per cent. The
tabulation follows:

Ruling grade, per cent.,

Tractive effort in summer, lbs.

Tractive effort in winter, lbs.,

Grade resistance, lbs. per ton,

Net resistance in summer, lbs. per ton,

Net resistance in winter, lbs. per ton,

Gross resistance in summer, lbs. per ton,

Gross resistance in winter, lbs. per ton,

Tonnage in summer, tons.

Tonnage in winter, tons,

Tonnage reduction, per cent.,

Division A

Division B

0.5

1

32,000

30,500

30,400

28,970

10

20

4.5

4.5

6.0

6.0

14.5

24.5

16.0

26.0

2,207

1,245

1,900

1,115

14

10

Professor Schmidt compiled an interesting table summarizing current
practice on 41 roads in modifying tonnage ratings in winter. The
summary is reproduced on page 162.

Figure 48 on page 163, containing curves of frictional resistance, was
prepared by the Burlington and shows the relation between resistance per
ton and weight of cars under different weather conditions. It is instruct-
ive and is one more authority on this important subject.

The effect of journal lubrication on train resistance is important and
deserves more attention than is ordinarily given it. One or more heated
journals will have an appreciable effect on resistance. Inefficient or
insufficient inspection; insufficient lubricating oils or waste, and improp-
erly designed and maintained journal boxes, causing bearings to assume
11

162

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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MAKING UP TRAINS

163

a position not radial with the center of the journal or front and back
box covers permitting sand to be drawn into the bearings, may tend to
increase the operating cost by reducing train tonnage; or increasing coal
consumption and machinery wear.

The heavy train load up to a few years ago, was the goal of nearly
all operating officers. It has never been accepted as advantageous on
lines of dense passenger traffic where lightly loaded and fast moving
freights not only keep out of the way of passenger trains, but earn more
money by keeping out of sidings. Germany had the problem of the
heavy train load before it and went back to the moderately loaded
locomotive. England has never left the light, fast moving train. Con-
gressional legislation in this country — ^the federal "hours of service"

14

12

o
H

g 10

I

% «

I

I

No.4

No.3

N

No,4 i
No.3

empcn
••

ture b61ow ]

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r. No

Y Wind
<•

No.2

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No.1

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ab(

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•i

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No.4

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Na3

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No.2
No.1

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10 20 80 40 &0 60

Tons per Car

Fig. 48. — Resistance and temperature curves.

law, the "guaranteed mileage" to train employees in recent wage
agreements, the demands and necessity for expeditious freight move-
ment, the occasional inadequate car supply, and the heavy depreciation
of equipment (both engines and cars) under heavy tonnage loading; these
considerations are re-opeiiing the question as to whether the excessively
heavy "drag" train is really profitable. Mr. M. B. Wild, statistician of
the Balto. & Ohio, concluded, after a series of investigations,^ that slow
speed implies great weight, a consumption of fuel and stores dispropor-
tioned to the gain in weight, and seriously rapid wear and tear and de-
preciation of implements; and decided that the economical freight train
speed is between 15 and 25 miles an hour; and engines should be rated
and loaded accordingly.

In its last analysis the question is one which might better be decided

> See Railroad Gazette, Feb. 8, 1907.

164 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

according to the conditions obtaining in each locality. Given a division
of a hundred or more miles in length, with a heavy freight traffic and a
comparatively unimportant passenger train service, and a ruling grade
for a short distance — say 8 or 10 miles — opposed to the direction of
predominating traffic. It would then undoubtedly be wise to load the
engines to a comfortable working limit, with lever "down-in-the-comer"
for the heavy grade, because it means 200 or more engine miles — figuring
twice the length of the road — ^for every additional ton handled. On the
same length of division with similar traffic conditions, with a greater
part of ruling grade opposed to the direction of traffic — as for instance
40 or 50 miles out of a total 100, it would be unwise to load locomotives
so heavily. A farmer, driving to market, will load his team to the
utmost of its capacity if he has a short heavy grade in the entire distance,
but with many such grades, and an equally heavy load, he would soon
end the useful career of his horses.

On a line of extremely heavy passenger traffic, the loading of loco-
motives in freight service may not in any sense be dependent on the
grades. It is short-sighted management to load freight trains to the
dragging point when with less tonnage and added ability to start quickly
they might almost continue over the division, in a short space interval
between passenger trains. On such lines heavy freight trains may
become side tracked for several houis at a time because of frequent
passenger train movements, and because "of their inability to get under
headway when an opportunity is presented for a quick move. When
the heavy cost of overtime under the high existing wage schedules is
considered, and the expensive results of "tie-ups," under the federal hours
of service law, the folly of heavily loading freight trains under such con-
ditions is apparent. To estimate the extra expense in dollars aiid cents
is difficult but it runs into large sums, in some cases amounting to SlOO
or $200 per hour. Then, too, delays are not only costly, but dangerous.
One heavy passenger handling division of an eastern road has wisely
directed that its freight trains be loaded so as to enable them to move
and keep in advance of the average passenger train. On lines of this
character much may be done in the way of simple and efficient signaling;
improved siding connections and rearrangement of tracks; proper location
of interlocking plants and correct location and design of stations, plat-
forms, and adjacent tracks.

These features are given separate treatment in other chapters.

CHAPTER XI
TIME FREIGHT SERVICE

The railways of Great Britain lead in prompt and certain handling of
high-class freight; their methods are described elsewhere. In point of
speed for long distances, however, they have nothing to compare with
the movement of perishable freight from the South to New York and
Chicago, or with the package and perishable freight trains between Bos-
ton and New York and between New York and Washington; or with
the 60-hours' movement of package freight between New York and St.
Louis.

As distinguished from ordinary slow freight the fast freight service
handles commodities, usually made up of package freight of an important
or perishable nature, and almost invariably moving through freight-
houses or piers for receipt or delivery. It is usually handled at higher
rates and classified to have preference in this over common through and
local freight. Among the reasons for the existence of this service are
the necessity for quick marketing of high-class goods, which are manu-
factured on very close margins of profit to avoid the loss of the use of
capital invested, and desirability of the jobber's carrying the smallest
stock, with which he can meet the demand. It is not unusual for the
merchant in New York City to telephone or telegraph the New England
manufacturer two or three hundred miles away, for goods he expects to
have on his counter the following morning, or for dealers in Buffalo at
noon to order goods from New York which they expect to receive the
following iafternoon.

To operate fast-freight service successfully on the time allowed for
transit and with reasonable certainty, it is essential that the prescribed
speed be such as can be maintained with regularity. The capacity of
the engine should be such as to enable it to make approximately the
average speed, on the maximum grades. Careful inspections should be
made to prevent other than the authorized commodities going in fast-
freight trains. Cars traveling as fast freight should be readily distin-
guished by a card or mark on the side of car and on the card-bill.

Authorized fast-freight cars should be kept out of trains of
ordinary freight. There should be a clearly understood arrangement
with connecting lines for prompt and complete delivery of fast freight
from or to such lines. Full information must be given as to the necessary
icing or ventilating when needed. Notice of time live stock is to be

165

166 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

loaded, fed and watered must be furnished and shown. Proper service
at division yards should be arranged for gathering and distributing fast-
freight cars so as to avoid stops of regular fast-freight trains, and the
necessary preference should be given through terminals and in switching
and changing of engines and cabooses. Fidl reports and records should
be made of cars set out short of destination for any reason and prompt
action should be taken to have them moved again. A full schedule for
loading and moving fast freight from points between terminals should
be planned and placed in the hands of all interested in the handling.

It is advisable to arrange for the smallest number of regular trains to
be run, and add sections as required in preference to annuling schedules
not wanted.

The time freight originating at Boston is handled by the Boston &
Maine and New Haven roads, in trains made up in proper order; and
the cars are so placed at the houses as to enable an immediate start,
avoiding switching and accompanying detentions. The Boston & Maine
places 120 cars at its No. 10 house at one setting. Freight is loaded up
to within 10 to 30 minutes of leaving time, allowing time for closing
doors, sealing cars and testing air. Transfer cars from nearby manu-
facturing towns are also handled in these trains. A running slip is made
for each car and accompanies same to destination. Waybills are made
up and forwarded by train mail, United States mail or express. Boston
& Maine train 257 leaves Boston 3:30 p. m.; train 259 at 3:40 p. m.;
arriving at Rotterdam at 1:20 and 1:30 a. m., respectively — a run -of 212
miles in 9 hours and 50 minutes. New Haven symbol train B. H.-l, —
commonly known as the "fish train" — Cleaves Boston 5:55 p. m. and
arrives at Harlem River 1 :50 a. m. — a run of 227 miles in 7 hours and
55 minutes.

The Boston & Albany runs two through fast-freight trains with cars
destined beyond Buffalo; L.S.-3, with cars for Chicago and other points
on or via the Lake Shore and Big Four roads and M.C.-3, made up of cars
via Suspension Bridge for Chicago and points on or via the Michigan
Central. These trains leave Boston (Beacon Park yards) at 8:00 and
8:30 p. m. respectively, passing Albany, 200 miles, at 6:45 and 7:45 a. m.,
the following day and arriving at Chicago, 1036 miles, at 6:30 and 8:15
a. m. of the third day out.

It is customary on some lines to designate fast-freight trains as
"symbol trains." This is known as the symbol method. A combina-
tion of letters and numbers is used to indicate, in a general manner, the
origin and destination of the train. The object is to preserve its identity
among other trains. Where a schedule number is used over the entire
line, the use of such numbers seems to answer all purposes and a number
of large railroad companies follow this plan. Where the symbol method
is used, the first letter of the symbol indicates the starting point where

TIME FREIGHT SERVICE 167

most of the freight is taken on. The second letter indicates the destination
or the point where the train ends its run. Odd numbers in the symbol
indicate west- or southbound and even numbers east- or northbound trains.
On the Pennsylvania, as an illustration, assuming J to stand for Jersey
City and P for Pittsburg, J P 1 would indicate a westbound train orginat-
ing at Jersey City and destined for Pittsburg. P J 2 would indicate an
eastbound train ofginating at Pittsburg and destined for Jersey City.

The symbol freight service, to be successful, must be handled very
much like passenger service. The outgoing cars should be placed at
piers or houses in such positions as practically to make up the train in
book order when loading is completed. In some instances it may be
necessary to "double" over onto two or more tracks because one track
is not long enough to hold all the cars. At intermediate points and
division terminals, these trains are not usually run into the regular
classification yards, because being made up for final destination, it is
only necessary at most to drop the station cars and take on those to be
added. The cars to be dropped are probably at the head end and if engines
are changed, the incoming engine holds onto these cars and sets them
off. Cars to go from the station must be placed in the proper position
in the train and if this would cause detention they are usually held for
a later and slower train. When the final or system destination is reached
the train may be pulled directly to and alongside the house into which
the freight is unloaded, or, if stopped in the outlying or auxiliary yard,
it is promptly moved to the unloading point by a yard engine.

First-class locomotives, adapted to high speed and in good condition,
with picked crews, should be assigned to fast-freight runs when practi-
cable. The symbol or working book should be placed in the hands of
dispatchers, yardmasters, agents, conductors and others interested, and
should give information in detail as to starting time of train, time at
intermediate points, how cars are to be taken into trains along the line
and how cars for various points are to be disposed of; movements to and
from branch and connecting lines and arrangements for advance notice
to divisions ahead.

The tonnage of the fast-freight trains should be closely watched to
avoid overloading and consequent inability to make the necessary time.

Schedules should be worked out to arrange for picking up high-class
freight along the division and for delivering freight at the intermediate
points, with quickest possible dispatch and without requiring stops by
the through fast-freight trains.

It is good practice to use a card bill of a distinctive color for cars to be
moved on fast-freight trains. Some roads use a red card; others have
a red stripe across the face of the card while others again use an ordinary
card with a large red or black cross on its face. This quickly attracts
the attention of the yardmaster, conductor or agent, and there is less

168 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

likelihood of the car going astray or becoming indefinitely side-tracked
in some "pocket."

Yardmasters should have advance information of the make-up of an
approaching fast-freight train and the number and location of cars to
be taken out of the train, to enable prompt handling and to have cars
to fill out in readiness.

Fast freights should be made up in proper order and all cars added
should be placed in their proper positions to avoid delay along the line in
switching. Airbrake cars only should be loaded for these trains, and
cars should be carefully inspected and in good condition before
starting.

It is estimated generally that 'live stock, perishable and merchandise"
include about 10 per cent, of the entire freight traffic; 30 per cent.,
however, will b^ the proportion when the high-class freight at higher
rates is added. It would be interesting to know the cost of handling
fast freight in excess of ordinary freight but, unfortunately, accurate
statistics on this point are hard to obtain. Some carefully conducted
tests were made some years ago- on the Northern Pacific and records
kept of the cost of moving trains at various speeds.

On the Minnesota Division, westbound, at a speed of 15 miles per hour
with an engine developing 400 h. p. and hauling 1050 gross tons, the cost
per train-mile was 60 cents. At a speed of 20 miles per hour the tonnage
fell to 949 tons and the train-mile cost went up to 68.6 cents. At a
speed of 35 miles per hour, it cost four and one-half times as much to
move an equivalent tonnage as at 15 miles per hour over this particular
division of road. Additional track maintenance, loss of time to ordinary
and local freights in clearing the line for fast freights, are some of the
elements of cost which are not included in the above figures.

Another interesting and instructive series of records was kept to
collect data on the relative economy of running slow freight-trains with
engines loaded to maximum capacity, compared with fast-freight trains
of less than the maximum capacity of engines, on the Indiana Division
of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern during the months of January
and February, 1904. The records and results were as follows:

First. — For common freights scheduled to travel about 9 miles per hour,
ating being assumed as full capacity of engine for this speed.

Second. — For semi-quick dispatch freights, it being intended that this class
of freight should make an average schedule speed of 15 miles per hour, rating of
engines being assumed at 72 per cent, of rating for common freights.

Third. — Quick dispatch freights, it being intended that this class of freight
should make an average schedule speed of 19 miles per hour, rating of engine
being assumed at 60 per cent, of rating for common freights.

The data collected for each of these classes of trains for separate trips were as
follows :

TIME FREIGHT SERVICE 169

1. Temperature.

2 Number of engines.

3. Number of cars.

4. Number of 1000 ton-miles, no arbitrary allowance being included.

5. Running time between terminals.

6. Rate per hour, running time between terminals.

7. Total time between terminals.

8. Rate per hour, total time between terminals.

9. Cost of operation.

10. Cost of fixed charges.

11. Total cost.

12. Cost per 1000 ton-miles.

13. Per cent, hauled of the maximum rating for common freight.

The " cost of operation " for each trip was obtained from actual cost of wages,
overtime, cost of helper engine and fuel, as shown by records of that trip; the
number of engine-miles per trip multiplied by the total cost per mile, as shown
by monthly records for the following items; running repairs, classified repairs,
oil, sand, waste, miscellaneous engine supplies and roundhouse attendants, which
amounts to 14 cents per mile for the 1500-class engines and 8 cents per mile for
the 100-class engines.

The average original value of the 1500-class engines was estimated at $11,000
each and that of the 100-class engines at S9000 each. An annual allowance of
5 per cent, on the value should.be made for interest and 5 per cent, for deprecia-
tion, making a total of 10 per cent, per annum. In order that the use of an
engine may be justified, it must earn 10 per cent, per annum on the capital
invested, and must for each hour of its time be worth a proportionate amount to
the railroad company. For the 1500-class engines this would equal about 12
cents per hour and for the 100-class engines 10 cents per hour. This is the fixed
charge made against each train for each engine for each hour in transit. The
average value of a freight car was assumed to be $800, and on the same basis a
car, in order that its use may be justified, must earn 10 per cent, of its value per
annum, which would amount to 1 cent per hour. On this basis the fixed charges
for the train equipment for any trip would be 1 cent multiplied by the number
of cars in the train, multiplied by the number of hours between terminals; plus
$0.12 or $0.10 multiplied by the number of engines, multiplied by the number
of hours between terminals.

The per cent, of rating handled by each train was obtained from a tonnage
statement, by dividing the actual ton-mileage made by the ton-mileage which
would have been made had maximum common freight rating, corrected for
temperature, been used.

The "total cost" used does not represent the actual cost of handling the
train between terminals, but includes only those principal items which vary
with, or are dependent upon, each trip. The cost obtained by dividing the total
cost by the number of 1000 ton-miles is therefore correct for comparative pur-
poses only.

The above data have been shown graphically on the diagram (Fig. 49) as
follows :

First, — A chart has been made by plotting the actual running time in miles

170

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Enffinee 1558-1599
Theoretical Tractive Power 96,510 Lb.

Enffines 100-187
Theoretical Tractive Power 23.314 Lb.

10152025 10 152025

Actual Running Time in Miles per Hour. Actual Running Time in Miles per Hour.

FiQ. 49. — "Curves showing relative economy of train loading.

TIME FREIGHT SERVICE 171

per hour on the horizontal ordinate and the cost per 1000 ton-miles on the vertical
ordinate. The curve of average results indicates the cost per 1000 ton-miles
corresponding to given speeds in actual running time.

Second, — A chart has been made by plotting the actual running time in
miles per hour on the horizontal ordinate and the percentage of the maximum
rating for common freight on the vertical ordinate. The curve of average
results indicates the percentage of maximum rating which must be given trains
in order that their average speed may be a certain running time in miles per hour.

Third, — A chart has been made by plotting the actual running time in miles
per hour on the horizontal ordinate and the time between terminals in miles per
hour on the vertical ordinate. The curve of average results indicates the relation
between the actual running time and the schedule speed in miles per hour between
terminals.

From these charts we may see graphically the comparative cost of fast and
slow freight service and to a certain extent the relative economy of heavy and
light motive power. When it is desired to move freight between given points
on this division in a fixed time it will be possible from these diagrams to determine
the rating which must be given engines in order that they may make the desired
schedule.

For the 1500-class compound freight engines the minimum cost is found at a
speed of 13 miles per hour, which requires a rating of 88 per cent, of the maximum ;
but a speed of 12.5 miles per hour does not increase the cost of handling
appreciably and will allow 91 per cent, of the maximum rating to be hauled. By
referring to the third chart it appears that an actual running time of 12.5 miles
per hour corresponds with a schedule speed of 8.25 miles per hour between
terminals.

For the 100-class engines the minimum cost is shown at a speed of 15 miles
per hour, which requires a rating of 94 per cent, of the maximum; but a speed of
14 miles per hour does not increase the cost of handling appreciably and will allow
97 per cent, of the maximum rating to be hauled. It also appears that a running
time of 14 miles per hour corresponds to a schedule speed of 8.75 miles per hour.

From the conditions existing when these records were taken, we should con-
clude that for the 1500-class engines the most economical operation will be
attained by trains scheduled at 8.25 miles per hour, running 12.5 miles per
hour and hauling 91 per cent, of maximum common rating. For the 100-class
engines the greatest economy of operation will be attained. by trains scheduled
to 8.75 miles per hour, running 14 miles per hour and hauling 97 per cent, of
maximum common rating.

The records of about 500 trains given above were taken during a period of
exceptionally heavy traffic and also during unusual severe weather, with the
temperature in the neighborhood of zero for weeks at a time. It is probable that
results in warm weather would be diflferent. It would, therefore, be desirable
to make the same determinations under summer conditions. The determination
of the most economical tonnage rating by this method is independent of the
rating originally assumed.

The fast freight proposition, divested of all questions of politics and
policies, resolves itself into "charging what the traffic will bear" — or of

172 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

furnishing the service which the character of the freight and competition
demand; and to determine this, the cost of handling it, on fast time, is
important.

Mr. George R. Henderson gives some valuable data in his "Cost of
Locomotive Operation." from which the following is quoted:

"The cost per 1000 ton-miles for all combinations of speed and train load,
computed :

Speed up hill, miles per hour 5 10 15 20

Weight of train, tons back of tender . . 2,550 2,530 1,900 1,350

Ton-miles per trip, back of tender 383,000 380,000 285,000 202,000

Running time, hrs. bet. terminals 17.5 10.0 7.5 6.25

Actual time, hrs. bet. terminals 21.0 12.0 9.0 7.5

Average speed, between terminals 7.2 12.5 16.7 20.0

Cost, per 100 Oton-miles, net $0.36 $0.37 $0.39 $0.43

Million ton-miles handled per month. . 10.6 16.1 14.7 11.6

With reduced train loads, cost and ton-mileage is as follows:

Speed; miles per hour 5 10 15 20 25 30

A^. /u I r. J X 1 60 1.11 1.05 1.10 1.15 1.25

400 tons (back of tender) —

1.05 1.87 2.54 3.08 3.54 3.92

^nn* 121 .90 .85 .91
600 tons

1.58 2.81 3.81 4.63

onn. 1. 00 .78 .79 .86

800 tons — —

2.11 3.76 5.08 6.18

1 nnn * 89 72 .76

1,000 tons

2.63 4.70 6.35

.^^. 82 .70

1,200 tons

3.16 5.63

^ ^/w.x -79 .75

1,400 tons

3.69 6.57

The upper set of figures represent cost in dollars per 1000 ton-miles
and the lower figures, million ton-miles handled per engine per month.
A speed of 10 to 15 m. p. h. seems the most economical and moves
the greatest tonnage in a month with the heavier loading. With lighter
loading a higher average speed becomes necessary to accomplish as
much in the same time period.

CHAPTER XII
TEAM DELIVERY YARDS

The general location of team yards should be as near to the industrial
scenter of the city as practicable. If there is tide-water competition this
is particularly desirable, as an additional team haul of a few city blocks
will often be the deciding factor in routing the freight. The competition
of other railroads in a smaller degree is more readily met by a central
location. Those responsible for securing railroad traffic usually favor
the location most convenient to the shippers.

On the other hand, consideration should be given to the higher taxes
and interest charges on the more valuable real estate occupied by the
central location. The problem is to ascertain whether the central
location will bring sufficient additional traffic to justify the higher fixed
terminal charges; or, to put it in another way, how much business the;
road can afford to lose while availing itself of the lower fixed charges of a.
terminal in a less central and less expensive location. This feature is'
discussed somewhat in detail in Chapter III.

The location of team yards with reference to other facilities is of more
direct interest to those having to do with the operation of the road.
Obviously they should be as convenient to the freight-houses as practic-
able. This will enable the freight agent's force to supervise the loading
and unloading of freight and arrange the car supply more readily, as
cars made empty in the team yards and not required for immediate
outward loading, may readily be transferred to the houses, or vice versa.
If the team yard is near the freight-house, it is satisfactory to the patron
because a teamer taking a load to the freight-house may get a return load
from the team yard, or in going to the team yard, return by way of the
inbound house.

The contour and track spacing of a team yard depends upon the size
of the property available and such property, because ordinarily so close
to the city's business center, is rarely adapted to an ideal layout. A
number of tracks each holding 10 to 15 cars, are preferable to fewer
tracks of greater length, but property restrictions usually determine
which shall be used. The shorter tracks tend to quick handling and
permit cars to be placed with the least interference to draymen. A
capacity of 12 to 15 cars per track may be considered the maximum
economical length. To save space they may be laid in pairs, similar to
repair tracks, and as a matter of safety in working around teams and

173

174 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

draymen they should be single-end connected. This gives more available
track space than where ladders are put in at each end of the yard. An
acute angle — as abrupt as 60 degrees — between the ladder tracks and
the body (team delivery) tracks, may be permitted to increase the length
of the team track alongside of which there may be sufficient width of
roadway for unloading and loading purposes. Close spacing between
each pair of tracks — 11 ft. 6 in. or 12 ft. center to center of track — ^is
advisable. For the roadway, a space of as much as 48 ft. center to center
of track, giving about 40 ft. clear width for team use, is advantageous.
This gives a full width of roadway for teams, when both tracks are filled
with cars, and as the width of the ordinary wagon does not exceed 6 ft.,
although some motor tracks are more than 8 ft. wide, the space is ample
to enable teams to stand backed up to cars in each track with wagon
poles turned at right angles to the body of wagon. With the increasing
use of motors for trucking it is found that less roadway is needed than
with teams, although the motor trucks are built considerably larger than
the drays.

To determine the proper width of driveways and to ascertain the
effect of the increasing number of motor trucks, actual measurements
were taken at Providence, R. I., of trucks and drays as they arrived,
Sept. 1, 1911, with the following results:

Inbound freight-house No. 1 — ^20 vehicles. Maximum length, 33 ft.

4 in. ; minimum length, 10 ft. 10 in. ; average length, 22 ft. 5 in. There
were five trucks exceeding 30-ft. length. Width: maximum, 8 ft.

5 in.; minimum, 6 ft. 1 in.; average, 7 ft. 2 in.

Inbound house No. 2 — ^20 trucks. Length: maximum, 26 ft. 10 in.;
minimum, 14 ft. 10 in.; average, 19 ft. 10.5 in. Width: maximum,
8 ft. 6 in.; minimum, 6 ft. 2 in.; average, 7 ft. in.

Outbound house No. 3 — 30 trucks. Length: maximum, 33 ft. 9 in.;
minimum, 13 ft. in.; average, 21 ft. 0.3 in. (6 trucks exceeded 30 ft.
length. Width: maximum, 8 ft. 2 in.; minimum, 3 ft. 10 in.; average,
7 ft. 6 in.

Team yard No. 15 — 15 trucks. Maximum length, 31 ft. 5 in.;
minimum, 13 ft. 6 in.; average, 23 ft. 2.5 in. Maximum width, 8 ft.
2 in. ; minimum, 6 ft. 6 in. ; average, 7 ft. 2 in.

In each case the length was measured to cover the space the truck
would occupy if standing at right angle to a house or car.

In establishing a width of driveway for team yards, some designers
figure on using multiples of the adopted track center. Assuming 12 ft.
centers to be used, the width of driveway would, under this method, be
made 36 or 48 ft. center to center of track. If a 48-ft. center to center
driveway is used and tracks are laid in groups of two paralleling, as is
customary, it would be practicable afterward to put in a third track,
establishing groups of three — one center or "dead" track not accessible

TEAM DELIVERY YARDS

I

176 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

to teams — and still leave a 36-ft. center to center driveway. This
system of using groups of three tracks is in effect in yard 17, at Providence,
a cut of which appears in Fig. 50. Should it be desired for any reason
to abandon the yard for team delivery purposes and use it as a storage
or classifying yard, additional tracks — to the extent of two on a 36-ft.
center, three on a 48-ft. center — may be laid without disturbing those
already in use. This has been discussed in Chapter IV.

Track scales should be provided and located where convenient for
switching, preferably on the principal lead track to avoid reverse or
additional movements in weighing ears going to or coming from the

Fio. 51, — Typical freight transfer crane.

loading and unloading points. Unless all cars are weighed the scales
should bp provided with "dead tracks" to avoid the necessity of running
over the scale machinery unnecessarily. This subject is more fully
discussed elsewhere.

Wagon scales should be located where teams may readily reach them
without obstructing the driveways, and where the greater part of the
freight to be weighed on teams is handled, if cars for such freight are
separately placed.

Transfer craves are ordinarily located at the entrance of the yard
and at the point most accessible to teams with heavy pieces of freight,
A crane operated by power is desirable in large yards. If very much
bulky or heavy freight is handled, it may be well to have both a heavy
capacity crane and a lighter one. These appliances greatly facilitate the
release of cars. A good arrangement is a bridge crane, with a trolley on

TEAM DELIVERY YARDS 177

top, covering one track and the adjacent roadway. The crane may be
operated by hand or electric power. The one shown in Fig. 51 is typical
of a crane in general use.

The gantry type of crane is arranged not only to transfer a piece of
freight from wagon to car or car to wagon but may also move freight
from one car or team to another car or team. A typical gantry is shown
in Fig. 52 by which the Balto. & Ohio unloads 40 cars without making a
switch or moving a ear.

In its 12th Street yard, Chicago, the Balto. & Ohio has a heavy
gantry crane. The main hoist has a capacity of 23 tons; the auxiliary

Via. 52.— Electric power crane— BaUi more & Ohio.

,■ has a

5 tons. Its motors are operated V.y 500-voU current. The gantO' •
«-idth of 42 ft. center to center of ground rails, and spans a ^^^"^^^^^^
driveway with a track on each aide. Twenty-tour cars may ^'^ ^"^
without moving them. ^_

The type of crane shown in Fig. r,^ -^ ^^-^^ j^^ sturdy *"''^,'*", ^^tU
sesses great flexibility. The one shown in the cut is located a^^ ^^^^
Street, Chicago— Lake Shore and Miehigau Southern— and c-<3 ^^

tracks and three driveways, accomodating 25 cars at one pi»-
Ls electrically operated and lias a lifting capacity of 25 tons. ^^^ ^^.^^^^.
The Lake Shore also has a gantry at Cleveland, Ohio, w't" _ -^^-o

one of 30 tons capacity and the other— an auxUiary-o' o ^ anA^t'*^

sidetracks and a driveway aro covered Electric power is us

178 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

annual cost for current is estimated at $500. Thirteen gantry loads
have been handled in 20 minutes. One operator is employed; the hoist
being attached to the load by the teamers.

Inclines running from the roadway to the car-floor level at the end
of a track, are advantageous, especially where heavy machinery on
wheels, agricultural harvesters, threshers, mowers, traction engines,
fire engines and the like are to be handled. The same result has been
obtained by depressing the end of a track so the floor level of a car on the
depressed track will be on a level with the roadway.

Ramps or inclined driveways crossing team yards or tracks should be
avoided, but in securing locations near centers of cities, particularly

Piu. 53.— Electric traveling crane, Chicago — Lake Shore & Michigan Southern.

where these yards are contiguous to streets where grade crossings have
been abolished, ramps become unavoidable. Grades on driveways
exceeding 2.5 to 3.5 per cent, should not be used. Where turns are
necessary, they should be made level if possible, or at most not to exceed
2 per cent. By building the yard on a grade of from 0.5 to 1.0 per cent.,
ramps can sometimes be avoided or decreased in length. The grade of
tracks in a team yard should not exceed 1.0 per cent., and even this may
be deemed excessive because of the opportunity for alccident, through
rough switching.

Bumping posts arc expensive to install and maintain. Where the
failure to stop a car at the end of the track is not liable to result in serious
consequences, a piece of timber or a mound of dirt may serve the purpose.
Occasionally these are objected to because of their appearance not con-
forming to surroundings. Where the ends of tracks abut on streets or
sidewalks with considerable travel, or where they end close to buildings

TEAM DELIVERY YARDS 179

which might be seriously damaged, the risk of such damage and personal
injury to pedestrians and others justifies the installation of some approved
type of bumping or buffer post.

The roadway should be well paved and ample drainage provided to
permit and encourage unloading during wet and stormy weather. This
is particularly desirable under the demurrage rules which do not permit
the aaseasment of demurrage during inclement weather. It is advisable
to plank or pave the tracks or the ladder if the yard is so located as to
make it necessary to drive across them.

The kind of paving to be used depends upon the character of com-
modities principally handled and the character of the subsoil and is based
on the average weight of the dray with its load — whether 3, 6, 8 or 10
tons, on four wheels. Stone flagging will cost from 15 to 30 cents a
square foot; asphalt 15 to 30 cents; stone paving 25 to 40 cents. A good
gravel with a heavy top dressing of crushed trap rock — something on the
order of macadam — makes a good driveway, much cheaper and equally
durable where the traffic is not heavy. The average two-horse truck is
supposed to be able to haul, on a level on good roads, a load of 9500 lb.

Fio. 5i.— Lehigh Valley freight yard at West 27th Street, New York.

including the weight of the wagon. One of the New York ferry com-
panies weighed about 200 trucks some time, ago and found the average
weight 16,000 — and at times aa high as 20,000 lb. gross each. It is
difficult to keep driveways in good shape under such loads unless the
pavement is well drained and has a good foundation.

Typical team delivery yards in actual use are always interesting, and
it is noteworthy that extensive ones recently constructed are without
material change over existing ones. This is due more to the necessity
for conforming to physical and property limitations than the usual
acquirement of knowledge as to the needs. A good freight delivery yard
getting the most out of a very valuable piece of property is that of the
Lehigh Valley at West 27th Street, New York, shown in Fig. 54.

Figure 50 shows the team delivery yard of the New Haven at Gaspee
Street, Providence, R. I., which has a capacity of 675 cars, of which
458 can be placed accessible to teams, the remaining 217 on so-called

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

TEAM DELIVERY YARDS

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

TEAM DELIVERY YARDS 183

"center" or dead tracks. The yard occupies 21.8 acres of land and
consists of 26 tracks ranging in length from 400 to 1600 ft. In some cases
groups of three tracks parallel are laid instead of two. The center track
is then not accessible to teams, but cars thereon may be unloaded
through the doors of cars on outside tracks. Ordinarily these "center"
tracks are used to hold empties, to be placed for loading or on which to
make up drafts of cars to go out — ^loaded cars or empties which were
unloaded. In the Gaspee Street yard driveways are 48 ft. wide center to
center, and tracks are laid to 12 ft. centers.

In the sketch of a yard by Mr. F. H. McGuigan (Fig. 55) presented to
the Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association, a car may
be put'on or taken from one point or any track without disturbing any
considerable number of teams loading or unloading cars on the same
track, and it has the advantage of utilizing a short square piece of ground
available for only two or three short parallel tracks.

The St. Louis Terminal Association has team tracks at 13 places with
room for 1123 cars, and anticipates immediate need for double this
capacity. An acre of land will enable placing of 25 cars for team delivery.
Estimating cost of the land at $200,000, with interest at 4 per cent., and
the prevailing rate of taxes on one-half the cost of the land, the charge
on each car for land interest and taxes would be $3.81, assuming that the
car occupied the track three days, not counting Sundays and holidays.
The plan shown in Figure 56 shows the proposed team yards of the Asso-
ciation in St. Louis.

Figure 57 shows the New Haven's Stillman Street yard at Providence,
R. I., with a capacity of 440 cars, of which number 311 can be placed
accessible to trains. A large power crane may be seen on the left. This
yard is used for handling fruits, meats, vegetables and other perishable
freight. Driveways are 43 ft. center to center; tracks spaced to 12 ft.
centers. Ten acres of land are covered; there are 33 tracks, in groups
of three parallel, each being from 400 to 600 ft. long.

CHAPTER XIII
LIVE STOCK HANDLING

In 1827, there passed through a turnpike gate on the Cumberland
river 105,517 hogs on the way to the South Atlantic states. During the
five years 1847-1852, one man drove 13,000 sheep from Vermont to
Virginia. In 1884, about 416,000 head of cattle were driven from the
southeast to northern ranges. With the opening of the railways, the
driving was reduced and the time in transit reduced to days instead of
months. One of the first rail cattle shipments, consisting of 100 head,
Cincinnati to New York, occurred in 1852, having first been driven from
Lexington. They were carried in cars from Cincinnati to Cleveland thence
by steam-boat to Buffalo; then driven to Canandaigua; moved in cars to
Albany; and from there taken by boat to New York. The freight
charge was $120 per car, Cincinnati to Buffalo; the total expense, Lexing-
ton to New York, $14 per head.

The present average annual receipts of cattle at Chicago are upward
of 3,500,000 head; Kansas City, 2,500,000; St. Louis, 1,500,000 and
Omaha, 1,200,000. Chicago receives 8,000,000 hogs and 5,000,000 sheep
annually. The Union Stock Yards, Chicago, cover 500 acres and have
13,000 enclosures; they will hold 75,000 cattle, 125,000 sheep, 300,000
hogs and 6000 horses at one time. There are facilities for unloading
60 cars per hour. The yardage cost for cattle averages 25 cents per he d;
calves 10 cents, hogs 8 cents, sheep 5 cents.

Between southern Idaho and Omaha, cattle have ordinarily to be let
out of cars three or four times, to be fed and rested; between Omaha and
Chicago, once; and between Chicago and Boston or New York, once.

About 25 head of cattle are loaded into a car; 75 hogs into a single-
deck and 240 sheep into a double-deck car. Cattle weigh 950 to 975 lb.
each.

Intelligent location and construction of terminal and way pens will
enable much time to be saved in the handling of live stock. Stock may
have been in transit approaching the 28-hour or the 36-hour limit and it
becomes necessary to reach unloading pens quickly. The location should
be convenient to the receiving yard and at a point where cars may be run
in with a minimum of interference. Proximity to source of feed and water
supplies is also essential.

Where the business runs heavy, tracks fronting the yards, long enough
to hold an average train without cutting it in two, are preferable, as it is

184

LIVE STOCK HANDLINO

186

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

objectionable to couple or uncouple cars in stock trains because of the
added opportunity for injury to stock. For smaller business, fewer pens
would be provided and correspondingly shorter unloading tracks. The
unloading platforms run alongside of the track, with fences on the track
side containing gates and runways to the penside, with adjustable chutes
to reach the upper decks of double-deck cars. Swinging gates are ordi-
narily arranged to be thrown across the long unloading platform, acting
as movable runways from the pens to the car, or vice versa. A system

^,^yf ■

■ ■■■■■ 9* /I It ■ ■ ■

Fig. 59. — ^Plan of stock pen, chute, platform and scales.

of continuous gates alongside the cars, to enable an opening to be made
opposite any car door, is desirable and usually planned in all larger lay-
outs. This makes it unnecessary to "spot'* cars and avoids coupling
and recoupling for that purpose.

The plan shown in Fig. 58 is that of a typical far western stock
"corral." This is arranged for any number of pens and readily permits
additional pens to be attached. A small stock pen about 30x48 ft.
will cost approximately $45 for labor; $60 for material, a total of $105.

The drawing in Fig. 59 is of a stock yard 200x225 ft., nine pens,

LIVE STOCK HANDLING

187

two alleys, two chutes, with platform and stock scales. In Fig, 60 are
shown a portable chute, a chute with swinging gate to match with ear
doors; and platform.

A two-pen stock yard should cost about $180 divided equally between
labor and material; a four-pen about $340 and additional pens in the
same ratio.

There is no class or character of freight handled by railways that is
more susceptible to heavy losses, real or imposed, than live stock. It is
a debatable question whether the profits thereon justify the movement

r

Fic. 60.— Details of portable stock chbte.

at the rates in effect. The so-eaUed professional stock-trader uaua ^
accompanies the shipment and carefully notes every case of ^'^'.'^* ^
application; and if the market is not all to his liking he makes bia c * ^^
against the transportation company for loss in value. Reparation *^. ^^
asked on grounds of rough handling, detentions and other ^^ ^^^
irregularities to compensate the owner for loss or shrinkage a^
condition of stock, diseases or improper or insuftcient food. their

Special yards must be provided; high-speed trains run, ^ epe-

accompaniment of low train load and interference to other txa^ coTise-
cially constructed cars, which can be used for but little beside ^^^^{^^^ a.Tid
quently running empty in one direction; special facilities ^o"^ ^uta oi 'ffac
unloading; and preferred handling in yards. The vario*^ *®

188 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAIl^S

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are usually well-meaning
and sincere, but in many instances, actuated by political motives or
moved by heartrending stories of disgruntled railway employees and live
stock attendants, entail unnecessary cost and actual injustice on the
railways.

The railways pay from 50 cents to $1 per car for loading live stock,
and a similar amount for cleaning cars. During hot weather they have
to arrange for spraying with cold water at different points, entailing
another expense of perhaps 25 cents per car. An attendant is carried free
with each two car loads and is returned free. One stock-carrying road
estimates its damage claims at an average of $1.61 on each car handled.
This road puts the average cost for construction of stock-pens for loading
at $1422 each— and when paved, $1000 additional.

The federal law relating to feeding, watering and resting cattle,
approved June 29, 1906, provides that "cattle, sheep, swine or other
animals " shall not be confined in " cars, boats or vessels of any description
for a period longer than 28 consecutive hours without unloading the same
in a humane manner, into properly equipped pens for rest, water and
feeding, for a period of at least 5 consecutive hours, unless prevented by
storm or by other accidental or unavoidable causes which cannot be antici-
pated or avoided by the exercise of due diligence and foresight; provided,
that upon the written request of the owner or person in custody of that
particular shipment, which written request shall be separate and apart
from any bill-of-lading, or other railroad form, the time of confinement
may be extended to 36 hours." It also stipulates that the time consumed
in loading and unloading shall not be considered in estimating the con-
finement and it does not require the unloading of sheep during the night;
and when the time expires during the night, in case of sheep, they may
be continued in transit to a suitable place for unloading, subject to the
limitation of 36 hours. Animals so unloaded shall be properly fed and
watered during such rest either by the owner or person having custody
thereof; and in case of his default, by the transportation company at the
owner's expense. *'When animals are carried in cars, boats, or other
vessels in which they can and do have proper food, water, space and
opportunity to rest, the provisions in regard to their being unloaded shall
not apply." The penalty is $100 to $500 "for every such failure" —
which probably may be interpreted to apply to "each carload" rather
than to each train load or each separate shipment.

Hogs are liable to suffer during warm weather and should be sprayed
("slushed") with cold water on the appearance of the first warm weather,
and troughs should be kept filled. Shippers usually ask that they be
sprayed as soon as train stops and that train be kept moving when prac-
ticable. They should never be sprayed after having been allowed to
stand in the hot sun for any length of time, having become heated.

LIVE STOCK HANDLING 189

Water on heads of hogs under aueh conditions is liable to kill them.
Neither should they be sprayed during the night, as this abruptly
awakens them from a quiet sleep and is detrimental.

A car designed with drop bottoms, for stock, coal, coke, etc., is
shown in plan of underframe, side elevation and perspective, in Figs.
61, 62 and 63. The floor consists of 12 drop doors, which, when closed,
form a flat bottom. They are hinged near the center line of car and fall
away from the sides and are operated from a platform on the end of the
car by turning a hand wheel on the vertical shaft. There are two of

Fia. 61. — Underframe of drop-bottom convertible stock car.

these operating wheels at each end; each operates three doors, or one-
quarter of the whole number. It is claimed that this car is perfectly
safe as a stock car and that after the seal is broken, by simply turning
the hand wheels, the whole bottom can be dropped. Obviously the
advantage in operating a successful car of this type lies in its adapt-
ability to live stock service and coal, coke or ore, and the fact that live
stock generally moves eastward, while coal and coke move in the op-
posite direction, thereby enabling a greater percentage of loaded car-
mileage to be obtained.

190 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

At times, too, great stress is laid on high speed and heavy train ton-
nage in the transportation of live stock, without weighing with sufficient
csre, the loss resulting through claims for injury. Fast, heavy freight
trains are incompatible with smooth handling. Trains of live stock
should be made up solid — that is, wholly of live stock — when practic-
able, and only sufficient tonnage to enable the engine to almost maintain
the average schedule speed on ascending grade sections to permit of an
approximately uniform speed. The train dispatcher should endeavor
to keep this train on the main track, avoiding stops and arranging for
such stops as must be made, at points where the train may be comfort-

Fio. 62. — Side elevation, combination stock and coal car.

ably started, and without taking the slack. More than ordinary care
should be given airbrakes on stock cars to keep triple valves particularly
well cleaned and oiled to prevent so-called "kickers" from throwing the
brakes into emergency when not intended, and to keep piston travel
of brake cylinders adjusted, so each car will do its part, and only its
part, in retarding the movement of the train. When it ia necessary to
fill out a train of live stock with other freight, such freight should be put
in the rear, to reduce the liability of shock in brake applications when
stopping. Engines and enginemen should be selected for this service to
give smoothest possible handling consistent with speed requirements.
It has seemed to the writer that the speed question is frequently over-
done in live-stock handling and that is perhaps due more to over-zealous-
neaa of the traffic departments to secure a "talking point" than to any

LIVE STOCK HANDLING 191

actual necessity for fast service. This is made more impressive after
seeing a train load of live stock rushed from Chicago or Buffalo to tide-
water at breakneck speed and then know it to remain in stock yards for
a week or 10 days awaiting space in a steamer for export.

Flo. 63.— Perspective, combination Gtock and coal car.

Much can be done to protect live stock in transit and add to its
comfort by intelligent loading and caring for it afterward. Horses
need room and can balance themselves fairly well on a moving train ot
a boat. Preferably they should be handled in specially arranged cara

192 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

with stalls, as is invariably done with race horses and frequently with
horses of smaller value. Cattle are jolted backward and forward and
travel more comfortably if packed reasonably close in cars and on boats,
as they then support one another. It is nothing short of cruelty to put
hogs in the same car with cows. This was formerly a common prac-
tice, but is seldom done nowadays. The hogs will bite and otherwise
constantly annoy the cows.

CHAPTER XIV

WEIGHING FREIGHT

• In theory every pound of freight transported should be accurately
weighed, and this condition is being more nearly approached. The
object is to insure getting the revenue to which the road is entitled and
to protect the shipper against overcharge.

Carload freight is occasionally weighed by passing each team load to
or from the car over wagon scales, but ordinarily by weighing the car
with its load on the track scales most conveniently located lor that pur-
pose. The tare weight (that is the weight of the car itself, as stenciled
on the side of the body) is subtracted from the gross weight to obtain
the net weight. Many shippers insist on having cars weighed light as
well as loaded, objecting to the use of the stenciled weight. For this
service a small charge is made. Coal and a few other coarse commodi-
ties use the long ton — 2240 lb. — which complicates the calculation.
Many anthracite coal roads show the car weight in long tons and hun-
dred weight, to aid the weigher in determining the net weight. The
general practice is to have some definite rule whereby each loaded car is
to be weighed on a certain scale in the direction of its movement, and
the card bill on which car travels also indicates the point where the car
shall be weighed. It is the usual practice to require car-load freight
to be weighed at originating point if there are track scales. If none,
then it is weighed at destination. If there are no scales at either the
originating or the terminating point, the car is weighed on the first track
scale passed en route. Light and bulky commodities, billed at a mini-
mum weight under the tariff (where it is usually impossible to secure
the weight by reason of limitations of car volume), are not usually
weighed, neither is freight that is transported by measurement, esti-
mated weight, rate per car, cord or thousand.

When shippers request weighing of loaded or empty cars for reasons of
their own, there is usually no charge made where the cars move over
private scales when being placed for delivery or when taken from sidings.
Where an extra move has to be made, it is customary to collect at the rate
of a dollar per car for general merchandise, if weighed on company scales;
and 50 cents if on privately owned scales; and cars containing coal, on
either company or private scales, 1 cent per ton. Occasionally the rules
provide that for coal, if the scale weight varies to exceed 1000 lb. from
13 193

194 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

weight shown on waybills, or stenciled weight, no charge is made for the
discrepancy. On coarse freight, such as sand, clay or kaolin discharged
from vessels to cars, the usual charge is 1 cent per gross ton for weighing
on railroad scales. For general merchandise, the charge is generally
3 cents per ton. The rate for weighing empty cars is generally 50
cents, except on private scales where no additional switching is necessary.

Package freight, or l.c.l. freight, also commonly termed " house-freight, "
should be weighed at the point where it is received by the railroad from
the shipper, in order to have the lowest freight charges entered on billing
and to enable quick delivery to be made when it reaches final destination.
An exception is sometimes made on freight that is handled in standard
packages, such as flour in barrels, each weighing 196 lb., where a count
of the barrels is sufficient.

The railroad is interested in track scales for weighing car-load ship-
ments; house or platform scales for l.c.l. freight; team or wagon scales,
usually for the accommodation of its customers; and special types of
scales; such as large frame beam scales for weighing cotton, and per-
manently arranged scales for weighing coal or sand in pockets for
supplying locomotive tenders.

Scales for weighing Lcl. freight should be located along the side of the
freight-house interior, where delivery is made from teams. They should
be provided at frequent intervals — about 50 to 100 ft. apart — with the
beams parallel with and adj acent to the side walls, to reduce chance of inter-
ference to trucking. They should be far enough away from the walls to
permit storing freight against the walls.

Platform or freight-house scales — movable or stationary — are made
in almost any size or style desired. The manufacturers make types
suitable for special purposes. Some excellent multi-weighing scales were
planned by the operating officers of the Merchants and Miners Transporta-
tion Company and installed in their Baltimore piers. With a number
of beams and several weights on each beam, running up weights pro-
gressively, 16 articles may be placed on a scale and each weighed sepa-
rately, without removing any of them. This is a great advantage at that
and similar points because frequently a number of consignments will be
taken from teams before a trucker gets around; and rehandling is
thereby avoided.

Another company has something similar to the Merchants and
Miners scales in a platform scale with a self-locking poise beam on which
different commodities may be weighed and kept separate: for instance,
cotton may be weighed on the upper bar, then sugar on the second bar,
salt on the next and so on.

A type registering beam scale is furnished, with which the operator,
at the end of each day, is enabled to have a certain number of checks
showing number of loads that have passed over the scale. The recapitula-

WEIGHING FREIGHT 195

tion of these slips gives the total weight of the loads for the day. The
slip is placed into the type-registering device and when the bar is secured
it is clamped together and the weight is imprinted on the slip.

Team or wagon scales are ordinarily best located at the entrance to the
team yard, where they will not obstruct the movement of teams going
to or from the yards with no freight to be weighed. They should be
located in that part of the yard where commodities which are ordinarily
weighed on teams are generally handled.

Track scales for freight service range in capacity from 100 to 150
tons, with platform length of 36 to 60 ft. On longer scales cars may be
weighed without stopping, as they move by gravity. The long scales
(80 to 100 ft.) are not found reliable because of their great length, and
are not being used except in extraordinary cases.

The location of track scales has been fully considered in other chapters.
There is much variance of opinion among operating and constructing
officers as to the proportionate number of cars to be weighed to cause
scales to be located just beyond the hump of a classification yard rather
than on the hump. Views expressed place the proportion anywhere
from 5 to 25 per cent, of the total number passing through the yard.
The Am. Ry. Engineering Ass^n assumes "that the greatest economy
would be secured by locating the scale on the hump, if it is assured that
from 5 to 10 per cent, of the cars must be weighed." Mr. North, Engineer
of Construction of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern says, " there
is no possible scheme of grades for a hump where a scale is placed within
the hump limit, which will enable traffic to be handled within 50 per
cent, of the speed that can be secured at the same point, if the scale is
not placed on the hump." The Association's Committee differed with
Mr. North and cited instances where 300 cars an hour had been classified
and weighed over a hump and scale, for a limited time. It was suggested
that scales of higher capacity than ordinarily required be used, with
correspondingly greater length of bearings. This would enable operation
without the usual dead track; and by placing the scale very close to the
hump's summit, the retardation due to scales would be greatly reduced.
This can only be done to advantage where a large proportion of cars
passing over hump have to be weighed, and it would be necessary to
keep a stock of spare scale parts on hand to replace those with worn
bearings as often as required. Cars not to be weighed, in running rapidly
over scales, wear the knife edges; and when these become dull the friction
is increased, requiring more weight to overcome the inertia of the parts.
The accuracy of scale weights depends largely upon the sharpness of the
bearings.

The Pennsylvania standard track scale is 52 ft. long and of 300,000 lb.
capacity. Some of the original and unique features are suspension bear-
ings supporting the platform, mechanical relieving gear which eliminates

196 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

the dead-rail, and a mechanical hump which provides the proper control
of the movement of cars over the scale.

The Baltimore & Ohio standard track scale (shown in Figs. 64, 65, 66,
67, 68 and 69) is 50 ft. long, of 300,000 lb. capacity, " pit-suspcnsion-
bearing," and consists of four sections.

The bridge is made up of two 24-in. 80-lb. I-beams under each scale rail
to provide rigidity and to better distribute load over the bearings. The ties
crossing I-beams provide a cushion and protection to the scale and serve to
brace it. The grade on hump scales is made with them and adjusted to 0.75
per cent, grade.

The scale part^ are 54 ft. long while the scale rails are but 50 ft., causing the
load to be applied to the scale inside of the first bearing, distributing a part
of the load to the second bearing and preventing a reflex action of the bridge.

Fig- 64. — Standard track ecale — Baltimore & Ohio,

To further relieve impact on the scale, a buffer or transfer rail, made of maganese
steel, is used to transfer the load from the approach to the scale rail. This is
bolted to the approach rail and the box beams, and carries the outside tread of
the car wheel. The buffer is in no way connected with the scale. Ample
clearance is provided by cutting it out underneatli and planing off the outside
head of the scale rail. All levers and other parts are designe<! to carry a load
of 75,0001b. ])ersection^allowing for dead-weight, and 100 per cent, for impact.
The main and the fifth levers, the cross-bars and the rocker are made of cast
steel; other levers of cast iron. Locomotives may pass over scales of such
capacity without damaging them. When a lever is deflected, its two arms are
liable to have different relative positions under different loads, and this inter-
feres with its proper adjustment, making the scale inaccurate; it is, therefore,
aimed to keep the deflections of the levers at a minimum. The stands are
rigidly supported by concrete foundations, and the load is supported at eight
points on the middle pivots — commonly called the knife edges^of the main
levers. From these the load is transmitted and reduced through the extension.

WEIGHING FREIGHT

198 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

fifth and shelf levers, to the beam, at which point a force of 1 lb, balances a
weight of 800 lb. on the scale.

The construction of the Buspension bearing is shown in detail (Fig. 68) and,
aa shown in the section C C of the general arrangement of the scale (Fig. 65),
the load is transmitted from the rail through the scale stands, the ties, I-beams,
or bridge, to the bearing yoke and then to the croas-bar and rocker. The
rocker is suspended by two l.&-in. links hung from a bearing block, which rests
in the knife edge of the main lever. The arc of suspension from the base of the
rail to the bottom of the rocker is 79 in., which gives the platform a freedom
of action with sliding friction, longitudinally, between links, rockers and bearing
blocks and a transverse pendulum motion in the main lever pivot. The rocker
compensates for any deflection there may be in the bridge, and a uniform

bearing on the knife edge is always secured. The wedges, aa shown on the top
of thq bearing yoke, provide the means of securing a uniform distribution of
the load on each section, which might otherwise be prevented through the
unevenness of the I-beam, the installation or the wear of the scale parts. The
extension lever parts are provided with compensating steels. The accessibility
of the nose iron pivota, and the means provided for proper alinement of these
levers is notable; and levehng tabs are fitted on the top of levers. All pivots
are accessible for inspection and cleaning. The pit is 54 ft. long, 10 ft. 6 in. wide,
7 ft. 3 in. deep, and equipped with electric lights. On the theory that -more
scales rust out than wear out, the inaccuracy and short life of many of them
may be traced to lack of attention in the way of cleaning, inspection and testing.
The main lever stands rest on 2-in. bed plate castings, which are anchored
to a concrete pier through slotted holes. The slotted holes in the stands are
at right angles, permitting some adjustment lengthwise or crosswise, which

WEIGHING FREIGHT

199

may be found necessary. No loops or links are permitted to vary more than
1/16 in.

To handle freight properly, as to weight, charges and loading, correct
weights should be used as stated in the foregoing. The methods of
obtaining weights are:

8. — Detail of suspension bearing, track scale — Baltic

Fia. 69. — Detail of tranaverae lever, track scale— Baltimore & Ohio.

1. Weighing at initial point.

2. Accepting shipper's weight under proper weight agreements.

3. Standard weights.

4. Estimated weights.

5. Connecting line weights.

200 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

The weighing of l.c.l. freight was facilitated in a large outbound
freight-house by adjusting all hand trucks, by adding leaden weights to
them, thereby bringing them up to a predetermined uniform weight.
The platform scales were then adjusted to balance, with the empty
truck on the scale. A support was also placed on the scale and included
in the adjustment to enable the truckers to rest the handles of the truck
at the normal trucking height, avoiding the necessity of stooping down
to deposit the loaded truck on the scale, and again to move it, thereby
saving much time. This is one of the practical applications of " scientific
management."

The rate of speed for weighing has been investigated recently. It
was found that the right speed for accurate weighing is somewhere
between 3 and 6 miles per hour, according to the skill of the weighman.
At 4 miles per hour over a 46-ft. scale, the rate is equal to about six cars
per minute and at 5 miles per hour, to about eight cars per minute.
As many as 10 per minute have been weighed by a skilled weighman.

The accuracy of weighing, when cars are not uncoupled, has often been
questioned. The Association of Accounting Officers, June 27, 1906,
decided that " Based on practical experience, proper care being exercised,
correct weights can be determined on track scales by weighing cars
coupled at both ends, coupled at one end, or uncoupled at both ends."

Variations in tare weights of cars was gone into in a hearing before the
Interstate Commerce Commission in Chicago, March, 1912. Testimony
was introduced tending to show that during January, 1911, out of 384
cars weighed by one industrial concern, on 132 a variation of 500 lb.
each from stenciled weights was found; 97 of them weighed 141,360 lb.
over stenciled weights and 35 weighed 37,690 lb. under. During June,
1911, of 317 cars, 95 showed variations of 500 lb. or over, 21 of them
weighed 47,300 lb. over and 74 weighed 83,420 lb. under stenciled weights.
It was explained that the variations were probably due to the effect of
snow and ice in the cars in January, and that d6bris and other foreign
substances frequently affected car weights. Of the cars weighed during
1911 by the weighmasters of the Western Ry., Weighing Assn. and
Inspection Bureau, 73 per cent, had a stenciled tare exceeding the
actual weight. On the Santa Fe it is the practice to weigh all cars
other than those containing live stock uncoupled while not in motion.

Coal weight shrinkage was discussed by the International Railway Fuel
Association in Chicago, June, 1909, in connection with the subject of
correct weighing of coal at mines and on railway track scales, including
legitimate shrinkage allowable on car lots. The false impression pre-
vailing regarding the effect of weather on the weight of loaded coal cars
was referred to. It was asserted that a full inch of rain, falling on and
retained by the coal loaded in a 36-ft. car would increase the weight 1600
lb. : but as drainage occurs almost as fast as the rain falls and as evapora-

WEIGHING FREIGHT 201

tion is rapid, the effect is only temporary. In the discussion of this
report the secretary submitted an interesting statement of a test made
by the St. Louis and San Francisco, of coal from the Pittsburg, Kan.,
fields, to determine the shrinkage or gain due to weather conditions.
The test was made in the latter part of May and extended over 13 days.
There were 25 cars, 10 box or stock, and the remainder open cars. The
average moisture content of coal from this district is 2.85 per cent.
During the first 7 days there were light rains on three different days;
but with one exception the loads showed a shrinkage in weight averaging
0.24 per cent, for the closed cars and 0.64 per cent, for the open cars.
Following the seventh weighing a heavy rain set in which continued
through the following day and until 4 a. m. of the second day, the weather
clearing at noon and continuing clear throughout the rest of the test.
Weights on these days were taken at 1 :30 p. m. Although weighings of
the closed cars were discontinued after the tenth day, the weight showed
an average shrinkage of 0.05 per cent. The open cars showed a net gain
in weight of 22,360 lb. in the first weighing after the heavy rains, which
shrunk to 4150 by the end of the test, an average of 188 lb. or 0.14 per
cent, per car; and while the extreme gain and shrinkage for individual
open cars were 1080 and 450 lb. respectively, the average result well
bears out the committee's statement that the weather effect, on the
whole, is relatively unimportant.

Correct stenciled weights on cars are essential. Every car should be
light-weighed and re-marked at least twice a year. Errors in stenciled
car weight may occur through:

Shrinkage of material in wooden cars.

Absorption of weight in wooden cars.

Repaid or re-timbering of cars.

Exchange of trucks or other parts.

Errors by weighers or re-stenciling employees.

Among the causes which lead to incorrect weights of contents, the
following may be mentioned:

Defective scales. »

Improper maintenance and inspection of scales.

Faulty or inefficient weighing.

Incorrect stenciled car weights.

Improper inspection and preparation of cars to prevent leakage.

The Master Car Buildefs rules provide for the re-weighing and re-
stenciling of wooden and steel underframe cars when one year old, the
weight figures to be followed by a star; when two years, they are again
re- weighed and re-stenciled and two stars added and when three or four
years old the operation is again repeated, adding three stars indicating
the weight to be final.

FREIGHT TERMINALS AUD TRAINS

Fio. 70, — Automatic weight recorder.

WEIGHING FREIGHT

203

Disputed railway scale weights on the testimony of wagon scales on
which the car contents are weighed are not infrequent. Railway officers
should not accept this evidence unless satisfied that it is accurate. The
consignee may be misled by errors in weighing, defective scales or con-
fusion in his own weights. Wagon scales are seldom kept in proper con-
dition; they are almost invariably exposed to the weather, and deprecia-
tion is rapid. Very few are equipped with type registering beams and

T«

MEMORANDUM CARD

Ta ka 4rtMki4 ■■•» at ScilM ar MMag

\T)m above tea Mb* tHrnt la by teal* or MtMaa AaMi |
I (Tlw •hava baa M ba Ubd la by Seal, or KOba« At«at I

iTht Bbm Jiaa «a ba Ittal b by kala a* BUm« Aa«a( |
ITbc abaaa tea to ha fUad la by Seak •• MUlaa Aawl I

I

tTh* abova baa la ba Ma4 la by Stala or B>llia« A«wl 1

cnms - COAL

(SHOW KWO or COM.)
NAME OF RAILROAD COMPANY

Cifilpec
DnIMiN

WEIGHI^. CTo be fiUed in ar Scales.)

Weichedby

Drtf

190

Fig. 71. — Scale card, for automatic weight recorder.

to add to the likelihood of error or confusion, many coal, grain and
dealers in coarse freight, shape their loads and weighing to correspond
with the orders on hand, adding to or reducing the weight of each load,
as taken from the car, while the wagon is on the scale, thus making a
continuous haul from the car to the customer. Instances are on record
where an occasional wagon load has inadvertently reached the customer
without being sent to the wagon scale. Now and then coal is first un-
loaded from car to bin and is thence taken to the wagon scale. The
consignee frequently occupies from 2 to 4 days in unloading a car;

204 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

no protection being provided by him for the property during the night.
The tare weight of the wagon is usually a doubtful factor; also the
location of the driver, whether on or off the wagon when weighed light
or loaded.

A western road is planning the installment of a device by which the
weighmaster can revise the tare weights while the cars are on the scale,
without appreciably slowing up switching.

An automatic weight recorder is shown in Fig. 70. This device
may be attached to any track scale. It records the weight of cars moving
over scales, either coupled in the train or by gravity.

Besides printing a permanent and accurate record of weights it
enables cars to be passed over scales much faster than by the ordinary
method. Figs. 71 and 72 show a scale card and the recorder tape used
in the machines. These records are valuable in contesting claims.

Fig. 72. — Recorder tape, automatic weight recorder.

An automatic electric coal-weighing machine has been perfected for
weighing coal. The coal runs into a hopper by means of a vibrator
connected directly to a motor by a shaft. When the hopper contains
enough coal to counter-balance the weights, a lever connected to the
weight beam trips a switch, stops the motor and vibrator, and, by
magnet, releases the discharge gate, allowing the coal to run out.
As the hopper, relieved of its load, rises, the weight arm again actuates
a controlling device, which closes the discharging gate, starts the motor
and the operation is repeated. A register on the hopper records the
number of times the hopper operates.

CHAPTER XV
RECORDS AND STATISTICS

For yard and terminal work and road handling in its relation to the
terminals it is necessary to keep certain records to enable the supervising
officers to know that cars are properly moved, placed or delivered and to
direct such work, and it is necessary also to arrange certain statistics
with these records as a basis, whereby those in charge of and responsible
for operations may know that the work is being handled in a satisfactory
manner as to time of movement (service) and expense of work per-
formed (cost).

Records vary on different roads, and in the different terminals of the
same road to meet the different and varying conditions. It is customary
to have a record of the cars contained in each train arriving at the ter-
minal; occasionally this is telegraphed to the yardmaster in advance,
sometimes it is made up by the conductor and handed to a yard clerk
on arrival and again it may be made up after the train has arrived. The
card bills are delivered and checked with this list, and usually the train is
marked up for switching or is switched by it. The list should show the
ca,r numbers with the names or initials of owning roads; whether empty
or loaded; kind of car; kind and condition of seals on each side door and
on end doors, if any; contents and final destination. The heading should
give the number of the train and engine, direction of movement, total
number of loads, empties and gross tons, also the names of engineman
and conductor. The cars are entered up from this list into a car-record
book from which all cars are checked and traced. This is a very impor-
tant record and will be described in detail later. Records of transfer or
inter-yard movements; cars to and from shops and repair yards and other
points are similarly reported by the conductors of the yard transfer or
road engines moving them. Each yard keeps a record of its handling
of cars made up in a more or less complicated manner, depending on the
extent of the yard and the number of movements required.

In all yard handling the line of demarcation between service and cost
must be fixed, and the general policy very largely determined therefrom.
It is not exactly a case of *'all the traffic will bear " — but to a great extent,
the commercial yard and freight-house work is operated at the lowest
cost permissible and for which the shippers will stand, commensurate
with the demand for cars in revenue service. When cars are a drug on
the market, their quick release and prompt handling are of less importance

205

206 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

than when a car famine exists. Records and statistics are helpful in
watching the line.

The record and report business, essential as it is, may be more easily
overdone and rendered an actual obstruction, rather than an aid to real
result, producing work than any other kind of work on a railroad system,
for the reason that any general office clerk usually has or assumes the
authority of calling for reports while it is often nobody's business to
discontinue or reduce. The evil is naturally greater on railroads operating
under the departmental system.

An unfortunate condition exists in the transportation department of
some railroads on which the operating head has not the time necessary to
watch such details as yard or train reports and is dependent largely, if
not wholly, on a chief clerk or other subordinate officer. The chief clerk
is, what is termed in railroad parlance, an " office man" ; that is to say, one
who has gained his railroad knowledge in an office and has, therefore, had
little practical or actual outside experience. As a natural result, when
he wants anything he asks "somebody" for it. Had he in times past
worked as or with a switchman, a yard-conductor or a yardmaster, he
probably would know that the information desired was already being
received in some form. It may be, too, that the chief clerk is a "six
o'clock man."

The writer knows of instances where reports requiring many hours'
work, were sent in daily by yardmasters, trainmasters and superintend-
ents, which had not been needed or used in years. When the discovery
was accidently made, the explanation followed that there had been a
time once when the information was required.

A system of reports or blanks is usually prepared by a clerk who is
expert in that kind of work. He makes an estimate as to how long it
will take him to make out each report. He may not take into considera-
tion the fact that what he with his special training can accomplish in
8 or 10 minutes in his office at a desk with ample light, ventilation
and heat, may take a yardmaster or other outside employee, not so
skillful with a pen, five or ten times as long.

In one office, the writer was shown an elaborate report of engine
movements at terminals. It required records to be kept by eight different
persons, and these were consolidated on one blank before being sent in.
It was a fine production. A superintendent could easily put in 2 or
3 hours daily in getting unnecessary lessons from it. Many reports
are made and pigeon-holed because they may be needed "some day.'
Somebody is paying for them in the meantime.

In a large terminal, a yard engine was assigned to a district and its
work was usually behind. The work done was analyzed and it did not
seem sufficient to justify the use of more than one engine. The conductor
spent about 2 hours a day working on "reports" and while he was

RECORDS AND STATISTICS 207

an exceptionally good yard-conductor, he had neither the ability to
plan work successfully for others, or to take a prize as a rapid recorder
and report-maker. Moreover, the greater part of his reporting was of
cars moving from one point in his district to another, the car service
office having at some time in the past asked for this information. There
being apparently no use made of this information, he was told to discon-
tinue sending in this report. There were no further complaints of work
not being done in that district, and years passed without anyone in the
car service office discovering the discontinuance of the "interior" car
movement report.

The writer has frequently watched a freight conductor making out
his switch-list while riding in the cupola of a four-wheel caboose, round-
ing the curves, and bracing for the running in and out of the slack in the
80 or 90 cars ahead. With 50 or 60 of the cars air braked, this feat
requires agility. A lantern, tucked under the conductor's arm, gave
all the light to be had and further embarrassed him in endeavoring to
comply with the printed instructions, "write figures legibly." To put
down 80 numbers of five figures each, about 400 in all, under such con-
ditions, in a space so small that they could hardly be inserted by one
of the "Lord's Prayer on a dime" experts, and adding the initials of the
cars, the designation for "loaded" or "empty," giving the contents,
kind of car, originating point, road's destination, final destination and
in many cases, the record of seals on each side of each car and on end
door, must of necessity take up much of the conductor's time. Clerks
should do as much of this kind of work as possible. These road and
yardmen are not chosen for their book-keeping ability. Committees of
road employees have been known to defend negligence in the physical
handling of their trains, by claiming that the individual conductor or
trainman was engaged in " making out his reports."

To operate a terminal satisfactorily it is essential that records of all
movements be kept. These reports and records are not altogether for
the purpose of answering questions asked by those at a distance relative
to movement or location of certain cars. They are primarily to enable
the yaidmaster oi othei operating officer in charge of the terminal to
inform himself at any time as to the general situation. It is apparent
on many roads that the report and record business — especially the
report — ^is overdone. This seems to be due to an increasing demand for
information and the closer tracing of freight by shippers and traffic
officers. The easy abuse follows, by which department heads and officers
ask for more and more reports by wire, or mail, or both, weekly, daily
and oftjmes at several specified times daily. The result is to demoralize
and confuse the organization and overload the local forces with a mass
of detail apparently serving no good end. It prevents the local operat-
ing head from receiving the information he needs in the conduct of his

208 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

business. As he cannot secure a considerable increase in clerical and
other forces, without being able to show a corresponding increase in
traffic to justify it, the business of the terminal suffers. All the infor-
mation asked for in the special and additional reports is usually already
made up and sent in, in some form or other, but is perhaps not readily and
conveniently abstracted, or is not known to be at hand by the clerk in
charge. In any event it seems easier to wire the superintendent or yard-
master for it. When such additional demands for information are made, a
general revision of the entire system of reports, cutting out five or six that
are going in and substituting one or two simplified forms, will in many
cases accomplish the desired result and enable a reduction of clerical
work at the terminal, instead of necessitating an increased force. It
will also enable the superintendent to get more result-producing work
out of his subordinates. When that ideal condition is reached in a
terminal where no questions need be asked, special reports will not be
needed.

One of the first essentials and doubtless the most important, is to
keep records by which one can intelligently and with reasonable accuracy
determine the cost of handling a terminal, adopting some unit as a basis,
for comparison with other terminals and for comparison with itself dur-
ing a previous period. That both comparisons are beset with difficulties
is apparent. Many factors enter into the computation and allowances
have to be made for weather conditions, changes in character and vol-
ume of traffic, increased or decreased number of cars or tons for private
sidings or warehouses (where work is attended with extraordinary diffi-
culties) change in power used, kind of fuel, amount of passenger work,
revision of loading and transfers, regulations imposed by the Interstate
Commerce Commission, State Boards of Railroad Commissioners, Public
Utilities Commissions, Boards of Trade and similar bodies.

In an able address before the New England Railroad Club, Mr. W. J.
Cunningham, Assistant Professor of Transportation in the Graduate
Business School of Harvard University explained that to be of full
value, statistics should have certain requisites, viz. :

The basic information carefully compiled and averages or units accu-
rately worked out.

They should be fresh and vital; postmortem analysis being ineffect-
ive; the figures should be available promptly, so that when need of a
remedy is indicated it may be applied at once.

They should be comprehensible, easily understood and the vital
features shown clearly; they should be neither complicated nor
involved.

They should be comparative whenever possible; that is, comparable
with other periods, other divisions, or other railroads, and with other
related figures.

RECORDS AND STATISTICS 209

Mr. Cunningham sounds a much needed note of warning:

"I desire to emphasize that no matter how valuable statistics may be, they
cannot be taken invariably as conclusive or absolute in their indication. They
should be used only as aids to judgment, and in that capacity are indispensable
to economic and efficient management. Statistics are of little value unless
used; they are but a means to an end and their function is unperformed unless the
information and indications which they convey are noted and acted upon by
those in authority and an interest taken by the men who do the work. In other
words, the figures in themselves cannot perform miracles, but they have a high
potential value when their suggestions fall upon the receptive, resourceful and
active mind of the man responsible for results."

Endeavors to compare one division with another or one yard with
another, are ordinarily of little value. Weather conditions, water, grades
and fuel, have each a share in producing differences in cost which it is
difficult to estimate, but apart from this, there is an even more serious
difficulty in making comparisons between two or more railroads. The
data used in compiling results are rarely available, and when available
are still more rarely harmonious. By comparing one division or district
with itself for a corresponding period, the difficulties of water and grades
are largely eliminated or at all events any change is on record; and
fairly reliable conclusions may be drawn from such comparisons. Most
roads divide their statistics as between east- and westbound or north- and
southbound. Such division may be useful as denoting the general trend
of traffic, but it seems more than probable that a further subdivision
setting forth such traffic as is in the direction of the balance of traffic, as
distinct from that in the direction of turning power, would be a truer basis
from which to criticise locomotive or train performance. With the
present system, assuming the balance of tonnage for an entire month is
eastbound, it is possible that during a large portion of the month the
balance was in the opposite direction and, as a consequence, eastbound
results as shown are misleading and the good actually attained by careful
loading, proper handling of empty cars and economical fuel performance,
is lost sight of.

The unit of cars handled is probably the only practical one. In this,
however, the figures may be manipulated so that they are misleading.
Every movement of a car may be counted, in one case, and only arrival
at and departure from terminal in another. In the former it may count
as ten, or even more, and in the latter as two. What constitutes a car
movement, or a car handled must first be determined.

For the reasons outlined, the basis of computation, cars handled, is
about as unsatisfactory for the purpose intended as it is possible to make
it. It is, nevertheless, the one used more often than any other. The
yardmaster's desire to make a good showing for himself and his yard by

14

210 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

reducing the cost per car handled will induce him to run up the number
of cars handled to the highest figure.

The writer at one time had charge of a large marine terminal yard,
and had reduced the cost of handling to what he considered a fair figure,
and included every car movement that he conscientiously considered
right and fair, in the number of cars handled. An interior yard of very
much smaller size and lighter business showed a decidedly lower cost, to
the surprise of every one. Inquiry developed that the smaller yard
showed a much greater number of cars handled than did the larger yard.
Knowing that this was not the actual condition, the writer spent several
days in the interior yard and analyzed its methods. The business actuaUy
done did not compare with that of the marine terminal, but every
movement or apology for a movement was recorded and reported. A
record was kept of a car moving from the general yard to the transfer
platform; from the transfer to the freight-house; from freight-house back
to transfer and again back to outgoing yard. Aside from the manifest
unfairness of the method, the amount of time spent on these reports
should be considered. This was done by men not trained nor intended
for that kind of work, and all of it was absolutely useless. This instance
in practice will illustrate the futility of using the present general methods
of accounting in yard work, for the purpose of making comparisons
between yards, unless an understanding is first arrived at a^ to a common
and uniform basis.

An excellent plan has been advanced — and it was many years ahead
of the times when actually tried— in the determination of units in yard
work and basing thereon a standard for comparison, every item of work
and cost being analyzed and separated. It was then commonly known
as the "standard unit" method. The actual performance for a period of
months or years back was taken and from it a statement was made
dividing up all the principal items of work done, and the cost. This basis
was used as the standard with which comparisons of following months
were made and increases or decreases explained. Some of the items to be
enumerated are:

1. Cars received and forwarded in trains.

2. Cars delivered to and received from connecting lines.

3. Cars delivered to and received from private industries.

4. Cars to and from freight-house and team tracks.

5. Cars to and from coal chute tracks.

6. Cars to and from transfer tracks.

7. Cars weighed.

The total of these items would represent the number of " cars handled ''
and it is necessarily many times greater than the actual number of cars
involved in the computation.

RECORDS AND STATISTICS 211

For illustration, let it be assumed that there were handled, the first
month, a total of 7000 cars and the same number the second month; with
the exception that the second month there were fewer cars handled in
certain movements and more in others. Using the item numbers in the
list of movements just given:

Items

First month

Second month

1

1,000

500

2

1,000

500

3

1,000

1,000

4

1,000

1,000

5

1,000

1,000

6

1,000

1,500

7

1,000

1,500

Total, 7,000 7,000

To apply the "standard unit" method, it is first necessary to fix a
value for each item. A movement may become more difficult and
expensive. An industry may change its track connections or may
charige the method of loading or routing of cars requiring less "spotting"
of such cars when being placed. The movement may be made less
difficult and expensive. Approaches to a coal chute may have a reduced
grade or improved track connections enabling a locomotive to put up
more cars than formerly. It is therefore desirable from time to time to
revise the standard.

Assuming item No. 1 to be the simplest, the value may be placed at
1. Item No. 2 may be no more difficult than item No. 1 and would be
given the same value. Items Nos. 3, 4 and 5 each require three times
the work of item No. 1 and would be placed at 3. Items Nos. 6 and 7
may each require twice the work of item No. 1, and their values would be
placed at 2. Taking the case where 1000 movements were made in the
first month under each head gives the following number of units:

Items

Cars handled

Value of each

Total units

1

1,000

1

1,000

2

1,000

1

1,000

3

1,000

3

3,000

4

1,000

3

3,000

5

1,000

3

3,000

6

1,000

2 w

2,000

7

1,000

2

2,000

Total, 7,000 15,000

Dividing the 15,000 units into the total cost of handling the terminal
for the month, gives the cost per unit for purposes of comparison.

212 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Applying the unit basis to the month following in which the total number
of cars handled was the same but varies as between the items:

Items Cars handled Standard values Total units

1 500 1 500

2 500 1 500

3 1,000 3 3,000

4 1,000 3 3,000

5 1,000 3 3,000

6 1,500 2 3,000

7 1,500 2 3,000

Totals, 7,000 16,000

While the number of cars handled is the same in each month there
were 1000 more units of work performed and with an increased total
cost of handling of 6.7 per cent., the cost per unit would be the same.
If the standard of values has been correctly assessed this would approx-
imate actual conditions. The writer used this system very successfully
and satisfactorily in a large and busy terminal.

In some terminals the whole computation has been made on the basis
of number of cars received and forwarded in trains and cars delivered to
and received from connecting lines. This is not worth while. In other
terminals the calculations of cost are based on the number of cars in and
out in trains, and cars switched for revenue. Aside from the futility of
so comparing the yard work done on one road with another, there is
probably little use in endeavoring to bring about a satisfactory compar-
ison between any two yards on the same road. There is no good reason
why the ''standard unit" system cannot be satisfactorily used for
several or all yards, and the general officers of the transportation depart-
ment could have figures showing the operating cost of the different yards
that would mean something.

Under the system of assessing values to units of yard work in each
yard, it is necessary, if comparisons between two or more terminals are
to be made, that the value of the units be established on some uniform
basis. To secure uniformity of values a committee might be appointed
to fix the value of each unit in the different terminals. It would be well
to have a representative from each important terminal on this committee
and three or more general transportation officers to act as arbitrators.
After the values are once fixed they need not be disturbed until some
change in conditions necessitated a local adjustment.

This method is not intended to apply to the figures given and
records kept of the cost of classifying cars in terminals by summit,
poling, or gravity methods, because there are no great, complications
in the kinds and costs of train movements in such yards, and so the

RECORDS AND STATISTICS 213

figures usually kept of such operations are full of meaning and of the
greatest value.

. The contract, or so-called "piece-work" system, would seem a most
satisfactory one to use in classifying yards worked by either summit,
stake or gravity methods and its use here, as well as in freight-houses,
would tend to greatly simplify the record problem. It is not difficult to
estimate the cost per car, and the men under their foreman, as a sub-
contractor, could be paid on that basis at the end of the month or week.
This would tend to do away with the necessity for supervision and paying
overtime, and would under the law of the "survival of the fittest" weed
out the sloth and drone. Damage to cars might be expected to be re-
duced, because a derailment or accident obstructing the work would
cause the men to be idle and lose pay.

A simple, intelligent, accurate, reliable, and closely followed up car
record is essential in any yard of even moderate proportions. The usual
error made in adopting a record in yards that have been operated with-
out any records is to record more than is absolutely essential. The record
should give just such information as is needed in the particular terminal
in which it is installed, and no more. The per diem method of paying for
the use of cars has made records necessary where they were not needed
before and has extended those already in use. The movement of cars
in and out, on each of the various divisions and connecting lines
involved, whether loaded or empty, cars to and from shops, freight-
houses, etc., are necessary in a car record at the average division
terminal.

One of the simplest and most economical records is that using the
ending or terminal figure of the car, and where nothing more is required,
it is decidedly the best. This is usually kept on large loose sheets divided
into 10 squares each, the last figures across the sheet and the second and
third figures up and down making it necessary to write only the figures
in advance of the three last ones in each number. As men become
accustomed to it they can fill in the numbers very rapidly. One man
should easily enter up 2500 car numbers a day besides replying to tele-
graphic and telephonic inquiries as to cars. The date is entered, abbre-
viations for divisions, connections, etc., by using A, B, C, etc., and the
symbols X for loaded and — for empty. The X or — is placed ahead of
the number when it indicates "arrival"; and after the number when it
indicates "departure."

A simple form of report is one on which each sheet is divided into 10
squares, numbered 0, 1, etc., to 9, inclusive. The car numbers are entered
in full, and all those ending in the figure 1 in the space headed 1, etc.;
in this record it is only necessary to look up one-tenth of the entire lot of
numbers when one is wanted.

214

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

The following represents a part of the so-called ''terminal number
record'':

Numbers of Cars

Below 1,000

1,000'

2,000

1
1

2

3

4

5

6
24

7

8

9;o 1

1 1
1 '

1

1

2 3 4

1

5;6

!

1

7'8.9!0

1 1

1
1 ■

1

2

3;4

5

6

9,000

10,000

11,000

1 etc.

32

57

etc.

There are 10 squares across the sheet and 10 vertically, the heading
of the last square, the lower right-hand corner, reading 89,000. In
practice, a sheet is usually used for the movements in each direction daily,
although it is customary in some yards to use a sheet for each period of
8 hours, thereby getting a close approximation to the time of day. In
the figures above cars 624, 10,332 and 10,857 are entered.

Another simple form of record, useful only in small terminals, is that
of having each conductor, on arrival, bring in a list of cars and having a
yard clerk note the departure opposite the numbers of the cars as they
move out. These lists are deposited in a pigeonhole in a large case having
a compartment for every day in the month.

An elaborate record is sometimes kept in which no part of the car
number itself needs to be written. A book of 100 double pages with 10
horizontal divisions across the page and 100 lines vertically is used.
Car 18,945, for instance is entered on page 45 in horizontal division 9 and
on line 18. The owning road's initials or its customary abbreviations are
entered with the indications for load, empty, date (occasionally time) of
arrival or departure, etc.

The use of a certain colored ink for cars arriving between midnight
and 8 a. m.; another for those between 8 a. m. and 4 p. m. and another
between 4 p. m. and midnight is followed at some points, to give a pretty
close line on the time of arrival. One of the objections to this form of
record is the large amount of leafing of the books, making it difficult
to bind them substantially enough to last through their ordinary period
of service.

One of the best car record books for a terminal is made up on the plan
shown in Fig. 73. This record may be handled with three columns, in-
stead of four, to each division, but it may be desirable to show time or

RECORDS AND STATISTICS

215

o

CO

W

g
O

o

08

PL4

T3

W

W3

1^

08
O

no

O

O)

ft "5

eg*

O

00

fe t.

X ^

o
o

O
o

03

bO
08

a

0^

TS

>^

1— «

PQ

05

§

<

1-H

rt

X

OS

u

r^

08

H
^

w

CO

CO

o

kO

<«^

216 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

other information, such as further movements, in which case the addi-
tional column may be needed. In the sample record shown the page is
numbered " 01." The pages run from " 00 " to '' 99 *' or upward. When
they stop at 99 the book provides for any number to and including
99,999. The cars entered on the sample page given are 37,001, 27,101,
2,301, 85,401, and 27,701.

To more fully explain the working of this record the cipher used is as
follows:

X Loaded car.

— Empty car.

A Baltimore Division.

B Omaha Division.

C Boston Branch.

D K. & A. connecting road.

E Freight transfer platform.

F Shops.

When the symbol X or — is placed before the cipher letter it indicates
that the car was received; when it is placed behind the cipher letter it
indicates that the car was forwarded. Abbreviations or symbols are
frequently used for the initials of cars belonging to foreign roads most
frequently, handled. In many records no attempt is made to abbreviate
road initials. It is customary to enter system cars in a separate book,
and with such car records, initials are unnecessary.

In the record shown, car L. & N. 37,001 was received loaded from
the Baltimore Division on Sept. 1. The entry is made on page 01 (the

T Ji XT

last two figures) in section 0, thus: - XA 9/1 as indicated on the

portion of sample page shown. This entry indicates too, that there has
apparently been no further or outward movement of this car. Other
entries made show: L. E. & W. 27,101 received from Baltimore
Division loaded Sept. 1 and forwarded by Omaha Division loaded Sept.
1; G. T. 2301 received loaded Sept. 1 from Omaha Division and for-
warded by Boston Branch loaded, Sept. 2; So. 85,401 received empty
from Boston Branch Sept. 4 and forwarded empty to the freight transfer
platform; I. C. 27,701 received loaded from shops Sept. 4 and forwarded
loaded to Baltimore Division Sept. 4.

The record kept by the New York Central at West Albany, N. Y.,
is a practical ready reference book, and economical to keep up. Through
the West Albany yards, 32,782 eastbound and 35,140 westbound, a total
of 67,922 cars, were passed during January, 1905, necessitating 135,844
entries, to cover ''in and out" movements, besides the additional entries
to cover two for each car sent out to transfer house, two for each car
sent to shops, etc. The records are kept by four men.

RECORDS AND STATISTICS

"if?

IftH

iiil

218 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Figures 74 and 75 show a part of a page of the record book. These
books are paged consecutively from 1 to 1000, the two pages facing each
other having the same numbers. These two pages have entry lines for
each 100 cars so that a set of books will take care of 100,000 car numbers.
The car record is made as follows: Suppose the number is 62,175, the
entry is made in line 75, of page 621. Each line is doubled and has space
for eight car entries, which allows for duplicate entries of the same
numbers, whether they belong to a home car often repeated or to foreign
cars. There are four sets of columns thus making space for eight car
entries of each number, as indicated above. These book records contain
tfie entries for the receipt of the cars and their delivery, and, in addition,
show the delivery to and receipt from transfer house and other interior
working points.

The conductor of a train approaching West Albany makes up the
usual train or switch list which gives initials and numbers of cars in his
train, contents, and destinations. On entering the yard, this list is
handed to the "car markers'' who go down the side of the train and
chalk-mark each car in accordance with the list, and all switching is done
by these marks. The lists are then sent to the yardmaster's office by a
messenger, where the clerk checks off the cars and passes the list over to
the record clerk who enters the car numbers in the record book.

The record for outgoing trains is obtained from a loose sheet made up
by the number taker and sent in by a messenger. After the train is
made up the number taker goes down the side and makes a memorandum
of the car numbers and initials. After adding the train number, con-
ductor's name, number of engine, and time of departure, this sheet is
sent by messenger to the record clerk for outgoing entries. One clerk is
employed continuously consulting the record books in connection with
car tracers and to locate cars for the information of the yardmaster.

Empty foreign cars are frequently received without destination cards
for home route delivery. These cars are recorded in a separate book
with no special rulings and under numbered columns from to 9, the last
number of the car being the index number. Car 12,624 would be put in
column 4. The superintendent of freight transportation or car account-
ant is then asked for the routing which, when it is received, makes it
possible to cancel th^ record from the special book and transfer it to the
permanent record.

For outgoing trains the car cards or tickets are assembled and slips
made up, all being tied in a package in readiness for the conductor. He
has nothing to detain him, and the train may then get under way quickly.
This is a good arrangement and should be adopted in all yards with
suflSciently heavy traffic movement to justify it.

The New Haven has adopted a standard record for its larger terminals,
which being an adaptation of the general car service offices loose-leaf

RECORDS AND STATISTICS

219

system, is economical and complete. The general oflSce records consist
of loose leaves put into a temporary working binder headed up as follows:

^•'Transfer l'2i3 4|5 6 , 7 8 9 loill 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 etc. to 31

00 I I i • , -1 I I I ,11

01

02
etc.
to 99

This necessitates the use of a leaf for each month. In the terminals
the date numbers are omitted, thereby enabling a leaf to be used until
filled up — each movement of a car being entered as it moves — when the
leaf is permanently filed and another substituted. This does away with
the necessity of filing an entire book when some of the cars have their
spaces filled up. Cars are entered by "terminal" numbers; car 10,510
being on page 105 — opposite horizontal line 10. In the general ofiice
the movement is entered in the column under the date it moves; in the
yard record the date and movement are written in.

A brief description of a system of checking car movements by the use
of especially prepared cards is interesting, and while it is in no sense a
substitute for a regular car record, is worth some study because of the
good features it possesses. A case is used containing 100 pigeonholes
labeled 0, 1, 2, etc., to and including 9 across and the same vertically.
After a train has been entered up, a card is made for each car giving
initial, number, date received, reference to page of entry, date outbound,
engine, train, time, contents and destination. The ticket for each car is
then placed in its proper pigeonhole. Car 43,228, for instance, would be
placed in pigeonhole in row 2 (from top) and across in vertical row 8;
that is to say in box 28. Any ticket may be found readily by looking over
those in the box corresponding in number to the last figures of the car
number. When the car has been forwarded the ticket is removed from
the case and filed in a box containing six drawers, two compartments in
each drawer, to provide a separate compartment for each month. Each
compartment is provided with 100 pockets numbered in conformity with
the original case to enable the tickets to be found more readily when
necessary to refer to them.

For the special purpose of checking car movements in connection with
per 'diem charges, one road uses a case divided into 310 pigeonholes,
numbered from left to right, 1 to 31, indicating the days of the month.
On the sides of the case are the numerals from to 9 inclusive reading from
the top down. A blank ticket, of suitable size, is made for each car

220 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

giving car number, initial and date of arrival and such other information
as may be deemed desirable. Car 27,342 arriving Oct. 10, would be placed
in column 10 on line 2. The yardmaster can tell at a glance what cars
are being delayed.

A bill rack may be so arranged as to enable a closer check to be kept
than the last described plan. To accomplish this a "rack'' should be
made for each division, connection, branch or other forwarding destina-
tion. The case contains 10 boxes from left to right (horizontally) with
five compartments in each or five boxes deep. The original or accom-
panying card tickets for the cars are placed in the boxes according to the
last figure; those for cars arriving between midnight and 8 a. m. in the
upper; those between 8 a. m. and 4 p. m. in the second tier and those
between 4 p. m. and midnight in the third. Cars remaining over a day
are then placed in the next tier — "yesterday" — and those two days or
more old in the lower tier — "day before yesterday.'' The bill rack is
made on the following plan:

New York Division

1 2

•

3 4

5 6

7 1 8 9

12 midnight to 8 a. m

8 a. m. to 4 p. m

4 p. m. to midnight

Yesterday

Day before yesterday

At midnight the bill clerk moves all bills or cards remaining in tier
"yesterday" to the one just below and those from the three tiers above
to "yesterday." Additional tiers may be added if deemed desirable.
A glance will show any cars remaining in the yards more than 8 hours.

• In connection with the last described system, or with any system,
the use of a dating and timing stamp is valuable. A simple and cheap
stamp is used having a time dial, which is set by hand just before the
bills for an incoming train are distributed and with which each card
ticket or bill is stamped. This records the yard, date and time and
answers many questions. The clock time stamp is more expensive and
also more likely to get out of order. It does not serve the purpose any
better than the hand-set machine.

RECORDS AND STATISTICS 221

As the practice of rating locomotives on a tonnage basis is nearly
universal, a considerable portion of the time of the yardmaster's force
is taken up in computing the weight of trains, by taking the weight of
each car plus contents when loaded, and adding them together. Much
of the time of the bill clerks and train crews can be saved if tonnage-
computing machines are furnished for this purpose. These machines
have been in use at some heavy forwarding points and, while they will
get out of order occasionally, are on the whole very satisfactory. In
addition to saving time they insure accuracy and eliminate controversies
between the train conductor and the yard clerk or yardmaster in which
the conductor always thinks he has too much load while the yardmen
think another car or two should be added. The yard clerk while adding
up the weight of his car tickets is frequently interrupted by questions.
The tonnage computing machine holds his place for him; that is to say,
he may go to some other work and as soon as he returns continue on the
machine just where he left off, provided he keeps the tickets counted
separated from those not counted. The tonnage rating question has
been discussed in Chapter X, where a description of one computing
machine and its purpose will be found.

With a properly designed and operated terminal, where "hold" cars
and "diversions" do not exist, where the conditions are ideal, the rec-
ords may be dispensed with altogether. This necessitates a yard with
double-end tracks, continuous in and out movements and ample of
road power. The conductor of the incoming train hands or telegraphs
the list of cars making up his train as they stand from the engine back.
The ram or summit engine crews "cut" from this list and the signalman
arranges the ladder switches from the same list. Cars for certain des-
tinations are run into designated tracks and the signalman keeps a list of
cars in each track by which the outgoing road power is ordered. The
cars moved by an outgoing train are checked off; the date and time of
that movement being added. Cars would always be moved in rotation,
that is to say, the oldest cars would go out first.

The writer worked up a switch list form some years ago, to be used
as an advance report of incoming trains, indicating the position of each
car in the train. This was to be copied by the receiving operator on
manifold paper and a copy furnished the "cutter" and others on the
pole or summit engine. The form as given below was intended for a
New Jersey terminal, and while not as full as others, seems to have
some merit in simplicity and brevity. Columns for initials and numbers
of ears could be added if deemed desirable. The following cipher code
was printed on the inside front cover of each book of forms, and it will
be observed that in "destinations" certain characters were used for
connecting roads; others for Brooklyn deliveries; others for New York
piers, etc.

222

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

A. B. & C. RAILROAD

19.

Train Eng Left

at M. has cars tons, in following

position from head end.

Engineman,

Conductor.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

Lading Destination

26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50

Lading Destination

51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75

Lading Destination

Ciphers Used

For Destination

BA— N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. CA-

BC— Long Island R. R. CB
BF— N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. via 23d

St.

BG— Eriell. R. FA-

BH— West Shore R. R. FB-

FC —Pier 44, N. R., New York. GN-

FG —Pier 56, N. R., New York. GR-
FH— 128th St., E. R., New York.

-Palmer's Dock, Brooklyn.
-Brooklyn Wharf & Warehouse
Co.

43d St., E. R., New York.
-Pier 2, N. R., New York.
■Jersey City Engine-House.
-Jersey City Bergen Neck Power
House.

RECORDS AND STATISTICS

223

F J— 31st St., E. R., New York.
FK— 39th St., N. R., New York.
GA — Jersey City Terminal.
GB — Jersey City Transfer Pier C.
GC —Jersey City Pier G.
GD— Jersey City Pier H.
GF —Jersey City Pier I.
GH— Jersey City Grand St. Coal Pock-
ets.
G J — Jersey City Grand St. Yard.
GM — Jersey City Johnson Ave.

GS — Jersey City Johnson & Wilson.
GU — Jersey City Union Building Ma-
terial Co.

HA — Oak Island Yards.

HB — Communipaw Abattoir.

HG — Eagle Oil Works, Communi-
paw.

HD— Standard Oil Co., Constable
Hook.

HF — National Storage Co.

For Lading

A — Live Stock. M —

B — Live Poultry. N —

C — Dressed Beef, Meat and Provi- R —

sions. S —

D — All other fast time freight. U — Coal.

F — Grain. W — All other slow freight.

G — Flour. X — Empty Refrigerator.

H — Cement. Y — Empty Produce.

J — Pig Iron. Z — Empty Express.

Every yardmaster should personally keep a log record. In this all
incidents out of the ordinary are recorded. Accidents of all kinds,
unusual weather, inability to obtain necessary road or yard power,
injuries to employees, obstructions on the main line and in fact anything
that interferes with the smooth working of his yard should be noted.
Questions will come up months afterward which, by reference to his log
may be readily answered. Log records kept by train masters and chief
dispatchers are invaluable.

CHAPTER XVI

WATER FRONT TERlOnALS

The transfer of ordinary freight between rail and water and from
rail to rail lines over intervening water, is accomplished:

(a) Car and load straight:

By car floats or ferriee, using float bridges to adjust for varying
depths of wat«r.

(b) Lightering:

Transferring between car and vessel or pier, by using a barge or
self-propelling vessel, as an intermediary.

(c) Car and vessel direct:

Avoiding a second handhng; either trucking freight to vessel or
vice versa, or into and through a pier.

The bulk of the freight business in and about New York is handled
on ear floats. Some of these are of 12-car capacity, six on cither sido,
with a center loading platform. The larger ones, used by the New

Fio. 76. — Loaded car float, in tow — New York Harbor.

Iluvcn, New York Central and Pennsylvania roads, will carry 20 to 22
cars each. The float bridge mu.st be constructed to accommodate itself
to the varying levels of the car float, due to tides, which ranges from
4 to 12 ft.; and the difference in the depth of water drawn by the float
itself, when fully loaded and when light. One end of the transfer or
float bridge is usually supported by pontoons which keep it afloat and
raise or lower the bridge with the tide. The view in Fig. 76 is that of
a ear float loaded, and being towed by a tug alongside.
224

WATER FRONT TERMINALS 226

The float is brought up to the transfer bridge and made fast by ropes
or chains drawn taut by winches. There being one rope or chain at each
side, they draw the float up snug so that the tracks on the float and on the
transfer bridge are in approximate horizontal alinement. The final
adjustment is made by a ratchet working a screw, by which the tracks
on the bridge can be slid over a few inches. The bridge is raised or
lowered before the float comes in, until the tracks are in approximate
vertical alinement with those on the float. If the alinement is not
accurate enough to slide the toggle bars on the bridge into the toggle
caps on the float, time can be saved in adjustment by running the yard
engine onto one of the bridge tracks, until its weight depresses that side
far enough to let the toggle bar engage the cap. The locomotive is then
moved to the other track and that toggle bar is made fast. A difference
in height of several inches can be adjusted by this means in less time than
if the float were lowered in the ordinary way. After the bridge has been
used for some time, the toggle bars may have some play, so that the differ-
ence in the height of the rails on the bridge and on the float may be as
much as 2 in. This being too much of a drop for the trucks of the
tender to safely take, a flat car is coupled to the locomotive and backed
up to the end of the string of cars on the float. Transfer bridges are
usually double-tracked. When the float has three or more tracks, the
tracks bend together with a crossing frog a few feet from the bow of the
boat. The switch points are on the bridge. Many recently built bridges
are operated by electric power, saving much time in raising or lowering
bridges to make float fast.

It is a comparatively rare occurrence for cars to be lost from the floats
while in transit; most of the accidents occur while at the dock. The
engineman of the yard locomotive sometimes misunderstands or fails to
obey the trainman's stop signal, if given, and backs a string of cars up
against the bumper. If this holds, the force is usually enough to break
the ropes which make the float fast and the float is driven out from the
dock and the cars may be dropped between the bridge and the boat. Low
bumpers are preferable, as the trucks of the last car will go over a low
bumper and the car will come down on its body on the end of the boat.
This is evident at once to the engineman, who stops the train before
serious results ensue. Steel floats are flat on top; wooden ones are usually
cambered to give them greater strength. For this reason, in case the
float breaks loose from the dock while the cars are unsecured and the
brakes off, the cars are more liable to move down grade from the middle
of a wooden than from a steel float. Another advantage of the steel float
is that the bow is not so bluff as a wooden boat; it has a long overhang and
when there is ice at the pier it rides over it, instead of packing it up in
front. The pontoon is weighted with rocks inside and kept as free from
water as possible, so that its lifting power may be near the maximum, it

15

226 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

being easier to let the float down than to raise it. When the pontooD is
damaged, a rope is passed under the bridge at high tide and made fast to
a gallows overhead. When the tide falls the pontoon drops with it
and can be floated out from under the bridge and the necessary repairs
made. The bridges are made very strong. They are hinged at the
shore end so rigidly as to allow no torsion at that point. When heavy
cars are run on one of the tracks, their weight warps the bridge, throwing
an exceedingly heavy .strain on the material of which it is made.

The steel barge "Mastodon" — of Morgan's Louisiana & Texas
Company, for use in transferring passenger and freight trains across
the Mississippi River, at New Orleans, shown in detailed drawings in
Fig. 77 — is said to be the largest steel barge in America; handles daily

Via. 77. — Framing of steel barge, "Mastodon" — Morgan'

16 passenger trains and more than 100 freight cars. It is constructed
entirely of steel and carries three parallel tracks with I2-ft. centers.
The length is 368 ft, over all; depth of hull is .'JO ft., and depth at center
11 ft. 4 in. The principal figures relating to the construction are shown
in the drawings.

The New Haven floats its cars between its terminals at Harlem River
and Oak Point and its connections on the New Jersey coast, a distance of
from 6 to 13 miles. It has in service, 46 floats, with a total of 771 cars
capacity; 2 steamers and 19 tugs; and handles an average of 2000 ears
daily. The estimated cost of ferrying a car 1 mile is 13 cents. The
average cost of all lines is 48 cents, the highest SI .26. The Pennsylvania
has 8 tugs and 60 floats with an aggregate capacity of 700 cars, and handles
about 1000 cars a day. The New York Central has 20 tugs and 41 floats
of 485 cars capacity; and handles about 760 cai-s a day.

WATER FRONT TERMINALS 227

The Long Island and the Baltimore & Ohio estimate their floating
cost at 19 cents per mile; the Lackawanna, 60 cents; the Erie, 26 cents.
The Norfolk and Western cost is about $1; the Northern Pacific, $1.26.
The variation is largely due to slow or fast terminal handling.

A considerable amount of interesting information on the subject of
{^iers for handling freight at water-front terminals is contained in the
report of the Committee on Yards and Terminals of the American
Railway ^Engineering Association, March, 1903, from which the following
is quoted:

*' At large marine terminals j whether ocean or lake ports, the railroad facilities
for handling business differ very materially from those of inland terminals. At
such terminals it is advantageous to unload into warehouses all classes of freight
which can be placed on platforms, and only retain in the cars such classes of
property as cannot be provided with housing accommodations. The great bulk
of export and import freight is moved by lighterage service of the terminal rail-
road company. Where it is the practice to bring the ocean vessel to the dock
of the terminal company, the agent has preliminary advice and is guided accord-
ingly in making provision for the method he will adopt in furnishing service. The
maintenance of special warehouses for export freight is not always essential, but
the general warehouses employed for the unloading of lighterage freight can often
be used also for export freight which is delivered direct to the vessel.

*' It will facilitate matters if these warehouses are skirted with tracks on the
outside, which, in turn, may be used to unload to or from the car, in addition to
securing freight from the warehouse or discharging thereon. Greater economy
in labor necessarily results if loading directly to and from the car can be brought
about, and in a greater measure this suggestion permits either process to be
employed in serving a vessel. A series of open docks is also essential for the
handling of coarse freight, and also to extend the hoisting facilities operated by
the terminal company in the interest of such vessels as have no means of taking
on or discharging a cargo with their own power. In fact, open docks can be
employed successfully for general cargoes usually loaded in box cars and the
general trade transacted with small vessels and barges.

"The facilities provided at large seaport terminals are generally as follows:

"(1) A cluster or general yard, into which trains are moved; (2) lighterage
piers, either open or covered, from which cars are unloaded or loaded to and
from vessels; (3) export piers, from which freight for export is unloaded and
transferred from vessels, or vice versa; (4) storage piers, in which is held (prepara-
tory to being loaded on vessels) such freight as flour, machinery, lumber, pro-
visions, canned goods, etc., the traffic rules aUowing quite an amount of free
time on this class of commodities; (5) inbound and outbound freight-station
piers, located at points where they are only reached by water, and cars are
moved to and from them on car floats. These are used for the city delivery or
receipt of freight, and team-track delivery yards are provided in connection with
them; (6) coal piers, upon which cars are run and unloaded into coal barges or
vessels; (7) grain elevators; (8) warehouses; (9) stock yards.

" The general yard or cluster at a rail and water terminal is the large yard into

228 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

which all business is moved. It should be so arranged that cars as they come
in can be readily switched into the necessary classifications, which are usually
as follows : Cars going to the export piers, storage piers, in- and outbound freight-
station piers, team tracks, elevators, stock pens, etc., or to the yard from which
the car floats are moved for making deliveries to other railroads in the harbor.
This yard should be so arranged that the cars, after they are separated or classi-
fied as above, can be readily moved to the proper point (either the coal pier or
the freight pier) without interfering with the other movements. The yard is
not often so well developed as receiving yards at inland terminals because of
the high value of terminal property at such points. As a rule the area or track
room at a terminal does not increase in proportion to the growth of the other
facilities. It should have a receiving yard, in which the trains on arrival are
held previous to being classified. It should have a departure yard, in which the
trains ready for movement are held. There should be caboose tracks so arranged
that the caboose from an inbound train can be readily placed upon the rear or an
outbound train. The movement of engines from the engine-house to the receiv-
ing or outbound tracks should be arranged to give a minimum amount of
interference.

*' Covered lighterage piers should be about 600 ft. long and about 125 ft.
wide, with two tracks in the center, built at such an elevation that the floors
of the cars will be level with the deck or floor of the pier. It is sometimes
recommended that the sides of the pier should be composed of iron rolling or
folding doors, but this feature does not seem to be desirable. It cuts down the
storage space and very frequently it will be found that the post between two doors
will obstruct one gangway to a lighter. Most lighters have but two gangwa ys, ]
and where a railroad company handles the bulk of its lighterage business, the
lighters are usually built with a standard spacing for the gangways, so that the
doors of the pier can be spaced to accommodate the gangways. There should be
a platform 4 ft. wide, outside the walls, on the three water sides of the shed, the
platform being provided with mooring piles or posts for securing vessels. Many
of the older piers were built with sides having an inward slope or batter of about
1 in. to the foot, or usually about 3 ft. in the height. This was done so that in
loading or unloading lighters the packages would not strike the sides of the
building. This contingency is better provided against, however, by having a
wider platform outside of the building, and in fact, practically all modern pier
sheds are built with vertical sides.

"The shed or superstructure of the pier should be of steel frame construction
or slow-burning mill timber construction. If wood is used it should be white-
washed, to prevent sparks from setting fire to it. In large cities the law usually
requires steel construction. The roof should be designed to give as much light
as possible during the day. This is preferably effected by means of windows on
the sides of a monitor roof, and these may be supplemented by raised skylights or
small monitors running transversely across the side slopes of the roof, parallel
with (and between) the roof and trusses. Flat skylights are objectionable, as
being liable to leak and to be damaged by storms or heavy snow. The monitor
roof should have pivoted sashes to provide for ventilation, the sashes being
handled by suitable mechanism. The shed should be lighted by electricity at
night. It is important to provide good, smooth floors, and the lamp room

WATER FRONT TERMINALS 229

should be thoroughly fireproof. The height of the floor above mean tide will
vary with the kind of vessels to be handled and with the daily tide changes.
These must all be carefully studied in order to arrive at the proper height above
mean tide at any given location. Usually such height as will make the deck of
the pier and boat at the same elevation at mean tide will be the most satisfactory.
Between piers there should be a water space of about 200 ft. The tracks running
into the piers should be so arranged that they will feed directly to and from the
proper part of the general yard without interference. This type of pier will be
often used for export business, and will then take on the features of an export
pier and be built accordingly. In weighing freight, automatic scales are being
used, and should result in a reduction of expense.

"Where heavy tides must be provided for, adjustable ramps or inclines
should be introduced in the floor, the outer edge of the ramps being in line with
the edge of the pier. By this means freight may be trucked to and from lighters
at any stage of the tide without serious interference. The ramps are usually
15 to 20 ft. long, fitted with counter-weights and w^orked by a worm gear. Fixed
ramps are sometimes used for convenient access to the lower decks of vessels.

**Op€n lighterage piers should be about 35 ft. wide and 600 ft. long, with a
6-ft. platform along each side. In many cases only two tracks are used, but
long piers or piers which have more than two berths along each side should,
however, have a third track, connected with the others by crossovers. This
facilitates the shifting of cars and enables the berths at the outer end of the pier
to be served without disturbing the work that is being done at the other berths.
A pier with three tracks should be 45 to 50 ft. wide, and with tracks at least
11 ft. 6 in., center to center. The floor of the pier may be depressed so as to
bring the car floors level with the 6-ft. platforms on each side. This, however,
is not usually done.

**For most freight that is handled by derricks, the boom derricks on the
lighters are used, but the pier should have a power crane or derrick of greater
capacity for handling freight that is too heavy for the lighter derricks. This
crane may either be stationary (in which case the lighter must be moved to the
crane) or it may travel by power along the platform to any desired point.
Traveling cranes of this type are extensively used at water terminals in Europe.
Heavy freight, however, is usually handled by special lighters w^ith pow^erful
derricks, as the freight may have to be discharged at places where pier derricks
are not provided. Stationary cranes for handling heavy loads, cases of glass,
machinery, etc., are also of advantage. There is undoubtedly much room for
the improvement of freight-handling facilities at piers, largely by the introduction
of machinery for the purpose of effecting greater rapidity and economy than are
possible under the common method of employing men with trucks or slow hand-
winches and derricks. At European water terminals, traveling power cranes are
extensively used along the sides of piers and docks.

"The piers should be built at such a height above water that cars to be un-
loaded can be most conveniently handled. A study of the tides and the free-
board of boats is necessary to arrive at this height. Owing to storms and
specially high tides it is necessary to build the piers at a height above mean tide
slightly greater than that at which work can be done to the best advantage.
There should be an open water space of at least 150 ft. between the sides of these

230 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

piers. This space should prevent boats from being blocked in, and would give
space for a tug with a lighter alongside to pass through two lines of boats and
bring a barge from the bulkhead or land-end of the pier to the stream (or vice
versa) y without interfering with the loading of boats alongside the piers. Ample
space will be found advantageous when the ice is running free.

"The piers should be so located that cars will feed directly to and from the
proper part of the cluster or general yard with the minimum amount of inter-
ference. The pier is principally used for the handling of coarser products moving
in gondola or flat cars. It is frequently built wider than described where stone,
pig iron or other freight requiring storage on the dock is to be handled. These
conditions, however, will vary with the conditions of each road. The pier above
described is the type best adapted for the handling of such business as will not
have to be unloaded and held or stored on the pier.

"Export and storage piers are constructed for ample storage, as well as for
the economical working or handling of export freight. Under the traffic rulers
export freight must be held free of storage for 60 days. This is done to provide
, time for the arrival of steamers, or to make arrangements for the shipments.
An export pier should be about 600 ft. long and about 125 ft. wide. On account
of the great height of ocean steamers, it should usually be double-decked, the
first-story deck having 20 ft. head room; second story, 18 ft.; height at eaves
about 43 ft. The pier should be surrounded with a 6-ft. j)latform, arranged
with the proper number of mooring piles for tying up vessels. The pier should
be provided with a proper number of fire hydrants and a general system of fire
protection, included in which a chemical engine is desirable. There should be
two tracks running down the center of the pier, arranged at such an elevation
that the floor of cars will be level with the deck of the pier. The house s'^ould
be furnished with roof lights and electric lights, as already noted for lighterage
piers. In fact, the general features and requirements for storage piers are similar
to those of covered lighterage piers, already described.

"If possible, at 'east one track should be provided on the upper floor. In
any case there should be a proper number of elevators for moving freight from
floor to floor, and more elevators will be required if the second story is not pro-
vided with a track. In case flour is to be handled, and there is no track to the
second floor, it will be found desirable to supplement the elevators by an endless
barrel conveyor, such as is used in flour warehouses. The use of this type of
conveyor is recommended for any special kind of commodity of which a great
quantity is to be handled. Inclined chutes leading from a trap in the upper floor
to the side of the pier may also be used for sending bagged flour direct to boat
by gravity. The chute is hinged at the upper end, and its lower end has a
telescopic portion which may be adjusted to deliver the bags where required. If
bonded goods are to be handled, it will be necessary to divide off part of the
house as a bonded warehouse.

"The double-deck pier has a number of advantages over a single-deck pier.
The foundations are little, if any, more expensive, and it has approximately
double the floor space, while, comparing floor space with roof, the cost is only
one-half that of a single deck. The amount of real estate required is only about
one-half. These advantages are great when the enormous value of terminal real

WATER FRONT TERMINALS 231

estate is considered. Very freciuently the second story of these piers is so
arranged that immigrants can be handled in it.

"It is frequently desirable to have an open track alongside export piers, as
the character of goods to be handled is often such that they can be unloaded
directly to or from the steamer and the car. This applies where the commodity
is bulky and can be loaded in open cars, and in such cases it is frequently desirable
to have this track. It saves the handling of the goods to the floor and from the
floor to the car, or one handling. At certain European ports various types of
traveling gantry cranes are used, which greatly facilitate the handling of freight.

"The storage pier has many features of the covered lighterage pier, but it is
designed primarily to accommodate the large ocean-going steamers, while the
other pier is built to store only goods for harbor lighters. The export pier is
for the handling of general export business. It often happens, however, that
the business of one road will be very largely made up of flour, paper, tobacco, or
some other special commodity. In such cases the description above will hardly
answer, and the design is made to meet the special requirements of the traffic.
In the case of flour, which usually has to be held a long time, the pier should
be several stories high, and the stories should be only about 10 ft. high in clear-
ance. Cutting down the height of the stories saves in the cost of the building,
and also in the labor of tiering up freight to a great height. In t^e flour storage
warehouses all floors are reached by elevators, usually hydraulic or electric, and
by endles£-3hain conveyors. Each warehouse should have platform elevators
to facilitate the handling of trucks, etc., from floor to floor. With t'ese arrange-
ments, goods can be handled to and from any floor at very little cost.

"Where a pier is built in this manner, it is usually called a storage pier, but
it should have all the other features of an export pier. Export piers should
be so located that tracks will lead directly to. and from the proper part of the
general yard with the least amount of interference.

^^ Freight station pier and team track delivery. — In many harbors there are
freight stations having no rail connections, and at which freight is received and
delivered by car floats. The piers at these stations should be about 600 ft. long
and 125 ft. wide. This width will allow for a 35-ft. driveway in the center, and
45-ft. storage space on each side. Where the tides will allow it, the driveway
should be located at a level about 2.5 ft. below the storage floor. In working
out the height of the deck pier, the height of car floats, and fall and rise of the
tide, and mean tide must be carefully considered. Kamps should be provided,
as noted for open lighterage piers. The height of the abutting city street must
not be overlooked, and the height that will require the least amount of work in
handling freight under all conditions should be chosen. The pier should be
surrounded on its three water sides with a 3-ft. platform, arranged with a proper
number of cleats and mooring piles for tying up car floats. Along the water
street should be built a bulkhead in connection with each pier 325 ft. long, to
permit the tying up of two rows of car floats on each side of the pier.

"The pier will be used for inbound or city delivery freight, which in the
morning will be moved from the cluster or general yard on car floats and placed
alongside the pier. The cars are at once unloaded. Outbound freight will be
received alongside the bulkhead and moved by trucks over the ends of car floats
and on the platform between the lines of cars on each float. In this way none

232 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

of the outbound freight will pass through the pier proper, and all interference
will be done away with. Inconveniences will only be had when the inbound
freight is arriving so late in the day that the outbound must be loaded at the
same time. During the morning hours it is customary to store the outbound
freight on the floor of the bulkhead until some of the cars containing inbound
freight have been unloaded. It is then moved directly from the wagon as it is
received over the scales and into the proper car.

"In the design of these piers the same principles and requirements must be
considered as in the case of covered lighterage piers. It is especially important
to provide them with fire hydrants and possibly a chemical engine. Adequate
roof lights should be arranged for, the lighting at night to be by electricity. It is
usually not best to double-deck the pier, but the bulkhead should be two stories
high, the second story to be occupied by offices for the agent and his staff, and
for the storage of records. Where much fruit is handled, it will also be necessary
to provide an auction room on this floor for the sale of fruit. It will often be
found necessary to provide a water tank at the extreme end of the pier for supply-
ing tugs with water. Alongside the roadway, leading into the pier at the front
end of the bulkhead, should be provided a small office for use of the cashier in
issuing freight bills. This will do away with the necessity of teamsters going to
and from the office on the second floor to pay their freight and leaving their
teams unprotected and blocking the driveway. It will be found to greatly
expedite the movement. Scales for weighing freight should be provided .at
proper intervals along the bulkhead, with small houses in connection with each
for the receiving clerks and the weighmasters. These piers are frequently
divided up alphabetically, so that the goods for any person can be easily found.
At some other points this classification is made by commodities, eggs being un-
loaded at one location and glass at another. Water-closets should be provided
both on the office and on the lower floor. A lamp room is usually necessary, as
it is difficult to reach the cars on car floats with electric lights, so that lanterns
are generally used. This room should be as fireproof as it is possible to make it.

"Similar accommodations can be had by buying a block of property and
building upon it the usual inbound and outbound freight stations, arranging
the tracks from them to lead to a transfer bridge, so that cars can be moved
between the freight-houses and car floats. For operating the yard it will th^n be
necessary to provide a small dummy engine, or handle the cars by electric power.
The team tracks at such points are usually arranged in pairs, with the proper
space for roadways. These tracks connect with ladder tracks leading to the
transfer bridge. The arrangement will depend largely upon the shape and
size of the property acquired."

As water-front space increases in value, particularly at harbors on
tide-water coasts, the practice of building two- and three-story freight
piers is becoming general. With the use of elevators, freight can be
moved, readily and quickly to or from any story, and, considering the
value of ground space, the cost of elevating, with the improved machinery
in use and the application of electric power, is often less than the interest
on additional ground space needed.

WATER FRONT TERMINALS 233

The Lehigh Valley at its Jersey City terminals, has had two-story
freight piers in use for over 15 years and during the past few years it has
built two three-story piers. The dimensions are 130 X 570 ft. and freight is
moved to and from the upper floors by. electric elevators. Electric
power is obtained from a city plant and, while the prices are rather high,
thecostforcurrent during the average month was 13 cents per car handled;
some of the freight going to the second and some to the third floor. Most
of this freight was flour, in sacks and barrels. The truck haul is shortei;
than if the same area was contained in a single floor. For handling
general freight a system of inclined endless-chain moving platforms —
something like the escalators in large department stores and at some of the

elevated railroad stations in New York — ^might be advantageously
adopted. Platforms of this kind are in use in some freight piers for
unloading and loading vessels, and are arranged so as to permit their
removal or adjustment to different positions or elevations.

Fig. 78 shows a modern type of a freight delivery, water-front pier
and float-bridge arrangement, at a point where property values are high,
that of the New York Central yard at 69th Street, New York, extending
from 60th to 72nd Streets along the North (Hudson) river. It includes
an elevator, six piers, a transfer dock, and an engine-house, with the
usual minor structures, and has a large storage capacity for freight cars.

The plan shows the freedom with which all tracks on the piers and
transfer docks may be approached from the main track, and how the
remaining space has been ingeniously used for storage tracks. A general
view is shown in Fig. 2, page 4.

The Pinner's Point terminal of the Southern Railway near Norfolk,

234 FREIGHT TERM! SALS ASD TRAISS

Va,, (Fig. 79j represents a fair development of a tide-water frontage
where ample space was available and whore land values were moderate.
A large proportion of the freight handled through this terminal in cotton.
The Bush Terminal in Brooklyn ia also a tide-water front delivery
yard where every available foot of space had to be utilized to its utmost
because of the high valuer of property.

l-'io. 70. — Plan of yards and piers, Pinner's Point, Va.^Southem Railway.

The photograph in Fig 80 is that of one of the large piers of the
Bush Terminals in Brooklyn. A general plan, view of a typical water
scene, end view of warehouses and bird's-eye view of yards are shown
in Figa. 81, 82, 83 and 84.

The cut in Fig. 85 ia the Cunard liock. New York, with one of its
newest and largest ships alongside. New York City collects upward of
5 . 5 millions a year in rent for its docks.

An interesting and extensive water-front development (shown in
Fig. 86) is that of the Louisville and Nashville at Pensacola, Fla., con-
sisting of several modern and well-built wharves, of which the Muskogee,
is used mostly for coal, phosphate, rock and lumber. It is 2440 ft. long,
120 ft. wide at the sea end and 4C ft. wide at the shore end. On the lower
level are five tracks and on the coal trestle above are two. The trestle
has 13 coal chutes and 4 grain t-hutes. These are hinged so that they
may be drawn up out of the way when not in use. They have extension
aprons to accommodate the hatches of vessels of any size. Coal cars
are run out on the outer of the two elevated tracks, unloaded through the

WATER FRONT TERMINALS 235

chutes, and then moved to a transfer table at the end of the trestle,
going back on the inner track to the railroad yards north of the wharf.
Phosphate rock is loaded in the same way. Vessels may be loaded from
cars on the upper and lower tracks at the same time, taking on bunker
coal while loading cargo, or taking coal or phosphate rock through the
chutes and miscellaneous freight from other cars on the lower tracks.
Lumber is also loaded direct from the cars. Timber is usually unloaded
into the water from skids near the shore end of the wharf and held in
booms until needed. The sectional view in Fig. 87 clearly shows the
construction plan and operating methods.

Fic. 80. — Covered pier of Bush Terminal.

The Tarragona and the Commandancia Street wharves (Figs. 88
and 89) are about a mile west of Muskogee Dock. They are parallel
to each other, with a slip about 160 ft. wide between, Tarragona is
lOoO ft. long. At the shore end is a grain elevator of 500,000 bushels
capacity, A belt conveyor runs from the elevator to the outer end of
the wharf through a conveyor gallery. There are two belts, each designed
to deliver 10,000 bushels of grain per hour. Along the west side of the
wharf are 27 grain spouts, through which grain is delivered to the holds
of the vessels. Grain can thus be loaded from both belts to one hold or
separate holds of the same or different steamers. There are two ware-
houses on the dock; the outer one is 50 ft. wide and 404 ft. long, divided
into II compartments, and is served by a Hunt elevated automatic
railway. The other is 50 ft. by 140 ft. On the west side are two tracks.

236

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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WATER FRONT TERMINALS 237

The Commandancia Street wharf is the newest — 110 ft. by 2075 ft.
The warehouse is a two-story building, 50 ft. by 1200 ft. Alongside of
it, on the upper story, there are two railroad tracks, one on each side,
and on the lower story there are three. As at the Tarragona Street
wharf, vessels can be loaded from either the upper or lower floors or
from both at once, and at the same time take on bunker coal. The
warehouse has 400 doors — each 8 ft. wide, opening vertically. Both
floors are designed to carry 600 lb, per square foot.

l''io. 82. — Typical water-front scene— Bush Terminal.

Fio. 83, — Warehouses of Bush Terminal.

A bird's-eye view of the East Boston, Mass., water-front terminals,
of the Boston & Albany, is shown in Fig. 90. In July, 1908, the plant,
with the exception of one dock and two warehouses, was destroyed by
&re. The present terminals cost 4 million dollars, and covers about 50
acres of land.

The new piers are 780 ft. long, 240 ft. wide; the slips between are from
200 to 250 ft. wide with sufficient water to berth the largest steamships at
low tide. Ships of the Cunard and Leyland Lines, operating between Boston

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

I. 84.— Yards ot Bush Terminal.

Fio. 85. — Cunard dock, New York City, with one of the large Cunarders alongHide.

WATER FRONT TERMINALS

239

and London, Boston and Liverpool, and Boston and Manchester dock here.
The new grain elevator and dryer — the largest in New England— has a capacity
of 1 million bushels and coat 1 million dollars. The elevator is fire-proof and
electrically operated. Conveyors run directly along the aides of the piers,
insuring quick and easy dehvery to the ships. The building ia 269 ft. long,
73 ft. wide and 185 ft. high, and rests on foundations of reinforced concerete

Flo. 86. — Coal, grain and lumber dock, Pensacola, Fla. — Louisville & Nashville.

under which are 2600 pilea. These are 192 steel bins. On the water side of
the elevator are the bins from which the conveyors, which are on belt system,
distribute the grain to the ships. The piers at East Boston are the largest
used for commercial purfioses on the Atlantic coaat except the new docks at
Brooklj'n. They are accessible for the largest ships, there being from 36 to
40 ft. of water in the slips and the berthing and warping-in ot a large ship is

Fig. 87. — Sectional view, Muskagee dock, Penaacola, Fla. — Louiaville 4 Nashville.

easily accomplished. On Pier 3, there are large rooms where incoming passengers
of all classes can be easily handled, and here the United States Custom House
inspectors, t|uarantine officers, and immigration officials have their quarters.

\i Superior, Wis., the double-deck flour pier of the Great Northern,
127 X 1800 ft., handles from " house to boat" between 650,000 and 750,000
tons annually. About 80 per cent, of its business is east-bound and
00 per cent, of that is flour. Tracks are laid on both floors.

The Northern Pacific pier at Duluth is single-deck, measuring
80 X 1700 ft.

240 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

An interesting water-front terminal is shown in Fig. 138, on insert op-
posite page 298; that of the New Haven at South Boston, Mass. While

/ of Commandacitt and Tarragona docks, Pensacola, Fla. —
Louisville & Nashvillt.

a. docks, Pensacola, Fla.-

il is a vory important walor-froiit dcvdopment, ita freight-house features
are of greater importance and it is therefore treated under that head.

WATER FRONT TERMINALS 241

Duisburg-Ruhrort (just below Diisseldorf) is the chief port on
the Rhine, Germany, and perhaps the most highly developed water front
in the world. It is the river portal of the Rheinish-Westphalian coal and
iron district. In 1907 the river traffic of the Rhine amounted to 64.5
million tons. The Duisburg-Ruhrort port handled that year 21.6 million
tons, compared with 20.8 million tons merchandise entering and leaving
Hamburg the same year. The German railroads always arrange physical
connections withthe waterways if desirable, the river ports are usually
maintained by the cities but in some cases by the state railroads. The
factors entering into and largely controlling the future of inland water-
ways and which are highly developed in Germany, are free open rivers,

Fio. 90. — Water-froDt terminala. East Boston, Mass. — Boston & Albany.

with a fine adaptation of their floating stock to the local conditions;
good river terminals, with facilities for easy exchange of freight be-
tween inland water and rail carriers; a degree of co-operation between
railroad and river making possible the combined shipment on which a
dense river traffic depends.

The typical Rhine barge of to-day has a capacity of about 1500 tons;
it is 250 ft. long, 35 ft. wide, has a loaded draught of 8 ft. and costs
approximately {22,000. Screw towing steamers, are used on the lower
Rhine, and for the shallower portion above Cologne (210 miles from the
sea) a long shallow-going sidc-whcel tug of 1200 h. p. is preferred. This
will tow 6000 tons of cargo up stream in a barge tram at 3 to 3.5 miles
per hour, and costs in the neighborhood of $90,000.

CHAPTER XVII
COAL PIERS, A9D STORAGE PLANTS

Piers at which coal is transferred from cars to boats or from boats to
cars are located at many tide-water and fresh-water points and are
equipped with mechanical appliances to facilitate rapid and economical
movement. Where power plants or retailing plants are located on the
water front, the coal is usually discharged from vessels directly into
storage bins or coal bunkers. It is a comparatively simple undertaking
unload coal from cars to vessels and, with proper facilities, the cost
need not exceed a fraction of a cent per ton. For economical and rapid
handling, the highest development is in the air-dumped car, by which the
engineman can in a few minutes dump his whole train load through
chutes into vessels. With the machinery in use on the great lakes, and
at Hoboken, N. J., (Lackawanna road) an entire loaded coal car is
picked up, elevated and its contents dumped bodily into the vesel
alongside.

Discharging from vessels to cars is more complicated and costly.
Usually a charge of from 20 to 25 cents per ton is exacted for this service.
The actual cost with the best equipped plants will vary greatly,' being
influenced by character of vessels used, unloading machinery, reliability
and kind of labor, etc. The usual method of wearing out old vessels or
barges in the coal-carrying trade increases the discharging expense by
reason of the "between decks," small hatches, deep keels with cross
bracing, etc., as in such cases a very large proportion of the coal cannot
be reached by the clam-shell or orange-peel grab buckets and has to be
gotten out by "trimmers" — that is, shovelers who fill tubs which are
afterward hoisted. Frequently the tubs have to be wheeled some
distance to reach the hatches.

The annual output of coal in this country is approximately 487,000,000
tons of 2000 lb., of which nearly 17 per cent, is anthracite. Pennsylvania
produces the only anthracite, about 80,000,000 tons, and nearly 144,000,000
tons of bituminous coal. Illinois produces about 50,000,000 tons, and
West Virginia nearly 60,000,000 tons of bituminous.

The Norfolk & Western handles bituminous coal exclusively and has
a heavy traffic. Lambert's Point, near Norfolk, Va., is its tide-water
terminal, and the coal pier for handling coal from cars into boats is
shown in Fig. 91.

This steel pier is 866 ft. long with unloading tracks throughout its
entire length. It has an average height of 70 ft. above high water and

242

COAL PIERS AND STORAGE PLANTS

244 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

accommodates ocean steamahips. It has 54 chutes through which coal
or coke can be loaded into the largest vessels. Loaded cai^s are liaulrd
up the 25 per cent, incline leading to the entrance of th.a pier, by a sta-
tionary engine, working a cable, and from the top of this inthnc the car^
are dropped by gravity, both going and returning.

The Curtis Bay coal dock of the Baltimore & Ohio near HiUtiinoro
(Figs. 92, 93 and 94), handles bituminous coal only. This dock is SOO
ft. long from the shore line to the deep-water end where it is 4.5 ft. hi'.;h —
the width being 60 ft. The approach is 1000 ft. long, giving the incline
a grade of about 2 per cent. This approach track rises from a y:ird
which has a capacity of 2600 cars. At the fop of the incline tlie cars
arerunoveralOO-ton trackscale. " One of these scale.s is located in each

Fio. 92.— Curtis Bay pier— Bui ti more & Oliio.

of the two tracks and they weigh automatically. There are 100 unloading
pockets of 180 to 350 tons capacity each. After the cars are dumped
they are run by gravity to a switchback at the end of the dock where
they are shunted to the return track and down the empty-car incline,
1800 ft. long, to the yard and are again automatically weighed while
in motion. The combined unloading capacity of the several old docks
at Locust Point, Baltimore, was approximately 8000 tons in 10 hours
when cars of 25 to 30 tons capacity were used. With 50-ton cars the
unloading capacity of the Curtis Bay dock is estimated at 10,000 tons,
when vessels are at hand to receive cargoes.

At the new terminal at Port Covington of the Western Maryland, a
large coal-handling pier 750 ft. long and 60 ft. wide has been built.
This pier is equipped with 20 coal chutes on each side, in
which the cars discharge the coal directly to the holds of the vessels lying
alongside. The tracks on top of the pier arc 70 ft. above mean low water.

COAL PIERS AND STORAGE PLANTS

'/

%■

246 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

There are two outbound and two inbound tracks, the latter being in the
middle. Loaded cars are hauled up the incline on the inshore end by a
"barney," power being supplied by a hoisting engine placed directly
under the incline. It is estimated that the cars can be carried up this
incline and unloaded at the average rate of one a minute. At the extreme
end of the pier are two turntables which are used to transfer the cars as
soon as they are emptied, from the outbound tracks to the inbound
tracks, where they run by gravity down to the yard. Two track scales,
one for loaded cars and the other for empty cars are placed just beyond the
"barney" pit, so that the cars can be weighed without delay. A photo-
graph of the pier and a track plan are shown in Figs. 95 and 96.

The table on page 247 of the largest coal piers in this country is in
convenient shape for those who may desire to give this subject more
study.

In discharging coal from cars to vessels, directly or indirectly, it is
necessary to build piers to a considerable height above the water. There
is much variation in the height of vessels to be loaded. The coal may
be dumped directly from a car into a chute which in turn dumps into
the hold of the vessel, or it may be dumped into pockets and later on
be drawn from the pockets into the vessel's hold, when the vessel arrives
which is to take that particular kind of coal. Usually chutes are made
to be raised or lowered to reach the proper part of the vessel. In hand-
ling anthracite coal, screens are added to separate the dust from the coal.

Ordinarily coal piers are made up of three tracks, the two outside
ones for loaded cars, which, after being unloaded, are moved ahead and
switched to the middle track, dropping back by gravity to the empty
car yard. The grade of the loaded car tracks should descend sufficiently
toward the outer or water end of the pier to enable the cars to be moved
easily and the grade of the middle or empty car track should drop in
the opposite direction so the empty cars after being transferred thereto,
will return to the land end of the pier by gravity. This enables rapid
and economical handling. On exceedingly long piers five tracks are
used, with suitable cross-overs, so cars can be moved around those
unloading at any particular berth.

A number of coal pockets can be provided, spaced the proper dis-
tance, so that each of a string of cars may be unloaded. To allow for
unequal lengths of cars the distances between centers of pockets should
be that of the longest car, or preferably, a little greater.

The water space on each side of a pier or between piers, should be
about 150 feet, so that vessels may be docked with a tug, turned or run
by others already docked. Platforms or walks should be built around
the pier so that men may walk from car to car, without using tracks;
suitable railing should be provided for their safety. Mooring piles are
necessary at intervals alongside the piers for tying up coal barges. The

COAL PIERS AND STORAGE PLANTS

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COAL PIERS AND STORAGE PLANTS 24!)

plan, side view, longitudinal and transverse sections, shown in Fig. 97,
are those of a standard tidewater coal pier recommended by the American
Railway Eng. Association.

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Sectionttirooqh Tresti e
Km. 97. — ^Standard tide-water eoal pier — Am. Ry. Engineering Aas'n.

Fi(i. 'JS. — 4'ar dumping' machine, lloboken, N". J. ^Lackawanna.

Fig. 98 is a view of a car dumping machine of the Lackawanna at
Hoboken, N, J,, especially constructed for handling anthracite coal and
is provided with screens and an elevator for delivering the screenings

250 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

into a pocket. These machines are operated by electricity or steam.
Under favorable conditions one of these machines will handle 30 cars
per hour.

Unloading from vessels to cars is accomplished at the Penarth Docks
of the Taft Vale Railway, England, by using four movable hydraulic
coal-tips.

Figure 99 shows four hoisting or unloading towers of the New Haven
at Providence, arranged to take coal from vessels to cars or storage
pockets. Upward of a million tons of coal are discharged at the dock each

Fio. 99. — Coal discharging plant at Providence, R, I. — New York, New Haven &
Hartford.

year. Each tower is provided with two hoppers with a capacity of 10
tons each from which the coal is delivered into cars through gates.

In Fig. 100 is shown a steam revolving locomotive crane unloading
coal with a 2.5-yd clam-shell bucket and delivering into cars. The plant
shown in Fig. 101 is a fast unloader, with tramway working independently,
used by the Milwaukee Gas Company for discharging and storing coal.
Each is typical of its kind.

The problem of storing anthracite coal through the dull season is an
important one with the coal-mining and coal-carrying companies. The
rush orders duiing the fall and winter tax the mines beyond their capac-
ities and the falling off during the summet reverses conditions so that
only the storage of enormous quantities of coal permits the continuous

COAL PIERS AND STORAGE PLANTS 251

operation of the mines from one end of the year to the other. When '
trade is dull the coal goes to the piles and when a rush of orders comes,
the piles are drawn upon to meet the demands. They also permit a
policy of encouraging mining operations during summer months when
coal cars would otherwise be idle. The location of a storage plant is
governed by the cost of the site, conformation of the ground for the
trackage necessary to the switching and disposal of cars, and accessibility
to the mines, tidewater and railroad shipping facilities.

Fia. 100. — Revolving locomotive crane unloader.

One system of storing anthracite consists of two stationary trimmers,
which are conveyors supported by shear trusses, for piling the eoal; and
a conveyor working in a tunnel between the trimmings for transferring
the coal back from the piles to the cars. A series of such groups consti-
tutes the plant of the Philadelphia & Reading at Abrams, Pa., which
has a capacity of 500,000 tons. A modification of this system is that
of the Lehigh Valley, at Ransom, Pa., shown in Fig. 102 in which a
single trimmer does all the work. The lower end is supported on a
truck traveling on a track of 10-ft. gage and the upper end on a mono*

252 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

rail runaway which is carried on a structure supported by 16 steel
columns, 83 ft. high. A 50-h. p. motor furnishes the power and may
be seen in the view of the trimmer, Fig. 103. It takes current from
a third rail, on the side of the trestle in which are the necessary bins.
The flight conveyor carried on the trimmer ia operated by a 90-h. p.

. 101.— Fast unload ei^-Milwaukee Coal Co,

F[ii. 102. — Coal storage plant, Ranaom, Pa. — Lehigh Valley.

motor mounted at the upper end. For unloading there are two tunnels
— a longitudinal one under the trimmer and a transverse tunnel from the
middle of the runway on t he side away from the trimmer. Two re-loaders,
one on the trimmer side and one on the other side, move on longitudinal
tracks and carry coal in conveyors from the edge of the pile to the longi-

COAL PIEHS AND STORAGE PLANTS 253

tudinal tunnel in which the flight conveyors carry the coal to the center,
whence it is discharged in chutes leading to a bucket conveyor running in
the transverse tunnel, by which the coal is carried to the edge of the pile
and then elevated to the screen tower over the unloading tracks. The
two sets of shaking screens have a capacity of 300 tons an hour. This is
so rapid that it is found economical to store all sizes of coal indiscrimi-
nately instead of separating it into piles of different sizes. The power
house, supplying electricity, can be seen at the right of the photograph.
The manufacturers estimate the cost of installing the system at one
dollar per ton of storage capacity and the cost of handling coal, both ways,
from 3 to 6 cents per ton. The Ransom plant forms a pile 83 ft, high,
342 ft, wide and 1244 ft. long, with a capacity of 400,000 tons which may
vcadilv be increased.

Fia. lOil, — Coal storage plant, Ransom, Pa. — -Leliigli Valley.

For storing coal, to hold for market requirements and to unload and
reload it mechanically, the New York Central erected a plant at DcWitt
which consists of a revolving steel truss 210 ft. long between supports.
The inner end is carried on an elevated turntable and the outer end
upon a steel frame, resting upon four-wheel steel trucks, traveling
on a circular track 420 ft. in diameter, concentric with the elevated
turntable. Under the turntable is a coal pit, on two sides of which
coal can be discharged from hopper-bottom cars. The coal is elevated
from the pit by means of a 2.5 ton clam-shell bucket, conveyed along
the truss by wire rope trolley and deposited at any desired point in
the storage area. The storage area has a capacity of 25,000 tons on
each side of the coal delivery tracks. Coal may be delivered in and out
of storage at the rate of 60 tons per hour, although on a test 120 tons per
hour were handled. The average cost per ton handled is 3,5 cents, and
under favorable conditions 2.7 cents.

254 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

The United States Bureau of Mines recently made a series of tests
of four kinds of coal, to determine the rate of deterioration and liability
of spontaneous heating in storage, which demonstrated that storage
under water unquestionably preserves the heating value and physical
strength of the coal, but it practically necessitates firing wet coal, and
therefore means the evaporating in the furnace of an amount of moisture
varying from 1 to 15 per cent., according to the kind of coal. This
factor is an important drawback to storage under water, with coals
like the Illinois and Wyoming types, which retain 5 per cent, or more,
of water, after draining, but in case of the high-grade Eastern coals,
if firemen are permitted, as is ordinarily the case, to wet down their
coal before firing, then the addition during storage of the 2 or 3 per
cent, of moisture which these coals retain would be of little consequence.
Storage by submerging is an absolute preventive of spontaneous com-
bustion and on that account alone its use may be justified with some
coals, but merely for the sake of saving to be secured by avoidance of
weathering there does not seem to be good ground for its use. The
losses in coal due to spontaneous heating are much more serious and
must receive more careful consideration.

With full appreciation of the fact that any or all of the following
recommendations might under cetrain conditions be found impracticable,
they were offered as being advisable precautions for safety in storing
coal whenever their use does not involve an unreasonable expense:

1. Do not pile over 12 ft. deep nor so that any point in the interior will be
over 10 ft. from an air-cooled surface.

2. If possible, store only lump.

3. Keep dust out as much as possible; therefore, reduce handling to a
minimum.

4. Pile so that lump and fine are distributed as evenly as possible, not, as
is often done, allowing lumps to roll down from a peak and form air passages
at the bottom.

5. Rehandle and screen after 2 months.

6. Keep away external sources of heat even though moderate in degree.

7. Allow 6 weeks' "seasoning" after mining before storing.

8. Avoid alternate wetting and drying.

9. Avoid admission of air to interior of pile through interstices around
foreign objects, such as timbers or irregular brickwork; also through porous
bottoms such as coarse cinders.

10. Do not try to ventilate by pipes, as more harm than good is often done
in this way.

CHAPTER XVIII
ORE AND LUMBER DOCKS

Methods of loading and unloading coal, ore, sand, cement and other
coarse ordinary freight and discharging vessels containing it, necessarily
differ as does also the machinery used to assist in such work. They vary
particularly because the character and quantity of freight handled at
each dock usually is of many kinds. Coal handling is described
elsewhere.

Lumber is usually handled by cranes such as are described hereinafter.
As water transportation is vastly more economical than rail for coaise,
bulky commodities, on which time is not essential, much freight is trans-
fered from cars to vessels, or vice versa, to utilize the water transportation
afforded by the rivers and lakes of the United States. A vast amount
is handled on the Great Lakes. In many instances the handling in-
cludes storage in addition to the transfer. Ore, coal, coke and lumber
freight may be accumulated on the w^ater front, and stored until needed,
because of opportunities to pui chase in favorable markets, necessity
for storing quantities in advance, to care for anticipated ordeis for
finished product and, in the case of coal, because it may be mined, screened,
etc., to better advantage during summer months, and at the time when
railroads have a surplus of coal cars on hand. In addition to the machinery
for transferring a cargo from cars to vessels or vice versa it then becomes
necessary to supply additional machinery and track arrangements for
unloading into storage pockets or onto storage piles, and again reloading it.

A view of a successful and rapid machine for handling coke and coal
in the stdrage yards of the Illinois Steel Company at Stockton, Ind. is
shown in Fig. 104. The machine consists of system of conveyors which
handle coal and coke both into and from the storage yards. All opera-
tions are performed by one self-contained unit, instead of by entirely
separate systems. The machine operates on its own track. To increase
the storage capacity of a yard, the only expense necessary is the cost of
lengthening the machine track and the trestles from which the cars are
dumped. In the Stockton yard, the machine handles material from any
part of the present yard, which is 100 ft. wide and over a quarter mile
long. There is room to extend the siding on which the machine runs
three-quarters of a mile further if necessary. About 100,000 tons of
coke are ordinarily stored. It is operated by three men and delivers
the coke to the car at the rate of 3 tons per minute, at a cost of 1 cent
per ton and without damaging the material.

255

256 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

The first cost is small and the operating expenses are comparatively
low. The cost of handling material into and out of storage is less than
2 cents per ton, or about one dollar per car, which compares well with a cost
of about 20 cents per ton in loading from storage by hand.

This machine has numerous applications. Different sizes are built,
ranging from the mine car loader, having a capacity of 30 to 40 cu. ft.
per minute, to machines running as high as 300 cu. ft. per minute. It
is adapted for the use of contractors in tunnel work, as well as in mines
in general. The storage machine in its different sizes will handle coal,
coke, loose rock, tailings, fire-clay, gravel, sand and other loose mate-
rials, at a cost claimed to be surprisingly low.

Fig. 104. — Ore handling machine, Stockton, Ind. — Illinois Steel Co.

A machine for handling sand from barges to bins, with a capacity
of 90 cu. yd. per hour, running on four wheels on an independent track,
with grab-bucket crane, is in use in St. Louis, by the Union Sand and
Material Company and is shown in Fig 105.

Figures 106 and 107 are views of the Hulett ore unloader of the
Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg at Buffalo; Fig. 107 shows leg of un-
loader in hold of boat and also shows the advantages of the modem
construction of vessels, enabling them to discharge their cargoes rapidly
and economically, as compared with the adapted "between decks"
with numerous small hatches of the older ships.

Previous to 1903 all ships at the Buffalo terminus were unloaded by
hand, making the cost high. In 1903 improvements were completed,

ORE AND LUMBER DOCKS 257

consisting chiefly of the in3tal]ation of a complete Hulett unloader plant,
which has been in satisfactory operation for several years and has greatly
decreased the cost of unloading iron ore.

Fia. 105.— Union Sand Material Co.'a Plant, St. I.o

Fia. !06. — Mechanical (Hulett) unloaders at Buffalo.

The dock upon which the machine is located is comparatively short,
making it necessary to use four stub tracks beneath it, as shown in the
general elevation. Ore can thus be unloaded into cars on either one of

258 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

these tracks, the normal capacity being about 2000 tone per day of 10
hours.

The unloader consists essentially of two parallel girders at right
angles to the length of the dock, mounted on trucks. These support
the trolley or carriage which in turn carries the walking beam, the outer
end of which supports a vertical leg provided at the lower end with a
bucket. The bucket leg is suspended in a vertical position and the
operator rides in it just over the bucket, and therefore goes into the
boat at each trip. From his position he can see its working and control
its movements. By means of hoisting mechanism, the beam is made to

Fia. 107. — Leg of Hulett unloader in boat.

oscillate up and down, carrying the bucket up over the hatch or to the
bottom of the hold. When the bucket reaches the pile of ore in the
boat it is closed and filled, after which the leg is raised and trolleyed
back over the hopper on the dock into which the contents of the bucket
are discharged. From the hopper, the ore is dumped into an auxiliary
"bucket car," which in turn transfers the ore to the cars, while the
bucket is returning to the hold for another load. The bucket leg is
mounted on rotating trunnions in the walking beam so that the bucket
can revolve and reach out in all directions beneath the hatch.

The bucket has a capacity of about 10 gross tons and a speed of 60
buckets in 40 minutes has been obtained. The usual speed is about
one trip per minute and is easily maintained. The bucket has a spread
of 18 ft. 3 in., with an additional scraping motion of 2 ft. 11 in., thus
making it possible to reach more than halfway from the center of one

ORE AND LUMBER DOCKS 269

hatch to the center of the next, considering 24-ft. centers of hatches.
The bucket leg also travels lengthwise of the hatch so as to reach both
sides of the boat. In an ordinary ore-carrying boat no difficulty is
experienced in reaching 90 per cent, of the cargo, and in some of the
modern boats 97 per cent, has been unloaded without the help of shov-
elers. The bucket operator controls all the movements of the machine
except the travel from hatch to hatch and the operation of the " bucket
car,*' which are controlled by another man.

An hydraulic pump and a steam boiler, each of 175-h. p. capacity,
furnish the necessary power. Hydraulic cylinders furnish the power
for hoisting, for lowering, for trolleying and for rotating the bucket.
Excessive pressure on the water bottom of the boat is prevented by the
use of a counter-balance cylinder. Each hydraulic cylinder has auto-
matic plugging valves which stop its motion at the end of the stroke.
An auxiliary steam engine is used for moving the machine along the
dock and for operating the "bucket car."

Steamers arriving at Lorain, 0. (Baltimore &. Ohio), with ore are
unloaded by Brown hoist machines, driven by electricity, equipped
with three grab buckets, having a total capacity of 1000 tons ore per
hour. These buckets scoop up from 7 to 10 tons ore each trip. The
ore is dumped into hoppers for storage or directly into cars.

In loading and unloading lumber, machinery plays an inconspicuous
part because the long pieces cannot ordinarily be handled by anything
but ordinary derricks, after chaining around as many sticks of timber
or pieces of board as may be kept together. Lumber handling vessels
usually have fore and aft hatchways through which lumber is passed,
but in many cases it has to be lifted vertically through deck hatchways.
At some water-front docks handling large amounts of lumber, conveyors
are provided to carry it to the storage points in yards or alongside tracks
for transfer to open cars, and re-shipment by rail. These conveyors
are usually a series of rollers, similar to those in use at the large
saw-mills.

Figure 108 is of a plant consisting of 12 ore handling towers, each
equipped with 2-ton clam-shell ore buckets for taking coal or ore out of
vessels and delivering it into storage and later taking it out of storage and
delivering into cars.

On the great lakes much progress has been made of late years in
improving the type of vessels used in ore and coal carrying trade and
this made it possible to use faster working loading and discharging
machinery and thereby greatly to reduce the handling cost. On the
Atlantic seaboard little has been done in this direction.

Steamers "James E. Davidson,'' 524 ft. long; "James P. Walsh,"
500 ft.; and "James C. Wallace," 552 ft., operating on the Great Lakes,
have a carrying capacity of 8000, 9000 and 10,000 gross tons respectively

260

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

and arc unloaded by clam-shell machines. They are of the new lake
type.

The " E. H. Gary," built for the Steel Corporation, carries 10,000 gross
tons — has carried 10,887 — and is of low power. Its economy lies in the
fact that it carries its load on the same fuel consumption as the " Manola,"
which has but 3000 tons capacity. The ore carrier has undergone many
changes of design and construction. Hatches were formerly spaced
24 ft. center to center. All hatches are now spaced 12 ft. center; that is
to say, it is 12 ft. from the center of one hatch to the center of the other.
This leaves a dock strip of only 18 in. between hatches, and the deck is

Fig. lOS.— Tweli

therefore almost a continuously open hole from pilot house to engine, the
space between hatches being only that necessary for the transverse
girders. The engines of the lake freighters are fdr aft. By this system
vessel hatches have been practically doubled in number, thus affording
greater convenience in loading and greater dispatch in unloading.

Three years ago, longitudinal rigidity was secured by stringers and
stanchions extending from the sides of the vessel. These projections
interfered with the unloading machines and it became necessary to
obviate them in some manner if the utmost di.spatch was to be secured
in unloading. Their place is now taken by a girder, straight in some
ships and curved in others, extending from side to side of the ship directly

ORE AND LUMBER DOCKS 261

between the hatches. This system leaves the hold absolutely unob-
structed and is the accepted design of the lake freighter to-day. The
system has marvelously facilitated the great unloading machines, the
steamer "Geo. W. Perkins," with a cargo of 10,514 tons, having been
unloaded in 4 hours and 10 minutes. The great unloading machines,
with automatic clam-shell buckets, grab from 10 to 12 tons of ore
at a time and make a trip a minute. This cargo was unloaded directly
into the cars, the car moving very slowly under the machines and
receiving the contents of the buckets as it went along. Four of these
buckets will fill a car. The "Perkins" took on this cargo in 89 minutes,
9000 tons of it being the work of the first 35 minutes. She was in port
altogether 180 minutes, which included shifting. Ships of special
design, docks of special design and unloading machines of special design,
all working in unison, have brought this about.

In Fig. 109 is shown the yard and dock arrangement of the Pennsyl-
vania ore unloading piers at Cleveland, Ohio, which are now under con-
struction. It was necessary to reclaim about forty acres of land by
filling with slag and other refuse, to build a dock, foundations for ore
unloaders and bridge, power-house, yard, and a double-track subway
under the line of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern.

The unloading equipment consists of four 17-ton Hulett unloaders and one
15-ton ore bridge, built and erected by the Well man-Sea ver-Morgan Company,
Cleveland. The unloaders are electrically operated, using 220-volt direct
current, have sufficient reach to unload boats of 65-ft. beam, and are equipped
with a 70-ton receiving hopper and 50-ton larry arranged to load ore into cars
standing on any one of four loading tracks or into the ore trough, from which
it can be placed in stock piles by the bridge. Each machine is equipped with
scales for weighing ore before loading into cars, the scales being a part of the
larry car equipment. The capacities of the motors are as follows: 300 h. p. for
beam hoist, 100 h. p. for trolley, 100 h. p. for bucket closing, 150 h. p. for ore
gate and travel motor, 150 h. p. for larry car haulage, 35 h. p. for rotating
bucket and 35 h. p. for larry gates. These machines are the largest ore unloaders
ever built, and it is expected that they will handle an average of 600 tons per
hour, to do which their capacity during the early stages of unloading must
reach a rate of 1000 to 1200 tons per hour for each leg.

The bridge has a central span of 266 ft., with two cantilever arms 173 ft.
long to the extreme position of the bucket. This provides a total length of
612 ft. In rehandling ore from the stock piles the bridge bucket discharges
into a 75-ton receiving hopper built into the framework of the main tower.
This hopper discharges into a scale hopper located over a loading track adjacent
to the bridge foundation wall so that ore can be discharged directly from scale
hopper to cars. The bridge is moved along its tracks by 75-h. p. motors con-
nected by gearing and shafting to driving trucks under the tower and shear
leg, the motors being controlled from the operators's house suspended from
the main bridge tower. The bridge runs on 3-ft. gage tracks laid with 100-lb.

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

ORE AND LUMBER DOCKS 263

rails on oak ties 3 and 4 ft. long, spaced 18 in. center to center, every third tie
being drift-bolted to the foundation, and all ties being connected by a 2 by 12-in.
plank outside the track. Special tie plates, clips and screw spikes are used
on all ties.

The power for operating the plant is secured from a power-house 150-ft.
by 60-ft., located at the west end of the property, the floors and columns being
of reinforced concrete, the frame of steel, and the walls of brick. Coal is received
in hopper cars over a wooden trestle approach to the bunkers, which are built
entirely of concrete and located outside the building. A grab bucket operating
on an elevated track carries the coal from the bunkers to the crusher located
over steel hoppers, through which the coal passes to -the stokers. The ashes
are dropped from the grates through a chute into standard gage cars running
on tracks on the first floor. The equipment of the power-house includes three
600-h. p. Babcock & Wilcox Stirling boilers, equipped with Roney stokers and in-
dividual steel stacks 66 in. diameter and 125 ft. high ; two Dravo & Doyle centrifu-
gal boiler feed pumps, three Allis-Chalmers non-condensing turbine-driven jet
condensers, one 2500-h. p. Cochrane water heater, one 800-k. w. Westinghouse
generator, three 750-k. w. Allis-Chalmers turbo-generators, three 500-k. w.
Westinghouse rotary converters, two 50-light General Electric arc lamp turbines
and two 500-gallon Watson-Stillman general service pumps. Water is taken
directly from the lake through a 30-in. pipe to an intake well located under the
turbines. The hot well is located above the intake well, and overflow is dis-
charged into the lake through a 30-in. pipe. Power for the machinery on the
dock is carried by cable through underground ducts to the forward bridge and
trough walls, along which it is distributed through 85-lb. rail supported on
cast-iron brackets bolted to the walls. Electric locomotives are used for shifting
cars beneath the unloaders, power being supplied by rails between the rails
of the narrow-gage running track. These locomotives are of 25 tons weight,
3.5-ft. gage and are provided with side pusher arms designed to handle the
standard gage cars on adjacent tracks. The spacing 18.5 ft. between outside
loading tracks provides room for a narrow-gage track between each of these
pairs of loading tracks, allowing the electric locomotives to reach cars standing
on any track under the unloader.

A machine shop 60 ft. by 70 ft. at the west end of the property will handle
repair work necessary on the ore-handling machinery, and will be provided with
a 25-ton crane, the runways of which will extend across the tracks in front
of the building so that repair parts can be handled direct from cars to the shop.
This crane will also be used for handling the electric locomotives.

The track development is shown in the plan. Empty cars coming to the
plant are stored in the yard at the east end, from which they can be switched
directly to the four tracks under the unloader or to the single track along the
bridge. Loaded cars are stored in the large yard south of the stock piles. This
arrangement of tracks makes the movement of cars at the dock continuous.

CHAPTER XIX
GRAIN ELEVATORS

From the first preparation of tlie soil for wheat growing until the
wheat is turned into flour, machinery plays an all important part. It
may be said to begin with the use of the plow and reach its highest
development in the modern grain elevator.

The enormous amount of grain handled and the growth of the traffic
may be comprehended by the following statement showing the combined
receipts — ^including wheat, corn, oats, and flour — each barrel of flour
being counted as 4.5 bushels of wheat — at four principal northwestern
markets, in 1887 — and 20 years later:

Per cent

1887

1907

increase

Duluth,

23.649,694 bushels

84,550,412 bushels

257.

Milwaukee,

31,950,319 bushels

58,928,462 bushels

84.

Minneapolis^

48,618.563 bushels

134,991,765 bushels

177.

Chicago,

163,437,724 bushels

307,246,141 bushels

88.

Dr. Dodlinger in his '' The Story of Wheat " divides the transportation
of wheat into four aspects: (1) Transportation from the farm to the
local market; (2) from the local market to the primary market; (3) from
the primary market to the seaboard; and (4) from the seaboard to the
foreign market.

From the farm to the local market the wheat is usually hauled in
wagon loads. Except on the Pacific slope, where it is sacked, the wheat
is transported from the farm to its ultimate destination in bulk and its
flowing quality is used to assist in its economical handling. Direct from
the field or from the storage granaries on the farm the wheat is carted to
the local market and from there shipped to the primary market. To
take care of the wheat at the local market and facilitate its transfer
from wagon to car, the grain elevator performs the useful functions of
storage, cleaning and drying. The wheat flows from the wagon into
receptacles at the elevator from whence it is lifted by power driven
buckets to the storage bins. From these bins it flows into the cars or
into the drying and cleaning apartments as may be desired, or is held
indefinitely up to the capacity of the elevator. At the local markets
there are many small elevators, ranging from a capacity of 10,000 to
40,000 bushels. Most of them are owned by elevator companies; others
belong to local grain dealers; the remainder belong to the farmers. On

264

GRAIN ELEVATORS 265

the Northern Pacific, a few years ago there were upward of 800
elevators of which 58 per cent., belonged to the line elevator companies;
39 per cent, to the local grain dealers; and 3 per cent, to the farmers.

It is at the primary market that the grain elevator assumes its greatest
importance. At 25 large terminal markets or exporting points in the
United States there are 428 elevators with an aggregate capacity of
260,541,000 bushels. These points, with the number of elevators they
have and their approximate capacity in bushels, are as follows:^

Chicago,

Minneapolis,

Duluth,

Buffalo,

Milwaukee,

New York,

St. Louis,

Kansas City,

Toledo,

Omaha,

New Orleans,

Baltimore,

Detroit,

Montreal,

Galveston,

Philadelphia,

Louisville,

Boston,

Newport News,

Cincinnati,

Indianapolis

Cleveland,

Nashville,

Seattle,

Evansville,

In these great storehouses the grain is gathered and loaded into cars
or vessels for shipment to seaboard. Some of them will hold a million
and a half bushels; and, again, at the seaboard the elevators play their
important part in transferring the grain from car to ocean steamer. The
largest elevator has a capacity of 1,800,000 bushels

It may be of interest to sketch briefly the successive steps taken by
the grain in its movement from car to ocean steamer at a seaboard grain
elevator. When unloaded from the cars into the receiving hoppers of the
elevator it is carried upward to one of the series of weighing bins. Here
the weight of each car is ascertained and recorded. The bin is a scale unto

* This statement and other following information on grain handling are taken from
an article by S. O. Dunn (Ry. Age Gaz., 46; 1171).

No. of

Capacity,

elevators

in bushels

87

58,945,000

48

40,890,000

23

30,175,000

28

24,190,000

21

13,960,000

18

13,230,000

39

12,080,000

38

11,290,000

10

6,250,000

15

6,040,000

9

5,180,000

5

5,100,000

14

4,540,000

10

4,150,000

4

3,800,000

4

3,100,000

7

3,000,000

4

3,000,000

2

2,550,000

12

2,010,000

9

1,955,000

6

1,916,000

5

1,700,000

2

1,550,000

8

740,000

266 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

itself and is carefully adjusted before the contents of the car begin to
flow into it. From the weighing bin the grain flows to storage bins
where it is held subject to the orders of the owner. Possibly it may need
cleaning or drying, or the agents may desire to mix it with a better or
poorer grade. In either case, the grain flows from the storage bin to the
dryer, the cleaner, or is mixed with other grain as desired, and again
elevated to a storage bin to be held until orders are given to load it into
a steamer. Then from the storage bin it flows either directly through
spouts to the open hatch of the vessel or is transferred by belts through
galleries along the pier until it reaches a loading spout through which it
finds its way into the hold of the boat.

As already stated, the farmers on the Pacific Coast adhere to the older
European practice of loading the grain in sacks instead of taking advan-
tage of the flowing properties of the grain which allows it to be so readily
handled in bulk. One reason is that the well-defined limits of the rainy
season on the Pacific slope make it unnecessary to provide protection
against rain in the dry season, and the wheat may be stored in sacks on
platforms, a practice which could not be followed east of the Rockies.
Thus the problem of storage capacity is made easier, but on the other
hand the sacking method is plainly uneconomical.

The loading of a 1000-bushel car of sacked grain at the country
warehouse takes two men 2 hours, while it can be loaded in bulk by
one man in 5 minutes. The railway freight on bulk grain is the same as
on sacked grain; in other words, the transportation of the sack has to be
paid for at the same rate as the transportation of the grain. At tide-
water it takes 12 men, including the weigher, 1 hour to unload and pile
a car of 1000 bushels in sacks. In bulk three men can sweep out a car,
unload the grain and bin it in from 5 to 10 minutes. It takes 15 men
4.5 days of 8 hours each to load a vessel with 125,000 bushels of sacked
grain. In bulk the same quantity of grain can be loaded in 3 or 4
hours by one-half as many men.

The presence of elevators on its lines is advantageous to a railway.
Grain can be accumulated in the elevator until there are several carloads
and then poured rapidly into the cars. Thus, the delay to rolling stock is
less than when the grain is shoveled from the farmers' wagons into cars or
transferred direct from the farmers wagons to the cars in sacks. There
was a time when there were a number of little flat warehouses along the
railways in the Middle West, some of them having a capacity as small as
1000 bushels. It took 2 to 4 days to scoop enough grain from one of
these to load a car. On the other hand, the ordinary country elevator
had a capacity of several thousand bushels. A modern country elevator
usually has a capacity of not less than 25,000 bushels; and 10 to 15 cars
can be loaded from it daily. Where sack grain is accumulated in flat
warehouses before being loaded on cars, the delay to railway equip-

GRAIN ELEVATORS 267

ment in loading is less than the delay that would be caused by shoveling
it from a wagon into a car, but it is substantially greater than the time
taken to load cars from an elevator. In seasons of heavy railway traffic
the elevators afford a place where large quantities of grain can be stored
awaiting cars. The elevator system, therefore, tends at such times to
reduce the congestion of traffic.

The foregoing relates mainly to the country elevators. The advan-
tages to the farmer, the shipper and the railway, of terminal elevators at
large markets were early recognized to be equally great. The grain as it
came from the farmer often needed to be dried, cleaned, or graded, to
render it fit for export or for milling. In Illinois, for example, during
a wet season, there is occasionally a soft corn crop. In this condition
it cannot be transported far without spoiling, and it is necessary to get
it to a point where it can be properly treated. This usually can only be
done in a large terminal elevator, as the country elevators are seldom
equipped with machinery for any purpose but the elevation and loading
of grain. The existence of facilities for treating the grain so as to keep
it from spoiling, inures in the long run to the advantage of producer,
carrier, grain dealer, and consumer.

Usually, when grain is bought, its ultimate destination is unknown;
it may be ground into flour in Minneapolis, or St. Louis, or Chicago, or
shipped to the Atlantic seaboard, or sent to Europe. The merchant,
therefore, needed a place to keep it while seeking a buyer. The terminal
elevator serves this purpose. It is often advantageous to mix a lower
grade of grain with a higher grade in order to increase the value of the
former, and the elevator usually is equipped with machinery for this
purpose also.

The establishment of terminal elevators on its lines at the large
markets is extremely desirable for the railway. When a terminal eleva-
tor is built on the lines of one road, the grain moving to that elevator is
pretty sure to move over that road, thus insuring the traffic to that road.
Much of the grain begins movement before its ultimate destination is
known, and it is pretty sure to be held in storage somewhere. If not held
in storage in a terminal warehouse, it must be held in cars; with conse-
quent misuse of such cars, since their function is to move, not to store
grain or other commodities. A great deal of grain has to be transferred
at terminals from cars of one railway to cars of another, or to boats on
rivers, canals, the Great Lakes and the ocean; and these transfers, of
course, may be accomplished through an elevator with least delay to
the cars. Both the country elevator and the terminal elevator enable
the railroads to load their cars to their cubic capacity with the lighter
grains, such as oats, which cannot be done when grain is shoveled into
the car or stowed in it in bags.

The whole question of grain handling may undergo a radical change.

268 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

According to such eminent authorities as James J. Hill and W. C,
Brown, thia country will, in a few years, not produce enough grain to
supply its own consumption, unless our farming methods are intensified,
and the average yield per acre more nearly approximates that of Euro-
pean countries where nearly double the amount of grain is harvested to
the acre. In an address before the New England Railroad Club, not

Fig. 110.— Grain Elevator at Chicago.— Santa Fe Road.

Flo. 111. — General plan, Grain elevator at Chicago — Santa Fe Road.

long ago. President W, C. Brown of the New York Central expressed
the opinion that by 1920, we would be importing grain for home con-
sumption and, based on this assumption, his road had deferred the
building of new elevators for grain handling at Buffalo.

As an illustration of a modern and capat'ious elevator, that of the
Sante Fe in Chicago is typical. A general view is shown in Fig. 110, a
plan in Fig. Ill, and a section of working house in Fig. 112.

GRAIN ELEVATORS 269

The elevator comprises a frame working house of 400,000 bushels
capacity, with car shed and marine tower; a reinforced concrete storage
annex of 1,000,000 bushels capacity; drying and bleaching equipment
and a 1500-h. p. plant. The working house is 225 ft. long and 56 ft.
wide, of timber and cribbed construction, covered on the outside up to
the top of the bins with brick and above that point with corrugated steel.

Fio. 112. — Section of working house, elevator, Chicago — Santa Fe.

The receiving and shipping legs arc of unusually large capacity, namely,
15,000 bushels per hour each. There are five shipping legs and five receiv-
ing legs. In addition to these there are 15 smaller legs for serving the
cleaning, scouring, drying, and bleaching plants, also one leg for disposal
of screenings.

In the cupola there are 10 hopper scales, each of 1000 bushels capacity.
A dust collecting system, a large car puller, longitudinal conveyor in tb'

270 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

cupola for conveying grain lengthwise of the house, passenger elevator,
etc., are essential portions of the equipment. A marine tower constructed
of steel, with 6000 bushel marine leg, is at one end of the building and
eight vessel loading spouts above the dock. The storage annex consists
of 35 cylindrical concrete bins, each 23 ft. inside diameter; and 24 inter-
space bins, with 15,000 bushel conveyors for filling and emptying. The
drying plant has an hourly capacity of 1000 to 1500 bushels.

The facilities provided for unloading cars form the distinctive operat-
ing feature of the working house. A steel shed extends over four tracks
between the working house and the storage annex. On each track are
five unloading places, located 45 ft. centers, in order to accommodate the
longest cars. By this arrangement 20 cars can be set fof unloading at
one time. Beneath each unloading place is a steel track hopper with a
capacity of a full car load. Each hopper discharges through four open-
ings to a 15,000 bushel conveyor running below a line of four hoppers,
across the basement under the track shed, to one of the receiving legs.
The valves in the bottoms of each line of four track hoppers are controlled
by an interlocking device under the control of the operator near the
corresponding receiving leg.

The tracks are elevated to allow sufficient capacity in the hoppers
and are carried on an embankment to a point 600 ft. beyond the elevator,
making room for fifteen 40-ft. cars on each track outside of the track
shed; and five cars on each track inside. This is a total of 80 cars which
can be set at one time; 20 can be unloaded and pulled out of the track
shed by the car puller and the next 20 pulled in, repeating for lots of 20
cars each, before further switching is required. After being pulled out
by the car puller, empty cars will run down a gravity track to the place
desired.

An elevator, of reinforced concrete construction, built for the Balti-
more & Ohio in Baltimore, is shown in Fig. 113. No wood was used in
its construction. Its capacity is 250,000 bushels, divided into 130 bins,
varying in size from 1000 to 3000 bushels. Most of the bins are of the
smaller capacity. "They are rectangular in shape, the reinforced con-
crete walls varying in thickness from 6 in. to 8 in.

The Baltimore & Ohio unloads the cars, elevates the grain, weighs it
and deposits it in bins. These bins are leased to numerous local dealers
in Baltimore, and when the grain is in the bins it may be taken therefrom
at the will of the lessee dealers.

For receiving, there are two tracks, each having two unloading pits of
car-load size. The grain is unloaded by power shovels and then the
operator pulls a lever opening a gate, which allows the grain to be dis-
charged onto a 30-in. rubber-belt conveyor, below the car pits, and the
conveyor belts transfer the grain to the bottom of the elevator legs,
which lift it to the top of the cupola. From the head of the legs it is

GRAIN ELEVATORS 271

discharge;£ into the garner and held until the weighman is ready. At
the prosper time he pulls a slide aod allows the grain to drop into the
scales S'rom the garner. There are two hopper scales, each of 1000 bushels
capacity, with printing attachment on recording beams.

After the grain is weighed it is discharged into any one of the bins
directly from the scales, through spouts. Underneath the bins are two
stories, the upper one being the sacking floor, where the grain is drawn
off from the bins and sacked by eight 3-bushel Richardson automatic

Fio. 113. — GraiD elevator ia Baltimore — Baltimore &, Ohio.

bagging scales. These scales are arranged in a row on steel tracks which
run under the bins. The use of automatic scales enables the operator to
bag seven bags, of 3 bushels each, every minute.

On the sacking floor there are three 24-in. belt bag conveyors for
carrying the sacks across the building and discharging to the teams
underneath. There are three driveways under the elevator and one
alongside under an awning, to accommodate teams.

The readiness with which grain (a low-class commodity permitting
slow movement) adapts itself to water transportation may be compre-

272 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

hended by the statement that the steamer "L. S. De Grafif " has taken
from Chicago in one trip 421,000 bushels wheat, weighing 12,6b*.^ tons.

An unusually large elevator has recently been erected by the C&madian
Pacific at Victoria Harbor, on Georgian Bay, for unloading grain\)oats
from the head of Lake Superior. The company already had aniple
elevator capacity at the upper lake ports for transferring to boats \the
grain shipped down from western Canada, but there was a lack of facili-
ties for storing and trans-shipping it at the eastern end of the lake hauij
The new elevator cost $1,100,000, including a concrete wharf — 800 ft. long-.
— ^which was carried down to provide for a 25-ft. depth of water.

Grain boats are unloaded by two marine towers, 150 ft. high, built of struc-
tural steel and covered with corrugated iron. These towers are supported on
40 wheels each, the wheels being arranged in standard freight trucks, and each
is self-propelled independently along the double track which parallels the wharf.
This movement is obtained by housing sufficient motor equipment in the base
of the tower to operate a large drum winding up a cable which is passed out of
the tower, around a fixed block and back to a fixed connection on the tower,
allowing both towers to work to full capacity regardless of hatch spacing or hold
capacities of incoming boats. The marines legs are designed to enter passenger
and freight boats. The towers can elevate 20,000 bushels an hour. The grain
unloaded may be stored or reshipped in cars. The storage capacity of the
elevator is 2,000,000 bushels, but may be mcreased to 10,000,000 bushels.
There are 32 storage tanks, cylindrical in shape, 35 ft, inside diameter, built
of reinforced concrete, and 31 interspace bins, each with about one-fourth the
capacity of the cylindrical bins. All bins have hoppered bottoms and are
thus self -emptying. When cars are to be loaded direct from the boats, grain
is handled from the unloading towers, on conveying machinery above the
storage bins to the working house into which cars to be loaded can be run direct.

The electric power for the operation of the entire plant is furnished by two
500-k. w. turbo-generators in the power plant. All conveying and hoisting
apparatus is motor operated. The electric wiring is carried in metal conduits
and the building is fireproof in every respect. Seven hundred and fifty incan-
descent electric lights and twelve arc lamps are provided for night work and
there are also telephones, electric signal light and bell systems and dust collectors.

m
m

\

CHAPTER XX
FREIGHT HOUSES

Aside from the terminal proper, there is no better opportunity for
saving time than at the loading, unloading and transferring points.
Freight houses and dray yards should be so designed as not only to
enable quick movement between them and the classification yards, but
to permit of prompt shifting and placing. The arrangement must
provide for shifting with a minimum of interference with freight handlers
and truck men.

Handling package — ^l.c.l. — freight at terminals is a complicated
problem. After the work of transporting it from one point to another
has been performed, the heaviest part of the expense remains. The
awkward method of handling freight of many years ago, still obtains.
At the freight-house it often has to be trucked 500 to 1500 ft. The cost
of handling a ton of freight a mile in a train has been closely figured.
Nobody knows how much it costs a ton-mile to truck freight and do the
additional handling at the freight-house.

The cost of gathering and distributing freight in a large city is enor-
mous. Economic conditions in this country have carried wages to higher
and higher levels and at the same time, human efficiency to perform
physical work without the aid of machinery, has diminished. The cost
of all work largely dependent on manual labor has increased in the last
20 years so much that every business man is constantly seeking some kind
of labor-saving device or other means of economy to stem the tide.

Mr. Charles Whiting Baker, in the '^Engineering News," March 3,
1910, interestingly analyzes the relations of terminal cost to road move-
ment and sets up two startling propositions:

1. That the total cost of moving freight from its origin in one city to its
destination in another is the same for all distances less than 100 miles.

2. That the cost of terminal handling in cities is so great compared with the
cost of moving a train or a vessel, when started on its journey, that the latter
can be ignored.

While acknowledging at the outset that his propositions are exaggera-
tions he goes on to prove that they are not so greatly exaggerated as one
might consider on first thought. He follows a ton of freight from
Philadelphia to New York. At the originating end it is loaded onto a
wagon: the labor cost is 25 cents to wliich is added the drayage to the
freight station and unloading, 50 cents. He estimates the cost of getting
18 273

' I

274 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

it onto the car and storing it, at 40 cents — including the placing on a
hand truck, a long truck haul on the platform, loading into car, weighing,
billing and other clerical labor. The yard engine pulls the car out of
the freight-house and after many and devious movements it finally lands
in the road train for New York. Adding the cost and the value of land
occupied by switching yards and freight-houses and the value of buildings
and other improvements, the company expends from $2 to $5 per car —
— or 10 cent to 50 cents per ton — say 25 cents on the average from the
time the car is loaded until it starts on its journey. Passing to the
other (the New York) end, he takes the figures published by Mr. Wm.
J. Wilgus — ^formerly vice-president of the New York Central, of $2.2')
per ton, divided as follows: Jersey City terminal costs 15 cents, lighterage
80 cents, water-front terminal costs, Manhattan Island, 50 cents, New
York City cartage expense 80 cents. This makes the terminal cost,
for both ends, $3.65 per ton. Assuming the open road cost at 3 mills
per ton-mile, the total for 90 miles' haul is 27 cents; therefore, Mr.
Baker sums up: 'The cost of getting a ton of freight started on its
journey at one end — ^Philadelphia — and handling it from the Jersey
City terminal to the consignee's store at the other end — New York —
is nearly fourteen times as much as it costs to haul the goods all the w^ay
from Philadelphia to New York."

In the location of freight-houses and team yards, careful considera-
tion should be given to the condition and gradient of the highway or
street approaches. It is estimated that the cost of moving freight on
ordinary roads by teams is over 25 cents per ton-mile. The necessity
for keeping the shipper's side in mind is apparent. The term ''shipper"
here and elsewhere is used in a broad sense, including both consignor and
consignee. It may be found necessary or advantageous, later on, for
the railway to undertake the cartage, for reasons given elsewhere.

Where the amount of freight handled is sufficient to justify it, sep-
arate houses for inbound and outbound fi eight are desirable. When
these are provided the outbound house should be narrow, 25 or 30 ft.
in width, to shorten the truck haul from the team delivery to the car
door. To increase the car capacity it will be wuser to put in more tracks
alongside, and these should be spaced to permit trucking platforms 6 to
8 ft. wide to be built between each two tracks. The use of these truck-
ing platforms renders "spotting" of doors unnecessary and obviates
the straight line trucking through several rows of cars by which the
truckers are at all times liable to meet, causing confusion and delay.
In the process of spotting cars exactly opposite the doors a large amount
of expensive switching is done, while holding up the work of transferring
and causing a force of men to be idle for a time. When the cars are
taken out the same process is repeated, as the cars must be recoupled.
There is also more liability of injuring freight handlers than with the

FREIGHT HOUSES 275

"island" platforms. In standardizing freight eciuipment cars of uni-
form length begin to predominate. This reduces the necessity for
"spotting" and if the good work continues, the necessity for "island"
platforms will decrease if not disappear. A saving in ground area will
also result with the omission of the " island" platform. A platform used
for transfer purposes solely, should be from 14 to 16 ft. wide, roofed and
with a track on each side.

Freight-houses should be provided with scales at frequent intervals,
say 50 or 100 ft. apart, and a ranged along the side where freight delivery
is made. With the increasing interest in the weighing question, it will
not be amiss to locate scales, in busy outbound houses, at each receiving
door. The beams should be parallel with and against the wall, leaving
no obstruction to trucking.

If a separate house is built for inbound business it should be wider
than the outbound freight-house so as to unload cars, release them and
hold the freight for delivery. The inbound and outbound freight-houses
should be located with reference to each other so that the empty cars
may be quickly moved to the outbound houses for reloading. In some
instances 'the two houses may be adjoining, and cars emptied at the one
may be reloaded at the other without movement.

Freight-houses usually have a track along one side and a driveway
on the other, although more tracks are sometimes worked. The writer
knows of instances where four tracks alongside each other, without plat-
forms between, were handled in a fairly economical and prompt manner.
The cars have to be "spotted," however, to bring the doors opposite
each other.

There are many desiderata in the construction of freight-houses, in
the matter of general plan as well as details. The size and shape of the
available property and the land values usually influence the results.
The in-and-out house lay-out requires more track space and less storage
area, but greatly facilitates prompt handling. For a heavy city busi-
ness, the separate houses with a transfer between, form the ideal plant.
When the business outgrows this arrangement and additional houses are
needed, the operating man's real troubles begin. It then becomes nec-
essary to establish a transfer service between each inbound and each
outbound house to get that freight going beyond the station, to the
proper outbound house for reloading. Ordinarily, a car is placed at
each inbound house, to move this freight daily or oftener, but in some
cases teams or motor cars perform this service. This condition is met
in the exceptionally large and complicated freight layouts of the New
Haven and Boston & Maine roads in Boston described elsewhere.

Tracks should not be run inside buildings where possible to avoid it
as they cut up the floor space and necessitate higher roof trusses. Houses
too wide entail unnecessary trucking; and again, if too long, require

276 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

too great a train length, which either stops house work while the set-up
is changed, or detains cars. Freight-houses have been built 2000 ft.
long, but they are usually failures in practical working, unless the track
layout is so planned as to enable part of it to be worked without dis-
turbing the remainder.

The arrangement of continuous doors on the track side of each house
is essential to avoid "spotting" cars; and supporting posts should be set
back from 4 ft. to 8 ft. to prevent obstructing car doors. The receiving
side of the outbound house should also have continuous doors. The
standardization of freight cars, bringing about a car of uniform length,
simplifies the work of ''setting up" houses and platforms. To enable
refrigerator car doors to be opened, track centers should not be less
than 12 ft., because these doors open outward and measure from 2 ft.
2 in. to 2 ft. 10 in. in width. A slight incline of the floor in theoutbound
house descending from team to track side; and in the inbound house
from track to team side, greatly facilitates trucking. A drop of one in
sixty, adopted for some houses, has been found satisfactory.

Jambs of doors should be protected for 3 or 4 ft. above the floor by
oak boards, or metal, to prevent damage by truckers. Cast-iron plates,
or angle irons are used at corners. Conductors for rain water should
also be protected. Platforms, if used, should have angle irons facing
on the team side, especially opposite doors. Wheel guards, to prevent
wagons jamming against platforms, are desirable.

The chapter on freight-house operation contains frequent references to
other details of freight-house design as they relate to operation. They
will not be duplicated in this chapter, which is devoted mainly to de-
scriptions of typical freight terminals.

The Pennsylvania has seven freight-houses in Pittsburg — ^four of them
outbound.. In Philadelphia it has 31, at 28 of which freight is received
for all points. In New York, the Pennsylvania has four; the New York
Central eight; and each receives at four points in Brooklyn. In Boston,
the New Haven has 12 freight-houses, seven inbound and five outbound-
the Boston & Maine has 50, of which about half are inbound.

The Pennsylvania has two-story houses in Pittsburg. The Pittsburg
& Lake Erie has a two-story house in Pittsburg, with a driveway
to each floor and the Wabash house has four stories with tracks on
fourth floor and hydraulic elevators connecting all floors with the street.
The Reading, in Philadelphia, has two stories. The Baltimore & Ohio
Southwestern in Cincinnati, has six stories and electric elevators and
the Central of N. J., has a similar house equipment at Newark. The
Louisville & Nashville's Atlanta, Ga., house is five stories, with eight
elevators and has largeareas for rent to merchants.

An interesting, novel and ingenious scheme to utilize a small and
valuable piece of land on 135th Street, New York, for a combination

'HEIGHT HOUSES

278 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

team yard, freight -house and platform and float bridge, was designed by
the late Walter G. Berg for the Harlem Transfer Co, and is shown in
Fig. 114. At this house all cars are taken in and out of floats and pass
over the float bridge. The freight-house is a hollow oval 158 ft. X 188 ft.,
the building being 35 ft. wide. The court in the center is paved and used
for teams which deliver their freight at doors 20 ft. apart in the inner wall
of the building. The doors on the track wall are 40 ft. apart and the
building gives a total frontage for 16 cars. A 4-ft. platform extends
around the outer side and the center of the circular house track is 7 ft.
from the platform. This track has end curves of 90 ft. radius. Con-
centric with it is the main switching track, with end curves of 104 ft.
radius and having a single switch connection with the house track. These
are laid to 14-ft. centers. Other curves of 90- and 104-ft. radius connect
the outer track with the transfer bridge and storage tracks.

Fio. 115. — ^Inbound freight-house, Chicago — Baltimore 4 Ohio.

Because of the sharp curves a four-wheel "dummy" switch engine
is used; cylinders 17 in. X 24 in., wheels 3 ft. 8 in. diameter, wheel base
6 ft. 6 in., total length 27 ft., weight 45 tons. Long links are provided
for coupling cars on the sharp curves and no difficulty is found in handling
them. This engine hauled 11 ears, some loaded, around the curve of
104-ft. radius. The work has been satisfactorily handled.

The Baltimore & Ohio inbound freight-house in Chicago, as shown in
Fig. 115, while not the largest freight-house in the city, is in many
respects one of the most convenient. It is on Polk Street, close to the
Chicago river, and extends parallel to the river.

Including the platform at the south end, the total length is 670 ft.
For 400 ft. of its length the building is 51 ft. wide. The last 170 ft. of the

FREIGHT HOUSES 279

west wall is carried easterly in conformity with the river bank, the width
at the south end being 24 ft. 2 in. The north end for 200 ft. is two stories
high, the second story being for the offices of the freight department.
Detailed sectional views elevations and plans are shown in Figs. 116, 117,
118 and 119.

The general freight room is divided into two parts by the south wall
of the two-story part. One of the conveniences of the house is the loca-
tion of the offices at the north end of the general freight room, making it
unnecessary to go to the general office upstairs to transact detail business.
At one of these offices, teamsters may pay their freight charges and
receive their delivery tickets, while at another bills for transfer freight
are handled. The dead room at the northwest corner has slat walls so
that its contents can be readily seen at any time. The vault is 11 ft.
6 in. X 15 ft. 6 in. with cement floor and it extends into the second
story. At the south end of the house is the bonded warehouse with
office for the, government officer. This office is elevated so as to allow
the use of all of the floor space. The room is enclosed with brick walls
and is nearly fireproof. The distribution of the freight on the floor of
the general freight room is such as to leave an aisle on each side, instead
of through the center. This avoids any chance of the freight piling up
against the walls and hiding pieces, causing loss of time in looking for
them. The general offices occupy all of the second floor except 52 ft.
at the south end which is used for a record room. These offices are
light and have room for double the force that will occupy them at the
outset. They are entered directly from the Polk Street viaduct which
crosses the railroad yards; and also by stairways from the first floor.
The agent's office, at the northeast corner has a bay window from which
he can see at any time the condition of business along the team side of
the building. A complete desk telephone system is installed for every
clerk needing one. Roomy, ventilated lockers are provided for the
office force. They are ranged along the walls of the toilet and stationery
rooms in the southwest corner of the office. The record room has storage
for 5 years' records. Additional space is available above the offices
under the roof. Shelving built in conformity with the road's record
system is placed in the room as shown in the plan. The two sets along
the north wall are for current records, there being room for 8 months'
daily records. The compartments are each made just the size of a daily
record book and are numbered for the days of the month. Any clerk
wanting the records for a particular day can put his hand on the book
at once. By this system as many clerks, as there are books for the
month can be looking up back records for that month without delaying
one another. As the current shelves fill up, their contents are moved
over, a month at a time, to the storage shelves.

The plans for an outbound freight-house near this inbound house

280 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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282 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

have been completed. The distance between the two houses Is about
300 ft. The outbound house will be 780 ft. long and 30 ft. wide.

The inward freight-house of the New York, New Haven & Hartford
at Worcester, Mass., as shown in Fig. 120, stands on an awkwardly
shaped property which was utilized in an unique manner. There was
not sufficient room to continue the second track to the end of the house
alongside of the first track. The inside track was, therefore, cut off
in such a manner as to extend the second track alongside a platform five
car-lengths beyond. This enables five cars to be handled while the
other two tracks are being switched, and avoids cessation of freight-
handlers' work while the house is being worked or "set" by the yard
engine.

There is difference of opinion as to the advisability of putting a narrow
platform on the receiving side of outward freight-houses. That it is
an advantage to teamsters in getting rid of their loads cannot be ques-
tioned. On the other hand, it requires close checking and usually a
larger force of receiving clerks than where the freight must be unloaded
directly into the house. With the continuous or overlapping-door
system, the absence of a platform is not so noticeable to the teamster.

Some roads build freight-houses with one side entirely open and
without posts. The doors are so arranged as to slide by each other,
enabling an opening to be made wherever the ear door stops. This
arrangement renders the platform between the outside wall of the
freight-house and the first track unnecessary. Where the side of the
house is close to the track there is, naturally, some difficulty in spotting

FREIGHT HOUSES 283

cars opposite the doors. The posts may also interfere where the plat-
form is inclosed. The Boston & Maine haa wooden freight-houses with
side posts set 6 to 8 ft. in from the side of the building. The roof
trusses overhang these posts and carry the side walls and doors. The
doors are hung on two parallel tracks to be run by each other and also
to be run apart to provide larger openings. At water terminals where
freight sheds must accommodate vessels, teams and cars, th6 door prob-
lem is complicated. On the water side the doors must be 16 to 20 ft.
high and continuous. It is best to hang them outside of the posts though
there must be a fender platform outside, not over 2 ft. wide. Doors
for admitting teams to the shed must .be large, 14 ft. high X 16 ft. wide.
An inexpensive and fairly convenient system of doors is to make them
in halves and hinged strongly at the top. The lower half, which is
counterweigh ted, slides up inside the upper half and, is held by a crotch
hitch to the lower corners of the upper half. The whole is then drawn
up to a horizontal position. For sliding door hangers the essential
features £^re strength simplicity and impossibility of getting off the
track.

Where the house abuts on the street at least 20 ft. of good paved
roadway, without obstructing the street should be provided. Where the
country is level, teams will haal heavier loads, and in building roadways,
approaches, etc., this should be kept in mind. While the width of from
14 to 16 ft. has been given for transfer platforms, the class of commodity
to be handled should be considered. Cotton, for instance, and other
heavy baled goods may be handled to better advantage over a platform
from 10 to 12 ft. wide. The height of the transfer platform should be
that of a car floor, when standing on a track alongside, which is
about 4 ft.

To transfer an occasional car of coal or grain, two tracks alongside
each other, spaced 10 ft. 6 in., and with a difference in elevation between
the two of 5 ft. 6 in., are used. The commodity to be transferred from
the car placed on the high track is shoveled into chutes running into the
lower car.

Another example of modern practice in freight-house design is the
house erected by the Pennsylvania Lines West in Indianapolis. A
geneial plan, elevations and cross-sections, are shown in Figs. 121 and 122.
The property available was L-shaped, with the main stem 50X335 ft.
on Georgia Street, and a lateral wing on Delaware Street 40 X180 ft.,
with a two-story and basement office building 30X65 ft. on the corner.
Entering from the south are 16 tracks, having a total capacity of 88
cars, spaced in pairs on 11-ft. centers and between pairs on 24-ft. centers
to allow for a 12-ft. platform between. At the south end all tracks are
laid out on a curve of 100 ft. radius to keep them within the limits of the
property owned. The floor, l)uilt according to the recommendations of

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

S S

FREIGHT HOUSES

285

the Association of Transportation Officers of the Pennsylvaina Lines,
slopes toward the driveways with a 6-in. fall in the width of the building.

In Philadelphia, the Philadelphia & Reading depressed its tracks
to eliminate grade crossings and built a brick freight-house 33X308 ft.
with an upper floor for the delivery of freight from teams at the street
level. Six elevators with platforms 10X4 ft., carry the freight to the
lower floor, where it is transferred to cars standing on the house track.
For the transfer of heavy freight, direct from wagons to cars, there is a
traveling crane, spanning the track nearest the foot of the retaining wall
and extending over the side of the parallel street above.

Where the cost of land is greater than that of the additional building
and equipment required to install tracks on two floors, such action
would seem wise. It is roughly estimated $2 per square foot, extra,
above the cost of a one-story house, gives a good mill-construction.

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Fig. 122. — Cross-section of freight-house, Indianapolis — Pennsylvania.

slow-burning type of building two stories high. This arrangement could
be easily established on a side hill location, but could also be established
in flat localities with comparatively little additional expense, and prove
a profitable and economical investment. Such freight-houses are fre-
quently a necessity where grade crossings are eliminated in large cities.

Mention should be made of storage warehouses in connection with
freight-houses. That of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, is a good example, see Figs. 123 and 124.

A recent development is the now in-and-out freight-house system
of the Rock Island, in St. Louis. The property lines require all of the
tracks to enter the house on a curve, which made it necessary to swing
the north end of the outbound house around to parallel adjacent tracks.
The plan and side elevations (Figs. 125 and 126) show the details.

The outbound house is 24 ft. X 570 ft. and the inbound house 46 ft.
X 577 ft. The inbound house is two stories high for 208 ft. at the south
end, for offices. The outline of a future six-story warehouse for storage
of inbound freight is indicated, including the one-story portion of this
house, with a total height of 84 ft. The foundations, walls, columns,

286 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

FREIGHT HOUSES

288 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

etc., of the present structure are designed to suatain the load which the
additional five stories will impose. This explains the unusual dimen-
sions of these parts of this one-story building. A primary object in the
design of the houses was to obtain the most economical construction

Fi(i. 127,— Dotiiil of .loor, team sid<;— Mock Islund Co.

consistent with tlie rcr[uiremonts of the situation. High-pitched roofs,
steel frame-work, etc., wereoinittcdandsuch use niadeofiron, brick, etc.,
as compliance with the fire ordinance i-equircd. The typical cross-
sections included in the illustrations show the character of construction.

FREIGHT HOUSES

Ftu. 128.^Ueneriil plan, Wabash Terminals, Pittsburg.

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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FREIGHT HOUSES

291

divided on the track sides and counterweighted sliding doors on the
team sides. This type of door is cheaper and more satisfactory in many
ways than other types of doors intended for similar service. A detail of
the door and framing is shown in Fig 127.

The space of 152 ft. between the parallel portions of the houses con-
tains nine tracks and two 8-ft. transfer platforms which are joined at
the south end to a 10-ft. platform fronting on Biddle Street. This
provides a good arrangement for handling agricultural implements,
vehicles, etc. There is an unoccupied space 40 ft. wide in this area
which will be graded for a driveway, converting the adjacent track on
each side into a team track.

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Fig. 131. — Tranflverse section, freight-house, Pittsburg — Wabash.

The local freight office is located on the second floor of the in-
bound house. The outer office contains a hundred clerks and special
attention was given to the provision of suitable ventilation for their
quarters. Ventilating fans of ample capacity are used, so that 'wdndows
need not be opened at all for this purpose. Ample toilet facilities and
all other necessary conveniences for the comfort and accommodation
of employees are provided. The buildings are steam heated and
electrically lighted. The offices have combination gas and electric
fixtures. On the first floor of the inbound house is a room 14.5x21
ft. to be used as a cooper shop for repairing damaged boxes, barrels,

292 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

crates, etc. The cost is approximately $2,500,000, the greater part
being for the site.

General plan, transverse section, north elevation, east elevation,
and details of front and side walls at office of the new Wabash
freight-houses in Pittsburg, are shown in Figs. 128, 129, 130 and 131.
The total width of the freight-house is 145 ft. — ^length 572 ft. or, includ-
ing an extension toward Duquesne wye, 831 ft. The track level is
elevated to correspond with the entrance of the line to the city from
the Monongahela river bridge. The main buildings of the station are
of steel and concrete construction, including total floor space of 124,000
sq. ft. The freight terminals are provided with five tracks of 10 cars
capacity each, into which loading may be carried on simultaneously;
and also with additional tracks for storage and shifting. All told, track
room is provided for 125 cars.

Five exceptionally large, high-power elevators are provided. The
building is four stories high. The ground floor is used for receiving and
delivering merchandise, the two intermediate floors for storage and the
upper floor for loading and unloading the cars. Forty doors of extra
large size on the ground floor insure the quick handling of freight to and
from teams.

On the intermediate floors large doors are provided which open into
14 warerooms. These warerooms are rented to various tenants. The
arrangement throughout, from the bottom to the top, is such that the
station can be operated with the utmost economy. The genius of the
plan is seen in the handling of all incoming freight from the cars directly
upon trucks, which trucks are then run upon the elevators and lowered
to the wagons or into the warerooms supplied for commission houses or
other purposes. This scheme reduces storage and rehandling of freight
to the minimum.

Another above-the-ground-floor layout is the freight station and
storage warehouse of the Wisconsin Central in Minneapolis, shown in
general plan and first floor plan, in Figs. 132 and 133.

The building is 417 ft. long, 79 ft. 7 in. wide on Hennepin Avenue,
66 ft. 1 in. wide at the rear and four stories high. It will be observed
that the tracks are below the street grade, which leaves 18 ft. clear
headroom under the second story floor beams. The freight is worked in
this sub-story on a platform 24 ft. wide and 415 ft. long and is hoisted to the
storage by five electric elevators. Four of these are of 5 tons and one
of 10 tons capacity. Scales are located in front of every door on this
floor. On the other side of this platform, or sub-floor, is a sub-street
for incoming freight. Above this is a 34 ft. roadway from Hennepin
Avenue to First Avenue north, which is intended primarily for transfer
and storage vehicles. The front part of the second story, which is only
a little above the street level, contains the offices and vaults and the

FREIGHT HOUSES

294

FREIGHT rURMINALS AND TRAINS

remainder of thia floor aod the two floors above are for storage,
there being about 100,000 sq. ft. for this purpose.

The slab for the driveway is the Turner "mushroom" system.
There are no beams and the flat ceiling thus secured allows a good
distribution of light and accomplishes a very necessary object — the saving
of head-room in the sub-story. This slab is 11.5 in. thick and spans
30 ft. It is reinforced in four directions, directly and diagonally from
column to column. A great many advantages are claimed for this

!

■General plan, freighHiouse lay-out, Kansas City — Missouri Pacific.

system in the matter of speed of construction and cost. The centering
for the slab in this, as well as the beam construction, was corrugated
iron.

The Kansas City freight-houses of the Missouri Pacific are large and
well arranged on the standard plan of (see Fig. 134 ) parallel in-and-out
houses, seven tracks between and a transfer platform midway. End
and side elevations, cross section through offices and of the inbound
freight sheds are shown in Figs. 135 and 136. The outbound house

Fio. 135. — End and side elevation, freight^houses, Kansas City — Missouri Pacific.

is 30 ft. by 1200 ft.; the inbound house 48 ft. by GOO ft. A space of 90 ft.
intervenes between the platforms of the two houses, midway of which
is an island platform 12 ft. wide and 1200 ft. long, covered by an umbrella
shed. The design and construction of the two houses is similar, each
having concrete foundation and superstructure of brick and steel, with
terra cotta trimmings. The front end of each building is two stories
high for a length of 200 ft. These portions have tile roof covering and
the remainder tar and gravel. Each house has an elevated platform

FREIGHT HOUSES

295

on the track side 6 ft. wide, protected by a canepy 7 ft. wide; on the team
side the canopy is 12 ft. wide. The character of construction is well
shown by the typical elevations and aectiona exhibited herewith. The
division offices are located in the outbound house. The local freight offices
with lockera and rest rooms, are located in the second story of the in-
bound house. The outbound house contains 22 sets of scales and the
inbound house 7.

South of the inbound house are two driveways, one 42 ft. wide and
the other 37.5 ft., with two tracks between. These driveways are
of 6 in, of concrete as a foundation, overlaid with vitrified brick on edge,
on a cushion of 1.5 in. of sand. At the west, or right-hand end of
these driveways is located a gantry crane of 25 tons capacity with a
200 ft. runway electrically operated, for transferring heavy freight

between cars,

■ from c

) to wagons and vice versa.

Oiam SwtJDB Thrauh aatwa
FiQ. 130. — Cro88-,sect ions, freight-houses, Kansaa City-

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uH P&cilic.

The Grand Trunk's new in-and-out freight-houses in Toronto are
typical. The buOdings are substantial and handsome. They include
an offiee building fronting on Simcoe Street, 44 ft. wide, 180 ft. long and
two stories high; an inbound freight-house 50 ft. wide and 955 ft. long;
an outbound house 40 ft, X910 ft, and a covered transfer platform
between, 16 ft- X 910 ft. The office building is a solid brick structure
on concrete foundations, with stone trimmings and interior finish of
southern pine. It is steam heated, has its own electric lighting plant
and is fully equipped with vaults and all other necessary facilities.

The two freight- houses are of similar construction. The concrete
piers, resting on concrete foundations, are spaced 15 ft. on centers and
carry Phoenix columns with bottom and top castings, which support
steel latticed roof trusses. The roof is formed of 2-in. X8-in. rafters, 2-ft.
centers, overlaid with 1-in. hemlock boards covered with four-ply felt

296 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

and gravel roofing. Nine feet above the floor, between columns, is a
6-in. X8-in. girder supported at the ends by brackets riveted to the
columns; and at the middle by a 3.75-in. bolt running up through the
beams. This girder supports the door track. Above each door, on
both sides of the building, are two sashes, 6 ft. long by 4 ft. high. Above
these windows are riveted beams carrying 5 ft. of brickwork with a stone
coping. The doors are continuous, hung alternately outside and inside,
enabling cars and wagons to be unloaded at any point. The floor con-
sists of 7/8-in. maple laid diagonally over 1-in. hemlock resting on 2-in.
by 12-in. joists, 2 ft. on centers.

The transfer platform has a row of concrete piers on 15-fL centers
supporting an umbrella roof. The posts are Phoenix columns and
angle bar braces carry the roof, formed of 15-ft. purlins covered with
corrugated iron. The platform floor is 2-in. plank nailed to 2-in. X 12-in.
joists. There are three tracks in the space for inbound cars and five
tracks for outbound cars. The terminal occupies an entire block of
425 ft. in width. The freight-houses fill 200 ft. of this and the remainder
is used for team tracks, of which there are five pairs, with the necessary
roadways between. The entrance to the terminal is over a single track
which crosses Front Street diagonally and then joins the converging
sidings which run across John Street into the terminal.

The plan shown in Fig. 137 is the Lake Shore's freight-houses in
Toledo, 0. This arrangement is startling. The claim is made that in
the house it superseded 29 gangs of six men each, handled 200 cars in 24
hours at a cost of about 45 cents a ton, while this layout enabled the
same amount of work to be done with 17 gangs of six men each, for
about 35 cents a ton.

A general plan of the South Boston freight terminal of the New
Haven, is shown in Fig. 138. This is said to be the largest freight terminal
in the country operated by one company in one location. There are 12
houses — 7 inbound and 5 outbound — ^besides 8 piers, hay sheds, grain
elevators, flour houses, etc. — a total of 20. The combined floor area of
the inward houses is 287,320 sq. ft. ; of the outward houses 308,535 sq. ft.
and of the miscellaneous houses 234,899 sq. ft. — ^a grand total of 830,754
sq. ft., approximately 20 acres. The general method of operating is to use
certain inbound houses to receive freight trains from certain directions
and each outbound receives freight for its trains, routing over certain
lines. For example — No. 2 house receives trains arriving on the main
line from New York; on the Midland and Western divisions. No. 3 house
assists No. 2 and in addition handles perishable freight from the west via
Harlem River; No. 10 house is used for freight from Old Colony and
Boston division points; No. 5 house is used for outward Old Colony
division freight; No. 6 for outward freight to New York and other western
gateways.

FREIGHT HOUSES

* B

298 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Each house has a series of numbers for its doors, starting with 01, 02,
etc. These numbers are affixed to the house number; house No. 9 j

would have doors numbered 901, 902, etc. Only two figures are painted J

over the door on the inside; on the outside, for teamers' guidance, the
whole number is shown.

Jd
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etc.
woi
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whi

CHAPTER XXI
BRITISH FREIGHT SERVICE'

Any treatise on the operation of the railways of this country would
be incomplete without some reference to the transportation methods of
foreign countries. One such country will suffice for the purposes of
comparison, and England is selected because its railways are the most
interesting to us, and because they are privately owned and operated,
like our own, in distinction to the railways of the Continent, most of
which are owned or operated by the Government. In many respects,
therefore, the railways situation in the British Isles is comparable to that
of America.

At the outset it is well to notice the difference in trackage facilities
and traffic density. From the following table it is evident that the
British trackage capacity per mile of road is much greater than in the
United States. They have but 43.5 per cent, of single-track mileage;
our single-track mileage is 91.3 per cent, of our road mileage. In Great
Britain the total track mileage, including yards and sidings, is two and
one-third times its road mileage; in this country our track mileage is but
one and one-half times our road mileage, taking the United States as a
whole. If, however, the comparison is made with Group 2 of the Inter-
state Commerce Commission's geographical classification (embracing
the States of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Deleware and
Maryland, the territory of the most intensive American railway develop-
ment) , the comparison is not so unfavorable. Yet it must also be remem-
bered that the figures for Great Britain include Scotland and Ireland,
with relatively small railway mileage and thin traffic, and they tend to
reduce the averages for the British Isles. For England alone the trackage
and density are much greater.

*This chapter was written by William J. Cunningham, Assistant Professor of
Transportion, Harvard University.

299

300

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

TRACKAGE DENSITY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND UNITED STATISS (1909)

I

Items

Great Britain

Miles

Per cent.

of road

miles

United States

1 Per cent.
Miles of road
miles

Group 2

Miles

Per cent.

of road

miles

Miles of road 23,280

Miles second track 13,121^

Miles third track

Miles 4 or more tracks

1,500
1,721

Miles yards and sidings i 14,350

100.

56.5

6.5

7.4

61.6

235,402
20,949
2,170
1,453

82,377

100.

8.7

0.9

0.6

35.1

23,887

7,448

1,292

930

15,720

100.

31.2

5.4

3.9

65.9

Total track miles 53,972 232 . 342,351 145 . 3 49,277 206 . 4

As an indication of the use to which the tracks are put in moving
trains, a second table is presented which shows the comparative train
mile density — that is, the yearly train miles divided by the miles of road.
It will be noted that the train mile density of Great Britain is four times
that of the United States and twice that of Group 2, the latter being
the section of densest traffic in the United States.

TRAIN MILE DENSITY OF GREAT BRITIAN AND UNITED STATES (1909)

Train miles per mile of road | Great Britain United States

Passenger trains
Freight trains . . .
All trains

11,400

6,640

18,040

2,234
2,500
4,734

Group 2

6,000
4,710
9,710

Having called attention to these marked differences in facilities
and traffic density, a comparison of a more general nature will now be
made with the British freight ("goods") service. On first view, the
most striking dissimilarity is seen in the character of the freight itself and
in the design and capacity of their freight cars (''goods wagons"). The
freight traffic of England is said to be decidedly retail in character, while
that of America is wholesale. The British merchant, because of his
nearness to sources of supply, and the expeditious service of the railways

BRITISH FREIGHT SERVICE

301

is not accustomed, to carry large stocks of goods. The service of the
railways is such that goods ordered one day from the wholesale dealer
are delivered at the merchant's door early the next day. American
merchants, who arb situated farther from the wholesale markets, and
must allow more time to replenish stocks, would characterize the British
policy as '*hand to mouth." But the English retailers find that they
can rely upon the railways for good service which equals the service of
the express companies of this country, and it has had the effect of forcing
the railways to handle a large volume of small packages and a relatively
small number of car-load shipments.

The difference may be readily seen from the following tabulations
which compare the weight of the shipments handled through typical
freight houses of England and the United States in one day. The
figures for England are taken from "Railways and Their Rates" by
Edwin E. Pratt.

Item

; Broad Street, Providence,
I London, Eng. J R. I.

Worcester,
Mass.

Consignments

Packages

Destinations

Total weight (pounds)

Average weight per consignment (pounds)

Average weight per package (pounds)

Average weight to each destination
(pounds).

Cars used

Average load per car (pounds)

985

4,427

53

246,000

250

62

641

72
3,400

1,622

12,831

342

1,642,000

1,013

128

4,801 I

170
9,658

805

10,652

312

2,156,000

2,678

202

6,910

109
19,760

It will be seen from these figures that the average weight of each
shipment from the Providence freight-house (128 lb.) is twice that of
the average shipment through Broad Street, London (62 lb.), and in the
case of Worcester (202 lb.) it is more than three times that of Broad
Street. In average car load, Providence (4.8 tons) is nearly three
times, and Worcester (9.9 tons) nearly six times greater than London
(1.7 tons).

To illustrate further the distinctly retail character of British house
freight, the following additional statistics are quoted from Mr. Pratt's
book: They show one day's business at four of the principal goods
depots of the London & North Western:

302

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

From

Consignments

Packages

Tons of
2,2401b. i

No. of Weight (lb.) No. of Weight (lb.)
I (average) ' (average)

Curzon St., Birmingham. .

Liverpool Station

London Road, Manchester
Broad St., London

1,615

6,110 i

592

51,114

70

3,895

5,049

1,728

79,513 ;

110

1,341

5,522 1

544

28,277 ,

106

906

5,201 ,

327

23,067

88

The British shipper of small packages has a choice of three methods
of transport. If the package does not exceed 11 lb. in weight he may
forward it by parcel post. The postal service rates, which include delivery
at destination, are based on a sliding scale under which the charge for
1 lb. is 6 cents; for 2 lb. 8 cents; for 3 lb. 10 cents; and so on, up to
22 cents for 11 lb. The average rate per pound is about 2.5 cents.

The British railways also have a passenger train parcels service. The
table on page 303 taken from the Midland Railway public timetable
shows the rates and conditions.

The second important difference between the British and American
freight service lies in the British practice of collecting and delivering
freight. In Great Britain there are no express companies, as we know
them, and instead the horse driven or motor vans of the railway com-
panies call at the consignor's warehouse for the freight to be shipped,
and at destination deliver it at the door of the consignee. The freight
rates include the cartage service at both points, but the shipper has the
option of doing his own carting and paying a lower freight rate. For
instance, between London and Manchester, 188 miles, the rate on a cer-
tain class of goods is 32.7 cents per 100 lb., when the railroad performs
the cartage; and 20.8 cents if the shipper elects to do it himself. Gen-
erally speaking, however, the railways do practically all of the cartage
except in the case of certain bulky or dead freight, such as bricks, coal,
creosote, gravel, hay and straw, iron ore, lime, and salts in bulk,
manure, peat, scrap iron or steel, sand, slates, turf, wood blocks, etc.

Until quite recently, a large part of the cartage of freight for
the railroads was done by large cartage or forwarding concerns, but now
the railways do nearly all of this work themselves. The "horse depart-
ment" is an important unit in the British railway organization. The
London & North Western, for instance, has upward of 6000 horses,
and employs nearly 5000 drivers, carmen, and cart boys; 250 stablemen,
and nearly 300 cartage supervisors, the latter being provided with light

BRITISH FREIGHT SERVICE

303

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304 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

carriages or motor cars so ae to be able to move around rapidly from place
to place. The Midland is a close second in the extent of its collection and
delivery service. On five railways, the aggregate number of horses in
this service is close to 18,000 with a corresponding number of drays,
vans, automobiles and steam lorries. A typical dray is seen in Fig, 139.
On each of the five roads there are more horses than locomotives.

Competition between railways in England has taken the form of im-
proved service and facilities rather than in lower rates. It is so keen,
and such has been its effect on the expedition of the service, that a
merchant in Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle or Plymouth, all 200
miles or more from London, may rely for a certainty on receiving at his
door by the time he is open for business in the morning, the goods he

Fia. 139. — Freight dray, Broad Street Station — London & North Weatem.

ordered by telegraph or telephone from his London dealer the previous
afternoon. The same service is afforded the more distant points such
as Edinburg (393 miles) and Glasgow {401 miles), as well as the
principal cities of Ireland, but delivery at these farther distant points is
later in the day.

The question naturally suggests itself, "What does the Englishman
pay for his express freight service? " It is to be expected, of course, that
the charges will be higher than we are accustomed to pay here where our
railways perform no cartage service, where the character of the freight
is different in weight, bulk, and consignment, and where the regular-
ity and celerity of the freight service is hardly as excellent as in Great
Britain. To make an exact comparison of rates is out of question

BRITISH FREIGHT SERVICE 305

because of the dissimilarities in conditions (particularly in the collection
and delivery feature) and because, with one exception, the British rail-
ways do not compile statistics from which the ton-mile rate may be
derived. As a rough comparison, it is interesting to note that the
average revenue per ton-mile on the North Eastern of England, the
one British road compiling ton-mile statistics, is given as 2.30 cents
for 1909. This figure includes, of course, the charge for collection and
delivery. In the same year, the ton-mile revenue for the railways of the
United States was 0.76 cents. On the North Eastern, each ton was
handled an average distance of 23.1 miles, and the average revenue per
ton handled was J0.531. The very low average distance indicates clearly
the extremely local character of the freight. In the United States, each
ton was hauled an average distance of 141.9 miles, and the average
revenue per ton handled was $1.08. Probably it is fairer to compare
the North Eastern with the New York, New Haven & Hartford, as the
traffic on the New England railways more nearly approaches the char-
acter of the British railways. The comparison will be made clearer if
put in tabular form:

I I Ratio

North New i

Item Eastern Haven ^ |

1909 I 1911 No. Eastern New Haven

Average revenue per ton-mile | »$2.30 »S1.39 1 1.00 0.60

Average distance per ton (miles) 23 . 1 93 . 8 I 1 . 00 4 . 06

Average revenue per ton i '$5.31 ' 11.30 1.00 0.24

Revenue tons per freight train miio . . . , 1 23 | 290 1 1 . 00 2 . 36

Revenue per freight train mile '$6 . 52 , $4 . 03 1 . 00 I . 62

In the collection of freight to be dispatched in trains, the British
roads follow methods quite similar to those of the express companies of
this country. Each railway has a distinctive card which it distributes to
shippers and which is displayed when freight is to be called for by the
railway vans. Or the shipper may telephone or otherwise request the
railway to send its van. When the freight is offered for shipment, the
consignors makes out a consignment note (corresponding to our shipping
order) and when it is accepted by the driver of the van the responsibility
of the railway begins. The freight is checked by the driver against the
consignment note; it is again checked when unloaded from the van to
the platform at the freight station, where the goods are weighed, and
finally checked once more when loaded from the platform into the cars.

* Including charges for collection and delivery of freight.
20

306 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

From the consignment note the billing clerks make out the invoice (the
equivalent of our waybill) and the invoices are sent by train mail ahead
of the freight so that they are on hand at destination in advance of the
arrival of the freight. At destination, the freight is checked from the
car to the platform, delivery sheets are made out, and the driver of the
delivery van obtains the consignee's receipt when the freight is finally
delivered. This ends the responsibility of the railway.

On account of the density of the passenger traffic during the day-
time and the relative infrequency of night passenger trains (night trains
are not needed in the country of such relatively short distances andfew are
run except between London and Liverpool and London and Scotland)
nearly all freight trains, particularly merchandise trains, are run during
the night hours. From the large freight stations in London they are
dispatched in fleets beginning shortly before midnight. Freight is re-
ceived up to 6 o'clock and from then until 10 o'clock or later the loading
and shunting gangs force work at concert pitch. It is the intention
to dispatch during the night all the freight collected during the day, and
to deliver during the day all the freight received in trains during the
night or early morning hours. In London the freight-house labor prob-
lem is easy of solution because of the large supply of what is termed
"casual" labor, that is, men out of employment who are glad to have
employment for one, two, or any number of hours, without any guarantee
as to the number of hours' employment to be given. The agent can,
therefore, increase or diminish his force of laborers to the need of the hour,
and the rate paid is very low compared with wages of American freight
handlers. Casual laborers may be engaged at 8 to 10 cents per hour,
plus a certain bonus when the tonnage handled exceeds a certain min-
imum. The bonus system of paying for freight handled works satis-
factorily and apparently is not objectionable to the men. Including
the bonus, it is a safe generalization to say that the earnings of the British
freight-house laborer are about one^third of those paid to similar em-
ployees in this country. With certain of the fixed forces the propor-
tion will run slightly higher — approaching one-half of the American
rates.

Every night of the week the Midland dispatches 30 trains from St.
Pancras Station in London. From Broad Street Station, the London
and North Western sends out about the same number in trains averaging
30 cars each. The cars are all equipped with air-brakes and the trains
arc run at passenger train speed, averaging 40 miles per hour. Of
course, this service is given only to the merchandise trains. Trains of
dead weight are run at lower speed, say 20 to 25 miles per hour. Because
of the very small cars, a merchandise train of 30 cars will weigh in the
neighborhood of 300 tons — ^less than an ordinary passenger train in this
country. An ordinary ''goods" train is shown in Fig. 140. A train

BRITISH FREIGHT SERVICE 307

with bulk freight weighs considerably more — say 400 to 600 tone, and
in some cases, with mineral trains, an extreme train load of 1000 tons is
obtained. Trains of this weight, however, are exceptional. Yet even
this maximum load is but one-fifth to one-seventh the tonnage or one of
our coal trains with 75 to 100 fifty-ton coal cars.

The freight "wagon" of Great Britain runs on four wheels (two
axles) and the great majority have a capacity of 8 to 10 tons. Larger
cars are used — many of 20 tons capacity, a few with a capacity of 30 tons.
The visitor is inclined to joke about the diminutive British car when
compared with the American car designed to carry four or five times as
much, and often concludes offhand, without thorough knowledge of con-
ditions, that the adoption of large capacity cars in Great Britain would
revolutionize the freight service and substantially reduce operatiijg
expenses.

Fio. 140. — "Goods" train — London & North Westerp.

But this is not altogether true, at least under the present conditions.
The small oar is the result and not the cause of the retail character
of the freight service. Even if larger cars were available and would clear
their structures, it would be a long time before their capacity could be
utilized, and the road to begin the campaign of educating shippers to the
economic necessity of holding cars for full loads would suffer in competition
with the road adhering to the small car and sending it forward on schedule
whether filled or not. As a matter of fact, it seems impossible now to
get a full load in their 8-ton cars. The average car load is ridiculously
small, usually about 2 or 3 tons, and efforts to obtain more lading
would adversely affect the regularity and speed of the trains, the two
factors in which competition is keenest. Such efforts would also reduce
the number of through cars to small branch line points, or junctions,
increase the percentage of shipment.^ transferred, and otherwise tend to
curtail privileges of long standing brought about by competition in
service. In Fig. 141 is seen an ordinary four-wheel goods wagon. One

308 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

of the heaviest (30-tons capacity) special eight-wheel wagons is shown in
Fig. 142.

It may be argued that while the reason just mentioned applies to
merchandise freight, it has not the same force in its application to the

Kio. 141. — Ordinary standard goods wagon — London & North Western.

transportation of dead freight, such as coal. But here again there are
retail influences which restrict the car load. According to an official
statement made a few years ago by the chairman of the London &
North Western the average consignment of coal is 17.5 tons. Eighty
per cent, of the coal shipments are less than 20 tons and many are as

Flo. 142.^Heavj- special goodK wagon — London & North Western.

small as 2 tons. These instances will show that in order to make the
larger ear profitable, it will be necessary first to revolutionize the British
system of sales and distribution, and unte.ss and until something of that
nature is accomplished the 8- and 10-ton car will continue in use. Some

BRITISH FREIGHT SERVICE 309

of the companies are experimenting with larger cars, but in using them
another practical difhculty is encountered, in adapting the scales, chutes,
and other loading facilities, aa well as trestles and unloading arrange-
ments at destination. These were all designed for the smaller car, and
will not permit the use of the larger car, without extensive alteration.
The cost of the necessary changes would reach large sums in the aggregate
and the expense would not all fall upon the railways. The general view
of the Camden "Goods" station of the London & North Western (Fig.
143) gives a fair idea of the station and yard equipment and character
of cars used. One of the house-hold goods moving vans is seen in the
foreground.

Fia, 143. — Camden goods Mtation and yards— London & North Western.

It is easy to understand, therefore, the disinclination to disturb the
present goods- and mineral-wagon standaids. But there is still another
complication. America is not unique in having its private freight car
problem. A large percentage of the mineral traffic of England is moved
in privately owned cars, and this fact adds to the difficulty of securing a
better car- and train-load. The Board of Trade is implicated as well,
since its rules in the interest of uniformity in design of equipment, re-
strict the dimensions of privately owned freight cars to certain standards.
As will be seen from the illustrations, many of the freight cars are
open. To protect the ficight from rain, snow, or dust, tarpaulin covers
are used.

In some ways the British railways, by reason of their small cars, can
afford facilities which would be appreciated in this country if our con-
ditions would permit. For instance, the problem of loss and damage

310 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

to shipments of household goods is solved by an ingenious design of mov-
ing van. The body of the van is detachable and when the van load of
household goods reaches the freight station it is detached from its horse-
drawn frame and wheels and attached to the underframe and running
gear of the freight car. In this condition it is moved to its railroad
destination where the body of the' car is placed on the frame of the horse-
drawn van and taken through the streets to final destination. Thus the
shipment is handled but twice — once at the house where the goods are
loaded and once at the house into which the effects are to be placed.
The handling through two freight-houses, and the consequent damage
which usually occurs in the process, are eliminated. The same principle
is applied in the transportation of fresh fish from wharf to inland market.
' In another way, too, the operation of stations and shunting yards is
simplified by the smaller car. Being so light, they may be switched by
horse-power, or may be easily and rapidly moved by ropes attached to
capstans operated electrically or hydraulically. Reference is made to
this method in the description of the Broad Street Station, London.

The facility with which the cars may be loaded, unloaded, and switched,
and the expedition with which freight is handled through the sta-
tions, permit a large volume of traflic to be moved in a relatively small
space. If the English roads were operated under American methods of
freight handling, the longer period during which the freight remains in
the house would call for much more space than is now occupied by
the termininal in London, and the high value of property in congested
centers of population make this an extremely important factor for
consideration. Many of the London freight stations have several floors
and the cars are elevated and lowered by lifts. The Great Central has a
station with five floors and a basement 16 ft. below the street level.
One of the most interesting examples is the London & North Western
station at Broad Street and it is believed that the reader will be interested
in the following description which is condensed from Findlay's '*The
Working and Management of an English Railway.''

The Broad Street Station is the city depot and is right in the heart of London'
Land being extremely valuable, the line is carried during part of its course by
means of bridges and viaducts at high elevation, and in some cases over the tops
of houses, and thus reaches its terminus at a point considerably above the level
of surrounding thoroughfares. The passenger station having been built on
arches, the London & North Western taking advantage of the situation provided
themselves with an extensive freight station without the enormous expense of
taking land for that purpose in the busiest part of the city, and the freight
traffic is handled in the arches under the passenger station, the freight cars
being moved on elevators from one level to the other. All along the front of
these arches, 14 in number, and including some space beyond them which has
been covered in, a roomy stage or unloading bank has been erected. Each arch

BRITISH FREIGHT SERVICE 311

measures 340 ft. in length and 32 ft. in width. The length of the stage is 430
ft. and its width 45 ft. From the main unloading stage, at right angles, are
erected narrow stages, 12 ft. X 240 ft., with a track on each side, extending
through each arch, these tracks being connected with a cross line by means
of which cars can be turned upon small turntables and taken to one of the
hydraulic lifts.

On the further side of the arches some additional space has been acquired
on the street level to form an open freight yard, on one portion of which a lofty
warehouse has been erected for the storage of goods awaiting delivery or to be
lield in transit.

Traffic arriving from the country for delivery in London is called "up traffic."
That sent from London is known as "down traffic." The "up traffic" consists
largely of provisions for supplying the early markets with fish, meat, poultry,
butter, eggs, and other perishable commodities which have to be delivered as
early as 4 a. m.; also general merchandise purchased from manufacturers in the
Provinces the previous day and expected to be in the city warehouses by 9 a. m.

This part of the business is conducted in the warehouse, the ground floor of
which is staged so as to form a platform upon which the goods can be sorted
and transferred from the cars to the street vans. This platform is open on both
sides so that vans may be backed up to it on one side and the freight cars run in
on the track on the other side. The invoices (waybills) are passed through the
delivery office where each is entered in a book, stamped with a progressive
number, timed as to arrival, checked as to the correctness of rates and extensions,
and is then passed to a marking clerk who marks against each entry on the
invoice the position of the freight on the platform. The whole of London is
mapped out into districts, each of which is designated by a letter and number,
and the platform is divided into sections to correspond with these divisions.
When the invoice is marked by the marking clerk it is passed to other clerks who
extract from it and enter on the car man's delivery sheets such of the entries
as refer to the particular section of the city with which he is appointed to deal,
and by this process the whole of the entries for delivery to a particular district
are brought to a focus, although the goods may have arrived from hundreds of
different stations and entered upon as many different invoices.

When the invoice reaches the platform from the delivery office, the goods
are unloaded from the cars, checked with the invoice, and trucked to their
positions on the platform according to the marks on the invoice. When the
goods are taken from the platform to the vans they are checked against the
car men's delivery sheets and finally taken in the vans to their destinations.

The "down" or outward traffic is handled in the arches. During the day
the tracks alongside the platforms are filled with empty cars into which the
goods are loaded as they come in during the afternoon and evening. As fast as
the "up" goods are unloaded at the warehouse platform, the empty cars are
transferred to the "down" arches. As the loaded vans come in at the gates
they are placed in position for unloading on the platform. The consignment
notes (shipping orders) relating to each load are checked against the freight
as it is unloaded and the freight is weighed on weighing machines stationed at
regular intervals along the platform. Each arch is reserved for goods for certain
stations or districts, and as the freight is unloaded from the van the checker

312 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

directs the trucker where the freight should be trucked. From the platform the
goods, when deposited in the proper location by the trucker, are placed in the
cars by the loading gang, which consists of a checker, a loader, a caller-off, and
two porters. When the goods are in the cars the consignment notes are taken
to the shipping office and from them the invoices are prepared. The freight
cars, when loaded, sheeted (with tarpaulin covers) and marked, are run out at
the further end of the arches by means of ropes attached to hydraulic capstans,
turned on turntables, and elevated on hydraulic lifts to the upper level, where
in a group of ten long sidings, and still by the aid of hydraulic capstans, they
are marshalled into trains and dispatched. The process of marshalling
is facilitated by arranging the cars in the arches in train order. In some cases
the vans are driven alongside the cars and the freight unloaded directly from
van to car.

The station embraces an area of 17 acres, including 3.5 acres on the high
level. It has a capacity of 820 cars, of which 487 can be placed in position for
forward loading on the low level at one time. On the average 456 loaded
cars are received daily and 508 are forwarded. Altogether the station is
equipped with 183 cranes — one of 10 tons capacity, one 5 tons, and the remainder
of .5 tons or less. These are distributed to assist (1) in loading from vans to cars
and vice versa; (2) from vans to platforms and vice versa; and (3) from cars to
platforms and vice versa. The two high-power cranes are located in the yard to
unload exceptionally heavy articles.

In order to give the reader some idea of the details of design, the
following description of the North British freight station and warehouse
in Glasgow is quoted from "The Engineer" of London:

"The special feature of this warehouse is its equipment for the handling of
traffic and the unusually large electrical plant which is provided, with a view
to the rapid and easy disposal of a heavy volume of goods. The tracks inside
the building are arranged in sets of three, the two outside tracks of each set
being used for loading purposes, while the center track is used for removing
empty cars from or feeding loaded cars to the outer tracks. As no locomotives
are permitted inside the warehouse, on account of fire risks, special means had
to be adopted for the handling of cars. Thirty electric capstans, each capable of
exerting a pull of 1 ton, or hauling about 100 tons on the level at a speed of
250 ft. per minute, have been laid down. Each is worked by a 26-h. p. motor
running at 400 revolutions per minute and driving the capstan head through a
worm gear reduction.

The movement of the cars from the outer track to the center track and vice
versa is effected by means of electric traversers running on rails laid at right
angles to the wagon rails. The cars are pulled on to the traversers by means of
the electric capstans, one at a time, and traversed across to the required track,
where they are then run off, the traverser then being removed back out of the
way. There are e'even of these machines, of the surface type, 12 ft. long exclu-
sive of the ramps and arranged to travel on three lines of rails. They are capable
of carrying loads of 20 tons at a speed of 100 ft. per minute and are driven by
10-h. p. motors. There are 15 overhead revolving cranes — thirteen of 1.5 tons

BRITISH FREIGHT SERVICE 313

and two of 3 tons capacity, which are arranged to work over the ground floor
and are used for loading and discharging both cars and wagons and for general
lifting and transport purposes about the various loading platforms. All the
crane runways are parallel to each other and at right angles to the railway
tracks, so that whenever the necessity arises a number of cranes may be con-
centrated on one row of cars, insuring rapid discharge with a minimum number
of cranes. Each crane consists of a traveling gantry 21-ft. 10-in. span, from
which is suspended the balanced revolving jib, having a radius of 23 ft.

Facilities are provided on the upper floors for the rapid handling of goods by
means of electric transporters traveling on runway girders suspended from the
roof girders. The loads are lifted from the railway trucks in the loading way
through wells in the floors and are distributed by the transporters over the area
of the floor covered by the respective tracks. There are four of these trans-
porters for each floor, each capable of lifting 1.5 tons. The hoisting speed
under full load is 100 ft. per minute, accelerating to about double this speed for
light loads; and the traveling speed is 350 ft. per minute. The height of lift
for the transporters on the first floor is 34 ft. and for those on the second floor
50 ft.

Six jiggers, or short-travel transporters of 1.5 tons capacity, are provided
on the uppermost floor, so placed as to command the roadway on the floor below
along the north side of the warehouse through trap doors in the floor. The
three remaining are placed in outside walls on the south side of the building and
may be used for raising goods from the yard to either floor and conversely. The
general design of the jigger is similar to that of the transporters, with the excep-
tion that the controllers are fixed on the warehouse floor near each track and
the operator's cage is dispensed with. The travel of each jigger is only 10 ft.
and the height of lift is 50 ft. The hoisting speed for the full load of 1.5 tons
is 100 ft. per minute and the traveling speed 200 ft. per minute.

In addition to these appliances, nine electric hoists, each 1.5 tons capacity,
have been provided — four at the west and five at the east end of the building —
which are available for use on all the floors, communicating direct with the
loading tables on the track floor. There are two other hoists of the same capacity
for the use of the portion of the basement lying to the east of the building proper,
under the yard, and they communicate direct with two loading tables provided
with special siding accommodation, apart altogether from the warehouse tables
and sidings.

All these elevators are arranged to carry the maximum load at a speed of
150 ft. per minute and they are each driven by 26 E. h. p. motors running at
400 revolutions per minute. The cages are steel framed, lined with timber, and
kept in position by suitable guides fixed to the sides of the shaft.

To the south of the warehouse lies the general loading platform, which can
accommodate more than 60 cars. A considerable portion of this is roofed over,
so that it forms to all intents and purposes a useful extension of the warehouse
proper. Close by there is a 40-ton electric traveling gantry crane for handling
heavy machinery and special loads. Small loads requiring the use of crane
power are handled by means of hand cranes in the yard, the capacity of which
varies from 5 tons downward."

314 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

In concluding this chapter on the British freight service we naay
ask ourselves, '*In what particulars can any of their practices or ideas
be applied to our own problems?^' The answer is difficult. We may
beg the question by stating that English methods are adapted to
English conditions and not to America. Dissimilarities in conditions
make comparisons of doubtful value. There is, however, a feeling
among a few railroad men that the railroads of New England might
profitably take a leaf from the note-book of Old England and experi-
ment (1) in the collection and delivery of freight; (2) in the use of the
small capacity car; and (3) in the running of express freight trains.
In another chapter, reference is made to the Baltimore and Canadian
experiments in collecting and delivering, but it has not been tried in
New England where conditions are perhaps more favorable. New
England merchants would appreciate the advantages of over-night express
freight service and the use of small cars would make such service more
feasible. The preponderance of l.c.l. freight in New England might justif >-
the small car and something approaching the British express freight
service, but such service would cost more and call for higher rates, and
it is a question whether the shippers would stand for higher rates even
if the increased value of the service (which would be equivalent to ship-
ping by express) would justify the English scale of charges. If the In-
terstate Commerce Commission succeed in their efforts to reduce the
rates charged by the express companies, it may be that the railways
will be forced to take over that class of business themselves, and in
that event, something like the British express freight service may be
found feasible and desirable.

CHAPTER XXII
TRANSFER STATIONS

The daily amount of freight handled between two stations may be
small; possibly consisting of one or two packages of a hundred pounds
weight each. Where these stations are located on the same district
and on the line of a way freight's regular daily run, the packages would
be loaded and unloaded to and from the peddler cars by the way freight
crew. Freight destined to or beyond the station at the end of the way
freight's run would be loaded into one or more cars for that station,
and unloaded there by the station forces. At the larger intermediate
stations, where a sufficient amount of freight originates, cars are loaded
up for the station at the end of the run, or to a point beyond. These
are usually termed straight cars and the contents are not handled by
the train crew. The cars loaded or unloaded by the trainmen are
variously known as peddler cars, way freight cars, scrap loads, or
local caj*s. To facilitate the handling of this l.c.l. freight it is customary
to establish transfer stations at convenient points where freight from
various stations and converging lines centralizes and may be consolidated
into straight cars — that is, solid car loads to stations for which enough
freight may be running to justify such cars, and into local or peddler
cars to be distributed over the various way freight runs, and for other
transfer stations which in turn may repeat this loading.

As already mentioned in a previous chapter, in England, "tranship"
stations take the place of the American transfer station. Because of
the small 8-to-lO-ton capacity **goods wagons" of Great Britain,
there is little necessity there for rehandling the freight between the point
of shipment and final destination, as straight carload shipments are made
in most cases where fast time is a desideratum. The heavy load and
the large capacity cars of American railways have their advantages,
and likewise their disadvantages. Unless freight in considerable quan-
tities is moving between two points, the large capacity cars have to be
loaded into and out of the many transfer stations which are necessary
to enable the heavier loading of cars by consolidation of their lading.
Each handling at a transfer station means an added expense in the
freight handling and checking with the waybills, as well as extra ex-
pense in the yard switching service. The opportunities for loss and
damage to freight and for pilfering increase with the number of transfer
points. Each transfer adds also to the delay in the movement of

315

316 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

freight and cars. On the other hand it permits the consolidation of
car loads with regard to train service, and, in many instances, affords
better time by enabling loading to final destinations.

In the handling of l.c.l. freight it is the general practice to load straight
cars for stations to which the movement of traffic is large enough to
justify them, and peddler cars for movement on diverging local or other
designated trains. In addition, the larger shipping stations "scrap"
load to transfer stations located at various operating terminals and
junctions, shipments consigned to points on lines diverging from such
transfer stations, to which the business is not heavy enough to justify the
loading of a straight car for any one station. When these scrap loads
are received at a transfer station, they are worked into that station's
schedule cars, making straight cars for the heavier receiving stations?;
and peddler cars, loaded in station order for less important stations.

The transfer station is usually operated in conjunction with a freight
station, although the larger and more important transfers are often
operated independently. The organization, if operated independently,
is planned after that of the ordinary freight station, except that straight
gangs of truckers, each with a foreman, are employed; also checkers,
who are responsible for checking both the inward and outward handling.
A regular "set-up" is made daily at a transfer; the inward cars, w^hen
unloaded, ordinarily being utilized to make the outward ''set-up," unless
the unloaded car is routed by a diiferent line or junction than the regular
"set-up" car would travel.

The set-up may not be the same each day. Two-day and, at times,
three-day cars may vary it. For points to which there is not sufficient
freight to load a car daily, freight may be held two or even three days to
obtain enough to secure a straight car, thereby avoiding delay and re-
handling after the car leaves the transfer. This practice often makes
it necessary to hold cars at the transfer for that purpfose, unless storage
room is available in which to care for it. Such storage room is usually
provided, and should be in every instance, unless the transfer is a part of
the regular freight station, in which case the freight-house room may be
utilized.

To illustrate the general principles of a transfer set-up and its han-
dling, let us assume a platform 20 by 660 ft. with two tracks on either side,
giving length for 14 cars on each track and a set-up of 56 cars by working
through the cars on the tracks next alongside the platform.^ Cars may
be placed on one track for a train of 14 cars, or by "doubling over" on
two tracks for a train of 28 cars or less. If the cars are loaded with
those on the head end of one track for first station reached, and so on,
to the end of that track and following from the head end of the second

* That is, using the open doorways of the cars nearest the platforms and gang-
planks as a passage-way to reach the cars on the second track.

TRANSFER STATIONS 317

track, and the first-track cars are drawn out and set over on the second,
the train will leave properly made up.

The general organization, working force and methods of operating
transfer stations are explained in Chapter XXV. Usually the freight-
house and transfer are adjoining and operated under one general head.

One of the heaviest transfer stations is that of the Pennsylvania at
Waverly, N. J. The platform is about 1000 ft. in length; eight tracks
are worked, with a placing capacity of 196 cars and an average daily
outward movement of 230 loads. A car for a certain destination occu-
pies the same position daily, except when the freight is heavy, awkward
in shape, fragile, or otherwise undesirable to handle in the usual manner.
In such cases the position may be changed.

The freight is handled on the piece-work basis, the freight handlers
receiving about 14 cents per ton. The total cost of handling is close to
30 cents. Under the piece-work method, better wages are earned,
about three-fouiths the usual number of handleis are required and occa-
sional "hustling" is indulged in.

The transfer of the Washington Southern in its Potomac yard near
Alexandria, Va., is 37 by 640 ft. The platform is covered and equipped
with three sets of platform scales, electrically lighted, and provided
with portable electric lights to be used in cars. The tracks permit 124
cars to be set up. About 115 cars, in and out, are handled daily, averag-
ing 465 tons, and the average cost is 21 cents per ton. Eight tracks are
used, four on each side of the platform. There are no island platforms,
and it is therefore necessary to spot the cars. A plan showing the
location of this transfer will be found in Chapter V.

The proper arrangement of car loading, from freight-houses, transfers
and by local freight crews, to secure a maximum of car load with a
minimum of car-mileage, and to reduce handling and other expense on a
busy line, is a complicated problem. Where a road is cut up by many
side lines and junctions, any arrangement must have some disadvantage,
and all require constant revision to meet changing conditions.

The system in use on the New York, New Haven and Hartford is
necessarily elaborate because it is planned to meet the most complicated
and exacting conditions of handling package freight, in this country.
The instructions are contained in a book which, from the color of its
cover, is commonly known as the "Red Book"; the only additional
instructions being contained in small pamphlets applying to each large
transfer station and showing the outward loading and routing for such
stations. The "Red Book,'' under heading "Instructions for loading
l.c.l. freight to and from all stations," takes up one division after another,
starting with " Instructions for loading l.c.l. freight — ^New York Division."
The first column heading reads.

318 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

"Load l.c.l. freight from

New York piers 45 and 50,
Long Island R. R. via pier 50,
Harlem River, N. Y.

N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. via Port Morris, N. Y. (when less than mininiuiii),
as follows :

New York Division
Way Freight. — For all stations.

Shore Line Division

Way Freight. — For stations Glenbrook to West Haven inclusive, except
South Norwalk and Bridgeport.

South Norwalk. — For South Norwalk, Conn., and stations Norwalk to Bethel
and Ridgefield inclusive.

Bridgeport. — For Bridgeport, Conn.

Hartford. — For stations Windsor to Suffield and Springfield inclusive ; Wethers-
field to Essex inclusive except Middletown.

Wesffield. — For Westfield, Mass., and stations to Holyoke, Williamsburgh,
Turner's Falls, and Shelburne Falls inclusive.

New Haven. — For all other stations.

Providence Division

New Haven. — For stations Midway to Norwood, R. I., inclusive; Worcester,
Mass.

Hartford. — For stations Unionville to Ashland inclusive, except Bellinghani
Junction.

^Mansfield. — For stations Hebron ville to Canton Junction inclusive; Perrins
and Rumford.

^Providence. — For all other stations.

Boston Division

^Providence. — For stations Needham Junction to Cook Street inclusive.
^Mansfield. — For Readville, Mass., and stations Roxbury to East Dedhain
inclusive, via either the West Roxbury or East Dedham Branches.
Boston. — For all other stations.
And so on for the entire road.

The following rules relate to the minimum:

148. Six thousand (6000) pounds has been established as the minimum for
l.c.l. shipments for local stations and connections where not otherwise specified.

149. Note Exceptions: A four-thousand-pound (4000) minimum may be
applied to l.c.l. shipments between stations wholly upon one division, or for a
nearby station on a connecting division ; this to avoid the delay and expense of
handling to get the freight but a few miles beyond the transfer point. For
example: Should Sharon Heights have 4000 lb. of freight for Norton, they
would load in a straight car and card direct to Norton rather than to Mansfield
Transfer. Should Wallingford have a shipment of 4000 lb. for West Haven,

* When there is not required minimum for Mansfield or Providence, consolidate
with New Haven freight.

TRANSFER STATIONS 319

they would load in a straight car and card direct to West Haven rather than to
New Haven Transfer.

150. Ten thousand (10,000) pounds shall be the minimum on l.c.l. shipments
East or North bound from Westchester Transfer, Maybrook Transfer and West
Albany Transfer.

151. Eight thousand (8000) pounds shall be the minimum on l.c.l. shipments
East or North bound moving from one transfer station to another transfer
station except as above provided for Westchester, Maybrook and West Albany.

152. Stations from which way-freights start, and transfer or junction stations
to which l.c.l. shipments are forwarded for consolidation, are authorized to for-
ward peddler or way-cars with less than the 6000 lb. minimum, but must make
but one light-weight car for any one train.

153. The minimum of 6000 lb. established for l.c.l. shipments will not apply
to shipments of a perishable nature, the holding of which for the minimum
would result in claim for damage. Agents should use their best judgment in
loading and forwarding perishable freight.

154. Agents may disregard the minimum for l.c.l. freight and load a reason-
able quantity, less than 6000 lb., destined to a point on a foreign Hne if an empty
car home routed to that line is immediately available, but must use good judg-
ment to avoid the unnecessary use of cars for small shipments.

155. Agents may disregard the minimum for l.c.l. freight and load a reason-
able quantity less than 6000 lb. West or South bound to a point on this line,
carding direct to destination, providing an empty car moving in that direction
is immediately available, but must use good judgment to avoid detention of
foreign cars.

156. Cars loaded to visible capacity with freight such as paper boxes, baskets,
baby carriages and like articles not permitting minimum weight to be loaded may
be handled as car load.

Following the l.c.l. instructions are "Instructions for routing c.l.
freight to and from all stations — ^New York Division."

Route Car Load Freight From Stations

Piers 45 and 50, New York.

Harlem River, N. Y., to Stamford, Conn.,

New Canaan, Conn., to Stamford, Conn.,

Woodlawn, N. Y., to Mount Vernon, N. Y.,

Western Connections via Harlem River, N. Y.

New York Central & Hudson River R. R. via Port Morris, N. Y.

For the Territory Below, as Follows:
New York Division

*

Via Direct Route. — For all stations and Western Connections via Harlem
River.

Shore Line Division

Via Direct Route. — For all stations except stations Saybrook Junction to
Higganum which will route via New Haven and Saybrook Junction.

320 FREIGHT, TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Providence Division
Via New Haven and Midway, — For all stations except Worcester, Mass.,
which will route from Midway via Putnam.

Boston Division
Via New Haven, Providence, and Mansfield, — For all stations, except South
Braintree, Braintree and stations to Cohasset and Pemberton, which will route
from Midway via Attleboro and Taunton, and Needham and Upper Falls which
will route from Midway via Providence and Franklin.

Old Colony Division

Via New Haven, Midway, Putnam, and Worcester. — For stations Sterling
Junction to Fitchburg.

Via New Haven, Midway, and Mansfield. — For stations Norton to Lowell;
Farmingham to Marlboro and Clinton, and Canton to Stoughton.

Via New Haven, Midway, and Attleboro Junction. — For all other stations,
eijc*, ei/Ca

The whole is preceded by a general " Table of Contents " and a " List
of Freight Stations." This list gives the names of stations alphabetic-
ally, state, and division on which located. Then follows a " Geograph-
ical list of stations,'* under which the stations are listed according to
divisions and districts. To ascertain how a shipment should be handled,
the instructions are looked up under the originating point; l.c.l. or c.I.
as may be desired. This system replaced the "group system" a few
years ago and has been found much simpler and more satisfactory.

For simplicity, elasticity and attainment of satisfactory results, the
system inaugurated by Mr. C. H. Ewings on the New York Central,
has superior merit. Every freight station, transfer station, and way-
freight conductor is furnished with a set of loading orders showing the
several straight and way-cars that are to be loaded daily or periodically,
each order specifying how the car is to be carded, the time it is to be
closed, the proper train connections, the minimum tonnage limit (when
specified), and instructions in detail as to destination of freight to be
loaded into each car. A sample form for this purpose is shown in
Fig. 144.

new YORK CENTRAL & HUDSON RIVER RAILROAD CO.

Freight Transportation Department

Neiv York,

Taking Effect

Loading Order No

For Station,

(Superseding Loading Order No

(Fig. 144.)

TRANSFER STATIONS

321

Agents miist perforin the loading of freight at their stations when less
than car load lots in exact conformity hereto. No Modification of the
arrangements here called for, nor any additional regular service, mil be
permitted except when covered by a subsequent order.

A loading order modifying a previous loading order, affects only such
cars as are mentioned by reference number on the modifying order; a loading
order superseding a previous loading order, cancels the previous order and
modifications entire,

C. H. EWINGS,
Supt. Freight Transportation.

ABBREVIATION: W-way-car S-atraight car. D-daily. X-every two days.

Ref.
No.

Straight

or

Way

Card

Period Tonnage
Closing To Take ^^ Limit in Load as Follows

Hour Train Lo^.^^ p^^,^^

Many of the larger stations have orders in this manner covering
nearly 200 cars daily. Changes are not permitted in this arrangement
except by authority of the superintendent of freight transportation,
who issues a "modifying loading order'' when found necessary, or
desirable, which has the usual headings and using the same abbrevia-
tions, refers to the original loading order, specifying certain cars to be
modified. It consists of the same number of columns and similar
headings as the "loading order" which it is to modify. A "loading
order" and a "modifjdng order" for the train instead of the station or
transfer, is also provided with similar headings and abbreviations, but
consists of six columns headed:

1. Reference number.

2. Straight or way.

3. From train.

4. To train.

5. Card.

6. Load as follows.

These are intended for way-freight trains. The original orders are
printed in black; the modifying order in red.

The stations and transfer points make a daily report on a prescribed
blank to the superintendent of freight transportation giving in horizontal
lines the information under following column headings:

1. Reference number.

2. S. or W. (straight or way-car).

21

322 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

3. Car number.

4. Car initials.

5. Carded to destination.

6. Route.

7. Weight in pounds:

(a) Car load.

(b) Less than car load.

8. Schedule train.

9. Remarks.

It will be noted that this report shows both c.l. and l.c.l. and the
reference number corresponds to that shown on loading order, as
referring to l.c.l. cars. On the back of the form is a record of cars
received loaded with less than 5000 lb., and complete instructions are
contained on each blank.

The good feature of this report is that it enables prompt and intel-
ligent checking of loading, and the value of such checking is recpgnized to
the extent that the reports are actually checked, not with a view to fault-
finding, but for the purpose of assisting the station forces in correcting
errors and improving car loading. The co-operation of agents, conduc-
tors, trainmasters and others is secured, which insures the success of
the system. The information as to l.c.l. tonnage from and to each point,
is tabulated daily in blocks of five days, which are totaled and averaged,
and at the end of the month a grand total is made for the month and
average per car found. In this manner the unjust criticism of an occa-
sional, or exceptional light load is avoided. The supt. freight trans-
portation's office knows at all times whether the tonnage for straight
cars is suflSicient to warrant running them, or if the tonnage in way-cai-s
averages very heavy. If the latter condition exists, an analysis of
such way-cars is made and straight cars are established to certain
points to save work and overtime of way-freights. If assigned cars to
points on the line or beyond are running light, the traffic officers are
conferred with and, usually, the straight car is discontinued and the
freight loaded for transfer. The season of the year, the competitive
traffic conditions, the increase or decrease of manufactured products, or
other related factors, are taken into consideration in judging as to the
weight permitted as a minimum. Superintendents, trainmasters, division
freight agents, and commercial freight agents are encouraged to make
recommendations as to the loading and movements, and meetings
are held occasionally to consider possible changes for the benefit of
the service.

The yardmaster's consist report is essentially the form ordinarily
used for this purpose, giving the general heading showing direction of
movements being reported — ("Eastward") — train number, station,

TRANSFER STATIONS 323

date, leaving time, engine number, conductor's name, followed by the
specific information under column headings:

1. Cars:

(a) Initials.

(b) Number.

2. Contents. (E. if empty.)

3. From.

4. Slip-bill date.

5. Line.

6. DestintCtion.

7. Preferred freight (mark "X")

8. Arrived:

(a) Date.

(b) Time.

9. Delay in hours.
10. Cause for delay.

This report is checked against the station report of cars loaded to
see if cars go in the proper assigned trains. If the explanation for a
delay or failure does not seem reasonable, further investigation follows.
In this manner, a check is kept in the yard to see that cars are moved
as arranged by the loading order, which specifies train in which car is
to be forwarded.

The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western uses an admirable form for
summarzing the results of the operation of its transfer platforms at
Hoboken, Port Morris, Scranton, Binghamton and East Buffalo. The
cost per ton runs from 30 cents at the smaller platforms to 22 cents at
those with the greatest tonnage. The reports are reproduced in Figs.
145 and 146.

A recent magazine writer elaborated on our "intensive railroading."
It may be questioned whether our methods are progressive^ to say nothing
of '^intensive," until four things at least are changed and plans adopted
whereby we may:

1. Pool Freight Cars. — Standardization of cars may bring about
many advantages in addition to those claimed by the Master Car Build-
ers, and the simplification of the pooling of cars and settlement for
their use through a common clearing house. One advantage would be
the ability to place cars on tracks alongside each other, at transfer
stations and elsewhere, and match the doors without uncoupling or
"spotting," thus rendering unnecessary the island platforms now
utilized because cars are not of standard length. Increasing real
estate values, as well as the cost of construction and maintenance of
island platforms, make it desirable to avoid them. A large amount of
switching of cars and of empty car mileage would also be obviated by
pooling. Something has been said on this subject in Chapter IX.

324

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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326 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

2. Have complete consignment delivering data accompany each ship-
ment. Card bills accompany the car. They are meaningless and worth-
less beyond the mere piloting of the car to destination, and the side
card often accomplishes this. The regular and full waybill, containing
the information needed on which to deliver the freight, precedes or
follows the shipment, and frequently misses the mark altogether. Cars
are often placed for unloading and afterward displaced because the way-
bill is not at hand. It is not a business-like proceeding to do the physical
part of the freight handling and then not deliver the freight to the
awaiting consignee because the clerical part has been omitted or has
miscarried. The receiving clerk at a freight-house should make tripli-
cate or quadruplicate copies of billing, one copy of which should accom-
pany the car in which the freight is forwarded. This may be elaborated
sufficiently to have a copy of the original billing suffice for the final
delivery expense bill handed the consignee. A suitable receptacle would
have to be provided on the inside of every box car for this purpose.
A car placed at the final destination platform may be opened and freight
delivered, immediately after the wheels stop turning. Nothing short of
this is consistent or logical.

3. Handle freight on a piece-work basis at freight-houses and tran^s-
fers. This is already being done successfully at a number of points.
The system is fully described elsewhere.

4. Receive the package freight at and deliver it to the shipper's door in
large cities. This is the prevailing method in England and is fully de-
scribed in Chapter XXI. It is also done in some cities in the United
States and Canada, as explained in Chapter XXV. As land values in
large centers increase and as freight business becomes heavier, it is
essential that the handling of freight in houses shall be more rapid;
and that the houses be used to move freight through and not to store it.
When a company does its own teaming it increases its freight-house
facilities. It is a very common experience to find teaming companies
"lying by*' on rainy days, or during ice and snow storms, when lighter
loads have to be carried, or when they have an opportunity to obtain
a few days' hauling at more remunerative rates. They argue that the
outside contract may go to others while their railway work is always
there for them to handle at their own convenience. The freight-houses,
in the meantime, become congested.

CHAPTER XXIII
MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT

The ordinary two-wheel truck is one of the most useful implements
on railways. It has been used in some form since railways were first
built and it seems destined to remain for a long time. It is at once a
lever, turntable, conveyor and elevator. That it will be displaced by
other methods where conditions are favorable, is just as certain as it is
that the truck will be retained wheie it is better adapted to the purpose
then any other method of moving package freight from one point to
another.

Freight may be handled at houses or piers by:

1. Conveyors — roller, chain, belt, platform, etc.

2. Overhead traveling cranes.

3. Carrier systems.

4. Motor trucks.

Among the diflSculties in the way of satisfactorily handling freight
in ordinary houses are (1) the great variety in shape, size and weight of
packages; (2) the necessity for receiving out-bound packages from teams
at various points or doors; and (3) the necessity for moving in-bound
freight from various cars to many points in the house.

In discussing the mechanical handling of freight, consideration
must therefore be given to

(a) The utilization of all possible floor space for storage purposes.

(b) The transportation of freight from any point in the house to
any other point in the house — ^which includes delivery to or on wagons
at the doors — by mechanical means, rapidly and without interference.

(c) Handling of packages of various sizes, shapes and weights.
The means and methods of mechanically handling freight are so

rapidly developing that anything said on the subject to-day may be
antiquated to-morrow. Freight of one general class, such as flour in
barrels, ordinarily moving from one point to another, may be handled
satisfactorily and economically, on conveyors. For heavy moving on
usual paths, as on water fronts, the overhead cranes or gantrys may be
more advantageously used, although the most expensive to install,
because of the necessity for heavy wall construction of houses and
ample overhead clearance. Where the size, shape and weight of packages
vary, the overhead monorail, or carrier system, with independent motors
for lifting and propelling, is best adapted, but is also expensive and necessi-

327

328 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

tates heavy wall construction and overhead clearance. Recently tiie
motor truck, propelling itself on the floor of the house, usually with
storage electric battery for power, has made surprising progress and
promises a solution to the problem because of its adaptability to exist-
ing conditions, ease with which it may be transferred from one point
to another, cheapness, great operating economy, and safety.

The conditions to be met may be more clearly understood and accurately
represented by following the investigations and results of practical and
experienced men. Mr. J. M. Barrett, formerly Supt. of Terminals of the
Erie, gives the result of some interesting investigations:

"Our frontage (Duane Street station, New York) is 216 ft. We can back
up 23 wagons at one time. The bulkhead is 50 ft. from the wagons to water's
edge, with 5 openings to floats and barges. We tie up two barges and nine
floats containing 90 cars. The freight begins coming very slowly from 7 a. m.
and no freight is received unless the wagons are standing in line and the shipping
bills punched at 4:30 p. m. One day on which we checked the handling of the
outbound business, there was received:

Between 7 :00 and 8 ."00 a. m. 27 wagons,

8:00 and 9:00 a. m. 51 wagons,

9:00 and 10. -00 a. m. 64 wagons,

10:00 and 11 :00 a. m. 75 wagons,

1 1 .<X) and 12 :30 p.m. 79 wagons,

12:30 and 1:00 p.m. 32 wagons,

1 .00 and 2. -00 p. m. 77 wagons,

2 :00 and 3 .00 p. m. 85 wagons,

3:00 and 4:00 p. m. 116 wagons,

4:00 and 4:30 p. m. 142 wagons.

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At 2 :00 p. m. there were no wagons lined up waiting for berths : after 2 :00 p. m. ,
343 wagon loads of freight were received to be handled, distributed and started
from New York on floats at or before 5:30 p. m.; 748 wagons were received con-
taining 648 tons; the average tonnage per wagon was 1732 lb. and average pack-
ages per wagon, 18: total number of packages 14,192, which required 5702 loads
on hand trucks to take it from the wagons to the scales, and thence to the cars
or barges. This freight was distributed into 86 cars or barges. The packages
averaged 91 lb. per package and the load on each truck 228 lb. The average
was two and one-half packages per truck. The shortest trucking distance from
the wagons to the cars was 95 ft. ; the longest 773 ft. Loading began at 9 :20 a. m.,
stopped 30 minutes for lunch and finished loading at 5:30 p. m.; gang-planks
and other utensils removed from the floats and barges at 5:45 p. m.

The average tonnage handled by each man trucking freight was 1736 lb. per
hour or 6.7 tons during the actual working time. The number of truck loads
handled by each trucker was 7.6 per hour, or 59 during the working time. The
average distance each trucker traveled was 323 ft. plus the return distance with
empty truck. It required to receive and check this freight from the wagons,
10 men for 93 hours; to weigh and check the freight from the scales to the cars

- -H

MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT 329

11 men 83 hours, with 11 men calling off freight at the scale houses. 46.1 per
cent, of the total cost of handling the 648 tons represents the cost of the trucking
only."

It will be readily understood that this condition is a difficult one to
provide for by mechanical handling.

Mr. C. H. Stein, Engineer M. of W., of the Central of New Jersey,
discussed the general question as follows:

" The problem at the railroad terminal is a complicated one. All the freight
is in a chaotic condition. If it be at a terminal freight station it arrives from
many points, and must be distributed from a number of cars to specified sub-
divisions in the freight-house, or to teams that may be waiting to receive it, but
more frequently are not, and perhaps arrive just after it has been depositied at a
storage point in the freight-house. If it be at a transfer station, then a few
loaded cars placed in position must be transferred, the freight from them going
in all directions to a large number of cars assigned to different destinations. In
short, when the merchant or manufacturer receives his car-load consignments,
everything has been reduced to an orderly condition, and may be handled in a
systematic manner. On the other hand, the contents of the cars received at
the freight terminal or transfer station are in a state of chaos and confusion.
The very nature of the business compels this, and it remains for men made
expert by experience to rearrange the shipments and restore them to an orderly
state to accomplish the interests of security and promptness in delivery.

" Many forms of apparatus have been suggested, namely, platform conveyors,
driven by roller, belt or chain; overhead traveling cranes, telpherage systems;
combinations of telphers and traveling cranes. 'All of the various systems have
such definite and conspicuous limitations that the immediate future does not
offer us very much of a promising character. A machine, to be useful and
economical, must be practical, have a wide range of action, and be completely
under the control of the operator at high or low speed with light or heavy load.
It must not be too cumbersome, and the track layout must be such as to permit
a number of machines to operate without interfering with each other, going
or returning. It must also be reliable and not easy to get out of order. It
would be decidedly preferable for each machine to be an independent unit, thus
avoiding the possibility of occasionally entailing idleness upon the entire estab-
lishment, and a resort to trucking because of the failure of some main part of
the machine. I. feel that the system of several traveling cranes with cross
transpherers and electric hoists is open to this objection for freight-house or
transfer station work.

Conceive of a transfer station that I have in mind where 32 cars are brought
to a platform on each trip, and the contents distributed into 135 cars standing
on nine tracks ready to receive them. The scene presented is that at times the
truckmen are scattering in all directions to serve the various cars, and at others
a great number of them are concentrating at a single car. With the large
cumbersome traveling cranes, admirable machines in erecting shops and for
various other purposes, the operation would be impossible. If any part should
fail, it would tie up the entire station. It would not answer at all at a transfer.
Its efficiency would be greater at a freight terminal, but even there it has its

330 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

demerits, notwithstanding the application of the gliding and expanding switches.
A machine to be considered worthy of consideration would have to accomplish
everything that is now performed by hand trucks, and manual labor, at such a
rate of speed as to take care of the rapid increase in terminal and transfer busi-
ness, and return a reasonable interest on the investment, based upon the ori^nal
installation, changes made in station structure, depreciation of the machiner}-,
maintenance, cost of operation, etc. Otherwise stated, the investment made
would have to increase the capacity of the station, and every dollar spent in
operation would have to have so much greater earning capacity as to pay
the fixed and incidental charges and return a reasonable percentage on the
investment.

The present style of construction of our transfer and terminal stations is not
adapted to the installation of conveying machinery, except in a few instances.
It would thus become necessary to make a large expenditure to provide for such
installations. In many cases this would be prohibitive. It behooves us, how-
ever, to bear this in mind in the construction of all new buildings, so proper
provision in regard to strength and head-room may be made, based upon pos-
sible future developments. The device of the future will have to be such that it
can operate over the entire floor area, store the freight to a reasonable height,
and remove same again quickly, delivering to car or wagon. In the case of
pier sheds it would be necessary to deliver to cars, wagons or lighters. At
inbound and outbound freight-houses delivery would have to be made through
or around the freight-house between cars and wagons. At transfer stations,
cars standing to a large number on many adjacent tracks would have to be
reached, and movements of loads should not interfere with each other.

"The spacing of tracks at many of our transfer stations would not permit
of lowering the freight between cars. This would result in the necessity of
spreading tracks. In many cases the car storage room is already scarce and
insufficient, preventing track spreading. It might, therefore, eventually, in
the line of progress, call for the co-operation of the equipment designers to
provide freight cars with roof hatches at least as large as a car door and prefer-
ably larger. Some provision will be necessary for weighing shipments, which
must be done accurately and quickly, without interfering with other movements
of freight. Suspended scales would have to be located at points within easy
reach from all parts of the building and in the lines of least resistance.*'

The conveyor system is the simplest but is not adaptable to changing
conditions. At a transfer station it may be necessary to take the con-
tents of one car, often in small loads, into any of 200 cars or from any of
the 200 cars into one car, and there would be nearly 20,000 separate
paths or courses for the trucks, and yet this problem can be easily solved
by the use of the electiic carrier and movable by-path track. Although
the action of these electric carriers and trailers is almost continuous,
yet each train being independent, an accident to one does not stop opera-
tion for a minute.

There is still another type of machinery for handling freight between
variable points, the movable platform, which is used in two ways, (a) to

MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT

331

move the freight itself when loaded on the movable platform and (b)
to move the trucks on which the freight is loaded. Both methods
reduce the time and labor involved in moving the freight by hand over
long distances. A traveling platform level with the floor has been
devised, moving at slow speed, so that men, trucks and teams can cross
it. As proposed for an inbound freight-house of the Baltimore & Ohio,
the moving platform would form a belt line; one side would be near the
track side and the other near the team delivery side. Packages, or
trucks, from the cars would be dropped on the moving platform. The
house would be divided into sections, with a man to each, and each man
would pull from the platform the freight for his section as it passed him.
In another system, the platform would be a single line only, the return
side being underground. This was designed more particularly for
steamship piers, where freight delivered at the end or from a ship has to
be transferred for a considerable part of the length of the pier.

S^'PitchDla.

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Flush with Floor

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Fig. 147. — Traveling platform for freight handling.

A system of handling freight trucks b> a traveling chain has been
patented by a firm of conveyor manufactures, and is intended to reduce
the labor of the trucking in a longitudinal direction. The idea was to
devise a system that would provide for taking freight from any car along
the platform and delivering it to any other car, as conditions required.
In order to accomplish this it was found desirable to use the ordinary
hand-truck, with slight modifications, so that it can readily be wheeled
around from one place to another by manual labor when desired. The
truck travels upon a narrow-gage track, and is provided with special
attachments to engage an endless chain set underneath the track. This
driving chain lies entirely beneath the floor, and is out of the way. As
there is only a groove 1 inch wide in the floor there is no danger of
accidents and the floor is left entirely free to truck across or walk upon

332 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

at any time. An elevation plan and other details of a moving platform
are shown on Fig. 147.

Mechanical freight handlers, or conveyors, are in use for loading and
unloading vessels at Northern Steamship Go's wharf, Buffalo, adjustable
to height of tide and freeboard of vessel. Four continuous carriers, also
adjustable, are used by Southern Pacific at New Orleans and 28
at Galveston. A saving of $48 per day was effected at New Orleans,
which paid for the conveyors in a year — and in 7 years repairs and
maintenance did not exceed $500. A carrier, designed to handle tierces,
barrels and sacks between a sugar refinery and shipping wharf at Chicago,
435 ft. long, with adjustable end, having a rise and fall of 16 ft., handles
75 barrels of 700 lb. each, and will easily transfer 6000 barrels in 10 hours.
An endless carrier, 95 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, adjustable height, loads and
unloads vessels of Texas & Pacific at Donaldsonville, La. The New
Orleans & Western has a carrier at Port Chalmette, La., operated by
electric motor, with a capacity of 500 bales cotton per hour. A similar
carrier is in service at Butler Bros, warehouse, St. Louis, length 132 ft.
The Anchor Line has a freight conveyor at Chicago, arranged to handle
freight direct or on trucks, for the purpose of eliminating the services of
six or eight men who pushed loaded trucks from steamer up a steep
incline to the first floor of the warehouse. At Sydney, N. S. W., five
inclined conveyors receive wheat in bags from cars, elevate and deliver
it to a series of longitudinal conveyors which, in turn distribute the bags
to piles and also deliver it from the piles to automatic ship loaders.
These automatic loaders, four in number, receive wheat from the longi-
tudinal conveyors and deliver it to holds of vessels. The capacity of
the plant is 3600 bags per hour. The Boston & Maine has at Charles-
town, Mass., nine freight elevators — ^three in each warehouse — 5 ft. X
8 ft. platform, electric motor driven, with a capacity of 2000 lb. on each.

Overhead cranes and gantrys are serviceable when heavy, bulky com-
modoties are handled over constant routes and with slight variations in
distances. Portable gantry cranes are used on the Hamburg docks —
the best in Germany — which hoist the cargo from the hold of the vessel,
swing the load through a section of a circle of 180 degrees and deposit
it upon cars beneath the crane or upon car tracks between the crane
and the shed, or upon drays, or upon platform of the shed or warehouse.
In contrast, in loading a ship at Galveston, the freight is trucked by
hand to the inclined board and then hoisted by the ship's derrick. At
the Kuhwaeder Dock, Hamburg, 134 portable gantry cranes are in use.

The average cost of unloading and swinging upon the dock varies
from 2 to 3 cents per ton and English figures are given at less than
1 cent per ton. This includes all expenses and depreciation of the
machinery. The power used is almost always electricity, and the cost
of electricity is about fifteen one-hundredths of a cent per ton at 2 cents

MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT 333

per kilowatt-hour. These figures vary somewhat, depending upon local
conditions and the cost of the electric current, which varies at European
porta from 2 to 8 cents per kilowatt-liour.

In some cases it is stated that as many as 40 movements have been
performed within an hour, that is to say, 40 complete cycles. A com-
plete crane cycle, often mentioned in German Bgures, consists in hoisting
the load 50 ft., slewing 150 ft., lowering to the platform, raising, slewing
back and lowering the hook to the starting point. Twenty cycles per
hour can easily be accomplished. The number of cycles depends largely
upon the operator.

Fig. 148. — Carrier systera, Richmond, Va. — Old Dominion Steamship Co.

Carrier systems are becoming more numerous and in their develop-
ment many of the difficult features are being overcome. Many concerns
are now manufacturing them; some are prepared to install them in large
houses, guaranteeing a saving in the cost of handling that will pay the
entire installation cost in from 1 to 2 years, depending on amount and
kind of freight to be handled and difBeulties in construction.

It has been asserted that certain prominent manufacturing com-
panies would agree to furnish overhead electrical appliances, which
would transfer freight 1500 ft, at a cost of 5 cents per ton for that portion
of the work which is now costing more than 25 cents.

English figures condensed from an article in the " London Electri-
cian," September 13, 1907, are given at leas than 0.5 cents per ton tot

334 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

discharging 1000 tons general cargo, with cranes of 3 tons capacity,
this being the total expense of crane work.

An overhead runway system is in use at a steamship pier, and is to be
used by the Baltimore and Ohio. A pair of trolleys riding on an elevated
runway carry a frame with hoists for raising and lowering trucks or
wheeled platforms. Current for electric traction is taken from an over-
head wire, and an attendant riding with the machine controls the trav-
eling and hoisting movements. This system has been in operation
for about 4 years on the pier of the Old Dominion Steamship Com-
pany, at Richmond, Va. It handles 3-ton loads between the wharf and

Fig. 149.^Carrier system, RicbmoDd, Va, — Old Dominion Steamship Co.

the railway warehouae and cars. Two views are shown in Figs. 148 and
149; in one the hoist is seen elevating a load of 3.5 tons of sugar from
the port of a steamship which the telpher (.'onveys a distance of 500
to 600 ft. to the warehouse; in the other view truck loads of bags in
transit are seen, moving from warehouse for unloading alongside of
cars. It is said to show a great saving in cost over the old hand-truck
method, besides being able to handle freight more rapidly and with
much greater ea.se. One operator does the work formerly requiring
the services of 16 men.

A telpherage installation has been designed for the Bergen freight-
house of the Erie Railroad. Sectional and detailed views are shown

MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT

336

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT 337

in Figs. 150, 151 and 152. This house has three platforms, each 1400
ft. long, and three telpher tracks (one over the center of each platform)
connected by loops at the ends. Ten telpher machines operating at one
time on the three tracks, all machines following each other in the same
direction around the loop, would provide for a movement of 1000 tons
of freight per day of 20 hours. Each machine is expected to make one
round trip of 3000 ft. in 6 minutes, at the rate of 10 trips per hour.
The average speed would be 500 ft. per minute, including all stops and
slowdowns, and the maximum speed of traveling 1500 ft. per minute.

The cost of handling freight in the above manner has been figured
at 5 cents per ton. This is based on carrying an average load of only
1000 lb. at each trip, although the machines are to have a maximum
capacity of 2000 lb., which seems sufficient to handle the bulk of the
freight. This cost per ton is also based on electric power supplied at 4
cents per kilowatt-hour, and a telpher rider at 20 cents per hour. This
does not include the labor for loading the freight onto the trucks and
placing them beneath the telpher runway, nor for unloading the trucks
and replacing them under the runway.

The Memphis Warehouse Co. has overhead trolley tracks (Breck
system) for handling cotton. The trolleys are not motor-driven, but
the tracks have a slight grade so that the load moves by gravity. The
grade begins at the beginning of the inbound platform and extends
through the plant to the end of the outbound platform, a distance of
about 1.25 miles. The arrangement permits of placing four — or even
six — trains of 25 cars each at the inbound platforms at one time, with-
out "spotting.'' This makes it possible for one yard engine and
crew to do the work, while ordinarily three or four engines would be
required. There are about 3 miles of the trolley runway and 6 miles
of railway tracks. The cost of handling by the telpherage system is
said to be only about one-eighth of the cost of teaming. The company
has an extensive cotton warehouse and compress plant, with storage
capacity under cover for about 125,000 bales.

The latest development of the overhead trolley system, in an effort
to reduce terminal costs, congestion and time of handling l.c.l. freight
is the installation in the double-deck St. Louis freight-house of the
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Terminal Co.

The ground floor is given over to cars and the one above to the
receipt, delivery and storage of freight. Connection and . transfer
between the two floors and any point of the building are made by a
telpherage system having monorail runways across the line of the tracks
and suspended from the second floor ceiling over hatchways leading to
the lower floor. Transferring from one runway to another is done over
leads at each side of the house. Telphers enter and leave the leads by
means of automatic electric track switches. Seventy-five per cent, of

22

338 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

the l.c.I. freight handled ia outbound, and the design has been worked
out to provide a capacity of 1,000,000 lb. in 5 hours. The present instal-
lation provides for the loading of 77 cars, and is arranged for easy expan-
sion. Freight of a very diversified character is handled at this terminal,
including all the classifications and varieties of packages usually found in
shipments to and from a large city.

This freight station is a two-story structural steel building having:
brick walls and reinforced concrete floors. It is 232.5x403 ft. in plan,
and, with the 16 tracks, automobile shed and incoming switch tracks,
occupies two and one-half city blocks.

On the ground or track floor the building is enclosed only on two
street aides. Twelve stub tracks ending at Mullanphy Street enter from
the open north end by a ladder system having four branches. Each
track has a capacity of nine freight cars, but under normal conditions
receives only eight. The tracks are spaced in pairs opposite 11.25 ft.
island platforms between columns supporting the building. Trucking
through the cars is thus eliminated and the column spacing of 3S.25 ft.
definitely fixed. The platforms are wide enough to permit two trucks

MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT 339

to paes conveniently. Very little longitudinal trucking is anticipated,
as transferring from car to car will be done by the telphers up through
the hatchways and down to the receiving car, which may be in
any part of the building. The 4800 ft. of trackage under cover provides
for 117 cars. Four team tracks to the east of the building for both in-
and outbound freight have a total capacity of 60 cars, 20 of which are
served by a moving 12-ton gantry crane having a travel of 400 ft. These
tracks are used to a large extent for shipments of heavy machinery and
other bulky freight requiring an entire car for one or seveial pieces.

An interior view of the telphers on runways above hatches Is shown
in Fig, 153; the interior of team floor in Fig. 154, from which the arrange-
ment of the hatchways in the platform over the train platform of the
lower floor is clearly indicated. The small piles of freight are loaded

Fia. 154. — Interior of team floor, St. Louis Termin&l — Missouri, Kansas & Texas.

on wheeled platforms which are picked up by the telphers. Several
runways are shown; at the left of the view in Fig. 154 one of the switches
may be seen connecting the longitudinal with the transverse runways.

On the second floor there are four driveways 38 ft, wide, extending
across the width of the house. Adjacent to the driveways are four
platforms, two wide ones, 82x230 ft. providing storage for inbound
freight aa well as for receiving outbound, and two narrow platforms,
42X217 ft. primarily for outbound freight. Driveways extend around
the inside ends of the narrow platforms to facilitate the movement of
drays.

Telpher runways pass longitudinally above the wagon platforms or in
the direction across the tracks of the lower level, two runways being

340 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

suspended over each of the two narrow platforms and one of the wide
ones, and four runways over the remaining wide platform. Each of these
runways connects with lead tracks at the two sides of the building.
Hatchways through the wagon platforms are provided below the runw^ays
over each car platform in the lower level so that there is a hatchway for
every two cars.

Numerous experiments, observations and measurements have been
made to determine unit movements by the old system of hand trucking.
The methods successfully tried out are being adapted to the new condi-
tions. Some of the results are given below. The 1600-ft. total length
of platforms which is available to handle the 500 tons of freight in 5 hours,
the capacity for which the station is designed, is more than double the
length heretofore used. The driveways are placed the short way of the
building, as it has been observed that short driveways do not become so
congested as long ones. A width of driveway has been well established
elsewhere at 38 ft. but was checked up in St. Louis by numerous measure-
ments of dra}*^ both as to width and length. The unit movement.^
ascertained by the new system are very uniform:

Average number of truck loads handled per day by each man, MT.

Average pounds on each truck, 225.

Average tonnage loaded in each car, 8 tons.

Average number of cubic feet in each car, 288.

Average time weighing a truck load on beam scales, 30 seconds.

Average time weighing a truck load on automatic scales, 10 seconds.

Average length of teams and drays, 18 ft.

Average width of drays, 6 ft. 3 in.

Maximum width of drays, 8 ft. 6 in. ; minimium, 5 ft.

These averages are based on a total of 1,000,000 lb. freight handled.

The method advocated by several railway operating officers as being the
most practical for handling the small freight, is by providing stoutly con-
structed portable platforms of convenient size, having chains attached to
the four corners, which could be swung from the hook of the crane. Several
of these could be placed conveniently near the door where a car was
being unloaded and the freight deposited directly upon them by men
who were breaking out the car. The platforms could then be handled
either by the trolley hoist or the traveling crane, or both, and set down
at any spot in the freight-house where it might be desired to place them
for storage, or (platform and all) placed directly on the wagon waiting
to receive them. The size of the platforms could be made to conform as
nearly as practicable to the average size of the ordinary transfer truck
or wagon. It could be so designed as to allow for the mechanical hand-
ling of freight along the lines indicated and with rapidity and economy of
operation which should reduce by at least 50 per cent, and probably more,

MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT

341

the expense that is now incurred in the ordinary inbound house, where
the freight is handled entirely by hand. This same idea could be enlarged
and elaborated upon in connection with combined freight and storage
houses, where it is desirable to utilize two or three floors of the building.

The motor truck is the youngest member of the mechanical freight
handler's family but possibly the most promising. It is a development
and an adaptation of the power trucks used in the new Grand Central
and Pennsylvania passenger terminals at New York and elsewhere for
handling baggage.

A very thorough test has been given the motor trucks by the Erie
at Jersey City where 20 storage battery vehicles are in use, and reduced
the freight handling force from about 80 to something like 30 men.
The truck in use there has 50-in. wheel bases — ^36-in. gage — ^four wheels,
16-in. diameter. Unlike the baggage trucks it is controlled from one end
only and is steered by the wheels at one end, the well-known feature of
the rear wheels on the baggage trucks turning in the opposite direction
from the front wheels, being omitted. The Erie ordinarily uses 14
trucks as a maximum, handling 45 cars of transfer freight on floats and
75 to 85 outbound car loads daily, ranging from 600 to 800 tons. The
following is a tabulation of the results of the work of these power trucks
at that point:

COST OF HANDLING FREIGHT AT DOCK 6, JERSEY CITY TRANSFER, ERIE RAILROAD

Compariaon of the cost during period that storage battery trucks were in use, with same period
the year previous.

With storage battery trucks

With hand trucks

Month, 1911

Tons

April I 13,640

May I 13,829

June 14,382

July I 13,617

Aug , 14,428

Sept ' 14,877

Oct 15,095

Nov ' 14,312

Dec 13,000

I

Total 127,078

Decrease 13,332

Cost

$1,418.88
4,165.11
4,128.39
3,888.05:
4,129.29'

I 4,191.73'
4,305.72

' 4,268.99
3,934.10

I $37,410. 35
' 17,247.98

Cost
per ton

.324
.301
.287
.286
.286
.282
.285
.298
.303

.294
.095

Month, 1910

Tons

April 15,252

May 14,872

June 15,812

July , 15,083

Aug 16,102

Sept I 16,041

Oct 16,956

Nov 15,506

Dec 14,786

Total 140,410

Coat

$6,015.97
5,727.07
5.979.77
5,801.88
6,190.32
6.289.75
6,615.10
6,142.03
5,896.44

Cost
per ton

.394
.:i87
.378
.385
.384
.392
.390
.398
.399

$54,658.33 .389

NoTB. — The above coat in 1911 with storage battery trucks, includes running repairs, viz., material,
current and electricians.

The electric storage battery trucks were installed at Dock 6 in the month of April, 1911, 20 of them
being purchased for this purpose. The cost of handling freight at that point for some years previous,
is given below. Freight-handlers' wages from 1903 to 1909 were at the rate of .185 per hour, in 1901-10,
.155 per hour, and in May, 1910, increased to .175 per hour, most of them, however, getting .17 per
hour.

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

COST OF HANDLING FREIGHT AT DOCK 6

1903-4

51.026

t7£ .024.00

1004-8 '

47,274

66.005.90

43,277

64.621.35

1900-7

50,930

70,881.35

1907-8 '

6G,5Se.01

45,832

56.372.64

1009-10 1

71,983

62,607.83

1910-11 .;

37,435

S3,61S.43

The greater part of the freight is handled Iwtween 6 p. m. and 10 p. m.
The truck controller is arranged for five speeds — the maximum about
10 miles per hour which is ordinarily used. The trucks attain this
speed quickly and may be stopped in a very short space. They are
run through the cars and into the ends of cars, being backed out by
reversing instead of attempting to turn. The cost of handling freight
has been reduced 30 to 35 per cent.

On pages 344, 345, 346 and 347 are tabulations of an exhaustive series
of experiments with an electric motor, storage battery, freight truck at

Fig. 155. — Electric motor, storage battery freight truck.

the Providence, R. I., freight transfer platforms, outbound houses,
inbound houses and steamship piers, respectively. The figures indicating
general results are tabulated and require little explanation. This par-
ticular truck was tested on a carefully measured incline of 15 per cent,
ascending grade, and by loading with pig iron, gradually increasing the
load; it demonstrated its ability to ascend the grade with 6750 lb, load,
and stopped and started with that weight of load, A general view of

MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT 343

FiQ. 156. — Electric freight truck, loaded, inside a box ci

Fia. 157. — Electrio freight trudc entering a box car.

344

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

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'^

348 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

thia truck la ahown in Fig, 155 and in aervice in Figs. 156 and 157. In
Fig. 158 it is conveying^about eight times the quantity of freight pushoi
out of the vessel's hold by two laborers,

Fia, 158. — Electric freight truck unloading vessel.

On a large New York pier, two motor trucks, during a period of 20
working days, of 11 hours' aervice, each performed average daily service
as follows:

Mileage 13.6

Tons handled 225.0

Tons per hour 20.3

Loads handled 230.0

Length of haul, average 1585.0 ft.

Pieces per load, average 29 . 8 lb.

Weight per piece, average 88,5 "

Time per round trip, average 2 , 89 minutes

Time to load, average 58 . 00 seconds

Time to unload, average 60.3 seconds

Men in gang 8

The Merchants & Miners Transportation Company has 20 electric
trucks in operation on ita Savannah, Ga., pier, of which Mr. W. P. Coria,
Superintendent of Agencies, saya:

MECHANICAL HANDLING OF FREIGHT 349

"The performance records of 13 power-truck loads, after four weeks' opera-
tion, as compared with 13 hand-truck loads, handling similar commodities and

traveling the same distances, were prepared by me personally. The average
weight of electric-truck load was 1531 lb. distance, traveled 748 ft., time con-
sumed 5 minutes 23 seconds, 13S ft. distance per minute, while the hand-truck
load averaged 400 lb., time 4 minutes, 46 seconds, 156 ft. per minute. The
figures for average time were obtained by cutting out one power truck and one
hand truck and timing them. The electric truck made seven stops, distributing
freight around the houses, while the hand truck made but one stop. The results
show 383 per cent, in favor of the electric truck, in weight handled, and 11.3
per cent, in favor of hand truck in time consumed. The electric truck handled
about 8 tons per hour as against 2,5 tons for the hand truck. In movingfreight

Fig. 159. — Inclined drop elevators, used by Merchant 4 Miner's Transportation
Company,

from freight-houses to the warehouses, an average trucking distance of 1170 ft,,
the work was performed for a fraction over 9 centa per ton, and at 17 cents
with the hand truck, a saving of 47 per cent., although these are conditions
peculiarly favorable to the power truck, considering the long distance run. At
our Savannah terminal the average trucking distance is 637 ft,, measured from
center of main discharging berth to average of all the warehouses. Varying
tides produce inchnea from ship's upper "between decks" to the pier surface,
of anywhere from zero (level) to 37 per cent, ascending. On the extreme
grades the trucks are assisted by inclined drop elevator for power economy.
About 70 per cent, of our work can be done by power trucks; the remainder

350 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

being handled by hand trucks. Cost for current has averaged 11 cents per
truck per day."

The view in Fig. 159 is of the inclined drop elevator referred to b^'
Mr. Coria and in general use by the Merchant & Miners Company.

A record of about 7 months at the Bush Terminals, Brooklyn, N. Y. ,
with a number of battery truck cranes, has been satisfactory.

This apparatus is a flat car with a swinging crane, operated by a l>ton
electric hoist at the forward end, while a storage battery supplies current both
for driving the vehicle and the hoist. The crane can* hoist material and deposit,
and serves as a locomotive to draw cars.

For simple hoisting, the machine is brought into position, the brakes are set,
and the vehicle remains stationary as the boom of the crane moves back and forth
between the picking up and depositing points. By this method 300 castings,
aggregating 65,000 lb., were unloaded from a gondola car in 5 hours; a box car
was loaded with sixty-four 800-lb. barrels of plumbage in 25 minutes, and four
cars were loaded in 2.5 hours, the latter work including spotting the cars.

When material has to to be moved less than 400 ft., or in small quantities, the
article is lifted by the hook, conveyed to its destination by the vehicle, and place<l
wherever desired. By this pick-up-and-run method, sixty 800-lb. barrels of
plumbage were moved 300 ft. in 1 hour, one helper only being required, and one
hundred and fifty 500-lb. boxes of rubber were conveyed 75 ft. and loaded into
a box car in 50 minutes. For shifting large quantities of freight over great
distances, the truck is used as a locomotive, drawing a train of flat cars on which
the material is loaded. The train consists of from two to four trailers.

The following represents an average week's work at towing trailers in the
Bush Terminal, deduced from the logs of a number of ^hese machines operating
over a long period :

Number of packages handled 7,570

Average weight per package 230 lb.

Average distance packages were moved 900 ft.

Total weight handled 1,270,000 lb.

Per cent, of total time machines worked 80

Packages delivered each working minute 3

Number of different jobs worked on 30

Heaviest single load drawn 12.5 tons

Cost of operator, interest, depreciation, power . . $24 . 00

Cost of moving 1 package 900 ft 1/3 cent.

Cost of moving 1 ton 900 ft 3 cents.

The present development in the general application of machinery
to handling freight is not altogether satisfactory, but rapid strides are
being made; and with the, more general use of electric power, the ease
with which it may be transmitted and the flexibility with which applied,
much will be done in this direction during the coming years. As a
factor in i educing the cost of terminal handling it is important; and it
is to the terminal handling that we must look for the greatest
opportunities.

•

CHAPTER XXIV
THE FREIGHT AGENT

The duties devolving upon the station agent are complex. The
kinds of stations and their importance vary; the qualifications of the
men in charge must therefore differ. The large terminal station and the
small country stopping place are two extremes; nevertheless, the agent
at the small station is in many instances the most important member
of the railway's family. His duties are as numerous and varied as those
of the yardmaster and he is the medium through which the commercial
part of the business with the public, is conducted.

There is no one employee in a railroad's ranks who, in this one
essential alone, can do more to make or unmake the status of the road's
relations with the public. The passenger conductor may come next
but his position has an advantage over that of the agent. He runs into,
or reaches, a general terminal as a rule and can therefore be readily
directed or instructed by personal interview as well as by circulars and
bulletins, and his duties are so uniform that a hundred conductors may
be told the same thing. The agents are scattered as to locality and
their duties cover a very wide range. It is frequently difficult to inter-
view them and, as each one has individual characteristics or is surrounded
by peculiar local conditions, he must be treated separately. The traffic
may be peculiar to his territory — as for instance, in the case of granite
quarries — and he has no nearby precedent to follow. The shippers may
have peculiar ideas; they may have been permitted certain privileges
which, if objectionable, must be withdrawn diplomatically; and local
or state laws may affect the situation.

To enumerate the duties of the smaller agent would require a large
book. The duties of the larger agent are even more exacting although
somewhat specialized. Both are required to meet the public and in their
dealings with it, must exercise discretion, patience, and diplomacy. In
the small towns especially, where the road's officers do not have many
opportunities to coach him, the agent may be inclined wholly to the
side of the public and forget his duties to his employer. He should
always remember that his first obligation is to the road employing him,
and that loyalty to the road does not in the least detract from his stand-
ard of citizenship. The greatest, and probably one of the commonest
mistakes an agent may make, is simply to answer questions, after declin-
ing something or discontinuing a privilege previously enjoyed by a patron,

351

352 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

without carefully explaining the reasons or necessities. The simple
statement "Those are my orders" merely aggravates. A train may
be late; a shipment fails to arrive; certain switching cannot be done;
there is usually some reason — good or bad — ^for the failure. While the
agent is not personally responsible for such failure, it will go a long way
toward creating or strengthening good feeling between the company
and its patrons if he will take a little time and trouble to explain the
situation. Very few persons are so unreasonable as to find fault or hold
a grudge against a railroad company, if they know there is a reason for a
failure and that the employees, as well as the officers, are sufficiently
interested to explain it. It goes without saying that nothing should
be misrepresented, but this does not mean that the blackest side alone
should be presented. Agents should not be influenced or prejudiced one
way or another because some unreasoning or unthinking person indulges
in abuse of the road or its officers; they should remember that the custom
of denouncing railroad corporations is a common habit of demagogues
and others who are ignorant of true conditions, and who usually follow
the lines of least resistance.

In an address to an association of agents, Mr. J. M. Daly, General
Superintendent of Transportation of the Illinois Central, said:

"The position of agent is a very important one. You handle the entire
business of the railroads. Every dollar that we earn is handled through
your office. In the State of Illinois we have 417 industrial corporations that
employ expert traffic managers to look after their railroad service. Most of
these men formerly were employed by railroads. These gentlemen make a
specialty of rates and service on from one to three commodities and devote their
entire efforts to obtaining the best possible service at the lowest price. These in-
dustries keep a detailed record of the movement and service afforded each indi-
vidual shipment, the small shipper or receiv^i; of freight is equally anxious for
prompt and efficient service and must receive the same attention. It is true that

frequently unreasonable demands, and requests are made on you In

winter the public moves its traffic by team during daylight hours, 8 a. m. to
4 p. m. — 8 hours out of 24 — and demands increased free demurrage time,
whereas the shipper who is obliged to wait for cars (that are detained by the
consignee) demands damages in the shape of reciprocal demurrage. In meeting
these conditions, it is well to explain and make known our position. Shippers
demand that we furnish our cars to load for distant points on foreign roads
where we lose possession of them, the foreign roads holding and using our cars
locally as long as desired. The average shipper and consignee does not under-
stand and consequently cannot appreciate the difficulties we labor under, and
the company must depend upon you, gentlemen, to make it known to them, not
with a view of finding fault, but in the same friendly manner that shippers make
known their conditions to us.

"If a patron asks you what train connections he can make with other roads,
figure it out for him, and, if necessary, use the wire to get it for him. If a shipper

THE FREIGHT AGENT 353

asks you why it is that the rate on his hay or his live stock is 25 cents per hundred,
whereas the rate to the coal or lumber dealer is 5 cents or 10 cents between the
same points, reason it out with him; show him where coal loads 50 tons to the
car and live stock only 10 tons; further, that live stock is moved in fast trains
hauling less than 20 per cent, as many revenue tons as coal trains. The public
is not informed on such matters, and if you are patient and careful in explaining,
you make a friend to yourself as well as to the company. I have attended
quite a number of investigations made by the different State legislatures, the
State and Federal commissions, and firmly believe these gentlemen aim to do
what is just and fair, but they receive information on but one side of the case —
that of the public — and their opinions are formed accordingly. Bear in mind
at all times that a complaint from a patron shipping one car a year is as important
as a complaint from a shipper giving us a hundred cars, and that the small
shipper has an equal influence in any organization of which he is a member.
If you, by giving him facts, convince him that we are doing our best to protect
his interests, you will find that he will be our friend and co-operate with us. If
the local agents will get together with the shippers and discuss their grievances
carefully, I am satisfied that eight out of ten cases now brought before the com-
missions and legislatures could be disposed of in your conferences and never
reach the commission. The average shipper is fair and wants only fair treat-
ment, and when he is shown that he is receiving fair treatment he will be satisfied."

As the adjustment of a terminal to the conduct of the period of
heaviest traffic coupled with adverse weather and other conditions,
measures the ability or efficiency of the road, so the true measure of the
agent himself, his organization and his plant, will show up most effectively
during heavy freight movement, and particularly when this occurs
during a period of unfavorable weather when teamsters postpone haul-
ing freight out of houses and cars, while the railroad must of necessity
continue to haul it in. During such times of heavy pressure agents
must exercise the utmost tact while firmly insisting on patrons removing
freight promptly on arrival. Frequently a careful explanation of the
situation in a personal interview with a heavy shipper will result in
securing prompt and hearty co-operation. The agent who has the re-
spect of the community has no great difficulty in such cases; he is the
agent who has made himself popular by being at all times courteous and
considerate. He is not the one without the moral courage to defend his
company and state facts courteously but plainly when imposition is
attempted or denunciation indulged in.

The conduct of the smaller, or so-called "one-man station" needs
little on the question of organization beyond a reminder, possibly,
that even there much work may be saved and more satisfactory results
achieved by working systematically; having a place for everything and
keeping everything in its place; a time, so far as practicable, to do certain
work and keeping ahead of the work. No freight shduld be delivered
without a proper receipt. Freight unloaded should always be checked

23

354 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

by the agent and conductor jointly and shortages, overs or damages
certified to jointly and immediately. No "over" freight should be
permitted to remain on hand any length of time without calling the claim
department's attention to it. Tracers for lost freight should be given
actual attention; not treated in a perfunctory manner. " Order-
notify *' shipments should be invariably held until the bill-of-
lading is presented; waybills should be very carefully scrutinized to
avoid overlooking these "order-notify" notations, which are the source
of much trouble to the agent. Outbound freight should be inspected to
see that proper classification is observed; that freight is properly crated
and plainly marked; rules for handling of explosives and inflammables
observed and the goods carefully and securely loaded into cars to prevent
damage in transit.

Automatic couplers accompanied by increasing size and weight of
locomotives and cars increase the liability of damage to freight and make
necessary greater care in loading and in switching. Freight-house men
must be taught to load large cars with package freight so as to prevent
shifting. After part of such a car is unloaded, the remainder must be
arranged to avoid shifting.

In attempting to reduce the damage to freight in transit — and it
is a big field — ^the panacea is undoubtedly more inspection and supervi-
sion of a more intelligent character. British railroads employ many in-
spectors and their system is well worth imitating.

Some of the smaller matters the agents should look for to reduce
claims, and, what is more important, to satisfy patrons, are in the loading.
Cases have been known where meat recently killed was loaded on butter,
covering the tubs with blood. Machinery was loaded on flour or sacks
of sugar. Agricultural machinery was loaded on top of an automobile.
Flour is frequently damaged by being loaded In a car with a leaky roof.
Wet sacks of flour should be re-sacked; very little around the edges is
damaged and sticks to the sacks. It should be handled promptly or it
will become mouldy. After unloading part of a car, the remainder should
be broken down so it will not fall and be damaged if the car is moved.
An agent once left a piano under the eaves of a freight-house where it was
damaged by rain.

There has been a tendency, on the part of shippers of late years,
gradually to discontinue the full marking of packages. Nothing causes
more loss of freight, or delay in reaching destination. There has also
been a general indifference to properly crating; and weaker packages
are being used. Boxes and sacks are made of thinner material, crates
are substituted for boxes, and sacks are used by some shippers for articles
which should not be shipped in them. Every package, bundle or piece
in an l.c.l. shipment, should have:

THE FREIGHT AGENT 355

Consignee's name in full.

Bill-of -lading destination in full.

State in which destination is located.

If more than one station in same state of same name, full name of
county.

All previous shipping marks obliterated.

Shipper's name and location, with the word "From" preceding them.

A package may be fully marked in so far as name of consignee and
destination are concerned, even the street address being shown; yet it
may be more or less confused by being surrounded by a multiplicity of
other information. This may cause the loss of the package or a delay in
delivery.

The presence of the shipper's name is of assistance as a means of
identification of a package and is of great value when it is refused
or unclaimed by consignee, as in all such instances the shipper can be
promptly notified, and if date of shipment and case number are shown,
he can also be given this information, which will enable him at once to
locate the particular shipment involved. When shipments are made at
regular intervals or short periods the presence of the date of shipment
and the case number prevent any uncertainty as to which lot one or
more packages belong, in case they check short and reach destination on
the same date or subsequently to a later shipment.

Carelessness in not properly marking frequently causes misdelivery,
as in the case, not long ago of a bale of hay on which there were no
shipping marks attached to it in any manner. There are various
kinds and qualities of hay; the average shipper ships any of it as a
"bale of hay" and it is so written in the waybill. When the local
freight rolls up to a station after losing time — its usual habit — the
conductor, hurriedly glancing over the waybills, sees these is a bale
to be unloaded for John Smith.* The car door is opened; he sees three
bales and as all look alike to him he unloads the handiest one and goes on.
A little further down the road he unloads a second bale for Bill Jones
and before reaching the end of the run he unloads the last for Tom John-
son. Now, in this special episode, John Smith ordered a bale of number
one timothy and when he received a bale of number two he was mad
clear through; thought the shipper was trying to cheat him and so wrote
him. Bill Jones had ordered a bale of number two timothy and got the
bale of clover that Tom Johnson ordered and when Tom got the bale of
timothy that John Smith ordered, both were hotter than hornets and
took to letter writing; and before the afifair was over everybody,
including the claim agent, had hay fever — ^all arising from the lack of
proper marking on the bales.

* This story and other information was obtained from a pamphlet "Why Freight
is Lost or Damaged," by A. C. Kenly, of the Atlantic Coast Line.

356 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Some shippers of hay slip the tag bearing the marks under one of the
wire bands. It should also be tied to it, as there is always the chance
of its working out, thus leaving the bale without marks.

The cut Fig. 160 represents the ordinary method of shipping small
orders of stoves. It is well known how easily cast iron is cracked or
broken by a blow or falling article. Depict this article in a box car of a
hundred thousand pounds capacity, surrounded and overtopped — for

\

Fig. 160. — Ordinary method of shipping stoves.

nothing can be piled on it — ^by a miscellaneous assortment of articles
ranging from an inoffensive sack of flour to a box of hardware stowed
high above it, which may fall on it with deadly effect at any minute,
being thrown from its apparently secure position by the swing of the
fast-moving train around a sharp curve or by the shock of the sudden
application of the brakes.

The group shown in Fig. 161 represents another source of petty
claims — broken chairs. Those of value should be crated; cheaper

THE FREIGHT AGENT 357

chairs should be shipped "knocked down" in full or part and set up at
destination. No unprotected article should be shipped unless of a
nature to withstand the ordinary wear and tear of transportation.

Fio. 161. — Improper method . ehipping house-hold furoiture.

Fjo. 162. — Improper packing of spokes.

The exhibit in Fig. 162 is an example of the improper packing of

the articles shown and applies to all similar articles, showing the con-
dition in which a great many bundles reach their destination; many
spokes are lost and claims necessarily follow.

J

368 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

V The indiflFerence of the ordinary manufacturer or jobber to proper
and safe packing and marking, is almost incredible. He will spend very
large sums in extensively advertising his wares and in sending salesmen
out, but after the goods are once sold he seems immediately to lose all
interest in them. A pleased customer must be one of the most valuable
assets to a manufacturer as well as to a railroad company; the customer
who does not get his goods promptly and in good condition is certainly
not satisfied. The agent has an extensive and important work to
educate shippers at his station in these matters and to keep himself
informed as to the company's rules relative to marking, crating and
packing; and conveying such information to the shippers.

Interstate Commerce Commissioner Harlan, in an address before
the Conference Committee of the Freight Claim Association, Nov. 20,
1909, said:

" In my judgment, it is not only the common law right, but the duty of a carrier
to refuse to receive shipments that are not adequately marked. It owes that
duty to itself and it owes that duty to other shippers who desire to use its facili-
ties and to get prompt service, relieved of the embarrassment and delays caused
by the failure of other shippers to mark their packages clearly. It may be that
upon further reflection I shall be compelled to another view of the matter but,
as at present advised, it seems to me that even though a railroad carries in its
tariffs no rule to that effect, no court would compel a carrier to receive a shipment
that was not properly marked, or so clearly marked as to enable it to make
delivery promptly and without additional labor. I think the commission will
so hold in the case now before it. It will, as I think, object to a tariff rule that
permits a carrier to charge a higher rate because packages are not properly
marked, but will rather insist upon the view that it is the carrier's duty not to
receive parcels that are not properly marked."

CHAPTER XXV
OPERATION OF FREIGHT HOUSES

At small stations the freight house is usually of the "combination"
type, in which both inbound (arriving) and outbound (departing)
package or l.c.l. freight are handled; while at large stations one or more
houses may be in use for inbound, with similar separate facilities for
outbound freight.

The administrative and supervisory organization of a freight house
differs according to the size of plant, its general arrangement and the
local method of conducting the business. In general terms, the agent
(with possibly an assistant) requires the services of a chief clerk, a
cashier, chief bill clerk, and as many supporting clerks as the volume
and characj^er of the business demand. The larger stations are here
considered because the smaller stations require so many and varied duties
that each one may be a story in itself.

A general house foreman is in direct charge of the freight-houses, and is
usually assisted by a foreman for each inbound house, each outbound
house and the transfer station, if they are extensive and separately oper-
ated. In smaller and compact layouts, one foreman may suffice for all.
Each house, including the transfers, has one or more trucking gangs. The
number of men in a gang varies according to the distance to be trucked,
size of house, etc. A stevedore is usually provided for each gang to stow
freight into the car or to break it out. A tallyman for each gang checks
the freight with the waybills on inbound; receiving clerks receive outbound
freight from teamsters and check it with shipping bills; mark it and
observe if the rules for handling explosives and inflammables are com-
plied with and that the proper tariff classifications are followed. Usually
more men are needed in the inward house during the forenoon and in the
outward house during the afternoon; and it becomes necessary to bal-
ance the force carefully as may be required. In some instances men
have been advantageously transferred one or two miles on street ears
or by other means of conveyance, where the houses were that far apart.

Byers, in his "Economics of Railway Operation" estimates the value
of some thirty freight stations, including tracks and driveways, at
$12,000,000; these stations handled about 1,000,000 tons of bulk or
car-load freight and 400,000 tons house fi eight a month at an average
expense of $166,000 for station forces and switching, to which was

359

360 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

added $104,000 for interest and depreciation — 10 per cent, on value of
plant — giving an average expense per ton for handling freight;

Interest and depreciation 28.6 cents

Station force and shipping 41 . 5 cents

Total 70.1 cents

He concludes there is no general relation between freight-station
areas and tonnage handled as affecting ton-cost and he cites a Baltimore
freight station with an area of 330 sq. ft. per ton of freight handled —
at a cost of 44 cents; a New York house 150 sq. ft. and 56 cents; a Jersey
City house 170 sq. ft. and 95 cents; a Chicago house 340 sq. ft. and 98
cents a ton. Design and management seem to be the controlling factors,
although with the best management the cost may be high, due to the
peculiarities of the business a;t that terminal.

In figuring the cost of handling, interest and depreciation are
not included. There are as many methods of computing cost of
freight handling as there are of computing cost of car handling. One
large railroad system has ruled that "all freight-house labor that is
employed in receiving, loading, unloading, delivering and transferring
freight, should be included; and the wages of house foreman, assistant
foremen, receiving clerks, loading clerks, assistant loading clerks, delivery
clerks, tallymen or checkers, stamp men, transfer clerks and checkers
(not including men on records), sealers, stevedores and freight handlers
or truckers."

The Local Freight Agents' Association, in 1902, adopted this classi-
fication:

I

1. General Supervision — consisting of general foreman, assistant
foremen, clerks and such watchmen and sealers whose work extends
over warehouse,, platform and team yards.

2. Supervision and Clerical Work — consisting of:

(a) Warehouse. — Foremen, clerks, receiving checkers, loading and unloading
checkers, delivery checkers, weighers and watchmen, and sealers not included
under general supervision.

(b) Platform. — Foremen, clerks, loading and unloading checkers and watch-
men, and sealers not included under general supervision.

(c) Team Yards. — Foremen, checkers and watchmen, and sealers not in-
cluded under general supervision.

3. Labor — consisting of:

(a) Warehouse. — Loaders, packers, truckers, coopers.

(b) Labor. — Loaders, packers, truckers, coopers.

(c) Team Yards. — Laborers engaged in loading and unloading package
freight on team tracks.

They also recommended the following tonnage classification:

OPERATION OF FREIGHT HOUSES 361

Warehouse Freight, — General merchandise received and forwarded; includes
handling from cars to teams and from teams to cars.

Platform Freight, — Freight transferred at platform from car to car or checked
from and returned to same car. «

Team Yard Freight, — Freight handled from cars to teams or taken from
teams to cars, when supervision, checking or labor is furnished.

To arrive at the total number of tons handled credit should be taken but
once for the actual number of tons handled in receiving and disposing of the
freight.

The cost per ton for handling is to be obtained by dividing the tonnage ob-
tained as above into cost for labor at warehouse, platform or team track.

Total cost per ton for operation is to be obtained by dividing the tonnage
obtained as above into the total cost for supervision, clerks and labor at ware*
house, platform and team tracks.

The Local Freight Agents' Association, in 1904, interestingly dis-
cussed the loading of freight. One member described the so-called
"drop truck" system, in which the trucker leaves his empty truck and
takes one loaded in the car or at the dray. He also objected to the
"double check" and "double handling" usually employed when receiv-
ing clerks check, inspect and receipt for freight at the dray; and loading
clerks rehandle and recheck when consignment is sent to the car instead
of accepting the check of the receiving clerk alone. He claimed the
loading clerk was duplicating the work of the receiving clerk which
made it expensive, and that there was a further waste of time when
truckmen waited for their loads; that shipments should be received,
inspected, weighed, loaded on trucks and receipted for at one handling,
doing away with the labor of a receiving clerk. He accomplished this
with the "drop truck" system, by which the trucks, as soon as checked,
loaded, weighed and packages marked with chalk for the car into which
they were to be loaded, were dropped near the center of the warehouse
or platform and conveyed to the car without delay to the truckmen,
as they made their regular rounds. This requires a larger supply of
trucks; from four to six trucks for each truckman. A competent check
clerk with a good attendant or truck piler placed in charge of one, or as
many more doors as he can take care of, to receive, receipt, inspect,
weigh and load freight at one handling. The drayman presents shipping
bills for what he has on his dray. Each shipment should be loaded on the
dray together at shipper's wareroom, in order that it may be checked
and loaded on truck to advantage when received. As freight is received
from the drayman, and loaded on the trucks, it is inspected as to condi-
tion, description and marks, and called to the checker near by, who
checks with the shipping ticket received. It is then weighed and marked
with a number designating car into which it is to be loaded, for guidance
of truckmen in distributing the loaded trucks to the cars. All the move-

362 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

ments of a double check being concentrated into one transaction, gives
the check clerk in charge ample time to keep watch of the movements of
truck piler, check articles called, secure correct weights, note exceptions,
consider all points necessary in receiving and loading of freight, insert
on shipping ticket retained for billing clerk, number of car and initial
in which loaded and issue receipt at once. This is done in a systematic,
thoughtful and business-like manner; the public is served promptly and
satisfactorily, at the same time held in check against questionable
methods of transacting business and chances for errors and disputes are
avoided or reduced to the minimum. Such a system can be applied
advantageously at any of the minor shipping points by employing any
slack time of check clerk and piler in conveying the loaded trucks to
cars and bringing back an empty truck in return, and at the same time
keep in close touch with receiving doors.

Another member described his method of handling as follows:

"We have a warehouse about 750 ft. long and comparatively narrow; we
work twelve check clerks; each has three doors, and a "picker" to assist him.
The freight is handled from the wagon. The picker, with the assistance of the
drayman, loads a truck, hauls it across and has it weighed; and the check clerk,
who has the ticket, calls the number of the car to which the shipment is to be
trucked. The picker check marks the shipment on his truck, " 1701," for in-
stance, and runs the truck out in the center of the warehouse and leaves it. He
gets another truck and continues until he has unloaded the wagon. Our truck-
men are not worked in gangs. The truckman gets a load of freight and takes it
to 1701, or any other spot and leaves it there, where he usually finds trucks.
If not, he walks directly across the warehouse and finds empty trucks, taking
them with him if he needs them for unloading another wagon."

In the Grand Trunk's Toronto freight yards, all tracks are numbered,
the house tracks running from 1 to 8 and the team tracks continuing up
to 18. The latter are accessible to teams directly from the street. For
the guidance of teamsters, the team side of the outbound house has the
different doors marked with lettered boards, to indicate where goods are
received for various "runs" and such goods are accepted only at the
proper doors. On the inside of the doors on the track side of the house
there are boards to indicate the runs and tracks. All doors are numbered.
The cars on the house tracks are spotted in placing, to give free access to
each car and to the transfer platform. The five outbound tracks are
divided into sections or train loads, to obviate unnecessary switching.
The trains to be despatched first are placed at the outer ends of the
tracks to facilitate movement and avoid disturbance to the work of
loading.

Gang checkers direct the movements of the men. A list is made out
each morning showing cars and location and copies furnished to the
checkers. Truckers are given numbers and are directed by a checker,

OPERATION OF FREIGHT HOUSES 363

who chalks packages to show what trucker handles them and in which
car they are to be put, as well as the number of the track on which the
car stands. For example, a package for trucker No. 81, car No. 14, on
track No. 3, is chalked "81-14-3." This enables the stower to locate
errors in placing. Each stower has two tiers of cars — ^ten in number —
on the outbound tracks and attends to the loading of these cars by the
truckers. Carloads of cartage freight are delivered on the team tracks,
Nos. 11 to 18, checkers in charge handling the goods direct to teams.
Tracks Nos. 9 and 10 are used for outbound carload traflSc, which is
loaded direct from the teams, the freight being weighed on team track
scales.

The simplest system of loading freight is that known as the verbal.
The tallyman receiving and weighing the shipment, instructs the trucker
to take it to a certain car; on his return the trucker repeats the car
number to the tallyman, whereupon he checks it off on his waybill.

Many freight and transfer stations are introducing, with varying
success, the system of handling freight and paying for it on the tonnage
basis — an application of the "piece work" system. The success of this
method and the details for working it depend largely on the class and
cost of labor and the kind of commodities handled. There are various
methods under which this may be worked; among others is that of taking
a careful record of the handling of the freight and figuring on the cost
per ton. One rate is usually made for package freight and another for
carload or bulk freight. At times other rates are made for certain kinds
of commodities which run heavily. A record is then kept of the number
of tons handled by each laborer. In some cases the men pool the work
and the amount is paid in a lump sum to the foreman or leader of the
gang employed. The work may also be let out on the contract basis at a
stipulated rate per ton to the foreman or a contractor, who in turn makes
his own bargains with the laborers. No attempt should be made to
lower the actual cost of handling materially. The company's advantage
consists in securing fewer and better men and in eliminating the labor
agitator or disturber. It also resiJts in quick handling of freight, as the
men will hurry or work overtime when necessary. In practice it has
been found that the cost per ton for handling freight is quite like in
amount to the rate of wages, figured on the hourly basis.

The use of a rubber stamp, to stamp on each package received, the
date, approximate hour and car from which unloaded, has been the
means of securing the delivery of many pieces of freight that would
otherwise have found their way into the pile of unclaimed freight, and,
later, into the "old hoss" sale. Many packages may be traced to an
originating point in this way, where the entire absence of marks would
otherwise indefinitely "sidetrack" it.

At freight-houses large, easily read signs should be placed at openings,

364 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

indicating the points for which freight is received at such openings, and
freight for such destinations as go into any one car should be kept together.
Cars should have placards or numbers attached, to indicate the destination
or destinations, and the cars should be so placed as to permit the least
possible trucking of freight. If a series of tracks is used, with trucking
or landing platforms between the cars on the tracks, a compound numer-
ical designation may be used, the first number (separated from the second
by a hyphen) indicating the track, and the second the order of the car
on the track, counting from one end of the house. Thus: 1-10 indicates
car 10 on track 1. A painted sign-board or "flag" box is hung on. this
car, lettered "1-10," and all freight for it is marked "1-10" with a
crayon, or a card accompanies it, bearing that number according to the
system employed. The return ballot system requires a trucker to go
into the car, deposit his freight and take from a hook inside the car one
of the checks marked "1-10" and return it to the checker who loaded
the truck.

Still another system designed to insure the loading of freight into
proper cars and prevent its going astray, requires the use of a checking
machine and booth for each checker. It has been successfully used,
especiaUy at stations and piers where shipments originate. The trucker
passes the checking machine and presses a lever which throws out a card
giving the flag number of the car into which the freight is to be placed
and a consecutive number for tracing purposes. The same movement
also stamps the waybill and adds the date on its face. The trucker
deposits his check in the flag box on the outside or on the door of the car.
These boxes are kept locked while the cars are being loaded. After the
day's loading has been completed the agent or his representative unlocks
the boxes and goes over the checks. If any checks are in the wrong
boxes it indicates improper loading, and by reference to the waybills
the shipment and its destination may be located, and by wiring the first
transfer point or station at which the car stops, the freight may be recov-
ered and started in the right direction. At some stations the flag box
is used without the machines. The trucker is given a check with the
flag box number for each load. This he deposits in the locked box, and
an inspection afterward will reveal if any stray freight is in the car. The
tracing is somewhat more complicated.

The Chicago & North- Western has in operation in its Chicago freight-
houses a method of loading and unloading l.c.l. freight which has
been worked out in minute detail. The principal freight-houses are at
State Street, Grand Avenue, Wood Street and 16th Street. The State
Street house receives from and ships to the Galena division, and the
Grand Avenue house, from and to the other two divisions. Wood Street
is a transfer freight-house for freight to and from connecting lines deliv-
ered in cars, and Sixteenth Street for connecting line freight for the

1

OPERATION OF FREIGHT HOUSES 365

North- Western delivered by teams. The mixed freight (except perish-
able) from the road for connecting lines received at Wood Street is there
distributed into the proper foreign cars. Practically the only freight
for Chicago received at either Wood Street or Sixteenth Street is in car-
load lots for delivery on near-by team tracks.

The State Street outbound freight-house loads cars for all points on
the North-Western Line, large deliveries in l.c.l. lots being made at
the house daily by teams. Five tracks of 18 cars each, 90 cars in all,
are loaded at a time. The 90 cars are divided into 19 "runs" of five
cars each. The first run is made up of the first car on each of the five
tracks; the second run comprises the second car on each of the five
tracks; and so on, up to the last or nineteenth run. Each run is in
charge of a stevedore who is entirely responsible for correct loading.
To make his responsibility complete, freight is not wheeled into the cars
by the truckers. They leave the loaded trucks on the freight-house
platform just outside the door of the first car in the run. Then as the
stevedore takes each piece of freight into the car himself, all mistakes
in loading can be traced directly to him. It is also his business to exam-
ine each piece of freight for its actual destination instead of depending
on the marker's chalk marks which are intended solely for the direction
of the trucker.

New York, Boston, Philadelphia, West Albany Transfer, Buffalo,
Cleveland, Pittsburg, Alliance, Columbus, Ft. Wayne Transfer, the Erie
Despatch, Lackawanna Despatch and Merchants Despatch Transporta-
tion Co., are among the eastern points and the fast freight lines which
load straight cars for Wood Street. These cars contain nothing but
freight for points beyond Chicago on or via the Chicago & North-
Western. A mixed car, for instance, containing merchandise, part for
some point on the Chicago & North-Western, the rest for Grand Avenue
or State Street, Chicago, would be returned to the connecting line for
proper loading. Straight cars from connecting lines are switched at
Wood Street to the proper westbound track for handling by transfer
trains. Foreign cars of mixed freight are run into the freight-house from
the east end on ^ track running through the center of the house. They
are then unloaded and their freight reloaded into cars for the road, those
from the Galena division being on the four tracks at the north side of
the freight-house and those for the Wisconsin and Milwaukee divisions
on the four tracks at the south side. As the front cars in the house are
emptied, the whole line is piJled through, the empty cars detached at
the north end of the line and the whole process repeated. If it is neces-
sary to unload at once more connecting-line cars than the number which
this track inside the freight-house will hold, extra cars may be unloaded
at the south end of the house, where there is a platform 30 cars long.
About 125 cars of such mixed merchandise freight are received daily from

366 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

connecting lines. Some 60 or 70 of these cars are daily sent back to
their home roads after having been loaded with connecting-line freight
which comes in mixed cars from points on the North-Western Line.
These mixed cars from the road are unloaded on platforms at the east
end of the house.

The accompanying loading plan shows the arrangement of cars loaded
for the road at Wood Street, (Fig. 163). Each numbered space represents
a ear. Runs 1 to and including 14 on tracks 1 to 4 inclusive are on the
north side of the house and are cars for points on or via the Galena

!, Chicago — Chicago 4 North-
division. Runs 16 to 31 are on the south side of the house and are
cars for the Wisconsin and Milwaukee divisions. As will be seen from
the chart, most of the cars are way or peddler cars which run on through
trains to the beginning of their respective territories and over their
territories on way-freight trains. On these cars it is, of course, important
that freight for the first station in the peddling territory be loaded next
the door. Straight cars, on the other hand, such as the one for Elgin,
Run 6, Track 1, or the nine for points west of Omaha, Runs 1 to 9,
Track 4, are loaded with no care for any special arrangement inside the
cars. The runs are the same as at State Street, but instead of marking
with chalk on a box of freight destined for Elgin, "6-1," as would be

OPERATION OF FREIGHT HOUSES

367

done there, the trucker is given a ticket (Fig. 164) which would be
filled out in this case: Run No. 6, Box No. 21. A tin box with a number
on it is hung on a nail in each car. The box in the Elgin car is box
No. 21, because counting from the first car on the first track and across
and so on down it is the twenty-first of the Galena-division cars. Simi-
larly Run 17, B<3x 67, is a way-car from Oshkosh to Neenah over the
Wisconsin division, and is the second car on the third track south of the
house and, counting in the way described, the sixty-seventh car from
the first car on the first track of the Galena division.

,ar«M.T.

BUH HO.

PIE0S8 OV:

OHEOXOLEBX

No. L

C. A N-W., Woo4 St

FiGi 164. — Trucker's ticket used at Wood Street freight-house, Chicago — Chicago &

North- Western.

The unloading of each foreign car on the track in the center of the
house is done by a gang of seven men, a checker, caller, and five truckers.
The checker makes out a ticket for each piece of freight as it is brought
out of the car. This the trucker takes along with him and drops into the
box of the designated car when he deposits the freight in that car. Be-
fore the train leaves for the road, an inspector goes into each car and ex-
amines all tickets to see that no mistakes have been made. There is a
stevedore for each run who, although he does not himself truck the

368 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

freight into the cars as at State Street, is responsible for its being in the
right car and for its arrangement in the car. The weight of each piece
in each car, taken generally from the waybill or as weighed when taken
out of the foreign car, is recorded on a slip by a clerk in the office and the
total tonnage unloaded from that car credited to the gang which did the
work. Instead of being paid by the hour, as at State Street, the check
clerks, callers and truckers are paid on a tonnage basis, the amount actually
handled from each car being credited each to the checker and the caller
and divided equally among the five truckers. A minimum day wage
is paid in case the tonnage payment falls below that amount, but this seldom
happens. The system is said to have worked satisfactorily both to the
company and to the men. The same system has not been applied at
any of the other freight-houses because at all of the others freight is
received by teams, and by collusion between truckers and teamsters some
men would be able to make large earnings on the tonnage basis by getting
all the heavy freight to carry, while others would handle only light freight
and would make correspondingly low wages. At Wood Street the
freight is trucked just as it comes from the cars and each set of truckers
has exactly the same chance.

The 103 cars designated on the Wood Street loading chart are the
very least number of cars loaded in any one day. The average at W^ood
Street is about 130 cars per day. The extra cars not designated on the
chart (most of which are usually "straight" cars, for instance extra cars
for San Francisco or Minnesota Transfer) are set for loading on the tracks
in places represented by the blank spaces on the chart or on available
tracks at the east end of the freight-house.

These 130 cars average from 15,000 to 20,000 pieces of merchandise
daily. A careful record shows that the mistakes in loading amount
at most to one-tenth of 1 per cent., or about 15 out of the 15,000 to 20,000
pieces handled. This is quite remarkable in view of the fact that mer-
chandise received at Wood Street comes out* of foreign cais indiscrimi-
nately instead of as at fi eight-houses used by the public where it is delivered
at the most convenient door by a teamster who knows the arrangement
of the house and the destination of his goods and who keeps his ship-
ments separate for loading.

At 5 p. m. the boxes are taken out of the loaded cars, the doors are
closed and sealed, and the cars are ready for the road. The connecting
line cars are closed at 6 p. m. In addition to the road cars loaded in the
house, solid cars loaded on near-by team tracks go out of Wood Street.

An unique method of instructing illiterate truckers is successfully
employed on the Panama Railroad. The truckers are of all nationalities.
Ninety per cent, of them cannot read nor write but none are color-blind.
At each terminal the steamship line and the railroad have checkers. A
negro works with them calling freight, and, when traffic does not run

OPERATION OF FREIGHT HOUSES 369

heavily, he also marks it. He has a tin tray, a brush, holders, and a
number of smaU pots containing paints of different colors. A truck
comes up containing a box for a certain destination, Callae, for instance —
and a stroke of yellow and one of green is applied. The trucker proceeds
to the car on which a placard is hung with corresponding colors. A
package going into the wrong car will show whether the painter or car
stower made the error. At Balboa, crayons are being tried instead of
oil paints.

In unloading freight, the waybill check or blind tally may be used.
Each method has its adherents. In the waybill check, the tallyman
checks oflF each package or lot of packages opposite the waybill entry for
same. It is possible of course, for a careless checker to mark off packages
or items for which the freight is not at hand, or to check oflf items mechan-
ically before the freight is unloaded. In the blind tally, the tallyman
uses a blank sheet upon which he enters the marks of all packages taken
out of the car. The waybills are afterward checked with the sheet. . A
little more labor is involved, but those who favor this method claim that
it insures a closer check than that afforded by the waybill check.

The practice as to weighing package freight differs. At some stations
all shipments are weighed; at some stations it is the practice to weigh
occasional or suspicious shipments, or those from shippers known to be
unscrupulous; at other stations weighing is done spasmodically; at still
other points there is practically no weighing done. Packages of known
weight, such as flour in barrels, sugar, coffee, are seldom weighed.
Weighing adds to the cost of handling and tends to delay shipments, but
it should, nevertheless, be done, except in the case of standard packages
of known weight. At a western freight-house, where package freight
had not been weighed, it was found the estimated weights were nearly
20 per cent, too low. The loss to the road was enormous. The tend-
ency of the times backed up by the policies of the Interstate Commerce
Commission is to weigh all freight. The general question is fully
discussed in Chapter XIV.

The ordinary process of handling inbound package, or l.c.l. freight-
house is to place the cars opposite the house, unload the freight, and
truck it either to teams direct or to the proper section of the house.
Bulk or car-load freight is handled on team tracks direct from cars to
teams or vice versa. The usual practice is to first unload perishable
freight, i.e., market produce, butter, eggs, etc. This is accomplished,
as a rule, between 6 and 7 o'clock in the morning. The house is
generally divided into sections alphabetically. The teamster hauling
John Smith's freight will, for instance, go to the door nearest section
"S." In some cases his freight when unloaded is placed in the section
nearest the car. This saves house trucking, but requires the teamster
to go to different doors, and frequently to several doors, for one load.

24

370 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

He then locates his freight by the information given on the freight
receipt or at the cashier's office, where he pays the freight bill. In
unloading from the car the freight is usually compared with the waybill^
accompanying it, checked, and shortages, overcharges, or damage noted.
When the teamster gets his freight he receipts for it to the delivery clerk.

Outbound freight is delivered at a certain door, the number of ^''hich
indicates the destination. Large shipping concerns are usually furnisheii
with a house lay-out, showing door numbers for different destinations.
In this manner the hand-trucking distance from the team to the car is
reduced and much cross-trucking in the house avoided. The receivin^^
clerk signs the delivery receipt, which is the bill-of-lading. As the
freight is loaded into the car it is checked, and from this check-slip it i^
billed out at the agent's office; that is, the waybill is made. After the
cars are loaded they are sealed with the station seals, the numbers
thereon showing where the car was loaded. A side-card is placed on
each side of the car giving point of shipment, destination, car number
and initial, weight and route, for the guidance of the yardmaster and
conductors. The regular waybills which show additionally the rate.s,
amounts prepaid or to be collected, names of shipper and consignee, are
usually mailed to the delivering agent or the transfer station direct and
forwarded by passenger train.

The National Industrial Traffic League, in April, 1907, distributed a
circular among its members, containing this good advice about marking
freight :

"We desire to call special attention to the vital importance of having aJl
packages of freight for less than car-load shipments legibly marked and so marked
as not to be obliterated by the ordinary risks of transportation.

" When necessary to use tags for marking, they should be strong and durable,
made of rope manila, paper or linen, preferably the latter, and should be either
sewed securely to the package or tied to it by a wire tie.

Also dray tickets and bi 11 s-of -lading should be made out in a clear and
legible manner. Examination of the files at railway stations show^s that excess-
ive carelessness exists in this regard in very many firms, the shipping tickets
being made out in the most slipshod fashion, so that in very many cases billing
clerks must guess at name of consignee, destination and articles.

'^We are making complaint to the railways regarding the incomplete
and sometimes illegible character of expense bills We cer-
tainly cannot expect this reform to be accomplished unless we do our own
part." .....

One of the troubles in a freight station is the enormous amount of
impatient telephoning of inquiries regarding freight arrivals. This
has been successfully met in the Toronto office of the Canadian Pacific,
where the clerk at the telephone has constantly before him copies of the
arrival notices made out for each consignee on the arrival of freight, and,

OPERATION OF FREIGHT HOUSES

371

these being suitably assorted alphabetically, he can usually answer a
telephone inquiry from any person or firm in 20 seconds or less. The
notices are classified, not only under each letter of the alphabet, but also,
when necessary, by subdivisions under each letter.

When waybills arrive, the clerk who makes the expense bills uses
carbon sheets and makes four copies at one writing. One of these copies,
the "No. 4/' which is called the office record, is handed at once to the
clerk in charge of the cabinet at the telephone, who assorts all of the
sheets received and puts them in the proper pigeon-holes. Then, on
receipt of an inquiry, for example, from the T. Eaton Company, as
quickly as the clerk can turn and catch the letter "E" on the horizontal
line. Fig. 165, and letter "A" on the perpendicular line, he is enabled im-

s

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H I

J

K L iH — '

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K

k

1 ^J^

•

^^

^

/

(

»

;

L/

..^-«— -~'

I

^

w k

/

\

Fig. 165. — Cabinet for holding freight arrival records.

mediately to locate the proper pigeon-hole and get the necessary infor-
mation. The "No. 4" being a carbon of the "No. 1,'' all information as
to date of arrival, date of shipment, number and kind of packages,
weight and charges, are right before him, so that all questions relating
to the shipment can be answered intelligently. In the event of goods
not being in and consignee wishing to be advised by phone when they
do arrive, a pink slip is used; the information being inserted in it as to
date shipped, kind and quantity of goods and the consignee's phone
number. This "pink" also serves the purpose of a directory for keeping
track of inquiries made by transient persons when, together with the
information above referred to, the street address is also inserted. When
the goods finally arrive and the No. 4's are being distributed into their
proper places, if a "pink " is discovered in a pigeon-hole, the consignee
is immediately notified.

The same consignee may phone, "when will our goods be delivered?''
This may be answered as quickly as any of the other questions. When
the delivery clerk passes over the sheets to the cartage company the
"No. 3" is retained for the accounting department, but before these are
passed to that department the inquiry clerk takes them and in spare
moments takes out the corresponding "No. 4" and places it in the "Z"

372 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

space at the bottom. All he then has to do when he fails to find a *' No.4 "
in its proper place is to look in "Z'' and he is then in a position to Jcnow
whether the shipment has passed out and is on its road for delivery.

At the close of the day the " Z's" are taken out, tied together, dated.
and sent to the record room. If taken from one pigeon-hole after another
in regular order, they will be found when tied in alphabetical order.

If a consignee has inquired several times and it seems desirable to
start a tracer, the **pink'' with the information obtained at the time of
the first call, is still in the pigeon-hole and is available for quickly making
a memorandum which can be handed to the tracing clerk, thus saving
the consignee all unnecessary trouble.

The work in the freight-house includes that very large ingredient, '
the 0. S. & D. (over, short and damage) clerical tracing either independ-
ently or in conjunction with and for the general freight-claim department.
Unfortunately there is a gi-owing tendency to handle or trace claims in a
most perfunctory manner. This is largely due to the lack of initiative or
ingenuity displayed by the claim offices, and the ease with which they
fall into the way of doing the work in a routine manner.

In Chapter XXI, the store-door delivery system of the railways of
Great Britain is described. This method can be worked to advantage in
many large freight terminals in this country, particularly where houses
are frequently congested, because teamsters haul spasmodically or irregu-
larly, being easily affected by weather conditions or opportunities to
obtain more remunerative employment for a brief period of time. The
freight-house, they argue, can wait. In Baltimore, Washington and
Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Ohio railroads have
already undertaken their own draying by either operating the cartage
companies direct or by contracting with them. The usual rate is from
1 to 3 cents a hundred weight at each terminal, the cost being included
in the freight rate.

In Montreal, the Grand Trunk railway delivers and receives freight
at the shipper's door, having a contract with a cartage company for
that purpose. The system was evidently introduced because it was an
English custom. The city is divided into zones for cartage purpose, to
adjust the rates equitably. The cartage company receives an average of
60 cents per ton, of which 40 cents is recollected from the shipper, the
railway losing the remainder. For instance; a package weighing 500
lb., on which the freight is 20 cents per hundred would be billed at 22
cents, or $1.10 for the shipment. The cartage company signs bilJs-of-
lading for such freight as it collects and is responsible for it until deliv-
ered to the railway company at the freight-house; and it receipts to
the railway for inbound freight and assumes responsibility for it between
the freight-house and consigner's place of business.

The arrangement used by the Grand Trunk, the Canadian Pacific

OPERATION OF FREIGHT HOUSES 373

and the Canadian Northern in Toronto, is similar. As in Montreal, the
cartage only applies to the first five classes. The rate charged shipper
is 2 cents per hundred, with a 15-cent minimum. The cartage company
receives 2.5 cents and 15 cents for small packages. The railway wins
out in keeping its freight-houses cleaned up. The cartage company is
under obligation to furnish enough teams to keep freight moving rapidly
from the houses; when short they immediately employ outside teams
to assist, for which they usually pay $3.50 per day, and it is estimated
each team will, under the rates in effect, earn five to six dollars per day.

CHAPTER XXVI
REFRIGERATING, VENTILATING AND HEATING

The supply of ice annually used by railroads is enormous. It is
required for cooling drinking-water in depots, offices, shops, passenger
cars and for icing refrigerator cars in transit. Independence of local or
outside ice companies is essential. Unless manufactured ice* is used, it
is desirable to locate storage houses and icing plants on lakes or ponds
and reship to consuming points as may be necessary. Care should be
taken to locate the storage buildings where they will not interfere \srith
future railroad development. Preferably locations should be at the
source of supply, arranged to enable trains to pull away from and stand
clear of the main tracks while being iced.

A supply of ice for two water coolers in each passenger coach, sleeper
or chair car, will require from 30 to 40 lb. for each car. This lasts about
16 hours in summer and about 24 hours in winter — although the ice in
heated cars will melt nearly as rapidly in winter as in summer. From
1000 to 4200 lb. is needed to charge a refrigerator car for a run of two
days to a week, depending upon temperature and whether car is in
motion or standing. At small stations, 30 lb. per day is required ; at
large stations, 75 to 125 lb. Shops will use from 200 to 1000 lb., accord-
ing to number of men employed.

In computing ice storage capacity, allowance must be made for shrink-
age. In brick or concrete houses, this will run about 10 per cent. In
well-constructed frame houses it will be slightly more. Shrinkage in
large houses is less than in small ones. If natural ice is depended on,
short or missing crops must be considered.

In figuring on capacities and consumption, a cubic foot of sea-water
ice weighs 64 lb.; rain water ice 62.3 lb. and pure solid ice averages
58.7 lb. On the basis of 58.7 lb., 34 cu. ft. are equivalent to a ton of 2000
lb.; or 38.25 cu. ft. to a ton of 2240 lb. Ice is usually assumed to weigh
60 lb. per cubic foot, making 33.3 cu. ft. to a ton of 2000 lb. Allowing
for voids and irregular packing, 36 cu. ft. will be a better figure for
estimates.

In construction of ice houses or storage of ice, non-heat conducting
walls are essential. There should also be ample ventilation on top of
ice, good drainage at the bed, and proper appliances and arrangements
for handling and stocking the ice economically. The best-designed
houses have walls with air spaces, or spaces filled with sawdust, shavings,

374

REFRIGERATING, VENTILATING AND HEATING 375

ashes, or other non-heat conducting material. Less heat will be
absprbed if outside of building is painted a light color or white-
washed. Sawdust or salt hay are good materials for covering top of
ice, to prevent contact with air.

•Refrigeration plants are very generally used. Ice can, in many in-
stances, be manufactured and sold cheaper than it can be harvested,
stored and then transported to market. Mechanical refrigerator cars
are used to a very limited extent and have not been generally adopted,
because of high first cost, the complicated arrangement, and the care
necessary for their successful operation. Stationary refrigeration plants
require much supervision; and as the time of service is of short dura-
tion, the railroads have generally left their construction and operation
to shippers. Refrigeration is used only for transportation of fruit, vege-
tables and meats, freight which is essentially seasonable in character.
Perishable products are transported with ventilation or icing, or a com-
bination of the two. Bananas require a mean temperature of 68^;
other fruits require temperatures ranging from 34 to normal. Meats
are often frozen.

Pre-cooling plants for handling fruits — especially bananas — are almost
indispensable on roads with heavy traffic of that character, and several
have been constructed. In one type of these stations, large quantities
of air are cooled by being carried over cold brine or ammonia piping and
are then conveyed through troughs to the train shed, where they are injected
through canvas ducts into as many as 50 cars at a time. The desired
temperature is obtained in a few hours. Ice is objectionable because of
the moisture it creates.

A pre-cooling plant of the Southern Pacific Co., at Roseville, Calif.,
for cooling oranges for shipment is shown in Figs. 166 and 167. Cold
air is blown through a large insulated tube leading from a bunker room
in the storage plant to the ice trap in one end of the car. From a trap
at the opposite end of the car, another tube leads back to the ware-
house. The method by which connections are made with the cars is
clearly shown in one of the views. The cold air is blown into the car at
a temperature of 32°, and after passing through the car is drawn back
by an exhaust fan to the warehouse, where the moisture and gases
from the fruit are frozen on the refrigerator pipes. The direction of
the current through the car can be changed. With a powerful air current,
it takes from 30 to 50 hours to cool the fruit in the center of the packages
to 40°.

A large cold storage plant operated on the same principle has been
built at Springfield, Mo., by the St. Louis & San Francisco, to cool
bananas in cars in transit. This plant consists of four tracks inside a
shed, each track holding ten cars. The same plant may be used in winter
to raise the temperature of the fruit when desired.

376 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

A ground plan ia shown in Fig. 168 of the Southern Pacific's pre-
cooling plant at Colton — an ice-raaking plant with pre-cooling building
at each end, a track in each side and connections for 40 cars.

Flo. 166. — General view, pre-cooling plant, Roseville, Cal. — Southern Pacific.

Fio. 167. — Roseville pre-cooling plant in operation.

The pre-cooling buildings, 43 ft. 4 in. X 121 ft,, are built of reinforced
concrete. The mechanical equipment ia carefully arranged and includes
the exhaust fans, which are motor-driven, the flexible piping, the brine
coils around which the air is passed and which are therefore enclosed in

REFRIGERATING, VENTILATING AND HEATING 377

an air-tight chamber. The details of the false door, through which the
cold air is forced into the car, are shown in Fig. 169.

In the vertical section, a deflector will be seen, placed opposite the
mouth of the pipe, to throw the air current upward. The fruit is so
packed as to leave an open space at the top of the car opposite the door.

ElaTHtioii of Door

Fio. 169. — Details of false door, pre-cooling plant, Colton, Cal. — Southern Pacifio.

and in this space a special deflecting device is placed during cooling, to
direct the air currents among the boxes of fruit.

A combined ventilating, heating and refrigerating car has been devel-
oped and is said to be fairly successful. Exhaust ventilators on the
roof of the car, operated and adjusted by levers on the roof, together

378 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

with reversible hoods at each end of car, control the ventilating f eature<.
Heating is accomplished by steam pipes connected to the locomotive,
or a yard steam plug, in much the same manner as passenger cars are
heated and kept warm. The usual refrigeration methods are employed;
ice tanks are placed in each end of car with hatch openings, plugs and
hatch covers.

A refrigerator car using methyl chloride has been introduced in
Germany. It contains an individual refrigerating plant, using methyl
chloride as an agent. The car is covered with a non-conducting material.
At one end a small compartment is partitioned off in which a compressor
is placed, driven by belts from the axle.

Methyl chloride is used because it can be volatilized at a low pressure,
does not affect the copper pipes and does not have as disagreeable an odor
as ammonia or sulphuric acid. While the car is in motion the compressor
sucks the gas from the condensing coil, which is attached to the roof of
the car, and forces it through a water tank into the condenser below the
car, which is supplied with a collector for the liquid methyl chloride.
From there it is admitted into the cooling coils. Valves regulate the
temperature of the gas in entering and leaving the cooling coil and also
make it possible that only dry, saturated gas is provided for the com-
pressors. The arrangement of the collectors for the liquid methyl chloride
between condenser and cooling coils, renders the cooling of the car in-
dependent of the motion of the compressor, especially when the car is not
in motion.

Refrigeration of freight in transit is affected by speed. At 25 miles per
hour and an external temperature of 68°, it is claimed that the interior
of the car can be brought down to 32° or freezing, in from 40 to 50
minutes.

Few roads have any systematic method for the preservation of perish-
able freight while in transit. There is considerable variation in the
temperature at which different commodities of a perishable nature are
liable to damage, and they may be further affected by their condition
when shipped, time in transit, time continually in motion, etc. With
the use of the modern car there is no good reason for permitting freight
to become frozen. It is only during extreme winter weather that the
use of the heater car becomes necessary. If produce has been exposed
to low temperature for some time before being placed in a car, it is not in a
condition to withstand cold. A car of produce, such as potatoes, will in
all probability stand a lower temperature when the car is in motion than
when at rest. With the outside temperature at 20°, perishable goods
may be safely shipped in ordinary freight cars and in refrigerator cars
down as low as 10° above zero. It is further claimed that these goods may
be safely shipped in refrigerator cars with the temperature nearly 10°
below zero, if the car is heated before being loaded and the goods, at the

REFRIGERATING, VENTILATING AND HEATING 379

end of the trip, are immediately taken to a warm place without being
handled any great distance in a dray. In the best refrigerator cars,
perishable goods may be safely handled with the temperature as low as
20° below zero, provided they are not subjected to such cold for more than
three or four days at a time; with the ordinary refrigerator cars the most
perishable goods are liable to be damaged in zero weather. Before
shipping fresh beef, it should be chilled to 36°, although 40° will suflBice
under favorable conditions. It is considered important that the beef
be kept at a uniform temperature from the time it is started until it
reaches its destination, and the cars should therefore be at the same
temperature as the chiU rooms. In summer, cars need re-icing frequently
to maintain the proper temperature and no fixed rule can be established
as to time or distance between re-icings, this being governed by the out-
side temperature.

Heating cars by using ice has some possitilities, and the Government
Weather Bureau has given the question consideration. A car has been
designed that is to use ice with salt, in summer for the protection of
perishable goods in transit and the same car is to be iced in winter to
prevent freezing. This is on the theory that ice, which is normal at 32°
Fahr., absorbs heat at a higher temperature, and imparts heat at a lower
temperature. Hence, when it is zero A!?eather outside, the ice containers
in a car act as stoves, helping to keep up the temperature inside. Another
method for protection against freezing consists in throwing a stream
of water on the car when the thermometer is near the zero point. The
water freezes and forms a complete coat all over the outside of the car.
This prevents the warmer air from coming out of the car and so tends
to keep up the temperature inside. This is particularly advantageous
in the transportation of bananas, which are quite susceptible to cold.
Fruit of this kind is put in paper bags inside of heavy canvas bags and
covered with salt hay when the temperature is dangerously low. No
theory has, as yet, been suggested to account for the interesting phenome-
non that perishable produce, such as fruit and vegetables, will stand a
lower temperature when the car is in motion than when it is at rest.

The use of paper for protection against cold is increasing and its effective-
ness is wonderful. Fruit wrapped in heavy brown paper will endure 15°
more cold than without it. Potatoes are sometimes packed in barrels
lined with paper, and when the weather is unusually severe the barrels are
also covered with paper. Clams and oysters are similarly shipped in
paper-lined barrels to keep them from freezing and cars for transporting
perishable merchandise are quite commonly lined with paper. There
is said to be nothing like it to keep out frost. Eggs shipped in crates with
separate pasteboard divisions and covered with a layer of oat chaff will
stand a low temperature. It is found that pickled eggs are injured by
cold more quickly than fresh ones.

380 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Fruit products in cans or glass must not be shipped when the tempera-
ture is below freezing. A well-ventilated dry cellar is the best place to
store apples, potatoes and vegetables generally, the temperature being
from 30 to 45°. Apples are not made unfit for use by freezing, if they
are allowed to thaw gradually. Tropical fruits in storage should be kept
at from 60 to 70*^.

Min^al waters exposed to a temperature below 30° soon spoil. Beer
may be shipped with the outside temperature at 10° if the kegs are packed
in hay or sawdust and fresh stable manure. Butter freezes at 1 5^ and
when thawed it quickly becomes strong. Milk should never be allowed
to freeze. Pork is injured more quickly by high temperature than other
meats.

Instructions as to icing and re-icing cars containing perishable freight
and handling icing plants are usually as follows:

1. Regular shippers of dressed beef, provisions, etc., will be advised by the
Traffic Department that, if they desire cars iced, they must note on their shipping
tickets at Chicago or Other western points (which will be carried forward on the
regular or card manifests), " Ice at ."

2. No cars containing dressed beef, provisions, or other perishable freight,
should be iced at that station unless the waybills or card manifests bear the

notation, "Ice at ," or unless ordered by a proper officer of this Ck)mpany

in case of emergency.

3. Agents at receiving stations and junction points will wire direct to the

agent at the number of cars requiring ice at that each different beef

company has on the various trains leaving their stations. The agent at

will keep himself advised by wire as to the probable time of arrival of such trains
at the icing station.

4. The agent, yardmaster and conductors will be responsible for the prompt
placing and handling of refrigerator cars at the icing station, and must be thor-
oughly familiar with the schedules to be maintained.

5. The agent will see that the foreman of the icing station ices cars without
unnecessary delay after they are placed, and will use sufficient ice to protect the
lading according to the character of the freight and the service to be performed,
making proper allowance for any probable delays in movement and delivery,
and care should be taken not to use any unnecessary quantity of ice.

6. A record must be kept by the foreman of the icing station of the estimated
weight of ice in the boxes on the arrival of each car at the icing station; also the
condition of the waste-pipes, temperature of car, and condition of lading, if the
car is not sealed, together with a record of the time of arrival and departure of
the car at the icing station.

7. The foreman in charge will be held personally responsible for seeing that
the ice already in the tanks of refrigerator cars on arrival at the icing station is
properly tamped down with poles before any more ice is put in. Great care
should be exercised to see that the waste-pipes are properly rodded and running
freely. Before putting ice in the boxes, the ice (either in blocks or crushed as
directed) should be thoroughly cleaned. Wooden tamping-sticks only should

I

REFRIGERATING, VENTILATING AND HEATING 381

be used. Do not use hooks or other pointed tools in tamping or shifting ice
in the tanks.

8. The foreman at the icing station will accept direct advices from the shippers
as to the quantity of salt they want used in icing their cars, as different shippers
have different ideas on this subject.

9. With instructions to use salt and no definite instructions as to the amount,
spread uniformly on top of ice not less than 9 lb. of salt to 100 lb. of ice used.

10. Use coarse rock-salt if obtainable; if not, common barrel salt. Do not
use salt at all if instructions on waybills or conductors' tickets bear notation that
no salt is to be used.

11. The regular charge for ice, labor and salt is at the rate of $2.50 per net
ton for the actual amount of ice put in each car.

12. A complete and accurate report of the weight of ice used for each car
must be kept by the foreman; and bills for icing must be rendered monthly by
the agent to, and collected through, the comptroller.

13. The agent will give monthly credit for the icing charges to such firms as
may be designated from time to time by the comptroller.

14. When refrigerator cars loaded with perishable freight are wrecked, or
shopped for repairs, or exceptionally delayed from other causes, the ice-boxes of
the car containing the lading should be examined, and, if necessary, re-iced
before such cars are forwarded; and if the lading is transferred, the car into
which it is transferred should be previously chilled and fully iced, and report
made by wire to the division superintendent, comptroller, and the freight traffic
manager as called for by general manager's circular.

15. When cars are iced for firms other than regular shippers to whom credit
is authorized by the comptroller, the agent at will expense upon the deliver-
ing agent for the cost of re-icing, waybill to accompany the car, and amount to
be collected from consignee or connecting road upon delivery.

Transferring dressed beef in case of accident is ordinarily handled
under instructions similar to the following:

First, wire the division superintendent, giving the initials and numbers of the
cars damaged, and state whether the contents of all the cars will h&ve to be
transferred, and how many refrigerator cars are required for that purpose.

Second, wire the freight trafllc manager, giving the same information, and,
in addition, the name of the shipper, the point of origin and the destination of
the property.

Refrigerator cars in good order and well iced must be secured and taken to
the place of wreck.

It must be remembered that fresh beef when exposed to the air, or if trans-
ferred into cars that have not been previously cleaned and iced, will spoil.

Great care should be taken to keep the beef out of the dirt, and when handled
from one place to another must be carried, and not thrown.

Boxed meats are usually loaded in the center of the car, and are to be taken
out and placed aside until the other car is ready to receive them.

Hang the hind-quarters at one end of the car, on short hooks, shanks up,
and closely together, putting insides to insides and skin sides to skin sides, etc.

Hang the fore-quarters at the other end of car, on long two-pronged hooks,

382 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

neck end down, and see that hooks are placed in the same holes as before. Ham
the fore-quarters same as the hinds; insides to insides, etc.

When no hooks are available, small hide or other rope may be used, beini;
particular to string the beef through same holes that the hooks were in.

Dressed calves, sheep and hogs should also be hung up, and may be put in any
unoccupied place.

Throw^ the livers away, as they will spoil after exposure to the air.

Remove meat hook and rack equipment from disabled car along with the be^f

Advise the division superintendent and the freight traffic manager by wire,
numbers of the cars into which transfer is made, and the time they are forwarde<i.

Proper manner of re-icing refrigerator cars, as directed by one ope rat ng
company is as follows:

1. Ice. — All that is to be used in icing cars of this line must be washed clean;
it must be free from hay, straw or sawdust. This is very important,

2. Breaking Ice. — Before the ice is put into the tanks or receptacles, it must
be broken up in small pieces — the largest piece to be not larger than a man's fi-st.
The ice must not be broken on the roofs of cars.

3. Icing. — Before putting new ice in the tanks of cars, the old ice in thcru
must be tamped down solid, using a wooden tamper to tamp the ice — a piece of
2X4 will answer. Great care should be taken to carefully tamp ice in t^nks,
as the salt used has the effect of honeycombing the ice, giving tanks the appear-
ance of fullness, which in fact does not exist, and there is usually room for more
ice after using tamp. Do not use ice hooks or other pointed tools for tamping
or shifting ice, after it has been put in the tanks, as by the use of such tools, holes
are liable to be punched through the tanks, allowing water to get into the car.
which would damage the contents of car.

4. Salting. — Cars should be iced with not less than 12 lb. of salt to every 100 lb.
of ice used to re-ice car. When car is opened for icing, about one-third (1/3) of
the salt should be applied on top of the old ice before the ice is tamped down,
distributing the balance of the salt evenly on top of the ice in the tanks after the
tanks have been filled. A sharp wooden tamper should then be used to work
the salt well into the ice before the covers are replaced. Coarse or rock-salt
should be used if possible to obtain; if not, use common barrel salt. The appli-
cation of salt in the proportion as above stated in icing cars of this line is very
important and must not be disregarded, for without salt in icing our cars the
desired refrigeration cannot be obtained.

5. Salt. — Always should be used as per above instructions in icing shipments
made in our cars, unless shipments are billed and carded to be re-iced with a
greater or less per cent, of salt, in which case please follow the instructions on
bills or cards, and if shipments are billed and carded, "Re-ice without salt/'
please be governed accordingly.

6. Covers. — Fill the ice tanks as full as possible, being careful to see that the
tank covers are properly replaced before cars are allowed to go forward.

A typical icing station is that of the Burlington at Galesburg. It hs^s
a crusher for icing meat cars in addition to arrangements for supplying
cake ice for fruit and vegetable cars. The drawings in Figs. 170, 171,

REFRIGERATING, VENTILATING AND HEATING 383

172 and 173 are of the general plan, transverse section, front elevation
and wall details, of the plant at Hawthorne, which is similar to that at
Galesburg.

The ■ foundation of the house is concrete. The framework is made
of 2-in. X6-in, Xl2-in. studding with sawdust packed between and insu-

"msmm

LJtdKli

IM Oluiuber Hthi

r

h'vi. 170. — General plan, icing station, Hawthorne — C-hicago, Burlington A Quincy.

Fio. 171. ^Transverse section through ice-crusbing room, Hawthorne plant— Chicago,
Burlington dc Quincy.

latod, as shown in the illustrations. Beginning with the outside face of
the wall, first there is one layer, or thicknes.s, of house or drop siding, then,
in the order given, two layers of heavy insulating paper, one thickness
of sheathing boards, a space between the 6-in. studding packed with
sawdust, two layers of insulating paper, one thickness of sheathing

384 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS 1

boards and a 12-iQ. .dead air space between the 12-in. studding; v!:<- \
thickness of sheathing, two layers of paper, a space between the 2-in. '/ )
2-in. furring strips filled compactly with "Flax Lith" blocks coated on .
the inside with one coat of cement applied hot; two layers of paper and I
a finish of one thickness of sheathing boards. The inside walls between I
the rooms and the ceilings are also insulated and packed with sawdust.

Fig. 172. — Front elevatioa, icing plant, Hawthorne — Chicago, Burlington &
Quiucy.

The building is divided into rooms which hold each about 20O0 ton:-
of caked ice. A house of 15,000 tons capacity has seven rooms, each
of which is equipped with an inside hoist for raising ice to the top of
the room, to be run to the crusher room, located over the center room
of the house. Hoists are also placed on the outside of the bouse for
filling it with ice. These outside hoists extend from a platform adjoin-

''o*'^' DMkU of Conwr FnuniDx Dauil of Fiuslnc M Ctou Wall

Fic. 173.^ — ^Wall details, icing plant, Hawthorne — Chicago, Burlington & Quiney.

ing the house, 4 ft. above the track level, to the top of the house. In
filling the house no packing is used, the cakes of ice being laid close
together, either on edge or flat, and the rooms filled to within 4 ft. of the
top. Records show that during the hottest weather the temperature in
the ice chambers is about 35".

In front of and parallel with the length of the house, is a double-deck

REFRIGERATING, VENTILATING AND HEATING 385

icing platform. The upper platform is used for icing cars of fresh meat
^vith crushed ice and the lower one for icing cars of fruit and vegetables
with cake ice. There are tracks on both sides of the platform, on which
ears are placed while being iced. In icing cars from the upper platform,
carts filled with crushed ice are distributed along the platform shortly
before a train arrives. When the latter is in position at the platform,
the covers of the. ice tanks on the cars are removed and the crushed ice
emptied from the ice carts into the tanks by means of a spout adjusted
on the edge of the platform and which is easily moved from car to car
on a trolley rod attached to the platform. A supply of coarse salt used
to mix with the crushed ice is kept in boxes placed at intervals on the
lower platform and is shoveled into the ice tanks or put into them with
pails. The time consumed in re-icing cars with crushed ice and salt is
from 1 to 2 minutes to the car. If the station has advance informa-
tion of the coming of a train for icing, so that all preparations can be
made, 50 cars can be supplied with crushed ice in an hour.

The lower platform from which cars are iced with cake ice, is nearly
on a level with the top of the cars. The cakes of ice are run on skids
from this platform into the tanks of cars.

The crushers and the hoists for filling the house and for raising ice
to the crusher room are run by electric motors. The hoists are so con-
nected to the cable drums that they can be operated singly or in sets.
Ice can be taken from several rooms at the same time. The outside
hoists are operated in the same manner and from the same drums. The
hoists are controlled from the carriage and each has a capacity of 30
tons per hour. The crusher has a capacity of 75 tons per hour. The
crushed ice is run direct from the crusher into the carts, one of which
holds 1000 lb. These carts are on a floor below the crusher on a level
with the upper icing platform. Ice taken from the storage room is
raised to the top of the rooms and from the hoists is run on skids by
gravity direct to the crusher or to the lower icing platform.

The protection of bananas in transit is one of the greatest problems,
both because of the susceptibility of this fruit to depreciation and
because the shipments are enormous and increasing. Most of this fruit
consumed in the United States comes from the West Indies, Central
American Republics, Mexico, and South America.

Twenty years ago it was expected that a 50 per cent, loss in transit would
result. To-day it is figured out at a half of 1 per cent. The banana boat is
now of special construction and unlike any other steamer. In the holds, instead
of having room for cargo there are partitions extending from the well of the
ship to the deck. Along the beams in each compartment are hundreds of hooks.
They are used to sling the bunches of bananas upon, for bananas should not be
shipped with one bunch touching another.

The fru't is first picked green by the growers and then brought to the steamers

25

386 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

in boats. As each boat load is taken aboard the bunches are placed in the
refrigerators and slung on the beam hooks a few inches apart. When ever}*
compartment is filled the steamer proceeds on her journey. To every few com-
partments there is a man in charge whose duty it is to examine the bunches
every day and see that they do not get overripe during the voyage. These
men have an electric lamp, and crouching on their hands and knees they go from
bunch to bunch, examining each carefully to see whether there are any signs of
decay. Should a banana bunch show any tendency to become overripe it is
at once taken down from its hook and brought out on deck to be consumed by
the ship's passengers or crew or else flung overboard. Careful note is made
of the place where the bunch was hung and a detailed examination made of
the bananas surrounding it, for one overripe bunch in the course of a single
night is apt to contaminate others unless a careful watch is kept. The watch
on the fruit is redoubled when the ship is nearing its destination, for by this
time all the fruit has more or less ripened. The foregoing may prove instructive,
as well as interesting, to railway men, in pointing out the needs of this particular
fruit, to enable it to reach its market in good condition.

CH.\PTER XXVII
THE ENGINE-HOUSE

The limitations of a work of this character do not permit of a dis-
cussion of engine-houses ("roundhouses") from the viewpoint of
locomotive repairs, beyond a reference to mere running repairs. The
aim* of this chapter is to describe the uses and abuses of engine-houses
as they relate to keeping a road's motive power in service and moving its
traflSc,with special reference to the location of the engine-house plant in
its relation to the road, divisions and terminals; its accessories, such
as the coal, ash, water and sand supplies, and the inspection pits, turn-
tables, and "wyes." These accessories are more fully considered in other
chapters.

Engine-houses were formerly built to shelter engines. As a rule they
are now used only incidentally for shelter and more particularly for
making light repairs and for cleaning or washing out locomotives.
Engines in active service need not as a rule be housed, although in
northern climates it is difficult at times to care for engines properly in
the open. Some motive power people figure on providing engine-house
capacity for 25 per cent, of the power in service. Small machine shops
to care for more extensive repairs are generally annexed and form
valuable adjuncts to engine-houses. In the house one or more drop pits
should be provided for taking out wheels.

In planning an engine-house, consideration should be given to the
number of engines to be cared for, including future possibilities; the
materials available for construction purposes; the possibility of future
electrification of the whole or part of the line; the climate and topography
of the country; and the available property and structures in the immedi-
ate neighborhood.

Types of construction may be divided into three general classes:
square, rectangular and round.

Square houses , with one or more tracks entering from a ladder con-
trolled by switches, are operated for a small number of engines, with the
result that there is little delay because there are no break-downs of
turntables or other apparatus which are required in certain types of
houses. The square house is exceedingly simple to construct, economical
in first cost and durable. The liability of loss from fire is small. The
foreman in charge has a good oversight of the layout and can therefore
secure good operating results. The track approaches take up con-

387

38S FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

siderahlo land area. Provision for turning engines muMt be made where

A plan and cruns-soction of a typieal square engine-house is showu
in Fig. 174 representing the Towanda, Pa., house of the Lehigh Valley,
an old plant but unique in its utilization of limited ground spare lying

house, Towanda, Pa.

adjacent and parallel to the main tracks. It is 63 ft. X 183 ft. Seven
tracks enter the building at an angle of 4G degrees with the front, or
entrance side. Tracks are 13 ft. centei-s on the sijuare, or 18 ft. on the
skew, measured along the face of the building.

The view in Fig. 17't is that of a -stiuare engine-house, called "steam-
shed" or "running shed" at Crewe (England) on the London & North-

:, 17o,-Squ.

:, lOiifilaml — I.inidon aiiti North-Wcwtorn.

Western. It will be seen that engines are housed in tandem and are
guided to their respective tracks by switches near the entrances.

RcctangidtiT hoiisfs require the least ground space of any type of
construction. Transfer tables are necessary, one of which may serve
two bouses. These houses are cheap and simple to design and construct.

THE ENGINE-HOUSE 389

t

The oversight is excellent, they afford good light and ventilation, and
may readily be extended as business increases. Ample and convenient
space is provided for men, machinery and material for making repairs.
t)ne house may be built and served by a transfer table and later on a
second house added, served by the same table, but a breakdown, derail-
ment of engine or disabling of transfer table is likely to cause serious
interference with train movements and in case of fire, blockades may
occur with disastrous consequences. In order to minimize this danger,
engine-houses of the square and rectangular type have in some instances,
been erected with descending grades on the tracks in the house and for
some distance from the entrance, to facilitate the removal of engines in
case of fire.

Round or polygonal hottses require turntables to enable engines to
reach or to leave their various stalls. They are economical in land
area, as compared with the square houses; they can be well lighted —
although this is not always done — and they give the greatest width at
head end of engine, where room is most needed for repairs and handling
of material. On the other hand, however, they are costly to construct
and very complicated both in construction and subsequent operation.
The foreman's opportunity for supervision is limited; and a break-down
of a turntable, or derailment or disablement of an engine on or near
the turntable often causes a bad blockade. These houses make a per-
fect trap in the event of fire because every locomotive must pass out
over the turntable. Houses of this type are usually planned for from
30 to 60 engines for the complete circle, but are often constructed
as a segment of a circle because the shape of available land does not
permit the full circle or because the present requirement does not de-
mand it. In the latter case it is easy to add to the capacity of the
house if the land is available.

In the engine-house, with a turntable entrance, there are three
arrangements of tracks in general use, as follows:

1. Omission of frogs altogether, arranging outside of each rail to lie
close alongside or just touching the rail of adjacent track at edge of turn-
table pit. This is by far the most satisfactory method from a maintenance
of roadway standpoint. The table must be long enough to permit of
this arrangement of tracks, which in itself seems sufficient argument
for long tables. Thirty-six frogs represent an investment of about $800,
besides the cost of maintenance and adjustment. Tracks should leave
table pit at 180 degrees angle, so they will match up at both ends in
every case.

2. Running the two rails together to form a point at the edge of the
pit, similar to frog construction — in other words to form a frog without
the wing rails. This permits — or compels — the use of a shorter table.

3. Adjustment of tracks to suit the selected angle for stalls, putting in

390 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

frogs wherever a rail crosses another and if necessary, introducing crotch
frogs. The design must be carefully planned in this case, so that the
dead ends of rails around the turntable coping can be accommodated
without interfering with each other and so that the frog point nearest
the pit is sufficiently distant from the pit to permit the frog to be put in
and held securely to its place.

The width of the house to be constructed is determined by the len^h
of the largest engine in service, with ample allowance to swing doors
inwardly, if they are to be hung that way, and ample passageway width
at the head end of the engine, along the inside of outer walls. As a
heavy engine of modern design is ^78 ft. long, over all, the distance,
clear, between the inner and outer walls should be 92 or 94 ft., which
will leave a space of 7 or 8 ft. at each end, as passageways.

Some houses are planned for engines to be backed in, standing w-ith
the front end toward the turntable-pit. Aside from having the engine
in position to head out and toward the table when required for service,
there seems to be little in favor of this arrangement. It is decidedly
better to have the head end, with the machinery part, nearer the out-
side wall, with the advantage of light, room, machinery, etc., for making
repairs.

Much of the loss of engine service is likely to occur at the engine-
house and its tributary plants. A careful record was kept of one engine
for 30 days, showing that it was held at engine-house (waiting to
get over ash-pit, cleaning fires, coaling, watering, in for repairs and
minor delays) 22.6 per cent, of the entire time; in actual road-running
service, 28.7 per cent.; delay on account not steaming, hot boxes,
trouble with drawbars and brakes, 1.9 per cent., while the remainder of
the time — 46.8 per cent. — was chargeable to the following items, in
order of amount of time consumed: Switching, wrecks, trains ahead,
orders, cleaning fires on road, coal and water on road, waiting orders at
engine-house, yards blocked, passing trains, and sundry small delays.

A typical engine-house layout, with the usual facilities, is that at
Jackson Junction, Mich., on the Michigan Central, shown in plan in
Fig. 176.

Ash-pit tracks Nos. 1 and 2, run to the turntable direct. The
approach of the depressed track for ash cars is laid on a 2 per cent, grade.
The coal elevator has a capacity of 500 tons.

The sanding boxes are placed on the corner of the coal elevator
adjoining the ash-pit tracks, on the corner of the sand house proper.
The sanding is done by means of drop pipes handled by hostlers, the

* The articulated (Mallet) type is often 88-ft. long. One built by the Baldwin
Locomotive Co., for the Pennsylvania is 88 ft. 2 in, engine and tender, with a total
engine wheel base of 57 ft. 5 in. The largest in service is an articulated compound on
the Santa Fe 108 ft. 1.5 in, with engine wheel base of 66 ft. 5 in.

THE ENGINE-HOUSE 391

time for filling the largest boxes being about 15 seconds. The sand house
is equipped with three stove dryers; sand is elevated into sanding boxes
by means of compressed air. Storage is provided for about 12 car loads
of wet sand, which is unloaded from cars placed on the sand house and
storing tracks. The sanding box on ash-pit track 2 is large, having a
capacity of about 10 cu. yd. and out of this box sand needed for outside
points is loaded by means of a drop spout or chute into cars placed on the
sand house track. Nine or 10 yards of sand can be loaded in this way
in a few moments.

Each of the ash-pit tracks is provided with a 10-in. water column
and tenders are filled very quickly, the filling of tenders being the last
operation before engines are put on the turntable. This is not as the

Fio. 176. — Typical engine-house lay-out, Jackaon Junction, Mich.- — Michigan Central.

plant was planned, it being intended that the knocking out of the fire
should be the last operation, but conditions of space made that
impracticable.

The cross-section of the ash-pit track shows the general plan, the
inner rail supported on cast-iron piers jacketed with No. 10 iron, the
remaining space on the inside filled with concrete, tie rods at 10-ft.
spaces provided along the open space of the ash tracks to prevent possi-
bility of rails spreading. The ash pits and depressed track are of solid
concrete and good drainage is provided. Two hydrants are arranged
on each ash track for wetting cinders, and a steam pipe is provided for
thawing out ash pans and grates when that is, needed.

Engines arriving off the road are left on the "coming-in track."
When they arrive in quick succession, as is the rule in winter or during
seasons of heavy traffic, no attempt is made to coal all on the north side
of the elevator, hostlers usually alternating, that is, one is coaled on the
north side and the next on the south side, or if necessary, several engines
are taken off of the coming-in track at once and coaled on ash-pit track 1.

302 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS I

In this way it will he observed that when, for example, it is necessary to |
get hold of the sixth engine in the line, the first five engines can be taken i
at onee on the ash-pit track 1, and the engine that is most desired cau
then be eoaled on the coming-in track, after which it can be taken around
onto ash-pit track 2, sanded, fire cleaned, watered and housed, in from
15 to 25 minutes from the time of its arrival.

There arc six hostlers regularly employed, and six ash-pit men, three
of each for the day and night shifts respectively, and 100 engines are
handled in 24 hours without difficulty.

1, Allegheny, Pa. — PennRylvBoitL

In addition to the duty of cleaning fives, the ash-pit men also attend
the switches at the west end, unload the green sand, run the dryers,
elevate the dry sand to the sanding boxes, attend to water columns, and
shovel the ashes on the cars on the depressed track.

For the coal elevator there is one elevator man, one dumper and one
loader for each of the day and night shifts, or seven men all told, including
the fuel foreman.

The two views of the Allegheny engine-house of the Pennsylvania,
Figs. 177 and 178 show a. well- arranged house with its attendant facilities.
One is a view of the coaling plant from the turntable pit; the other is
a bird's-eye view of the whole plant.

The plan which a Committee of the Master Mechanics' Association
recommends is shown in Fig. 179. It provides a set of tracks upon
which incoming engines can be spotted by the road crew, where they arc
left until the hostlers take them out for coaling, cleaning fires and housing.

THE ENGINE-HOUSE 393

The object of the spot tracks is to permit the last engine to be the first
one housed, if such is desired. This plan, it will be noted, requires much
space, longitudinally. It could not, therefore, be utilized at all points.

The Association makes the following general recommendations relative .
to the facilities an engine-house should have:

"1. What is known in the yard language as a 'spot* — a system of tracks
connected to the inbound track in the yard, also connected to the main coal
track leading to the roundhouse table; this system of tracks to be so designed
0.1 to enable at least 10 engines to be dehvered by inbound engine crews, any
one of which can be moved to the coal chute, in preference to the other nine, at
any time.

Flo. 178. — Bird's-eye view of engine-house, Allegheny, Pa. — Pennsylvania Railroad.

"2. An outbound 'spot' track and a water crane, so that outbound engines
may take a full tank of water just before leaving; also water cranes so that
inbound engines may take water immediately after taking coal.

"3. A double ash pit and means of wetting down and cleaning ash pans
economically.

"4. Method of loading ashes into the ordinary ateel car equipment hy means
of conveyors.

"5. Turntable not less than 85 ft. with {preferably) an electric motor as
power for handling same.

"6, Door with at least 35 per cent, glass for lighting purposes; also locks at
top and bottom and posts so that the doors may be locked open as well as locked

shut.

"7. Smoke-jacks so arranged that engines may be moved a quarter of a turn,
and equipped with suction ventilators so that the harder the wind the stronger
the up-draft.

"8. A system of ventilators on top of the roundhouse for catching the steam
and other waste products from a locomotive.

394

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

"9. Water pipes, air pipes, blow-ofif pipes, steam pipes and a good-sized steam-
supply pipe and taps for these for each pit.

"10. A permanent, sanitary, dry floor; not a gravel or cinder floor, but a
concrete foundation with wooden blocks set on edge, filled in between with tar
and cement, and so fitted in as to drain any water into the pits.

'^ 11. A tool room for the care of all general roundhouse tools.

" 12. A wash room for engine crews, lockers for their extra clothing, etc.

" 13. A centrally located office, and telephone facilities for the foreman.

" 14. The low, flat roof of roundhouses is to be discouraged on account of the
drippings in cold weather, and the impossibility of properly ventilating same.

I

Fig. 179. — Master Mechanic's Association suggested engine-house lay-out.

The objections to plan in Fig. 179 of the Committee of the Mast-er
Mechanics' Association, as seen from an operating view-point, are:

(a) Too many switches to look after and too much switch cleaning for
the engineering department to attend to at times, when, owing to snow storms
and extreme low temperature, the limited number of men usually available for
such purposes are kept busy keeping yard tracks open for operation.

(b) A switchman would necessarily have to be provided to attend "spot"
switches.

(c) Conveyors for loading ashes are rather expensive, often out of order
when most needed, and, as a rule, are unnecessary. The depressed track for a^sh
loading is free from breakdowns and always in shape to use. Modem steel cars
are not suitable for ash work, inasmuch as the bottom dumps provide a poor
means of distributing ashes along the right of way for ballast, for which purpose,
in most cases, they are used.

(d) The coal elevator and sand house should not be as closely adjacent
as this plan provides, because of congestion likely to arise in handling and in-
ability to expand, if necessary.

(e) The cinder, or ash pit, should be located on the house track as near
to the door as possible, in order to curtail, to the minimum, the handling of
engines without fire. It is often necessary to have fires drawn before an engine
is put in house to enable repairs to be made in and about fire-box.

THE E,f^INE-HOUSE 395

I

(f) Incoming tracks and outgoing tracks should I ^ distinctly separate
as possible, otherwise delays will be* common to ou "• gines unless the

tracks shown at EE and FF are double, in which event more switch throwing
would be necessary — an operation that should be eliminated as far as practicable.

With the exception of the above features, the general idea shown in
the committee's plan is good and would certainly provide a means . of
handling power very promptly.

A committee of the American Engineering Association, made the
following recommendations in connection with the design and equipment
of engine-houses:

(1) In a circular house the locomotives should stand in the house normally
with the tender toward the turntable.

(2) The distance from the center of the turntable to the inner side of round-
house shall be determined by the number of stalls required in the full circle.

The length of the stall along center line of track should be not less than 85 ft.
in clear.

(3) The clear opening of entrance doors shoulc be not less than 12 ft. in
width and 17 ft. in height. The angle between the adjacent tracks should be an
even factor of 180 degrees, so that the tracks at the opposite ends of the turntable
will "line up" with it.

(4) The turntable should be not less than 75 ft. in length. The table should
be operated by power, preferably electric.

(5) The material used in construction of the house should be non-corrosive,
unless proper care be taken to prevent corrosion.

(6) Engine pits should be not less than 60 ft. in length, with convex floor, and
.with drainage toward the turntable. The walls and floors may be of concrete
and proper provision should be made in construction, for the support of the
jacking timbers.

(7) Roundhouse doors should be made of non-corrosive material.

(8) Smoke-jacks should be fixed, have large hoods, constructed (preferably)
of non-corrosive material, and supplied with dampers. The cross-section of the
stack should be not less than 30 in. in diameter.

(9) The floor should be of permanent construction. It should be crowned
between pits, and that part adjacent to pits within jacking limits should be of
wood.

(10) Drop pits should be furnished for handling truck wheels, driving wheels
and tender wheels. These ca;a be most economically constructed in pairs.

(11) If the building is heivt^ with j^o^r, it should be by the indirect method
and the supply should be taken from the fcxteriorof the building. (No re-cir-
culation of air should be allowed. ) The air should be del'vered to the pits
under the engine portion of the locomotive. Air ducts should be located under
the floor and special precaution should be taken to keep them dry.

(12) As much light should be obtained from the exterior of the building as
good construction will allow.

(13) There should be an arc light and a plug outlet for incandescent lights,
in each space between stalls.

396

FREIGHT TERMINAIS' AND^TRAINS

(14) The contents of boilers should be taken care of and dischai^ed outside
of the building in a,«uitable receptacle, and the heat units used as might be
deemed best.

(15) Cold water should be supplied at each alternate space between stall-,
from an outlet not less than 2.5 in., located at a point about opposite front end
of fire-box. The water pressure should be not less than 80 lb. The hydrant
should be located below the floor in properly constructed pits amply drained.
Modem practice requires the use of hot w^ater in the maintenance of boilers.

(16) Compressed air is used for mechanical hoisting and blowing operations-
Overhead outlets should be furnished in each space between stalls opi>osit4*
front end of fire-box. The pressure should be from 80 to 100 lb.

(17) A roundhouse should have facilities for the location of a few necessary
machine tools, preferably electrically driven.

(18) Air hoists, or portable goose-neck cranes with differential blocks, on
wheels, should be furnished for handling heavy repair parts.

(19) The turntable pit side walls should be of concrete with wooden copin^^
not less than 6 in. thick, and the ties under the circular rail should be supported
on concrete walls. Pivot masonry may be of concrete with stone cap.

ViG. 180. — Engine-house and facilities, Collinwood, Ohio — Lake Shore.

Most houses are of wooden roof construction with the walls of brick,
stone or concrete. The last is used in the form of blocks or solid con-
struction. The depths of stall is seldom less than 80 ft. and many even
exceed this figure. Pits are from 50 to 60 ft. long, with the bottom slop-
ing in either direction as best suits the layout of the drainage system.
The center of the pit floor is crowned so the workman can have as dry a
place as possible to stand on when under the engine. The depth of the
pits varies considerably, but a fair average is 2 ft. 6 in. at the shallow
end and 3 ft. at the deep end. Some form of hot-blast system of heating
is now almost universally adopted. On account of its assisting materially
in the ventilation of the building, it has met wnth great favor.

Si

I

THJ! ESGINE-HOVSE

398

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

At the CoUinwood, 0., engine-house of the Lake Shore, Fig. 180, there
is a duplicate arrangement of tracks and ash pits for the outside work, j
which permits of taking coal, sand and water from either side of the
chute. There are two outgoing tracks with short pits on each. On
each ingoing track there is an ash pit capable of holding two engines-
Over each pair of ash pits there is a pneumatic hoist, each taking care
of the ashes from a long and a short pit. A clam-shell bucket is used to
receive the ashes from the engine. Next is a 4-in. washout line with
2.5-in. connections between alternate pits. Near the inner circle is
a 1.25-in. air pipe with .5-in. outlets between alternate stalls.

Fig. 182. — Engine-house lay-out, Beacon Park, Boston — Boston & Albany.

The wasteful effect of poor designs may be observed at almost any
engine terminal: where men are shoveling ashes from a pit to the ground
and then rehandling to cars; where a turntable is just about the length
of the wheel base of the engines it turns and where engine-houses have
to care for engines so large that doors cannot be closed behind them.

Figure 181 is a plan of the complete shop, yard and engine-house lay-
out of the Rock Island at East Moline, 111. The plan gives an im-
pression of roominess and easy movement into and out of the engine-
house and the various fjicilities.

The plan in Fig. 182 is that of an exceedingly interesting development
of engine terminals of the Boston & Albany at Beacon Park, Boston,
showing an engine-house of the circular type with 31 stalls, and another
in process of construction, with 30 stalls, with the attendant facilities.

Figure 183 is another unique development of Boston & Albany engine

T^ ENGINE-HOUSE

399

terminals, at West Springfiejd, Mass. One existing house with 44 stalls
is shown and another house, wth two turntables, is planned, with a total
additional capacity of 70 stalls, of which 21 are to be constructed im-
mediately. This plan is instructive too in the study of the track layout
and location of coaling plants, sand plants, ash tracks, repair shops,
offices, etc.

The engine-house in East Altoona, Pa., shown in plan and elevation,
Fig. 184, is probably the largest engine terminal on the Pennsylvania
system and handles more engines than any similar plant in the country.

Proposed 70 Stall
Roundhouse

Fig. 183. — Engine terminals, West Springfield, Mass. — Boston & Albany.

The section through the roundhouse and the side elevation of the coal
chute are shown in the upper part of the drawing. Outside of the
engine-house, there are two storage yards, having a capacity to care
for 75 locomotives each, and so arranged as to reduce handling to a
minimum. A fuller description of this plant, with special reference to
the ash and sand handling features, is given under Chapter XXIX on
that subject.

At Decatur, 111., the Wabash has a good 42-stall engine-house, which
is similar to other recent standard layouts for handling of many engines

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

thS, engine-house

401

of heavy design. The detailed drawings, shown in Figs. 185 and 186
are of the elevation of end walla and the cross-sections through engine-
houses are interesting.

One of the latest words in engine-house design and construction is
that of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, at New Haven, Conn.,

Fig. 185. — Elevation of end walH Decatur, III., engine-house — ^Wabash.

of which a general plan is shown in Fig. 187, Thi.s layout was put in
operation Sept, 1, 1912. It consists, as indicated on the plan, of a 43-stall
house, with provision for a second house, of the same capacity when
needed. The construction is substantially all of metal, concrete and
stone, and, therefore, practically fireproof. Hot-air heat and incan-
descent electric lighting are provided. The turntable is of standard

Fig. 186.— Cross-aection, through Decatur, III., engine-house — Wabash.

length — 75 ft. The machine shop is 75 ft. by J60 ft. There are three
drop pits in the house. A covered passageway connects the house with
machine shop. Toilet-rooms, wash-rooms, locker-rooms and other con-
veniences are arranged for. The arrangement for avoiding interference
between incoming and outgoing engines and the passing of assigned or
pr'eferred engines around others is apparent and a very necessary pro-

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

THE ENOINE-HOUSE 403

vision on a road like the New Haven where there are many classes of
freight and passenger service to be handled.

An engine-house, with its accompanying facilities, erected at Carbon-
dale, Pa., by the Delaware & Hudson, and put in operation during the
summer of 1912, is shown in plan. Fig. 188, and is unique and interesting
largely because of its dimensions. Unlike the New Haven, where the
large freight engine and the heavy freight train-unit are, as a rule, not
only impracticable but uneconomical, the Delaware & Hudson, by reason
of its heavy grades and preponderance of coal traffic, finds it economical
to utilize engines of the Mallet type, and the engine-house at Carbondale
was especially desired to meet this condition. The features are heavy
fireproof construction, 41 stalls, a turntable 90 ft. long, with three

FiQ. 1S8. — <ieneral plan, Carbondale, Pa., engine termioals — Delaware & Hudson.

tracks approaching it from the outside; diameter of inner circle 199 ft.
8.75 in., outer diameter 407 ft. 11.75 in., giving a stall length of 104 ft.
1.5 in. Each stall has approximately 400 sq. ft. of window area in the
outer wall. The view across the turntable. Fig. 189, conveys a good
impression of the liberal dimensions and substantial construction.

Hot water for washing out boilers saves time, labor and material.
Large engines have been turned and heated at engine-houses — including
washing of boilers with the hot water system — in 4 hours and 45 minutes.
At houses where a large number of engines are handled, a hot water
system is desirable. It saves time (a very important consideration) and
also materially reduces leaky flue troubles; further, it has the advantage
of avoiding filling the house with steam during the period of blowing off.

Where hot water washout system is not installed, it is necessary to
have a pressure pump to furnish a pressure of somewhere near 90 lb.
per square inch to wash out boilers. The capacity of the pump depends
on the number of engines washed out at one time, which in turn depends
on the number of engines on a division and the quality of water.

It is common practice to run a line of water-pipe around the house
and make hose connections at posts, from which tender tanks of loco-
motives are often filled by connecting up to this line.

404 . FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS 1

In addition to water and compressed air piping systems, engine- I
houses are usually piped for steam under a pressure of 1 10 lb, per square
inch, to be used for blowers. The piping is run overhead on walls or
posts, and hose connections are provided in convenient places, tha-
eliminating all underground piping, except for drainage purposes.

Healing and ventilating engine-houses is being given more attention.
The hot-air system is successful. A fan forces hot air through under-
ground ducts into the pits. As the hot air is delivered at the points
desired, it is probaldy more efficient tiian steam. Engines coining in

Fiu. 1 »y.— Inside circle view of Ciirboiidalc etigine-houBe.

coated with snow and ice arc (|uickly thawed out. In ordinary winter
weather the fan is u.sua!ly run at a spwd sufficient to change the air
every 14 or 15 minutes, but in very cold weather it would prob-
ably be necessary to change the air every 6 or 7 minutes. The
principal objection to tlie wtcani piping system is its dependence to
a great extent on natural draught, which cannot always be relied on,
while with the hot air system, the large volume of warm air which is
continually forced into the house, drives out smoke and gases through
ventilators on the roof. The necessary amount of warm air varies wilh
tlie tcmperatm-e, the pressure of steam in heating coils, etc., but good
results are obtained with about 1800 cu. ft. per minute, per pit.

The conclusions of the Muster Mechanics' Association were that heat
should be concentrated at the pits for the primary purpose of thawing

E ENGINE-HOUSE 405

out engines; no need to liavc the house very warm, as

the men are w and will work faster if not too warm. Good

results are obtained by the use of steam heat coils in the pita; positive
circulation being required, the vacuum return ayatom seems beat. In
using steam coils care must be taken to prevent water from splashing
on the pipes, as it forms a fog in the house and tends to crack the pipes,
causing leaks. While steam is cheaper than hot air, the maintenance
cost is larger. General temperature should be maintained at between
50 and 60°.

Smoke removal should be separately provided for by the use of jacks,
and the currents produced in the jacks should be utilized for aiding ven-
tilation in the house by drawing air from the top of the house through
annular' openings leading into the top of the jack. Jacks should be
without dampers, fixed, and built of non-corroaive material with eross-
aection not less than 30 in. in diameter. They should be of smooth
material, circular in section above the hood, and extending well above
the roof line. In design, care should be taken to avoid any corners.
The hood of a jack should have a minimum length of 10 ft. so as to per-
mit variation of location of an engine on the pit. The bottom of the
jack should be as low as the engines served will allow and it should be
furnished with a dry trough. The slope upward ahould be gradual to
the flue.

A amoke-stack — or amoke "jack" — must be arranged for each en-
gine stall. Many difficulties have been encountered in endeavoring to
secure jacks which will not give out in a short time. Sheet iron is eaten
out quickly by gaaea; cast iron is better but very heavy and awkward to
handle; galvanized iron lasts longer and is lighter than cither. Smoke
jacks of thin, rolled plate have a very abort life and are not worth install-
ing. Wood lasts longer than might be expected and, in connection
with a fireproof roof, should prove economical and safe. It is not nec-
essary to sand the interior of the jack, though the exterior should be
well painted. Tile is more expensive, and its weight and liability to
break, if detachable, are objectionable features. Asbestos is light in
weight and is fireproof, but is more expensive in first cost. A telescoping
jack, provided with a bell having a diameter of about 4 ft., is satisfac-
tory. A jack is being made of an asbestos fibrous material which is also
used for fireproof roofing. Asbestos or asbestos fiber is probably the
most desirable and should be used if the appropriation will permit.

The lighting of engine-houses is an important problem; and to
secure proper illumination electricity is frequently used. A common
method of lighting is to place incandescent lamps on posts between pits.
Preferably these should l>e placed about 10 ft. from the -floor to prevent
their being removed. Another manner of lighting is to place one arc
lamp between each pit. Placing the wires in iron conduits is poor

406 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

practice, as gases corrode the conduits rapidly. The open wiring
system is used more extensively and is satisfactory. The wires are run
on porcelain knobs along roofs or walls, the incandescent lamps being
suspended from ceiling or fastened to walls. The outlets should be
located between pits, for plugging in portable lamps to be used by men
working on engines.

The turntable, coal chutes, coal pocket, sand spouts, water columns,
ash pits, etc., as well as tracks and yard, should be properly lighted;
and where a large quantity of electricity is used, it will be found cheaper
to install a generating set than to buy current.

The inspection pit is an adjunct to engine terminal facilities, of much
importance and should be located so that engines moving toward the
engine-house will first pass over it. It should be deep enough to
permit men to walk under the engine and examine all its parts.
Engines should be stopped on it on their arrival and thoroughly ex-
amined by inspectors. Oftentimes an engine reaching this pit will be
found, on inspection, to have but a few nuts loose here and there, or to
need only some slight repairs that can be made on the pit. The engine
then passes along through its different operations, goes on the table to be
turned, and is ready for a return trip.

Turntables are of various designs, but are almost invariably too short
and of insufficient rigidity, causing them to turn very hard. In northern
climates the paving of the turntable pit and the bench wall for the
circular rail should be kept some distance below the bottom of the table,
to avoid interference from light snows.

Where 100 to 150 or more engines a day are handled, the cost of
handling will range from $1.10 to $2 an engine and includes inspection,
cleaning fires, starting fires, wiping, watching, washing boilers and
supplying coal, water and sand. The cost during severe winter weather
or where boilers are washed out more than once in two weeks, often
exceeds these figures.

The cost of turning an engine on the turntable depends upon the power
used to move the table. With hand power the cost is from 4 to 8 cents
per engine. Where more than 75 engines are turned in a day it is
economical to install power-driven tables. If power is available it may
be economical to use power-driven tables where only 35 or 40 engines
are turned in a day. The cost of turning 250 engines a day is:

With electric motor without special dynamo $3 . 92

With steam engine 4. 40

With gasoline motor 3 . 95

This covers the cost of labor, fuel or current, supplies and repairs.
The records of one road give the cost of turning engines by power at
different points as follows:

THE ENGINE-HOUSE

407

Engines

Average cost:

per day

per day

per engine

170 .

$3.78

2.22 cents

110

3.42

3.09 ..

194

3.55

1.83 ..

121

3.41

2.90 ..

45

2.91

6.50 ..

140

3.99

2.85 ..

H. p.

Gasoline motor 5

Gasoline motor 5

Gasoline motor 5

Gasoline motor 5

Gasoline motor 5

Electric motor 20

The cost of installing an electric motor, a gasoline engine and a steam
engine, is about $1400, $1000 and $1200, respectively.

Many master mechanics favor two motors on turntables at heavy
terminals — a gasoline motor at one end and an electric motor at the other —
to be prepared for the emergency when one of them becomes disabled.
It is well known from experience that these troubles almost invariably
occur during hours of heaviest movement or during the late night hours,
and in cases of snow or storm, when it is difficult to obtain quickly suffi-
cient manual labor to turn the tables. It is a fact, too, that a table once
turned by a motor is not readily moved by hand, as its adjustment is
not usually taken care of as it would be if it were being turned by hand;
and the weight of the motor and gearing increases the weight of the
table and its resistance to movement.

Terminal handling costs vary greatly. Methods of handling and of
keeping records differ greatly. One road "handled" over 42,000 engines
at its terminals at an average cost of $1.52, divided up: ashpit, .18;
cinder pit, .10; inspection .09; cleaning tubes and grates, .05; wiping,
.48; preparing, .26; supplies, oil, waste, etc., .07; callers, .06; turntable
men, .07; other expenses, .11; hostlers, .05. When boilers had to be
washed that was figured at $1.41 additional.

Another road places these handling costs at from $1.20 as a minimum
to $1.56 as a maximum.

The different items have been summarized as follows:

Hostlering 50 cents per engine.

Turning 5 cents per engine.

Cleaning fires 15 cents per engine.

Wiping 50 cents per engine.

Inspecting 15 cents per engine.

Firing up 10 cents per engine.

Calling 5 cents per engine.

Total $lT50

Performance sheets of several prominent roads show an average of
1.3 cents a mile. The average monthly mileage may be 3600, or 120 miles
daily. Assuming each engine would reach a terminal once a day, the
cost would be $1.56, closely approximating the $1.50 in the foregoing
detailed statement.

408

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Firing up is done in many ways. The old method of firing up necessi-
tated the use of wood. If wood costs $2. 50 a cord, and estimating one-
eighth of a cord used, the cost would be 30 cents for each engine fire
started.

Fuel oil costs about 3 cents a fire. The oil is used to ignite the coal.
It is often advantageous to have wood ashes on the grate, as with some
coals the oil blast has a tendency to fuse them and form clinkers on the
grate bars. The amount of coal used in addition to the wood or oil has
been given as low as 500 lb. and as high as 1500 lb., depending upon the
size of engine.

After the fire has been lighted the engine must be watched until taken
from the house and the attendant must see that the water level is main-
tained and that the boiler is not allowed to blow off. Incompetent help
has frequently ruined boilers in firing up without water. One fire builder
can start 20 fires during his watch and giving about half an hour's atten-
tion to each locomotive. The labor would therefore probably amount to
10 cents for each fire started. •

Calling is usually done by boys earning from $15 to $20 a month.
Fifteen minutes to a call may be deemed a fair average — or 30 minutes
for the two men needed, say 30 minutes per engine. This work will there-
fore average 3 or 4 cents for each locomotive started. Between calls the
boys may be used on other work.

Machine tools are supplied for an engine-house, particularly where the
location is not in close proximity to the main shop. Where the engine-
house is entirely self-supporting, a proper outfit should be supplied to
take care of anything that may come along.

In addition to the small tools owned and carried by the various me-
chanics, the Master Mechanics' Association Committee recommends the
following:

1 48x28-in. by 8-ft. planer.

1 24-in. lathe.

1 40-in. heavy drill press.

1 20-in. drill press.

1 emery wheel.

1 16-in. bolt lathe

1 22-in. shaper.

1 bolt-cutter to take up to 2-in.

1 36-in. boring mill.

1 hydraulic or screw press for driv-
ing box brasses, rod bushings,
etc.
Suitable cranes around engines and
drop pits, either supported by posts
or roof, so as to take care of air pumps,
steam chests, front end doors, driv-

ing boxes and other heavy parts.
The lifting on and off of cabs is some-
thing that should not be overlooked.

A driving-wheel drop pit capable of
taking care of at least two engines
at a time.
1 engine truck drop pit capable of
taking care of at least 2 en-
gines at a time.

1 tender truck drop pit, if trucks

are suitable for wheels to be
dropped.

2 gasoline or oil tire heaters, with

proper-sized hoops and burners;
can be used for straightening
frames, etc.

THE ENGINE-HOUSE

409

1 rotary valve-seat planer of sufficient
size to take the largest-sized seats.

1 boring bar for piston-valve bush-
ings.

1 cylinder boring bar.

4 piston-rod pullers, various sizes.
12 differential chain hoists.

4 1/2-in. grab chains.

4 5/8-in. grab chains.
12 pinch bars.
12 heavy capacity jacks, 35 or 40-ton,

hydraulic or lever.
1 2 screw jacks for holding up work.

4 lever journal jacks.

2 lever jacks for pilot and tank work.
2 air hammers made out of pipe or

old hydraulic jacks for driving
out rod and frame bolts.

6 air motors, various sizes, two to
be end motors for close work.

4 crosshead lifters.

2 spring pullers.

3 close chisel bars.
6 long chisel bars.

4 two-wheel trucks for moving ma-

terial.
1 blacksmith forge.

1 set ratchets and rollers for valve-

setting.

2 4- wheel rod trucks.

1 portable arrangement for hydro-
static test.

1 steam-gage tester.

1 complete set of twist drills, 1/4-in.
to 2-in.

1 small breast drill.

1 complete set standard reamers, 3/4-
in. to 2-in.

1 pipe vise.

1 complete set of standard taps, 1/4-
in. to 2-in.
Cold chisels, as many as neces-
sary.

1 complete set of pipe cutters, dies,

and taps, from 1/4-in. to 3-in.;
sufficient adjustable pipe wrenches
to accommodate the force of men
that the work requires.
6 each, open wrenches, 3/8 X 5/8-in. to
1 1/4x1 1/4 inches.

2 each, large-size open wrenches, up

to largest size nut on locomo-
tives.
6 mauls, various weights, 8 to 16

lbs.
12 handle punches, 3/4 to 1 1/4-in.
2 pneumatic hammers for boiler-
makers, chipping, etc., caulking
tools, etc.
1 complete set stay-bolt reamers and
taps; in fact, complete outfit
for stay-bolt, flue and grate
work.
Sufficient chisels, gages, hack saws,
files, scrapers, straight-edges, etc., to
accommodate the force maintained at
each roundhouse in order that one
man may not be held up on a job
waiting for another man to get through
with some small tool.

In addition to above it is suggested that there should also be provided:

A long master wedge for drawing piston rods into cross-heads before
the regular wedge is applied.

A small bolt lathe, mounted on a truck and run by electric or air
motor, for use around an engine where new rod, truck or cylinder bolts
are being fitted, to save running back and forth to machine shop.

Each engine-house should have a separate tool-room of its own, with
a man in charge, both day and night, to handle the tools on a check
system; otherwise it will be impossible to maintain engine-house tools.

The use of a floating or hospital gang in engine-house is suggested, to
which gang will be turned over the heavier jobs so as to get engines into
service quickly, instead of having the work drag along with various men-
being put on and taken off according to the exigencies of the service.

410 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

This system will often enable an engine to be kept out of back shop and
will increase the mileage between shoppings.

One engine should always be kept on blocks undergoing moderately
heavy repairs so that machinists can be kept busy at all times when work
in the roundhouse falls off temporarily. It is claimed that work done
in this manner costs more, but where business fluctuates it is a good
proposition.

The neglect of running repairs causes engine failures to increase and
also decreases the life of an engine between shoppings.

Engine tools are those carried on each locomotive. These usually
consist of a hammer, wrenches, chisels, oil cans, lanterns, signals, scoops,
firing bars, torches, etc. One of the problems is to check up these tools
and to induce the enginemen and fireman to properly care for them.
The small tools should be kept locked up in metal boxes, preferably
numbered to correspond with the number of the engine to which they
belong. Where it can be done, the best plan is to have each engineman
deliver his box to the tool room or other designated point, at the end of
each trip, when the contents may be checked up. Where engines are
regularly crewed, instead of being *' pooled" it is not so difficult to keep
up the equipment of small tools. The cost for tools and supplies will
average about 20 cents for each trip. The cost for tools alone will, on
larger roads, range from $10 to $40 yearly for each engine in service.

Wiping or cleaning is one of the most neglected duties at the engine
terminal — and not the least important. On some roads the engines
handling the most important passenger trains are permitted to go out of
terminals looking as though they had been rolling themselves in a clay
bank. The engines have been growing in size and as they increased, the
fireman has been required to do less and less cleaning; now he is usuall}'^
required to clean only above the running board. Where engines are
''pooled," the crews naturally take less interest in keeping them clean;
the roads hesitate to incur the expense of wipers, and the engines receive
little attention. To wipe an engine properly and thoroughly will cost
anyivhere from 35 to 65 cents, depending on its size and condition and
largely on how often it is wiped.

Organization of the help is more essential in obtaining good results
than anything else and without it the facilities provideci will be useless in
securing quick handling and turning of engines. This subject is treated
more fully in another chapter. A good engine-house foreman must, of
a necessity, be a good organizer, and upon his ability in this line will
depend his successful operation of the plant in his charge. The usual
form of organization is to give the foreman complete control of all the
terminal facilities for handling the engines, with the possible exception
of the men at the coaling plant. These are sometimes handled by the
operating department. At large plants, where the duties require it,

THE ENGINE-HOUSE 411

"tHe foreman has an assistant who handles the mechanics and distributes
"tlie work among them, seeing also that the work is properly done. It is
stlso the usual practice to have a sub-foreman in charge of the engine-
dispatchers, ash-pit men, wipers, etc. The foreman himself is thus
relieved of much of the detail work, and can apply his labors to general
duties, such as assignment of engines and crews, investigations of break-
ages, making reports to the master mechanic and superintendent, and
keeping himself generally informed as to the requirements of the
service.

CH.\PTER XXVIII
ENGUVE COALING PLANTS

Arrangements for supplying coal, water and sand to locomotive?,
and for cleaning their fires, removing ashes from ash pans and cinders
from front ends, and enabling thorough and prompt inspection of machin-
ery and boiler to be made, are essential; and such layouts, well located
and suitably adjusted contribute much to the smooth and econoraicai
handling of traffic. Without good locomotive service a railroad Ls
helpless; and without suitable and ample engine-house accessories, such
service is extremely difficult.

The size of the appropriation to be made for a locomotive coaling-
plant should be governed primarily by the number of engines coaled and,
secondarily, by the kind of coal used, whether the mixing of coal i<
necessary or not, and the amount of coal to be supplied during " rush
hours.'* Occasionally the management may decide that it cannot
afford to put in all the appliances needed at a large coaling plant. This
impression is often due to lack of knowledge as to conditions or lack of
appreciation of the importance of such facilities; otherwise the fact that
it cannot afford to do without them would be apparent.

As an illustration: A fairly well-equipped coaling station in a northern
climate was without provision for thawing coal in pockets or in cars to be
dumped, although ample boiler capacity for generating steam was close
at hand. The division officers were unable, for several years, to obtain
authority to spend about $500 to install the necessary steam-pipe lines.
A force of five men during the day and the same number at night took
care of the work during the summer and in mild winter weather. During
about 3 months each year, 20 to 25 men were required in the day-
time and 10 to 15 men at night, picking the coal loose in the cars and
pockets. This was probably 20 or 25 men a day more than would have
been needed had proper facilities been provided. About $2500 was wasted
each winter because $500 was not spent to save it and a great part of
the latter amount represented material in the estimates which had a
permanent value. The actual loss was far greater since no account was
taken of the waste of time to locomotives which could not be coaled
promptly. There are many places where such conditions, with slight
variations, exist.

Another instance: An outlying small terminal coaled from six to
eight engines a day. The plant consisted of a board platform at about
the height of a car floor. The intention was to shovel the coal from

412

ENGINE COALING PLANTS 413

the coal car to the platform and then from the platform to the tender
of the engine. This was done, ostensibly, to release the coal car. Ordi-
narily, however, the coal was received in cars of 80,000 lb. and 100,000
lb. capacity, which had sides so high that after a part of the top of the load
^was shoveled off, the coal had to be dumped on the track and then
shoveled from the ground to the platform and again to the engine tender.
The difficulties were increased by snow and rain, and by the coal freezing
in cold weather. The force employed was not only greatly increased,
l>ut frequently the engines could not be coaled in time for their runs.
Frequently they were run to other coaling stations some distance away
^vhere the men in charge already had troubles of their own. The divi-
sion officers prepared plans for a coaling plant, taking advantage of
high ground, at a cost not exceeding $4500, which would enable all the
work to be done with two laborers a day and not exceeding three during
the coldest weather, as steam piping was provided for. As the old
method required at times from 5 to 10 laborers, it was estimated that
with the proposed plant, a saving in wages of $2500 annually would be
effected and a still more important saving in the time of engines and
avoiding disarrangement of schedules. They failed to secure the
appropriation.

A simple type of coaling station is that in which the coal is delivered
on an elevated platform, loaded into barrows, carts or buggies, tracked
to the edge of the platform and dumped directly into the tenders, the
platform being about the level or slightly above the top of the tender.
The ordinary barrow used for this purpose, is 9 ft. long, 30 in. wide and
30 in. deep, with a capacity of 38 cu. ft.

In constructing a coaling plant, ample provision for storage should
be made, so as to meet the conditions of irregular or intermittent supply
often caused by labor troubles, temporary suspension of mining opera-
tions, or road blockades. In northern climates it is desirable to store
the bulk of the winter's supply before winter sets in, because weather
conditions then render the movement of coal on rail and water lines unre-
liable; also because it avoids hauling company supplies during the season
when roads are usually taxed to their utmost with revenue freight traffic.
Storage plants should be roofed over to prevent the coal from being
drenched and frozen solidly, making it difficult and costly to handle.
Coal should be handled as little as possible not only so as^o reduce cost
of handling but also to avoid breakage. In delivering to engines it
should be measured or weighed. As a general policy, a small number
of plants of ample capacity and well located should be erected rather
than a larger number of plants of less capacity and disadvantageously
located. Coal should be taken only at division or run terminals.

The most primitive and expensive method of coaling, is shoveling
from cars into tenders. If coal is not frozen this can be done at a cost

414 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

of 15 to 35 cents per ton. The use of coaling cranes and buckets is increa^j
ing and in this manner the coal can be handled for 7 to 15 cents pertoL
in some instances it has been claii^iV^ to cost less but it is possible thar
all items of expense were not included. Elevating coal to inclined ar^
proaches and dumping in platforms level with tops of tenders, costs o ('
15 cents. The use of chutes above tenders^ dumping by gravity, enal:H€?
transfer to tenders at as low a cost as 4.5 cents per ton in some instance*
and even lower costs have been attained. The patented systems — surl
as various types of conveyors — require considerable machinery and the
use of some form of local power, but are reliable and efficacious anii
enable a low cost when large quantities are handled.

For trestles or pockets requiring elevation of coal in cars, incline>
are constructed, usually 400 to 600 ft. in length, with a rise of 3.5 t.-
5.0 ft. in 100; although in some instances these grades have been madt
as high as 8 or even 10 per cent. On grades above, say 5 per cc^t., loco-
motives are not permitted to go on the incline, but use other cars l«»
push with. By using cables and a ''bunter" (sometimes termed a
''Billy-goat"), cars may be pushed up much steeper grades — as high a.*^
18 to 22 per cent, grade being used at times.

To cause bituminous coal to run freely out of pockets, starting it from
a standstill, a slope of 45 degrees should be arranged; in many cases it
is made 50 degrees so as not to have less than 45 degrees in the valley:*
of the coal pile. For anthracite coal the angle of repose is considerably
less; 35 degrees is usually deemed sufficient.

The approximate cost of handling fuel coal, by various methods, has
been given as follows:

Per ton

1. Shoveling from railroad cars to tenders 25 cents.

2. Shoveling from cars to high platforms and again

shoveled onto tenders 25 to 50 cents.

3. Crane and bucket from storage platform 35 cents.

4. Shoveling from cars into bins from elevated trestle . 10 cents

5. Dumping from railroad car directly into bins and by

gravity into tenders 1 .5 to 3 cents.

6. Hauling railroad cars by cable up steep incline and
dumping directly into bins 3 cents.

7. Dumping from railroad cars into pit and elevating by
conveyors 3 cents.

8. The same as above, but elevating by air hoist 5 to 10 cents.

9. Locomotive crane working from stock pile to bins

or to tenders 1 .75 cents.

10. Dumping through trestle to platform and tramming

and dumping into tenders 10 to 15 cents.

11. Dumping into pit in track and elevating skip by

switch rope by engine taking coal 5 to 10 cents.

ENGINE COALING PLANTS 415

It may readily be determined from the foregoing whether sufficient
coal is handled at any one coaling station to enable the direct saving in
cost of handling to earn 10 per cent, on the cost of a modern coaling
plant; allowing 5 per cent, for the interest on" the money invested and 5
per cent, for depreciation of plant. The company's profit would have
to be found outside of this and would be made up, aside from the actual
saving over and above 10 per cent, of the cost of the plant, in several ways,
viz., (a) quicker handling of locomotives, thereby to an extent reducing
the number needed to move the traffic; (b) reliability and promptness,
with which the service is handled; (c) less deterioration in the value of
coal; and (d) prompt release of cars. The actual loss of fuel itself in
repeated handlings by breaking it up is an item also to be taken into
account. The loss results through deterioration in breaking up and
disappearance of coal through wind gusts or being carried through flues
and stacks of locomotives unconsumed.

Frequently roads store coal to guard against interruption to traffic
due to strikes and other causes. Usually it is dumped on the ground
and reloaded; occasionally the reloading is done with steam shovels.
Coal exposed to the weather and stored upon the open ground is unfavor-
ably affected and the heating value depreciates quickly. Bituminous
coal, stored in heaps exceeding 12 or 15 ft. in height, frequently ignites
inside and near the bottom, through chemical action and high pressure;
and even though the fire may be extinguished, with much difficulty, by
smothering, throwing heaps apart or forcing in steam through pointed,
perforated pipes, the loss is often heavy. In loading, and especially with
steam shovels, a quantity of stones and natural soil is likely to be
picked up. The depreciation of any kind of coal, and particularly bitu-
minous, stored in the open is so heavy, and danger from self ignition so
great, that the government navy department experimented at Key
West, Florida, during 1906, with coal submerged under salt water in
concrete tanks. The submerged storage of coal will hermetically seal
the gases in it. Small pockets of combustion cannot be formed while it
is under water. Fires in coal stored under water are impossible. Coal
so stored is delivered damp and there is no loss of coal dust carried by the
wind. Coal storage methods are more fully discussed in Chapter XVII.
The kind and size of a coaling plant depends largely upon the kind
of coal used. With straight bituminous coal the plant may be simple,
as provision need only be made for storing one kind of coal and dumping
it directly in the condition that it is delivered into the tenders of engines.
In some instances coal is picked for engines on heavy or fast passenger
runs. This only involves setting aside one or more pockets or bins for
the purpose, unless the conveyor system is employed. On roads burning
anthracite coal the problem is more complicated. Such roads seldom
use anthracite exclusively, nearly all mix more or less bituminous coal

416 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

with it. They are compelled to use anthracite ''lump" on importam
fast-passenger engines; anthracite "broken" or "egg" on others; and a
mixture of bituminous and small size anthracite on freight. Sometimes
this is mixed in two or three different proportions for as many types of
engines or kinds of service. Others use straight small-size anthracite*,
while some may burn straight bituminous. It will be seen that this
complicates the coaling and it requires a well-arranged and rather exten-
sive plant to do the work. While it has been attempted to furnish coal
mixed in different proportions at "buggy" and "pocket-dump'' coaling
plants, the mixtures cannot be made with regularity and in uniformly
maintained proportions. They will vary considerably and as the num-
ber of engines to be coaled increases, the variation in the proportions
will become greater. Where this mixing is not thorough and uniform,
the efficiency of the engine's steaming qualities is impaired. This usually
happens when the greatest number of engines has to be coaled, i^e.,
when traffic is heaviest and consequently at a time when engines are
required to render their most efficient service. The difficulties encoun-
tered in heavy passenger or freight service are well understood, when the
fireman runs into a pocket of the inferior coal on his tender while ascend-
ing a heavy grade or when approaching some other point where the
engine's utmost capacity is required. A conveyor plant, arranged so
that the coal can be fed to the conveyor and the feed adjusted for each
kind of coal, will give a thorough mixture in practically the proportions
desired. With this system ample storage capacity for each kind of coal
is necessary.

The belt conveyor system is expensive, but for plants where coal
must be mixed it is probably the best. Where mixing is unnecessary
the most economical results have been obtained in the ordinary gravity-
dump pockets where the loaded cars are pushed up an incline over the
bins, dumped, and from these bins run into the tenders by gravity. The
writer has handled coal at one of these plants, mixing it in various way.s
at a cost of a fraction over 3 cents a ton, while a conveyor plant may not
load coal on the tenders for less than 5 cents and, more often doubtless
8 cents to 10 cents unless the amount handled is very large. The
conveyor system, however, is the only one making a proper mixing
possible.

A typical conveyor plant is that of the Lehigh Valley at South
Plainfield, N. J., shown in Fig. 190.

Another similar plant which has been in service for many years is at
Jersey City, on the Erie Railroad. It was designed to handle either
lump anthracite, " run-of-mine " bituminous or bird's-eye and rice sizes
of anthracite using as a binder a small proportion of bituminous. Fig.
191 shows a cross-section and Fig. 192 a skeleton elevation with the general
arrangement of conveyors. The carrier is made up of a line of continuous

ENGINE COALING PLANTS 417

overlapping buckets rigidly secured to two strands of chain, by which
the coal is carried along the horizontal run and up the vertical leg without
spilling. Above the horizontal run and at the left of Fig. 192 where a

Fig. 190.— Coaling atation, Plainfield, N. J. — Lehigh Valley.

Fio. 191. — Cross-section of Coaling plant, Jersey City — Erie Railroad.

coal car is shown are two track hoppers into which the coal to be stored
is dumped from the cars. Each of these hoppers is fitted with an auto-
matic feeding chute, shown in Fig. 193. These chut^ have a pair of

418 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

small wheels which travel on the top edgea of the overlapping buckeT^
As the buckets move forward under the chute the wheels follow tht
serrated edges and the lip of the chute is alternately raised and lowered.

Pia. 192. — Skeleton elevation, showing conveyors, Jersey City^Erie Railroad.

Fi<j. 193, ^Mixing spout, coaling plant, Jersey City — Krie Railroad.

Tlie amount of this movement is rrgutated hy a hand wheel and deter-
mines the amount of coal delivered to each Imoket. The loaded buckels
on reaching the head wheels of the conveyor are inverted and discharge

ENGINE COALING PLANTS 419

their contents into a chute leading to the horizontal conveyor running
along the top of the storage pockets which have a capacity of 2500 tons.
This is a double-stra^id, suspended flight conveyor, and by it the coal is
deposited in any one of the 14 bins through gates in the floor of the
trough which are opened and closed by hand wheels. The elevator and
conveyor are driven with rope drives from a 36-h. p. gas engine, located
in a separate building on a solid foundation.

The machinery will handle 90 tons of coal per hour. One of the track
hoppers is used exclusively for anthracite and the other for bituminous,
which makes it unnecessary to change the angle of the feeding chutes.
The lump anthracite is stored in certain bins in the pocket and the
bituminous in others. When it is desired to store the mixture of bird's-
eye or rice anthracite and bituminous, the two automatic feeding chutes
are run simultaneously, the hand wheels being adjusted to deliver the
desired amount of each to each bucket in the elevator. When the
buckets are dumped on the horizontal conveyor the two kinds of coal are
thoroughly mixed. The 14 bins are sloped at the bottom toward each
side of the pocket and engines can be coaled from any one of the 28
chutes provided. Four engines may be coaled simultaneously on each
side of the pocket and the time required is from 2 to 4 minutes.

A conveyor plant on the New York Central at Syracuse is shown
in elevation and section in Fig. 194. This station is designed for coaling
locomotives from overhead storage bins, and is built entirely of timber
with the exception of the beams carr3dng the tracks over the conveyor
tunnel. It has four storage bins with a combined capacity of 820 net
tons " run-of-mine " bituminous coal. Three of the pockets discharge
directly into tenders of locomotives. The fourth, containing 265 tons,
is held as an emergency supply and discharges through a chute into a
conveyor delivering into the bins used for daily supply. The con-
veying machine is of the "link-belt" design, consisting of an endless
chain of 36-in. by 26-in. buckets. The elevating capacity is not less
than 80 tons of " run-of-mine " bituminous or anthracite coal per hour.
The conveyor passes under all tracks through a tunnel, up on one side
of the structure, over all storage bins and down on the other side of
the building. The two coal-car tracks are provided with large track-
hoppers through which coal is automatically fed to the conveyor
buckets, these automatic feeders being so designed as to deliver the
exact amount of coal to fill each bucket as it passes, without waste.

Provisions have been made for storing 96 tons of dry sand in an
overhead pocket from which it is delivered to locomotives on either
track through flexible sandspouts. The sand is raised from the* track
level in steel buckets, on a belt conveyor, the elevating capacity being
20 tons of dry sand per hour. The sand bin is separated from the coal

420 FREIGHT TERillSALS ASD TRAISS

ENGINE COALING PLANTS 421

bin by partitions containing 12-in. air spaces, in which are located steam
pipe coils to prevent moist air from reaching the dry sand.

Winch heads are provided in each coal track for drilling coal cars.
Any water which may accumulate in the conveyor tunnel is removed by
a direct-connected electric pump. The entire plant is operated electric-
ally on a direct current of 500 volts, and is lighted throughout by elec-
tricity. Eighty locomotives per day take coal and an average of 360 tons
is delivered. The cost does not exceed 3.5 cents per ton hf^ndled.
Kngines are coaled and take sand at the same time. Both operations
are completed, ordinarily, in about a minute.

For handling anywhere from 6 to 30 or 40 engines a day, there is in
use on the Pennslyvania at Elmira, N. Y., WUliamsport, Pa. and other
places, a method of coaling locomotives that is old but difficult to improve
upon for the special purpose for which it is intended. Coal is dumped
from hopper-bottom cars on a trestle just high enough to give clearance
to a small car of metallic construction, running on a narrow-gage track
under the trestle, each car having a capacity equivalent to that of the
average tender to be coaled — about six tons. At these points the older
and smaller engines predominate. When the small car is loaded it is
run on a lift which by compressed air power is elevated in a vertical run-
way to a point where gravity clutches, or chocks, hold it and from which
the contents of the car are dumped into the locomotive tender. The
small car is built to be dumped by tripping. Compressed air is used be-
cause it is usually convenient, but electric or other power may be sub-
stituted. At points where no other power is convenient, a very in-
genious arrangement consists of a system of pulleys and cables by which
the locomotive to be coaled, lifts the platform on which the small loaded
dump car has been placed. The locomotive is coupled to the end of a
cable at a point on the approach track to the coaling lift. It is then
moved forward a sufficient distance to lift the platform with the small
loaded coal car to the desired height. At this point the platform is auto-
matically caught andheld. Thelift,lengthof cables, etc., are so plannedas
to bring the tender just opposite the platform in positionfor coaling, when
the platform is elevated sufficiently for that operation. The construction
of a plant of this kind is not expensive and the cost of operation small.
A typical plant, of the covered trestle type, is shown in Fig. 195,
that of the Chicago and North Western at Chicago. Essentially, it
employs 24 "link-belt" undercut gates and hooded chutes, being
particularly designed and adapted to the coaling of locomotive tenders
of varying heights, with run-of-mine coal and to avoid overflowing.

In Figs. 196, 197, 198 and 199, are shown perspectives on stub-end
and approach end; side elevation and cross-section of the Elizabeth-
port, N. J., coaling plant of the Central of New Jersey.

422 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Fio. 195. — Coaling plant at Cliicago — Chicago & Xorth-V

Fia. 190. — Coaling plant at Eliiabethport, N. J. — Central of New Jersey.

ENGINE COALING PLANTS 423

This ia of 800-ton capacity, is built of timber and includes sand pocket. The
coal pocket has partitions for the division of the several kinds of coal to be stored,
and is provided with eight coal chutes, four on each side of the building. These
chutes are operated from the engine tender. There are two sand chutes, one on
each aide of the sand pocket. Two 24-in. belt conveyers are used, which have
a three-sixteenth pure rubber cover at their centers. The conveyor "A is
35 ft. between centers and is driven by a 5-h. p. D. C. Sprague motor. Con-
veyor "B" is 240 ft. between centers and is driven by a 30-h. p. motor. The
coal is discharged from hopper bottom cars into the track hopper, dropping
down over a grizzly to a short conveyor "A" which dumps at right angles on

Fio. 197. — Conveyor Iiicline, Elizabelhport coating station — Central of New Jersey.

the long conveyor "B" which, in turn, discharges into any part of the coal
pocket desired by means of an- automatic tripper. Any lumps of coal larger
than 8-iii. in diameter drop on a shaft at the lower end of the grizzly where
they are broken up and fall on the conveyor "A." The troughing, return and
guide idlers are of cast-iron and run on hollow, cold-drawn steel tube shafts.
These are lubricated by means of patent compression grease-cups mounted on
their ends. The tripper is of an automatic reversible type, and can be operated
automatically by means of a lever on the side of the tripper and stops placed
on the rails, or by hand from either side of the machine, the power being taken
from the conveyor belt in both cases. The tripper can also be made to operate
in a fixed position by throwing out the automatic attachment and clampinr

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

ENGINE COALING PLANTS 425

the machine to the rails. The carrying portions of the belts are kept clean by
means of automatic rotary brushes. The driving pulleys at the conveyor ends
have extra high crowns and are secured to the shafts by both keys and set screws,
as are also the cast-iron gears. The track hopper and chutes are of yellow pine

Fni, 199.— ('ross-sectbn of Elizabethport coaling plant showing pro])osed cxtenhion —
Central of New Jersey.

Fio. 200. — \'i(;.v of coaling plant, Kasl Altooiiii — Pennsylvania Railroad.

lined with steel. The sand pocket is lined with Paroid roofing paper and the
floor is of 1.5-in. planks, doubled, with roofing paper placed between. The
plant is electrically driven throughout, and the speed of the conveyor belt is
377 ft. per minute.

The view shown in Fig. 200 and plans in Fig, 201 are of the Tennsyl-

426 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

vaiiia fcialiiiK plant at East Altoona, Pa. The diagram, Fig. 184 or.
page 400, is self-explanatory. If an incoming engine needs no atttu-
tion in the house it has the fires cleaned over the asli-pit, takes coal,
water and sand and iw run around the house to the east end of the yard,
turned and run in on the storage tracks to await call. The four ash-pits
are 240 feet long and accommodate four engines each, or 16 in all; eight
for the Pittsburg division and eight for the Middle division. They arc
located about 280 ft. beyond the inspection pits, two on each side of the
coal wharf. The track leading from the inspcctiiDn pit turns out to
(wo tracks spaced 30 ft. 4 in. center to center, which is the spacing at tiie
awh-pits. This allows room for a stub track for ash-cars between the
pits. A second ash-car stub track is laid ne.\t to the outside pit and an
overhead traveling crane of 01-ft. 6-in. span covers all four traek.-i.
This crane runs on a steel runway extending the entire length of the pii^

III

l'L<;. 201. — Co-Uiiig iilunt, Isa

and has a capacity of 5 tons. The electiic hoist has a speed of 85 fi.
per minute, the trolley 150 ft. per minute and the bridge 400 ft. per
minute. The operator's cab is hung from the bridge close to the runway
at one side. The runway has II bents and is high enough to give a
ch>arance of 21 ft. under the center of the bridge.

The pits are about 4 ft. deep and 4 ft. wide between the 12 in. by 6 in.
oak stringers on which the rails are laid. The walls are of hard-burnt
brick and the floor and foundations of concrete. In the bottom of the
pit a narrow gage (2 ft. 4j in.) track is laid on timber stringers to carry
the ash-buckct cars. When an engine is run over the pits three of these
buckets, which have a capacity of about 48 cu. ft. each, are run under it,
(me under the front end and two under the ash-pan, and the cinders
and ashes are dumped into them. After the fires have been cleaned and
the engine moved off of the pit the ashes are wet down in the buckets;

ENGINE COALING PLANTS

427

the crane picks them up and dumps them into the ash-cars on the ad-
j acent stub tracks. The pits drain to sumps with perforated covers and
removable perforated linings. These sumps extend 2 ft. below the
center of the 10-in. drain pipe and all cinders washed down settle in the
removable lining at the bottom, where they can be easily removed at
frequent intervals.

The standard form of coaling trestle used on the Pennslyvania is
shown in Fig. 202. Such a plant is cheap to build and operate. The
sketches convey a very good idea of its construction.

The conveyor system may be advantageously utilized where avail al)le
ground space does not permit of an inclined approach for raising the coal

1H!P//P' Q^H^

L....3'0^..M

i_ILl c!^==i=i^

TJ-xy

^.-.^V-'--

(_7 i_i u O"

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y^^CT^^^T^

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Stcf'e/T of Ptxktt.

B'O'

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gs^s

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langifvcHnal Stcfhn. Stctfcrt C-UL

Framing at End.

4«|£A------- ._-i.i!^jF'!4<----V4^L.--..

Profik of Coal Tiffin,
Fig. 202. — Standard coaling trestle — Pennsylvania Railroad.

in standard gage cars. By using a conveyor, but little more than half
the ground space is needed as for an inclined approach, gravity dump or
barrow coaling plant of about the same capacity.

The coaling station of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern at
Elkhart, Ind., extends across six tracks. It consists of a steel supporting
structure carrying the weighing bins and hoppers and a wooden
super-structure.

428

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Records of coal dumped, furnished locomotives, etc., should so far as
practicable, be kept without imposing much, if any of the clerical work
on enginemen, firemen or hostlers. Where these men are required to do
much of this kind of accounting it not only takes their minds from more
important work but records are inaccurately kept and consequently are
unreliable. Very few roads are so equipped to keep a fairly accurate
record of coal consumption, and to make an equitable distribution of it.
The ''adjustments" at the end of the month or other time period are de-
pended upon to balance the accounts. An engineman, fireman or
hostler cannot be expected to estimate even approximately the amount of
coal he leaves in a tender or the amount he finds there when he takes charge
of the engine. Where the coal is dumped by gravity into the tender, a
"guess" is made, which is usually far from accurate. In the absence of
arrangements for weighing or measuring, the discrepancies are gi eat.
Where the barrow system is used — a barrow usually containing a ton —
the amount may be more closely figured on, but that too is unreliable.
The coal is then bought by weight and charged out by volume. Con-
sidering all the uncertainties, the most satisfactory system is that requiring
the foreman at the coaling plants to keep the records of coal furnished.
Enginemen, and others in charge of engines should not be asked to do
anything beyond possibly certifying to the coaling plant foreman's
ticket as to the amount of coal supplied.

An investigation of the cost of handling engine coal from the cars to
the engine, on different railroads by different systems of coaling appliances,
has recently been made, and the maximum, minimum and average
figures are tabulated below:

ACTUAL COST OF HANDLING COAL FROM THE CARS TO THE ENGINES AT VARIOUS

PLANTS

(No allowance for interest and depreciation on first cost)

Cost per ton in

Method of coaling

cents

No. of

Tons of

plants coal handled Min- Max- Aver-
averaged daily imum imum age

By hand from cars, 12

By hand from cars, 5

By trestle (no repairs), 5

By trestle (no repairs), 7

By elevator (no repairs), 3

By belt conveyor (includes repairs) 18

3 to 12
24 206

4

127

73

55
346
212

15 1053

5

12

5

2.7
3.3
2

14

20

13
8

6.25
6.25

10
15

9

5

5

4.25

Inasmuch as the cost varied a good deal for the same type of coaling
station, when the daily quantities of coal handled differed widely, an
estimate of the cost of coaling from different types of stations when of

ENGINE COALING PLANTS

429

the same capacity, 700 tons per day was made, including in the items
an allowance for interest and depreciation on first cost, and repairs.
The figures are based for the most part on actual cost at stations of each
of the types.

COMPARISON OF VARIOUS TYPES OF COALING STATIONS-ESTIMATED COST OF
HANDLING COAL PER TON BASED ON A DAILY CAPACTTY OF 700 TONS

(Includes interest, depreciation and repairs)

# Cost per ton in cents. —

Method of coaling

When handling When handling
50% of rated 125% of rated

Should
use self-
clear-
ing cars

Inclined trestle^
Holmen bucket elevator,
Belt conveyor,
Belt cross conveyor.

shoveling

Platform and trestle.

Platform, bucket and hand crane,

capacity

4.1
. 3 9

4.5

5.2

Steam cylinder car hoist and platform, 8 . 75
Al hand I Car hoist and platform, 12.3

10 to 17

11 to 15

capacity
2.8
2.6
3.0
3.9

7.25
10
8.5 to 44
9 to 11

In 1885 a committee of the Roadmasters' Association investigated
the costs of handling coal by the different methods in use. . For hand-
ling over platforms of different constructions the maximum was 30 cents
per ton and the minimum 11 cents, with an average of 19.4 cents. For
coal chutes the maximum was 9 cents per ton and the minimum 4.5
cents, the average being 7.4 cents. The average saving in favor of the
chutes was therefore, 12 cents per ton. The time consumed in taking
coal from the chutes was one minute and from other devices 12 minutes
— a saving of 1 1 minutes per engine coaled, in favor of the chutes. Where
3000 tons were handled monthly there was a saving in favor of the chutes
of nearly $4500.

Costs based on experience are always interesting. The Erie, after
handling 40,000 tons with a crane and clamshell bucket, reports a cost
of two cents ,per ton for placing it on engines. Two crane engineers,
two firemen and two men on the ground, were employed. At Hammond,
Ind., this road loaded coal and ashes at a cost of 5 to 7 cents per ton
for the coal. The Chicago & Western Indiana at Chicago 47th Street
engine-house, handled 9000 to 10,000 tons a month at 7.6 cents. This
cost included wages of shop yardmaster, one-half of hostler's time for
handling shop engines, two clamshell operators — one day and one night —
switching coal and cinder cars and the repairs of the clamshell.

430

FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

Other locomotive crane handling plants show the following cost:

J .. ' Buffa- Leip- Belle- Ft. I Con- ' Ston- Cleve- ^.

Location i .^ t*^ i j Mma.

lo SIC 1 vue Wayne' neaut ' eyi d land

Year

Average tons per day . .
Fixed charges. . . (cents)!
Operating charges ...".'
Maintenance charges". ,
Pro rata charges ....". i

1905
176
1.9
4.7
0.5
0.4

1905
116
1.7
6.1
0.2
0.4

1905
230
l.g
3.6
0.7
0.4

Wayi

1905
153
1.8
5.1
0.5
0.4

1905
108
3.7
3.0
0.4
0.4

ey

1905
45
7.9
5.5
0.2
0.4

1906
166
2.0
5.5
0.3
0.4

1906
218
1.5
3-5
O.l
0.4

Total charge per ton .. ; 7.5 > 8.4 i 6.5 ' 7.8 i 7 5' 14.0 I 8.2 i 5.5

One disadvantage of open-air storage in pockets or pits, however, is
the liability of the coal and gates being frozen up in cold weather. With
the necessary tracks, pits and pockets, it will be found that this kind of
plant has a considerable first cost. Its operating cost depends upon
the work which can be provided at spare times. Its value is great in
emergency situations and at points where, because of impending changes,
the construction of a permanent plant is unwise. With a large terminal
where a conveyor plant is used, a locomotive crane may be very valu-
able to handle cinders and sand and also coal, during a possible break-
down of the conveyor. Then again not only can it unload direct from
flat-bottom cars, handle ashes as well as coal, move to any spot where
it is desirable to stop the locomotive, but if superseded by a different
system, can be easily moved to another point and utilized for the same or
similar purpose. These cranes are always in demand at shop plants,
for lifting and conveying heavy pieces of machinery, and in freight
yards to aid in loading or unloading heavy articles of freight.

In 1902, a committee of the American Railway Engineering Association
considered carefully the question of coaling stations. A list of the principal
factors to be considered in adopting a method, given in that report, is
well worth reproducing:

1. The question of location is one of the most important for consideration.
This will be governed by the convenience as to the operation of the business of
the railroad. At terminals and at junction points it is probable that large
coaling plants will be desired ; but at intermediate points on the line, coal mu.st
be supplied to locomotives hauling freight and passenger trains. The location
may determine largely the nature of the plant to be used. Where large quantities
of fuel are to be handled with only a limited amount of room for the construction
of tracks and buildings, an expensive plant may be fully justified. At other
points where land values are small, a totally different style of plant may be the
most economical.

ENGINE COALING PLANTS 4.31

2. The quantity of coal to be handled will also largely inQueoce the character
of the plant to be built. Where but one or two car loads of coal per day are
required, it is doubtful whether anything but the simplest plant should be built
that is sufficient to permit delivering the coal required in the least possible time.
On the other hand, where from 200 to 40O tons per day have to be handled,
expensive plants, well-designed machinery and first-class construction will be
justified.

3. A third consideration is the cost of operation. This touches upon the
labor question, involving the consideration whether steam engineers, machinists
and expert mechanics, or crude day labor shall be utilized in connection with

Fio. 203. — Coaling station of St. Louis Terminal Association.

the operation of the plant. In some parts of the country, day labor may be had
at approximately one-half the rates which are demanded in others. The rate of
wages to be paid to the laborer will be an important item.

4. A fourth consideration will be the amount of first cost, and also the cost
of repairs and renewals. It is e^'ident to make a true comparison of the economy
of different plants, these items should be reduced to a measure of cents per ton of
coal handled, rather than to luakc a comparison of the gross amounts of actual
cost and maintenance.

432 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

5. In the same connection, a true comparison will require a consideratiot;
the interest on the cost of the investment, and this also should be reduced to ::
equivalent value of cents per ton of coal handled.

6. Complicating all of the above is the question of storage. That this is
matter of great importance, and that it usually receives but little coDBideratioi
is evident from the amounts which are annually spent in storing coal on cars at
holding the same on side-tracks at coaling stations, rather than construe tirj
suitable storage bins in which the coal may be kept, thus liberating the cars f
commercial business.

7. The kind of coal handled will also influence the decision — whether it 1/
anthracite or bituminous, or both, inasmuch as the appliances which are efficie
for one kind may be less so for the others.

8. The facilities which each company has for delivering coal to its coaliL:
plants will tend to make the situation more involved, since coal may be handl
either in box cars, gondola cars (with stationary or with movable sides or trap
side-dumping or bottom-dumping cars, and other varieties, each of which wiL
have its own influence on the special modification of plant to be adopted fnr
economy.

The plant of the St. Louis Terminal Association, shown in Fig. 203,
is another good example of the conveyor type. It has a storage capaoitv
of 1000 tons and is so arranged that seven locomotives can take coal,
sand, water and discharge ashes at one time; and 21 locomotives may
be cleaned simultaneously. The average number of locomotives handled
daily is about 200. The 13 auxiliary pockets, capacity 15 tons each,
are mounted on registering beam scales.

CHAPTER XXIX

ASH AND SAND PLANTS

The ash pans of a 100-ton freight engine, burning anthracite and

bituminous coal mixed or straight anthracite, will, after an average run

with its full tonnage rating, contain from 1.5 to 2 cu. yd. of ashes and

clinkers. An engine of the same size burning bituminous coal will yield

from 60 to 70 per cent, of that amount and will be very much easier to

clean, as the ashes are lighter and will run out more readily. As there

is perhaps no engine terminal which handles but one type or class of

engine, an average weight may generally be figured on for the total

number of engines at anywhere between 50-tons and 100-tons. This

^vill give an average weight for all engines of between 75 and 90 tons

each; it being assumed that the heavier engines predominate and that

the proportionate number of such engines in service will increase. At a

plant handling from 75 to 125 engines daily, or say 100 engines per day

throughout the year, from 100 to 125 cu. yd. of ashes will be made and

must be cared for on an anthracite road, and probably 80 to 100 cu.

yd. on a bituminous road. This quantity will fill six to seven or five to

six ordinary open cars, respectively. It is assumed that old, light

capacity, low-side coal cars are used, and that they are usually not very

fully loaded. Cars which stand opposite points on the ash tracks where

few fires are cleaned may get away with a light load.

The fire of an engine burning bituminous coal may, under favorable
conditions, be cleaned in from 10 to 15 minutes; running up to 30 min-
utes for the large engines. A small engine burning a mixture of anthra-
cite and bituminous or straight anthracite will require 20 minutes to
clean the fire; with the large engine the time will run from 30 to 40
minutes. There is hardly any limit to the time that may be consumed
in freezing weather when the engine has been run through snow. Where
no special arrangements are provided, it may take, and, in extreme cases,
has taken three or four men as much as four hours to get an engine ready.
With the assistance of steam pipes or furnaces to thaw out the hopper
slides and the ashes in the hoppers it may run up to one and a half and
two hours. When engines leak so as to have water in their fire boxes
the difficulty is increased. Leaky fire boxes and flues are among the
aggravating conditions which accompany the already unfavorable com-
bination of cold and stormy weather and increased demand for motive
power. Men will not and cannot do their normal amount of work whe
28 433

434 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

the thermometer is at or below zero and accompanied by a high winii.

with perhaps snow and darkness contributing further to the difficuItie^

The photographs in Figs. 204 and 205 are of " Biownhoist " eipht-

wheel coaling crane, Erie Railroad, Cleveiantl, Ohio; and four-whc<'!

Fio. 201.— Coaling anci a.sli-trapk nrrangomcnt at Cluvplaiul, Ohiii— ICrie Railroml.

I'll:, 203,— ,Wi-t rack arrangfmeut a( litllcviic, Oliiii— Now York, CliicBgo 4 St. ].olli^,

mine, the Nickel I'latc, liciloviic, OJiio. respect i vol y. The view of tho
("Icveliind crane shows iisli pit and track !irraiigcin<'iit. The coal being
taken from the car is deposited jii the tender; the crane also takes ashes

ASH AND SAND PLANTS 435

ai tlie pit and deposits them in cars on adjacent tracks. The Bdlevue
, shows arrangement of tracks and ash pit.
The kind of ash track to be built depends on:

1 . IN'umber, kind and size of engines to be handled.

2. Kind of coal used.

3. Weather conditions existing when the maximum number of engines must
handled.

4. Physical characteristics and property limitations.

5. Distance ashes are moved.

6. Amount of appropriation available.

Where the number of engines to be handled is small, a cheap ar-
ngement, or even no arrangement beyond a spare track on level ground,
ay prove an economical one.

The following table gives the approximate cost per lineal foot of
iff erent forms of ash-pit construction with a foundation depth of 5 ft,
olow top of rail:

Form Price

Ordinary brick or stone wall, stone coping, rails

fastened with spikes in wooden dowels $5.00

Same, rails fastened with nag bolts 5 . 25

Same, with iron bearing plates 5 . 50

Ordinary brick or stone wall with vsmall cast-iron

chairs built into the walls or set as top of wall. . 6.00

Ordinary brick or stone wall, timber coping, rail

fastened to wrought-iron plate over the timber. 6.25

Same, with cast wrought-iron covering over top of

wall 6.75

Same, with large cast-iron rail-chairs, filled in

between the chairs with stone or brick work. . . 9.25

Same, with large cast-iron rail-chairs and cast-iron

ties across the bottom of the pit connecting the

rail-chairs, the side walls being left open between

the rail-chairs 10 . 75

Shallow, all wrought iron pit 6 . 00 to 8 . 00

Deep; all wrought iron pit 9 . 00 to 1 1 . 00

Add to above for fireproof protection of the side

walls 1 .00

Add, if bottom of pit is made of fire-brick instead

of ordinary paving 1 . 00

If an average of 70 or more engines are handled each day, the de-
creased cost of handling will justify an initial expenditure of sufficient
money to construct a serviceable ash track.

The writer planned an ash-handling plant for a heavy terminal where a
structure of considerable height and necessarily of fireproof construction
enables the engines to be run thereon and the ashes dumped vertically

436 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

into lAetallic-body cars standing on an ash-car track directly undernf^
This necessitates a span or opening through which the cars could l>e - .
under the track on which the engines stand; and preferably an entrst:
at each end to enable the empty cars to be shoved in from one end i.
the loaded cars taken out at the other end. Although the plant mk
be handled with an entrance at one end only, such plan would incn -•
the cost for switching and lengthen the intervals between the placin*
cars. The operation of such a plant may be greatly simplified by ui-^ .
gravity, the empty car track being on a grade sufficiently heavy to p
mit the cars to be dropped into position and the loads dropped out of t^
way. If a gravity empty-car track is not put in, other cars must be u>^
to reach those to be taken out. The clearance on the low track, fv- .
matter of course, cannot be made sufficient to permit an engine to ^
under the high track. This plan may seem expensive, but anyone wL
has knowledge of the actual cost of handling ash plants, will not he.situi
to recommend a comparatively large amount in first cost to enali
engines to be handled afterward economically and expeditiously.
Ashes were handled by a 'locomotive crane at different points wii.
f ollowing results :

No. of locomotives cleaned per

day 20 26 12 5

Cost per locomotive cleaned, 4.8 3.8 3.3 4.7 cents.

At one fairly well-equipped engine terminal, 170 engines a da\' an
handled over four ash pits. An inspection pit is located so that engine>
passing over it can reach any of the ash pits. Eight inspectors are or
duty at a time; an engine is thoroughly inspected in three minute?. .\
record was once made of 39 engines on the pit in 57 minutes during
a rush movement.

Unfortunately, the ''bill of expense" for handling ashes seldom, if
ever, tells the whole story, and consequently railroad managers serenely
permit the leaks to continue. If the maintenance of way depart-
ment uses or can use the ashes, the expense of loading and unloading is
shifted to it. It may, then, be charged under one head or another,
according to the views or intelligence of the section or work-train fore-
man, or the extent to which expenses may be watched in some one par-
ticular direction and neglected in another.

There is always a hobby somewhere in charging expenses. An instance
is recalled where a general officer in charge of the transportation depart-
ment peremptorily declined to permit the maintenance of way depart-
ment to use any more old style hopper-bottom coal cars for handliii;;^
ashes. It became necessary, therefore, to shovel out of solid-bottom
cars at great cost. The hopper-bottoms were either used in the lumber
trade and in other business for which solid-bottom cars were suitable or

■n

ASH AND SAND PLANTS 437

3C side-tracked awaiting business that might be offered "some day."
>mebody paid the bill. This is only one of many instances, in actual
ra-ctice, where the cheap plan costs the most, or where short-sighted
perating managers, while ostensibly guarding the railroad interests
losely, are in reality causing the biggest fcind of leaks.

The writer cannot recall an ash track ofJ>the overhead type in actual
ise, but is unable to see a real objection to it. All arguments as to
ixpense may be met. No men would be needed to transfer the ashes to
the cars, beyond the regular hostlers and helpers^ or "fire-cleaners."
The best plan of ash tracks in use necessitates the eibaployment of two
men to shovel, day and night, to take care of 60 or 80 or more engines.
At $1.25 a day, which is a very low rate of wages for this kind of work,
an expense of $5 a day, for labor is necessary, or $1825 a year. Capital-
ized at 5 per cent, it represents a principal of $36,500. Allowing for
deterioration of the plant, it would seem safe to spend $20,000 over and
above the amount necessary for any other good type of ash track where
enough engines have to be handled to make it remunerative.

It will be urged that this kind of a layout necessitates the use of a
special construction of metallic car. Admitting that old cars cannot be
used by lining their bodies inside with iron from worn-out tenders, that
not even the trucks of dismantled car-bodies can be used, and that it is
necessary to purchase outright new metallic body cars to be assigned to
this work, the difference between the value of the old wooden cars ordi-
narily used and the new cars is the extreme amount of be charged against
the new plant. This leaves out of consideration the frequent loss due
to the wooden bodies burning out by hot ashes. Assuming six cars to be
needed for a day's loading and two days for unloading it will require 18
cars. If the unloading point is close at hand 12 cars, or two shifts,
will answer. This may, however, require special engine service and
prevent utilizing the ashes at the points where most needed. It is better
to figure on three shifts, or 18 cars, of which one shift would be at the
ash track loading; one on the way out in a local freight train being
unloaded and the other on the way back empty. Taking the cost of new
cars of light capacity and small bodies at $800 each and the value of the
old cars at $400 each, an expense of $400 per car or a total of $7200 is
properly chargeable against the overhead type of ash track as against the
side-loading method. The metallic ash car assigned to ash-track work
and arranged to dump readily at either the side or bottom is a good
investment for any point where many engines are handled. With the
metal self-unloading cars, the regular train crew can dump the cars, where
desired, provided the section men level them off. If side dumps are
used even that provision is unnecessary. With the ordinary car, a
work train is needed or at best a section gang for say, half a day.
An excellent arrangement for an ash track at points handling heavy

"'"'"or „,„„ 'I':' 2J V,„„. „„ '™ k for a 8„ai„v„, ,

^«er crane coaJ nit M„

« "'•' "e an,J handling
in usp fin , . °

.'1 method Ia„e|^ ,„ „ """"■"■i».g .,1,„

ASH AND SAND PLANTS 439

" or (lumping and from the crane, empty, to the point where the

is to empty its hoppers.

<.€ cinder conveyor for an ash track conaists of an iron car running

an incline track which enters the ash pit at the side. This incline

extends laterally over a depressed track which is parallel with the

nd 18 ft. distant, center to center. The ash car is hauled up the

ae by a cable and compressed-air cylinder, and as it arrives over the

eased track, on which the receiving car stands, its bottom is auto-

ically tripped and the ashes dropped.

Flo. 207. — Pneumatic aah-handling plant for the Baltimore & Ohio.

The cross-section diagram in Fig. 206 shows the adaptation of a
locomotive revolving crane being utilized for coaling engines, from cars
or storage, and taking ashes out of the ash-pit and loading them onto
cars.

Fig. 207 shows an ash-handling plant built for the Baltimore & Ohio.
r It consists of a steel runway 05 ft. long, supported on steel columns

I securely braced laterally. On this runway is a 2.5 ton, direct-acting,

1 air-hoist traveling crane of 28-ft. span and a lift of from 12 ft. to 16 ft.

* It is moved along the runway by means of hand chains and the travel of

440 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

the trolley on the bridge is accomplished by the same means. The entire
structure is designed to handle full loads with a factor of safety of five.
The crane, bridge and trolley are fitted with roller bearings and the wheels
have machined treads to make th^ travel as easy as possible. The travel-
ing chain on the bridge projects beyond the runway, but this chain can be
located wherever desired on the bridge. The hoist is direct acting and
is mounted on a universal swing bearing on the trolley. The workins:
pressure is 80 lb., the air being conveyed to the hoist by hose, carried
along the runway on small hose trolleys over which it is looped.

In operation the ashes and cinders are dumped from the locomotive
into large metal ash boxes in the ash pit. These boxes are lifted out h>y
the crane and placed on a fiat car alongside. The plant is cheap to build
and operate. If preferred the bridge and trolley can be moved by air
motors, and for those roads having electric power, electrically-operated
plants can be supplied. These are more compact than the pneumatic
plants. The builders supply the runway in any span and length required,
or the crane can be supplied alone, the buyer supplying the runway.

Two sets of ash tracks were put in for each of the engine-houses of the
Lake Shore at Elkhart, Ind. That for the freight engine-house is 200ft.
long, and has two dumping-tracks in addition to two short pits for yard
engines and other engines coming from the house which require their ash
pans cleaned. The passenger pits serve two tracks and are 120 ft. long.
The design for both is the same, a depressed center track with concrete
walls and floor. The dumping-track is supported at the outer rail by a
brick wall, and at the inner wall by cast-iron piers. There is a space
between this and the wall of the depressed track, for the cleaners to stand
on. All ashes are handled manually, there being space enough in the
pit to clean a large number of engines, after which the men are used to
shovel the cinders into cars on the depressed track. There are several
water connections on either side of the pits and also a steam connection
for melting out frozen ash pans.

From these suggestions, cheaper and simpler plants of somewhat
similar types may be built for less important terminals. The system
of columns described in the foregoing is frequently used without elevating
the engine track beyond such elevation as is secured in the height of the
columns and without depressing the empty-car track alongside. This
necessitates shoveling and lifting all the ashes loaded and the removal
of engines from the ash track, or a part of it, while shoveling ashes out.

Longitudinal stringers supporting the rails, with a slight depression
between, the whole covered with fire-clay, make a cheap and efficient
ash track to care for a small number of engines.

Engine failures are frequently due to engines going on to the ash pit
with low water. Before going on the pit the boiler should be well filled
and the engine kept in motion as much as possible while the injector is

ASH AND SAND PLANTS 441

at work. Feeding water into the boiler while standing on sidings or

over the ash pit will often cause flues to leak. If the engine is kept in

motion it causes the water to circulate more freely and prevents it from

going to the bottom. If the engine is taken to the pit with its boiler

filled, the fire may be knocked out, dampers closed, front end cleaned,

and then taken to the roundhouse without likelihood of leaks being

started. When there is no work to be done on the engine, the fire should

simply be cleaned and banked. When washing out of the boiler is

necessary, steam should be blown off and the boiler cooled through the

check or injector pipe, with the blow-off cock open. In no case should

water be allowed to drop below the crown-sheet until the bare hand can

comfortably rest upon the boiler head. Many road troubles of engines

may be traced to the carelessness or incompetency of the handling at the

ash pit.

Sand is used to increase the adhesion between the driving wheels
of the locomotive and the rails, when required, and is at best a necessary
evil. It is objectionable because it increases the wear on rails and
tires and when carelessly used on interl6cking connections clogs the
movable parts and greatly increases the wear. On a bad rail — that is
one slightly moist with water or grease or frost — ^its use will often
prevent the stalling of a train or enable a standing train to start.
Occasionally the too liberal use of sand,or carelessness in its application,
will retard the train (by adding to the rolling resistance of the train) to
an extent that will more than offset the advantage of increased adhesion.
On many roads enough consideration is not given to proper methods
of supplying sand at the engine terminals and other places where it is
required. The mistake is frequently made of not storing in the sand
house (or nearby) in summer or fall a sufficient amount of sand to last
during the winter. In the absence of such foresight it is usually frozen
in cars when received during the winter and can only be unloaded at
enormous expense. In many instances the engine-house forces are un-
able to unload the sand, or when unloaded it is hard to dry it properly.
There are many methods of unloading the green sand, drying it,
elevating it to the supply point, and delivering it to locomotives. An
elevated dry-sand arrangement, to enable the sand to be dropped into a
locomotive sand box by gravity, has many features to commend it. It
is possibly a little more expensive in first cost than when not elevated,
but it is much less expensive to operate such a plant. There is less
liability of the sand dropping on the guides, or other parts of the loco-
motive machinery, where its presence may produce bad results.

The green or wet sand bin should be large enough to hold the winter's
supply. This is particularly desirable in cold climates where the cost
of unloading and handling the frozen sand is high. The bins should be
filled during summer or autumn when the sand may be handled

442 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

readily, and when the car supply is more liberal and handling capafitv
of locomotives greater.

The ordinary sand-drying stove is hard to improve upon, unless th'-
consumption is considerable. The cost of repairs is light and it can l»-
maintained by ordinary labor. One such stove will in about 10 hourir.
dry enough sand for 45 to 50 engines, and requires only the attentinr_
of one laborer, who may in addition be required to look after oil, sup-
plies, etc.

Where sand-drying stoves are used, the ordinary method is to build
bins opposite one or more such stoves for the green sand, and hoppers
for the dry sand. An elevated track — ^usually the coal-plant track —
is used to unload the green sand l)y gravity into the bins. The dry
sand hopper is elevated sufficiently to permit the sand to be drawn
from it by gravity through a spout inclining toward the engine on the
side of the plant opposite the elevated track. The dried sand may be
elevated into the hopper by use of compressed air, derrick or tackle, or
a windlass arrangement. In some instances electric power, close at
hand, is used to advantage. A gasoline engine may also be economical.

Side elevation and cross-section of the East Buffalo, N. Y., sand
plant of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, are shown in Fig. 208.

The steam and drying bin is 6 ft. wide at top, 10 ft. long, with vertical sides
extending 18 in. down from top. Below this, sides incline at an angle of 4o
degrees to bottom, leaving 12 in. flat surface on bottom, with noces.*{ary opening
for dry sand to pass through, detail of which is not brought out in plan. Three
sets of one and a quarter gas pipe along each side and bottom of hopper, as well
as through center of same, 9 ft. 6 in. long, with return bends, making 100 pipes
on sides and bottom, and 31 in center, making a total of 131 in all. Underneath
sand drying hopper is suspended galvanized iron hopper, the top of which is
full length of dryer, and 12 in. wide, reduced to 12 in. square at bottom. The
hopper sheet is on the two ends only, in which are placed screens for screening
sand, leaving a space of about 3 in. between the screens and sides of hopper on
the bottom, through which sand passes, leaving gravel to pass over the screen.
Two outlet spouts are provided, one for gravel, which is diverted outside of the
building, and another one for sand run by gravity to boot of elevator, where it
is elevated into sand hopper, from which engines are supplied. The entire
plant is 18 ft. wide, 62 ft. long; 25 ft. in length, of which is used for green sand
12 ft. for sand dryer and the remainder for elevator and hopper, as w^ell as
dry sand storage bin, which is located underneath the hopper. Track elevated
27 ft., where cars loaded with green sand are run and unloaded from drop-
bottom cars through doors provided for that purpose in center of track; the
bottom of green sand bin being elevated 11 ft. above the track or ground surface,
or 16 ft. below base of rail of elevated tracks. Top of sand dryer hopper 18 in.
above green sand bin floor. The outlet valve in bottom of dry sand hopper is
cone-shaped, running to a point in a vertical position, and inserted into the
outlet spout inside the bin when desired to stop the flow^ of sand, being operated
by lever attachments inside, and from the top of the bin, with suspended chain

ASH AND SAND rLANr.-i

444 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

on outside, in easy reach of engineman. Outlet spout 3-in. galvanized
telescope pattern, suspended by weight attachment at outer end.

The three 12-ft. bents at the end of the coal wharf at East Altoona
are used for sand drying and storage. The drawings (Fig. 201), page 426,
show the arrangement and some of the details of the apparatus used and
with the general side view of the coal wharf (Fig. 200) convey a gocKi
general impression of the plant. Green sand is delivered in cars on tlie
top of the wharf and dumped through trap doors into the two green sarL<i
bins which have a slope of 45 degrees. Below each green sand bin is a,
dryer with a capacity of 2000 lb. of sand per hour. The flow of green saod
is regulated by a slide valve in the bottom of the hopper. Passing arouncl
the stove and surrounded by the green sand is a coil of 1.5-in. wrought:-
iron pipe which is connected to the chimney of the dryer. This pipe is
perforated with 1 .25-in. holes and serves as an outlet for the steam gener-
ated in the sand as it dries. The inside of the stove hopper is almost
vertical and is made up of No. 12 wire netting, 3.5 meshes to the inch.
The dry sand bins are near the top of the wharf and are emptied through,
a 4-in. galvanized iron spout with a flap cover which prevents rain frona
entering when the spout is raised. In the bottom of the dry sajid bin is a
heavy conical plug valve for shutting off the flow of the sand. This is
raised by a cord which is tightened when the spout is lowered and falls
into place by its own weight when the spout is raised. Any sand which
may remain in the spout when it is raised, runs down into a funnel below
tRe ball joint which connects to the dry sand elevator hopper.

The cost given for handling and drying sand, based on experience,
does not as a rule mean much because usually men in attendance at
such plants perform additional duties and the labor expense is not always
equitably apportioned. Some approximate figures may, nevertheless,
serve as a guide. One master mechanic reports the cost of unloading
green sand from cars to storage bin by hand shoveling, at $1.25 per car.
The only additional labor expense is the wage of one man working 12
hours per day at 12.5 cents per hour. The plant supplies about 70
engines every 24 hours. Adding in the cost of power necessary to elevate
the sand, it is placed on engines at a cost of about 3 cents per engine.
The average engine requires from 6 to 10 cu. ft. of sand each time it is
supplied.

At another plant, of the ordinary storage type, the cost of labor is
estimated at $1.25 per day, or when other items of expense are included,
about 7 cents per engine.

At one engine-house loading with sand boxes by gravity, the
capacity of dry sand hopper is given as two car loads (24 cu. yd.) and
the time required to sand an engine as 2 minutes. The green sand
storage bin has a capacity of seven car loads (84 cu. yd.) ; and the cost for
handling and drying is said to be about 25 cents per cubic yard, or
from 5 to 10 cents per engine.

CHAPTER XXX
THE ENGmE-HOUSE FOREMAN

The successful railroad man must be large in every way; big in
thought, brain and conception — an organizer and an executive; and
broadminded. He must be a keen analyst — able to separate the wheat
from the chaff and to use the kernel in the heart of the nut. The engine-
house foreman must know and study the details of all departments,
specializing in his own; he must select the right men, quickly and unfail-
ingly and must therefore be a thorough student of human nature.

A well-known operating officer remarked that any division of a
railway will give a good account of itself if the positions of engine-house
foremen and yardmasters are filled by the right kind of men. The
writer suggests the inclusion of the chief train-dispatcher to make the
complete operating trio. With harmonious relations and thorough
co-operation between them, the real problems of train service will be
satisfactorily met.

The engine-house foremaii is responsible to the mechanical and
transportation departments for the care of the locomotive from the time
it is delivered to him after being released from an incoming train at a
designated point (usually at the entrance to the engine-house yards)
until it is returned to the designated point for outbound road movement.
During this time he must know that his subordinates clear the ash-pan
and clean the fire; inspect the boiler, tubes, fire-box and machinery;
make the necessary repairs; supply coal, water and sand; inspect the
front end to see that everything is in good working order and particularly
that the front end diaphragm and netting is properly placed, adjusted
and in condition to prevent throwing fire; turn the engine on a wye, or
turntable and clean it. He must also keep in close touch with the chief
train-dispatcher and yardmaster to know when trains are ready to move,
so as to have power ready and engine crews on hand to man it. All of
this may have to be done in less than two hours on each engine handled,
although, in many instances it is attempted in a period of 20
minutes.

Unfortunately for the engine-house foreman it is almost invariably
the case that the greater the need for the maximum number of engines in
first class condition, the greater is the number of adverse conditio^^
affecting his ability to fill the requisition. The heavier the business,

445

446 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

less time is available for caring for engines between trips, and usually, too,
the greatest demand for power comes in periods of snow storms and cold
weather when it is more difficult to keep locomotives in good condition,
and when the problem is aggravated by engine crews falling out on
account of sickness. In other words, the time that engine failures and
train delays are most demoralizing to the service is just the time when it
is hardest to prevent them.

It is necessary, therefore, that the engine-house foreman shall not
onl)'- know how to make the best of a trying mechanical situation but he
must also be somewhat of a diplomat. After hearing the engineman's
story, which is usually far more intelligent than the brief and sometimes
unreadable scrawl in the work-book, he must decide quickly and irre-
vocably whether the engine is about to fall to pieces or can stand another
trip. He must be an all-round mechanic so as to determine which work
to do and which to slight. This is especially desirable during time of
traffic pressures, when the good, quick, unerring judgment of the engine-
house foreman may save the day. He must also be sufficiently broad-
minded to recognize there is a commercial side to be considered.

A capable foreman should be given ample assistance; there is no real
economy in paying him the necessary salary and then requiring him to
perform the duties of a telephone clerk or a call boy. With the increasing
weight and size of locomotives with their many new and complicated
appliances; and with the more exacting demands of traffic in faster
freight and passenger train movement, more time is required in the turn-
ing and handling power and more conveniences and better facilities
should be furnished. "A stitch in time saves nine" was always true,
but it may be raised to "nineteen" when a failure to keep everything
keyed up may mean sending out the wrecking train to take down rods
or do other work which the engineman and fireman could care for without
assistance on the type of smaller engines of former days.

The late William Mcintosh, when Supt. M. P. of the Central of
New Jesey suggested the following as an advertisement for an engine-
house foreman:

' ' He must be neither too old nor too young.
Must have a good education and a thorough knowledge of handling and

repairing locomotives.
Must know how to handle men successfully.
Must be diplomatic enough to keep on good terms with yardmasters,

trainmasters, train-dispatchers and others.
Must be of a cheerful disposition — an optimist preferred.
Must not object to being on duty 52 Sundays and 300 nights each year.
Must not be affected by climatic changes; must be willing to transact

business out of doors in the absence of shelter.
Must be like "Mark Tapley" — cheerful under adverse conditions.

THE ENGINE-HOUSE FOREMAN 447

Must answer the train-dispatcher pleasantly when he cannot furnish an

engine that has not arrived.
Must explain how long it will take to put flues into the 99 and what's to

do with the 001.
Must not murmur when obliged to pull one engine apart to repair another,

while awaiting the convenience of the storekeeper and purchasing

agent to bring out supplies,
^lust always have a few engines up his sleeve to meet emergencies.
A regular job and steady employment awaits the successful applicant."

While there should be the closest working relations between the en-
^in^-house foreman and the yardmaster, there is nothing more important
than a well-defined line of demarcation between their territories. There
should be no common or neutral ground and preferably the engine-house
foreman should take charge of the engine just after it leaves the yards
or main tracks and before it reaches the ash tracks, or any of the other
engine-house accompaniments. The point of delivery to the engine-
house organization and the point of return from it to the yard organiza-
tion^ should be clearly defined. A trustworthy and impartial employee
located there should keep an accurate record of every engine movement
in and out, upon which all statements should be based. This airange-
meot, carefully planned and conscientiously executed, will go far toward
maintaining harmony between two very important operating heads and
avoid the "Kilkenny cat" affairs too frequently indulged in and which
some operating officers have tacitly encouraged.

One of the most important roads was starting its fast passenger
trains late from one of its terminals. The thermometer had dropped
to 16 below zero. The superintendent visited the engine-house and
found more ice than anything else. The engines were of the most power-
ful type but, under the conditions, could not move themselves out of
the house under their own steam. Their trucks were literally frozen to
the tracks. Other engines wore brought in to start them. About 20
per cent, of the men were absent, principally because of sickness. It
was colder inside the house than outside; the steam escaping up in the
roof trusses came down as water and snow and the floor was covered
with ice. Even after the engines were gotten out by almost superhuman
ofTorts, thev were in no condition to handle fast and heavv trains. The
principal trouble was that the engines had outgrown the house and
doors could not be closed behind their tenders.

To secure the best results the engine-house should be kept as clean
as conditions will permit and by keeping the engines themselves clean
it will be easier to inculcate neat habits in the enginemen, firemen and
house employees. It requires constant vigilance on the part of the fore-
man and his men and of trainmasters and road foremen to break up
the slovenly habits of enginemen and firemen who leave classificatir

448 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

lamps or flags on engines after leaving their trains at terminals; wh*.
*'forgef to take down marker and other lamps or flags and are almcM
as likely to have the headlights burning at high noon on a bright d&.y
as to light and keep them burning at night.

In a well-appointed and well-handled engine-house, the pits are kvy
clean and the scrap is removed and properly sorted. All parts of thi
engine are examined each trip and the necessary repairs made; air-
brake equipment and* other appliances tested and repaired; and recoris
kept by the inspector of all work reported as necessary by the engineman
and of all work done. Boilers must be washed out as often as the con-
dition of water necessitates and as required by the instructions governing:
the road or division. Under the Federal regulations, this is done once
a month, in the United States. These are a few states which have law>
regarding washouts but it is to be hoped such state legislation will Ix*
discontinued as it is extremely confusing and serves no good puri>oM\
merely adding to the burdens of the master mechanics and the engine-
house foremen, in requiring a large number of duplicated report.-.
Fire-boxes and stay-bolts must be tested periodically; flues must be
maintained in good condition and all movable parts of the engine kept
in proper adjustment. Stay plates or frame binders must be kept in
place and should fit properly; shoes and wedges should be carefully
adjusted; rods must be rebushed or lined when necessary; valves and
pistons must be kept tight and in good condition; driving boxes, trucks
and tender journal boxes should be carefully looked over and packed,
oiled and adjusted.

Engines are ordinarily left by the enginemen on the incoming track,
from which they are taken by the hostler and his helper to the coal chute,
stand-pipe, sand-house and ash pit before passing to the turntable and
thence to the engine-house. Before leaving the engine the engineman
inspects it and makes out a report of the work needed. He also reports
the condition of the pop-valves, injectors, air pump and brakes. This
report is deposited by him in a box to which only the foreman or his
assistant have access. The report is used by the foreman as the basis
for distributing the work among his help. The engineman then regis-
ters, in the book provided for that purpose, his name, his fireman*s
name, the engine number, the train number and the time of arrival.
In some cases he also reports the time that he has been on duty and the
amount of rest time that he must take according to the rules of the
company.

After the engine is in the house an inspector looks it over and reports
the condition of the various parts. His report and that of the engineman
should coincide, particularly as to the machinery. A boiler-maker goes
into the fire-box and makes the needed repairs. The front-end is opened
up and examined every trip in some localities; not so often in others,

THE ENGINE-HOUSE FOREMAN 449

l3\it this inspection is regular. Boilers requiring it are washed out. In
some places a record of engines for washout is made on a board. The
tL ostler or dispatcher, by referring to this board, can place and prepare
t:Iie engine so that this attention can be given without confusion.

When the engine is ready for service it usually has marks upon it,
made by the various mechanics, showing that the fire-box, the front-end,
the machinery, and all appliances, are all right. Often this marking is
clone on a board provided for that purpose, to which the call boy and the
foreman refer when they are called upon by the train-dispatcher for
engines.

One of the important duties for which the engine-house foreman
is responsible, is the proper condition of the fire when the engine is
delivered to the engine crew; and in these days of legislative agitation,
inspection and supervision, it is essential to avoid unnecessary smoke.
Mr. Geo. H. Baker, in an address before the New England Railroad Club,
Boston, April 13, 1909, said:

''Fuel saving and smoke preventing on railroads is mostly a matter of
agitation and education. One of these is as necessary as the other, but the best
results follow the proper employment of both means of improvement.

Smoke from a standing locomotive is most objectionable when it is produced
near a depot or an office building, and drifts to where it causes inconvenience or
damage. It may be quickly suppressed at such times by opening the fire-box
door and applying the blower slightly. Smoke from a running locomotive is
most objectionable when it is produced in a dense volume, right after the throttle
is closed. Then there are no exhausts to hurl it high in the air, and it trails
back over the top and along the sides of the train. On passenger trains it enters
the ventilators in the clearstory, or the open windows. On freight trains it
obscures the vision of the trainmen. This should not be permitted. The
smoke can be quickly dispersed by opening the fire-box door, and if necessary
applying the blower for a few seconds. These movements on both standing and
running locomotives result in the admission of a volume of fresh air above the
surface of the fire, some of which engages in combustion with the gases liberated
from the coal, burning some of these, and diluting the balance so they escape
through the stack nearly transparent."

Handling of the engine crew-board, calling the men and manning the
engines, has become a difficult and perplexing part of the engine-house
foreman's duties. The constant changes in the working agreements
with the enginemen and firemen tend to confuse; and as each change
invariably further complicates and increases clerical work in connection
therewith, this part of the foreman's work is not a bed of roses. He
should be thoroughly conversant with the operating rules and the working
agreements with the road- and shopmen, to prevent unnecessary con-
troversies. The rosters of the enginemen and firemen showing their age
in service and their seniority rating are usually made up once a year, in

29

450 FREIGHT TERMINALS AND TRAINS

the office of the superintendent or master mechanic. The assignmen:
of men to engines, unless ''pooling" is in vogue, is also usually handled
by the master mechanic and follows seniority lines.

"Pooling" engines — ^also termed "chain-gang" and "first-in-first-
out" — consists of running all freight locomotives in turn, starting the
first engine arriving on the first train departing, without reference to
crews. By this method more engine mileage may be made in theory-
at least, because engines may continue in movement, while crews are
obtaining rest. Whether the additional mileage obtained ofifsets the
loss due to lack of care in maintaining the machine, which regular
crews almost invariably give, is a question on which the ablest managers
differ. Sometimes "pooling" applies to locomotives handling ordinary-
freight only, regular locomotives being kept on the more important fa:?t
freight trains. "Pooling" has been done on passenger trains, and in a
few instances attempts have been made to put passenger engines and
freight engines into the same pool. In such cases a compromise type
of engine for both kinds of service is essential.

INDEX

Accident, in case of, transferring dressed

beef, 381
Adjustable mechanical humps, 85
Air-testing plants, 33
Albany yards of N. Y. C, 92, 94
Allegheny engine-house of the Pennsyl-
vania, 392
Altoona coaling plant of the Pennsyl-
vania, 426
engine-house of the Pennsylvania,
399
sand plant of the Pennsylvania, 444
yards of P. R. R., 84, 113
American Railway Engineering Asso-
ciation's recommendations for
engine-houses, 395
report on terminal design (1903), 36
on coaling stations, 430-432
on cost of car handling, 1 10
on handhng oil car in wreck, 144
on water front terminals, 227
American Railway Master Mechanics
Ass'n, report on train loading,
159
Analysis of train resistance, 153
Anchor Line's freight conveyor, 332
Angles of frogs in yard tracks, 44-48
Answering telephone inquiries, 371
Application of rating formulas, 160
Arrangement of empty and loaded cars,
157
of tracks in terminal yards, 25
Ash buckets, 438

cars, metallic, 437

-handling plant of the Bait. & Ohio,

439
-pit capacity, 436

construction cost, 435
-pits, 32

tracks of the Lake Shore at Elkhart,
440
of the Nickel Plate at Bellevue,

O., 434
overhead type, 437
Ashes, amount produced on a run, 433

451

Assembling trains, 103
Automatic couplers and effect on yard
work, 140
electric coal-weighing machine, 204
weight recorder, 204
Average standing time of cars in termi-
nals, 9

Bad-order tracks, 32

Baker, Charles Whiting, on cost of

handling freight, 273
Baker, George H., on unnecessary smoke,

449
Baltimore & Ohio, ash-handling plant, 439
coal docks, 244
freight-house in Chicago, 278
grain elevator, 270
method of handling ore, 259
standard track scale, 196
records of cost of fast or slow

freights, 168
yard at Brunswick, Md., 91, 109
Bananas, shipping, 385
Bardo, C. L., comments on switching
tests, 62

plan for yard for tidewater coal
handling, 87
Barges on the Rhine, 241
Barrett, J. M., on conditions to be met

in handling freight, 328
Beacon Park engine-house of the Boston

& Albany, 398
Beef, transferring in case of accident, 381
Bellevue, O., ash-tracks of the Nickel

Plate, 434
Berg, Walter G., lead tracks, 31,

freight house and float bridge,
Harlem, 278
Bergen freight carrier system of the

Erie, 334
Big Four yards at Lyons, lU., 92, 95
Blockade in yards, 121
Boardman, W. H., on summit yards, 65
Body track, definition of, 13
tracks, 29

452

INDEX

Books for car records, 214
Boston freight-houses, 276

terminal of the New Haven, 296
Boston & Albany engine-house at West
Springfield, 399
Beacon Park, Boston, 398
fast freight service, 166
water front terminals, 237
Boston & Maine freight-houses, 276 .

method of handling fast freight, 166
Box cars as storage warehouses, 10

cost of, 10, 142
Breck system for handling cotton, 337
British parcels service, 302

trackage capacity, 299, 300
Broad Street freight station, London, 310
Brown, George R., system of discipline, 128
Brown, hoist coaling cranes, 434

machine, 259
Brown, President N. Y. C, rules for

employees, 133
Brown, W. C, on export grain, 268
Brunswick yard of B. & O. R. R., 91, 92,

109
Buffalo docks, handling ore, 257
Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh ore

unloader, 256
Bumping posts, 58, 178
Burlington "poling" yards at Haw-
thorne, 111., 76
Burlington's typical icing station, 382
Bush Terminal, Brooklyn, 234

report on battery track cranes, 346
Byers' "Economics of Railway Opera-
tion," 359

Caboose tracks, 25, 31

Galling engine crews, 408

Canadian Pacific grain elevator at

Victoria Harbor, 272
Capacity of grain elevators, 265

of locomotives, 155
Car checking, special methods, 219

combination heating and refriger-
ating, 377
doors to be kept closed, 150
dumping machine, 249
floats, 224
movements, recording, 207

reverse, should be avoided, 21
record, New York Central System,
216
of N., Y. N. H. & H., 218

Car records, 213

refrigerating, 378

weights, errors in stencilled figures,

201
-handling, cost of, 111, 112
economics of, 210-212
in B. & O, Brunswick yards, 109
in Chicago terminal of Chicago k

North Western, 110
in Edge Hill Yard, Liverpool, 109
in leading yards, 110-114
in Potomac yards of Wash. So., 110
-loading problems, 139
Carbondale engine-house of the Dela-
ware & Hudson, 403
Cards for fast freight, 167
Care of engine-house, 448
Careless freight handling, 140
Carrier systems, 333
Cars, cost of hauling empties, 144

distribution of in separating yards,

26
freight, English, 307
light vs. heavy in loading, 144
oil, methods of handKng in wrecks,

144
pooling system, 147, 323
Cattle, annual receipts at shipping points,
184
number for car load, 184
Central New Jersey coaling plant at

Elisabethport, 421
Centrally operated switches, 55
Chain conveyors for freight handling, 331
Charges for weighing, 193
Checking arriving trains, 107

cars, special methods, 219
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy icing

plants, 383
Chicago coaling plant of the Chicago &
North Western, 421
grain elevator of the Santa Fe, 269
freight-house of the Bait. & Ohio,

278
freight subways, 8
station, Chicago & North Western,

loading, 364
stock receipts, 184
terminal problems, 8
Chicago Union Stock Yards, 184

Transfer R. R. yards, 65, 76, 79, 80
yards of Chicago & North Western,
92, 93, 110

INDEX

453

Chicago & Eastern Illinois yards at

Dolton, 97
Chicago & North Western coaling plant
at Chicago, 421
method of loading freight, 364
yards, Chicago, 92, 93, 110
Chicago & North Western's loss and

damage cost, 146
Chief dispatcher, duties of, 106
Cipher for car records, 216
Claims, damage and loss, 146
Classification of trains, 103
yard, definition of, 13
yards, 27
Cleaning fires, 433
Cleveland ore docks of the Pennsylvania,

261
Coal, annual out-put, 242
conveyors, 416
cost of handling, 253
docks of Bait. & Ohio, at Curtis Bay,
244
of the Western Maryland, 244
fuel, cost of handling, 414
handling in England, 250
hoisting towers of New Haven R. R.,

250
open air storage, 430
piers, construction of, 246
piers, tabulated summary, 247
pockets, 414

rate of deterioration in storage, 254
recommendatiooa for safety in stor-
ing, 254
storage plant of Lehigh Valley, 251
of New York Central, 253
of Philadelphia & Reading, 251
transferring, 242
weight shrinkage, 200
-weighing machine, automatic, 204
Coaling apparatus, 32

plant of the Chicago & North
Western at Chicago, 421
of the Erie at Jersey City, 416
of the Lehigh Valley at So. Plain-
field, 416
of the N. Y. Central at Syracuse,

419
of the Pennsylvania at Altoona,

426
of the St. Louis Terminal Ass'n,
432
plants of the Pennsylvania, 421

Coaling station of the Lake Shore at
Elkhart, 427
comparison of various types, 429
cost of handling coal in, 429
report of American Railway Engi-
neering Ass'n, 430-132
trestle, standard type of the Penn-
sylvania, 427
Cold storage plant of St. Louis & San
Francieoo, Springfield, Mo., 375
use of paper for protection, 379
CoUinwood engine-house of the Lake

Shore, 398
Colton pre-cooling plant of Southern

Pacific, 377
Columbus yards of P. R. R., 97, 98
Congested yards, 121
Construction of ash-pits, 435
of body tracks, 29
of coaling plants, 413
of coal piers, 246
of crossovers, 49
of freight-house doors, 282
of freight-houses, 275
of ice houses, 374
of industry side tracks, 41
of ladder tracks, 29
of lead tracks, 30
of new terminals, 17
of ore-carrying steamers, 260
of round-houses, 389
of side tracks, 39
of slip switches, 51
of switches, 45-56
of tandem, turnout, 50
of turnouts, 45
of yard tracks, 43
Convertible stock car, 189
Conveyors, freight, 330

of coaling plants, 416
Conway yards of P. R. R., 96
Combination freight-houses, 359

heating and refrigerating car, 377
of freight and passenger terminals, 22
Comparison of English and United States

freight rates, 305
Competition in England, 304
Computation of hauling power, 152-154

of resistance, 152
Computers, tonnage, 157
Computing ice storage capacity, 374

weights of trains, 221
Coria, W. P., on electric freight trucks, 345

454

INDEX

Cost, comparative combinations of speed
and load, 172
of ash-pit construction, 435
of Boston & Albany water front

terminals, 237
of box cars, 10, 142
of car-handling. 111, 112
of car-standing in terminals, 9
of coaling plants, 412
of crossovers, 59
of English freight service, 304
of floating, 227
of gathering and distributing freight,

273
of handling and drying sand, 444
storing coal, 253
from cars to engine, 428
freight by carrier system, 337
on Erie, Jersey City dock, 341
with gantry cranes, 332
handling fuel coal, 414
handling ore, 256
of hauling empty cars, 144
of installing '' hump " in old yards, 76
of overloading trains, 164
of siding construction, 59
of snow removal with hydro-carbon,

58
of standing cars, 17
of stock pens, 187, 188
of stopping and starting, 11
of switch construction, 59
of switching, 12, 86
of terminal handling of freight, 3
of terminal handling of engines,

407
of terminals, 8
of towing on the Rhine, 241
of track extension, 59
of transportation, reduction of, 17
of trucking in New York City, 4
of turning engines, 19, 406
of turnouts, 59

of two-story freight-house, 285
of various speeds for freight, 168
terminal, of handling freight, 360
Country grain elevators, 266
Covered lighterage piers, 228
Crane, gantry, 177

steam revolving, for coal handling,
250
Cranes and portable platforms, 340
coaling, 434

Cranes for transferring, 176

overhead and gantry, 332

portable electric truck, Bush Termi-
nal records, 346
Crating and marking freight, 354
Crewe engine-house of LfOndon & North-
western, 388
Crossing frogs, 52
Crossovers, construction of, 49

cost of, 59

table of total length of, 50
Cunard Dock, New York, 234
Cunningham, W. J., on terminal statis-
tics, 208
Current of traffic, definition of, 15
Curtis Bay coal docks of Bait. & Ohio

R. R., 244
Curvature, maximum degree, 42
Curve resistance, 153, 154
Curves on side tracks, 42

table of degrees and radii, 43
Cushing, W. C, on adjustable humps, 85

on cost of switching, 86

Daly, J. M., on duties of freights agents,
352
on train resistance, 157
tonnage computer, 157
Damage and loss claims, 146
Decatur engine-house of the Wabash, 399
Definition of railway terms and names,

13-16
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western sand
plant at East Buffalo, 442
transfer station reports, 323
Delaware & Hudson engine-house at

Carbondale, 403
Delays in train dispatching, causes, 107
Delivery yard of Lehigh Valley at New
York, 179
of New Haven R. R. at Provi-
dence, 179, 183
of St. Louis Terminal Ass'n, 183
yards, typical, 179
Departmental type of organization, 126
Departure yards, 27
Deterioration of coal in storage, 254
Determining train resistance and tractive

power, 151
Discipline, American methods of, 128
and organization, 126
influence on of wages paid, 135
the Brown system, 128-130

INDEX

455

Disciplining, errors in, 132

Division terminals, 19

Divisional type of organization, 126

Docks, Cunard, New York, 234

Dodlinger, Dr., "The Story of Wheat,"

264
Dolton yards of Chicago & Eastern

Illinois, 97, 98
Doors to be kept closed on cars, 150
Double-deck piers, 230

track, definition of, 15
Drawbar pull, formulae, 152
Drayage and lighterage in New York

aty, 5
Draying under railroad management, 372
Dresden, Germany, yards, 100
Drill tracks, 31
Duties of chief dispatcher, 106

of engine-house foremen, 445

of freight agents, 351
-house foremen, 359

of yardmasters, 101, 115

of yard clerks, 107

East Detroit "poliiig" yards, 76
Economic problems of freight yards, 9
Economics of car handling, 210-212
of fast vs. slow freight trains, 168
of freight divisions, 19-20
of switching, 12
of terminal yards, 20
of the yardmaster, 118, 125
of transferring freight, 142
"Economics of Railway Operation,"

Byers', 359
Economizing in loading cars, 143
Edge HiU yard at Liverpool, Eng., 99,

109
Electric freight trucks, 342

tabulated performance at Provi-
dence, 347-350
lighting, 35
Electro-pneumatic switches, 56
Elizabethport coaling plant of the Central

New Jersey, 421
Elkhart ash tracks of the Lake Shore, 440
coaling station of the Lake Shore,

427
terminal of Lake Shore, 85, 96, 110
Emergency met by conductor, 117
Employees of freight-houses, classifica-
tion of, 360
Employees, rules for, 133

Empties, position of in train, 150
Empty cars, cost of hauling, 144
Engine facilities, 34

service, loss of at engine-house, 390
tools, 410

-house, care of, 448
foremen, duties of, 445
help, organisation of, 410
plan of by Master Mechanics

Association, 392
recommendations for by American
Engineering Ass'n. 395
houses, heating and ventilating, 404
lighting, 405
smoke removal, 405
tools for, 408
types of, 387
Engines, computation of hauling power,
152-154
cost of handling, 19
cost of turning, 406
loading and tonnage, 155
overloading, 151
"pooling," 450
for yard work, 105
relief, for yard work, 108, 119
wiping, 410

yard, schedules for, 108
England, freight competition, 303
English freight collection, 305
"wagons," 307
"tranship" stations, 315
vs. American freight methods, 314
Erie coaling plant at Jersey City, 416

freight carrier system at Bergen, 334
Errors in disciplining, 132

of design in terminals, 18
European train loading, 163
Expense of ash track operation, 437
Explosives, handling, 144

position of in train, 149
Export and storage piers, 230
Extra train, definition of, 14

Fast freight, on Boston & Maine, 166
operation, 165-172
service, policy of, 171
freights, cost of, 168
Findlay's " Working and Management of
an English Railway," extract
from, 310
Fire-boxes, 433
Fires, cleaning, 433

456

INDEX

Firing up, 408

Fixed signal, definition of, 15

Flat cars, position of in train, 150

Float fleet of N. Y., N. H. & H., 226

Floating, cost of, 227

Floats, construction of, 225

methods of handling, 225
Foreign car, definition of, 15
Foremen of freight-houses, 359
Formulas, rating, application of, 160
Freight agent's duties, 351

amount handled in Chicago, 8
car performance, table of, 2
careless handling, 140
car load, weighing, 193
cars in England, 307
in United States, 1
percentage in service, 2
pool, 323

pooling system, 147
standardization of, 323
collecting in England, 305
conductors' reports, 207
conveyor systems, 330
cost of gathering and distributing,

273
divisions, economics of, 19-20
facilities, comparison between Great

Britain and U. S., 300
handling at transfer stations, 315
J. M. Barrett on, 328
mechanical, 327-350
C. H. Stein on, 329
-house doors, construction of, 282
employees, classification of, 360
of Bait. & Ohio in Chicago, 278
of the Grand Trunk in Toronto,

295
of Harlem Transfer Co., 278
of the Lake Shore in Toledo, 296
of the London & North Western,

309
of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas

at St. Louis, 338
of Missouri-Pacific in Kansas City,

294
of the New Haven in Boston, 296
of the New Haven in Worcester,

Mass., 282
of the Pennsylvania in Indian-
apolis, 283
of the Phila. & Reading in Phila-
delphia, 285

Freight-house of Rock Island in St.
Louis, 285
of the Wabash in Pittsburg,

292
of the Wisconsin Central in Minne-
apolis, 292
management, 143
platforms, 282
scales, 194

two-story, cost of, 285
-houses, "combination," 359
construction, 275
for inbound and outbound traffic,
274
loading, 361-370

at Chicago & North Western

Chicago station, 364
at Grand Trunk Toronto station,

362
on Panama R. R., 368
mileage in 1910, 1
perishable, handling, 165
rates in England, 305
refrigerating in transit, 378
revenue, average per ton-mile, 3

ton-miles in 1810, 1
service out of Boston, 166
station of the North British R. R.,

312
stations of London, 310

value of, 359
symbol service, 167
terminals, economic problems of, 9
tons carried in 1910, 1
trains, average mileage, 2

average speed, 2
transferring between rail and water,

224
trucks, electric, 342
-yard economics, 20
imits, 21
Frisco lines, type of organization, 127
Frog numbers, determination of, 45

points on ladder tracks, table of

distances between, 48
for yard tracks, 44
Fruit and vegetable transportation, from
southern states, 7
products, shipment of, 380
Fuel oil, 408
Full car loads, reasons for not obtaining,

139
Furniture, methods of shipping, 357

— ^~1

INDEX

457

Galesburg, icing station of the Burling-
ton, 382
Gantry crane, 177, 332
General principles for making up trains,

148
German hoisting cranes, 333

water front terminals, 241
Grade resistance, 153, 154
Grades in summit yards, tabulated
summary, 74
in yards, 73, 85
Grain elevator of the Bait. & Ohio in
Baltimore, 270
of the Canadian Pacific at Victoria

Harbor, 272
of the Santa Fe in Chicago, 268
elevators, list of, 265
sacked shipments, 266
traffic, 264
Grand Trunk freight-house in Toronto,
295
Trunk's method of loading freight,

362
store-door delivery, 372
Gravity switcjiing, 61, 97

in Europe, 97, 99, 109
yard, definition of, 13
yards in Europe, 65
Great Lakes, ore-carrying fleet, 259
Great Northern flour pier, 239

Hand trucking vs. mechanical handlers,
340

-thrown switches, 53
Handling bulk vs. sacked grain, 266

explosives, 144

freight, care in, 140

fuel coal, cost of, 429

grain, 264

oil cars in wrecks, 144
Harahan, W. J., on organization, 134
Harlan, Interstate Commerce Commis-
sioner, quoted, 358
Harlem Transfer freight-house, 278
Harriman, E. H., remarks on general

manager, 101
Harriman lines, type of organization, 127
Harrisburg yards of P. R. R., 96
Hawthorne icing station of the C, B.
& Q., 383

"poling" yards, 76
Heatingand ventilating engine-houses,404

with ice, 379

Heavy train loads, 163

Henderson, George R., on comparative

costs and speeds, 172
Hill, James J., on grain production, 268
Hine, Charles Delano, "Unit System,"

127
Hogs, number for car load, 184

sprajring, 188
" Hold cars," 122
Home car, definition of, 15

junction, definition of, 16

route, definition of, 16
Honey Pot gravity yard, tests in, 65,

73
Horse department of London & North

Western, 302
Horses, transportation of, 191
Hot water for washing out boilers, 403
House freight, weighing, 194

road, definition of, 16

track, definition of, 14
How to economize in loading cars, 143
Huff's Station "summit" yard, 65
Hulett ore imloader, 256
Hump method of switching, 61

switching, proper speed, 113

system, cost of installation in old
yards, 76

yard, definition of, 13
Humps, "adjustable" mechanical, 85
Hydro-carbon, use of for fighting snow,
57

Ice, heating with, 379

houses, construction, 374
storage capacity, 374
supply, 374
Icing, 374-386

station of the Burlington at Gales-
burg, 382
of the Burlington at Hawthorne,
383
tracks, 33
Illinois Steel Company's method of

handling ore, 255
Improper packing for shipment, 357
Incidents of railroad disciplining, 132
Incline, definition of, 14
Inclines for loading cars, 178
Incoming trains, delivery of, 105
Incompetent yardmasters, 118
Indianapolis freight-house of the Penn-
sylvania, 283

458

INDEX

Industrial track, definition of, 14
Industry side-tracks, 41
Inflammables, handling, 144

position of in train, 149
Influence of wages paid on discipline, 135
Inspection pits, 406
Instructions for icing, 380

for re-icing, 382

for routing on New Haven, 319
Island platforms, 275

Jackson Junction engine-house of the

Michigan Central, 390
Jersey City coaling plant of the Erie, 416
Journal lubrication and train resistance,
161

Kansas Gty freight-house of the Missouri-
Pacific, 294
stock receipts, 184
Kenly, A. C, on marking freight, 355
Kuhwaeder Dock, Hamburg, gantry
cranes, 332

Labor in English freight-houses, 306

saving in the yard, 120
Ladder track, definition of, 14

tracks, 29
Lake Shore ash tracks at Elkhart, 440

coaling station at Elkhart, 427

engine-house at Collinwood, 398

freight-house in Toledo, 296

terminal at Elkhart, 85, 96, 1 10
Law, Federal, relating to feeding live

stock, 188
Lead track, definition of, 14

tracks, 30
Leaky fire-boxes, 433
Lehigh Valley "poling" yards at Packer-
ton, Pa., 76

coal storage plant, 251

coaling plant at So. Plainfield, 416

delivery yard in New York, 179

engine-house in Towanda, Pa., 388

water front terminals, 233

yards at Oak Island, 86
Light vs. heavy cars in loading, 144
Lighterage fleets at New York, 226

in New York City, 5

pier, definition of, 14

piers, 228
Lighting engine-houses, 405

yards, 58

Lincoln, Abraham, quoted, 125
Live stock cars, position in train, 149

Federal law relating to feeding, etc.,
188

old-time driving, 184

traffic, 165
Loading cars, carelessness in, 140

engines, 155

freight, 361-370
on Panama. R. R., 368

in Europe, 163

systems, 140
Local Freight Agents Association, classi-
fication of freight-house em-
ployees, 360
Location of air-testing plants, 33

of bad-order tracks, 32

of caboose tracks, 31

of classification yard, 27

of departure yards, 27

of engine coaling apparatus, 32

of icing tracks, 33

of receiving yard, 26

of repair tracks, 32

of scales, 176
in yards, 32

of separating yard, 26

of storage yards, 27

of terminals, 22

of track scales, 195

of wagon scales, 195

of yardmaster's offices, 35
Locker rooms, 35
Locomotive capacity, 155
Locomotives rated by cars, 151
Log records, 223
London "Engineer," extract from, 312

freight stations, 310
London Railway GazeUej extract from,

65
London & North Western engine-house
at Crewe, 388

freight-house, 309
statistics, 302

yards at Crewe, 99, 100
Loss and damage claims, 146

of engine service at engine-house,
390
Losses incidental to live stock traffic, 187
Louisville & Nashville water terminal,

234
Lubrication and train resistance, 161
Lumber, methods of handling, 255

INDEX

459

Lyons yards of Big Four, 92, 95

McGuigan, F. H., plan of delivery yards,
180,183

Mcintosh, William, on qualifications of
engine-house foreman, 446

McKees Rocks yards, cost of switching in,
86

Machine tools for engine-house, 408

Main track, definition of, 15

Make-up policy for trains, 148

Managers of transfer stations and freight-
houses, 143

Marine terminals, 227

Marking packages, 354, 357

Master Mechanics Association, list of tools
for engine-house, 408
plan for engine-house, 394

"Mastodon" steel barge at New Orleans,
226

Maximum degree of track curvature, 42
and minimum car loads, 141

Mechanical freight handlers, 332
handlers vs. hand trucking, 340

Memphis Warehouse Co., overhead trol-
ley freight handler, 337

Metallic ash cars, 437

Methods of discipline, 128

Methyl chloride used in refrigerating car,
378

Michigan Central engine-house at Jack-
son Junction, 390
"poling" yards at East Detroit, 76

Mileage, average, of freight trains, 2

Mineral waters, protection in transit, 380

Minneapolis freight-house of the Wis-
consin Central, 292

Minimum and maximum car loads, 141

Missouri, Kansas & Texas overhead
trolley freight handler, 337

Missouri-Pacific freight-house in Kansas
aty, 294

Mixing fast and ordinary freight, 165

Molinc engine-house of the Rock Island,
, 398

Montreal's store-door delivery system,
372

Motor trucks, 341

Multi- weighing scales, 194

National Industrial Traffic Leaguers
circular on marking freight, 370

New Orleans & Western mechanical
freight handler, 332

New York Central car record, 216

coal storage plant, 253

coaling plant at Syracuse, 419

float fleet, 226

freight-houses, 276

organisation plan, 126

transfer reports, 321-323

yards at Albany, 92, 94
at Dewitt, 63, 80

rules for employees, 133
New York City as a freight terminal, 4

cost of new terminals, 8

freight-houses, 276

receipts from dock rentals, 5

lighterage transfer, 5

terminal development, 6

wharfage in, 5

lighterage fleets, 226
New York, New Haven & Hartford,
water front terminal in Boston,
240

car record, 218

coal hoisting towers, 250

delivery yard at Providence, 179,
183

engine-house in New Haven, 401, 402

freight-house in Boston, 296

fast freight service, 166

float fleet, 226

freight-house in Worcester, Mass.,
282

freight-houses, 276

instructions for routing freight, 319

"Red Book," 317

transfer system freight, 317
Nickel Plate ash tracks at Belle vue, O.,

434
Night freights in England, 306
North British freight station, 312
Northern Pacific Duluth piers, 239
Northern Steamship Co.'s mechanical
freight handlers, 332

Oak Island yards of Lehigh Valley, 86
Oil cars in wrecks, method of handling,

144
Oil fires, quenching, 145
Old Dominion freight carrier system, 334
Omaha stock receipts, 184
One-man stations, 353
Open air coal storage, 430

lighterage piers, 229

tracks, 31

460

INDEX

Operating classification yards, 60

results in leading yards, table of, 111
Ore, cost of handling, 256

docks of Pennsylvania at Cleveland,

261
-carrying steamers, 259
handling at Buffalo, 256
by Bait. & Ohio, 259
machine, 256
Organization and discipline, 126
Overhead runway system, 334
traveling cranes, 327, 332
trolley freight handlers, 337

Pacific Coast method of loading grain, 266
Package freight, weighing, 194, 369
Packerton "poling" yards, 76
Panama system of loading freight, 368
Paper, for protection against cold, 379
Parcels service in Great Britain, 302
Passing sidings, 39
Paving team yards, 179
Peabody, J. A., 12
Pennsylvania coaling plants, 421

engine-house at Allegheny, 392, 393

at Altoona, 399, 400
float fleet, 226

freight-house in Indianapolis, 283
freight-houses, 276
ore docks at Cleveland, 261
organization plan, 126
sand plant at Altoona, 444
standard track scale, 195

type coaling trestle, 427
transfer station, Waverly, N. J., 317
yards at Altoona, 83, 84
at Columbus, 97, 98
at Conway, 96
at Greenville, 66, 67, 87
at Harrisburg, 96
at Sheridan, 96
Pensacola water terminal of Louisville &

Nashville, 234
Peoria & Pekin Union yards, 87, 90
Philadelphia freight-house of Phila. &

Reading, 285
Philadelphia freight-houses, 276
Philadelphia & Reading coal storage

plant, 251
Piece-work in transfer stations, 317
Pier of Great Northern at Superior, 239
of Northern Pacific at Duluth, 239
modem type, 233

Piers, 227

double-deck, 230
export and storage, 230
for coal, construction, 246
Pilot, definition of, 15
Pittsburg freight-house of the Wabash,
292
-houses, 276
Plainfield coaling plant of the Lehigh

Valley, 416
Plan for improving terminals, 18
Platform cars, position of, 149
Platforms for freight-houses, 282
Policy of fast freight service, 171
Poling method of switching, 60, 63

yards, successful types, 76
Pool freight cars, 323
Pooling car system, 147

engines, 450
Port Covington, coal docks of Western

Maryland, 244
Portable platforms and cranes, 340
Position of platform cars, 149
Potomac Yards, Washington Southern

R. R., 82, 84, 110
Power of engines, computation of, 152-
154
-thrown switches, 54
Pratt, Edivin E., table ^f freight consign-
ment and package weights, 301
Problems in securing competent help, 116

of car loading, 139
Pre-cooling plant of Southern Pacific,
Roseville, Calif., 375
plants, 375
Private car, definition of, 15
Providence transfer platform, t-abulated
performance of electric freight
trucks, 347-350
Push-and-pull switching, 60

Quenching oil fires, 145

Rail and water terminal, definition of, 14
^* Railway Age Gazette j" on classification
of trains, 104

on organization, 136
"Railway Gazette*^ (London), extract

from, 65
Ramps, 178
Rating by tonnage, 151

formulas, application of, 160

locomotives by cars, 151

INDEX

461

Ratio of tractive power to weight, 153
Receiving yard, definition of, 13

yards, 21, 26
Receptacles for waybills, 140
Record sheet, "terminal numbers," 214
Recording yard work, 205
Rectangular engine-house, 388
Red Book of the N. Y., N. H. & H.,

317
Red tape in yard management, 124
Refrigerating plants, 375
Refrigeration of freight in transit, 378
Regular train, definition of, 14
Re-icing, instructions for, 382
Relief engines for yard work, 108, 119

track, definition of, 14
Removable frog points, 52
Rental value of box cars, 142
Repair tracks, 32

capacity of, 45
Report of Committee on Yards and
Terminals, Am. Ry. Eng.
Ass'n., 227-232
Reports of train tonnage, 159

from transfer stations of the
New York Central, 321
Re-railing device as substitute for

bumper, 59
Resistance, analysis of, 153

computation of, 152
Rest rooms, 35

Revenue, freight, average per ton-mile, 3
Revising terminals, report of a special

committee, 18
Roadways for team yards, 179
Rock Island, engine-house at Moline,
398
freight-house in St. Louis, 285
Roseville pre-cooling plant of Southern

Pacific, 375
Round engine-houses, 389
Roundhouses, 387^11
Rules for employees, 133
for storing coal, 254
for l.c 1. handling, 326
of Master Car Builders for reweigh-
ing cars, 201
Running track, definition of, 14

tracks, 31
St. Louis freight-house of the Missouri,
Kansas A Texas, 337, 338
of Rock Island, 285
stock receipts, 184

St. Louis Terminal Ass'n. coaling plant,
432

delivery yard, 183
St. Louis & San Francisco cold storage

plant, 376
Sand, cost of handling and drying, 444

method of handling, 256

plant of the D. L. & W. at East
Buffalo, 442
of the Pennsylvania at Altoona, 444

supply, 441

use of, 155

-drying stoves, 442
Sanding, objections to, 441
Santa Fe grain elevator, 268

plan of organization, 127
Saving mileage by reloading, 142
Scale tracks, 31
Scales, locution of, 176

for l.c.l. freight, 194

in gravity yards, 76

multi-weighing, 194

Pennsylvania standard track, 195

wagon, location of, 195
Schedule, definition of, 15
Schedules for yard engines, 108
Schmidt, Prof. Edward C, on tempera-
ture and train resistance, 161,
162
Schmidt, Prof. Edward C, on train resis-
tance, 156, 161, 162
Search-lights in yards, 114
Section, definition of, 14
Separating yards, 26
Sheep, number for car load, 184
Sheridan yards of P. R. R., 96
Shipment of fruit products, 380

of mineral waters, 380
Shipping bananas, 385
Shrinkage in coal weight, 200
Side cards, removal of, 140
Side track agreements, 41
Side tracks, construction of, 39

industrial, 41
Siding, definition of, 15
Sidings, cost of, 59

mileage in United States, 1

passing, 39
Single track, definition of, 15
Size of freight-yard units, 21
Slip switches, 50
Smoke removal in engine-houses, 405

unnecessary, 449

462

INDEX

Snow clearing from yards, 57

removal, use of hydro-carbon, 57
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, a feature of live
stock traffic, 188
Southern Pacific mechanical freight
handlers, 332

pre-cooling plant, 375
Special trackp, definition of, 14
Speed, average, of freight trains, 2

proper in hump switching, 113
Specialists, problems of, 137
Spraying hogs, 188
Spring switches, 53

Springfield cold storage plant of the
St. Louis & San Francisco, 375
Spur track, definition of, 14
Square engine4M>use8, 387
Standard turnouts, 45

type coaling trestle, Pennsylvania
R. R., 427
Standardization of cars, 323
Standing cars, economics of, 17
Station, definition of, 15

pier, definition of, 14
Statistics, W. J. Cunningham quoted, 208

unit basis car handling, 211
Steamer "E. H. Gary," 260

"Geo. W. Perkins," 261
Steamer "James C. Wallace," 259

"James P. Walsh," 259

"James E. Davidson," 259
Stein, C. H., on handling freight, 329
Stencilled car weights, 201
Stevedores, 359
Stock car, convertible, 189

pens, cost of, 187, 188
locating, 184
typical western corral, 186

traffic, losses incidental to, 187

yards at Chicago, 184
Stopping and starting trains, cost of, 1 1
Storage yards, 27
Storing coal, 415
Stoves for drying sand, 442

shipping, 356
Stub track, definition of, 14
Study of traffic conditions, 24
Subways, freight, in Chicago, 8
Summit yards, 65-100

definition of, 13

winter's effects, 85
Superior train, definition of, 14

Switches, centrally operated, 55
Switch construction, cost of, 59
Switches, construction of, 45-56

electro-pneumatic, 56

hand-thrown, 53

power-thrown vp. hand-thrown, 54

spring, 53
Switch list forms, 221

targets, maintenance of, 54

tenders, 55
Switching, cost of, 12, 86, 111, 112

gravity system, 61, 97, 100

hump method, 61

poling method, 60, 63

" push-and-pull," 60

service, definition of, 16

"summit," tests in Oak Island
yards, 86

systems, changing, 63

table of comparitive tests, 62

table of service records in P. R. R.
Altoona Yards, 84

tests in Honey Pot gravity yard, 65,
73
Symbol method time freight service, 166
Syracuse coaling plant of the N. Y.

Central, 419
Systems for loading, 140, 362, 370

Table — Comparative speeds and costs,
172
Comparison of switching tests, 62
of English and United States

freight rates, 305
of various types of coaling sta-
tions, 429
Cost of engine turning, 407

of handling coal from oars to

engine, 428
of handling freight on Erie dock,

Jersey City, 341
of loss and damage settlements,

146
of terminal engine handling, 407
Day's business of London & North

Western, 302
Degrees and radii of curves, 43
Distance between frog points on

ladder tracks, 48
Effects of temperature on train

resistance, 161, 162
Freight car performance, 2
Grain traffic, 264

INDEX

463

Table — List of grain elevators, 265

Operating results in leading yards,

111, 112
Performance of electric freight

trucks, 347-350
Scale of prices, British parcels

service, 303
Shifting records in P. R. R. Altoona

yards, 84
Standard turnouts with practical

leads, 47
Summary of hump or summit
grades, 74
of railroad coal piers, 247
Theoretical draw bar pulls, 152
Total lengths of crossovers, 50
Trackage density in Great Britain

and the U. S., 300
Train resistance, 156
Transfer station reports of Lacka-
wanna road, 324, 325
Weight of freight shipments in
England <& U. S., 301
Tallymen, 359

Tare weights, variation in, 200
Targets, switch, maintenance of, 54
Team tracks, capacity of, 45
definition of, 14
yards, location of, 173
Telephone inquiries, 370

service, 35
Telpher carrier systems, 337-340
Temperature and train resistance, 161,

162
Terminal, Bush, Brooklyn, 234, 235, 236,
237
« coaling plants, 412
cost of handling freight, 360
definition of, 13

development in New York City, 6
grain elevators, 267
handling of engines, cost, 407
number record, 214
of Louisville & Nashville, Pensacola,

234
problems in Chicago, 8
in New York City, 5-7
water front, of Southern Ry., 233
in Germany, 241
of N. Y., N. H. & H. at Boston,

240
of Boston & Albany, 237
of Lehigh VaUey, 233

Terminal, cost of, 8
division, 19
English, 309
in New York City, 4
location of, 22
marine, 227

new, importance of proper construc-
tion, 17
time of cars standing in, 9
Testing plants, 33
Tests of summit switching in Oak

Island yards, 86
Texas & Pacific mechanical freight

handlers, 332
Three-throw switches, 50
Time-table, definition of, 15
Toledo freight-house of the Lake Shore,

296
Tonnage computers, 157
per engine, 155
rating, 156
system, 151
Tools for engine-house, 408
Toronto freight-house of the Grand
Trunk, 295
station. Grand Trunk, loading, 362
Towanda engine-house of Lehigh Valley,

388
Tractive power, determining, 151
Track arrangement for terminals, 22
construction, cost of, 59
scales. Bait. & Ohio standard, 196
location of, 176, 195
Pennsylvania standard, 195
Trackage density in Great Britain, 300
in United States, 1
yard and siding, in United States, 1
Tracks, yard, construction of, 43
Traffic conditions, study of, 24
Trains, computing weight of, 221
Train, definition of, 14

and yard dispatching, 108
Train lengths and yard capacity, 26
loading in Europe, 163

relative economy, 170
of superior class, definition of, 15
direction, definition of, 15
right, definition of, 14
resistance, 153-163

and journal lubrication, 161
and temperature, 161, 162
determining, 151
table of, 156, 162

464

INDEX

Train service and yard operation, 102

tonnage, reports of, 159
Trains, assembling of, 103
classification of, 103
incoming, delivery of, 106
over-heavy, expense of, 164
Transfer cranes, 176
"setups," 316
slip, definition of, 14
station daily reporta of the N. Y.

C. & H., 321
stations, loading program for, 141
station management, 143

reports of the D., L. & W., 323

rules, 326

of the Pennsylvania at Waverly,

N. J., 317
of the Washington Southern, 317
system of the N. Y., N. H. & H.,
317
Transferring dressed beef in case of
accident, 381
freight, when economical, 142
Trucking, cost of, in New York City, 4
Triicks, electric, 342
Tunnels for freight traffic in New York

City, 6
Turnout, tandem, 50

with practical leads, table of Railway
Maintenance of Way, 47
Turnouts, cost of, 59
Turntables, 19, 406
Types of engine-houses, 387

of organization, 126
Typical western stock corral, 185

Unit basis of car statistics, 211

" Unit system " of organization, 127

United States Bureau of Mines test on

deterioration of coal, 254
Steel Corporation's ore-carrying

fleet, 260
Units, freight-yard, 21

Variations in tare weight, 200

Vehicle measurements at Providence

freight-house, 174
Vessels, discharging coal from, 246
Victoria Harbor grain elevator of the

Canadian Pacific, 272

Wabash engine-house at Decatur, 399
freight-house in Pittsburg, 292

Wages and discipline, 135
Wagon scales, location of, 176, 195
Warehouse versus box car, 10
Washington Southern Potomac transfer
station, 317
yards, 82, 84, 110
Wavedy transfer station of the Penn-
sylvania, 317
Waybills, receptacles for, 140
Weighing carload freight, 193
charges for, 193
in gravity yards, 76
machine, automatic electric for

coal, 204
Master Car Builders' rules, 201
package freight, 369
Weight, average, of freight shipments,
301
coal, shrinkagBi 200
of trains, computing, 221
Weights, disputed, 202

errors in stencil marks, 201
methods of obtaining, 199
tare, variation in, 200
Wellington's " Economic Theory of lUil-

way Location," quoted, 7, 11
West Albary car record, 217
West Brownsville yards, "adjustable"

hump, 85
West Springfield engine-house of the

Boston & Albany, 399
Western Maryland coal docks at Port

Covington, 244
WTiarfage in New York City, 5
Wild, M. B., on train loading, 163
Wilgus, Wm., on cost of distributing

freight, 274
Wiping engines, 410

Wisconsin Central freight-house in Min-
neapolis, 292
Worcester freight-house of N. Y., N. H.

& H., 282
Workers, problems concerning, 116
Wye, definition of, 14
Yard clerk, duties of, 107
definition of, 13
engines, schedule for, 108
engine, definition of, 15
first "summit," 65
forces in Chicago terminal, C. &

N. W., 110
for coal handling Bardo's plan, 87,
88

INDEX

465

Yard operation and train service, 102

scales, 32

trackage and train lengths, 26
in United States, 1

tracks and siding, relative increase
of, 2
construction of, 43

work, 36

records of, 205
Yardmaster, duties of, 115

requirements of, 101
Yardmasters, authority necessary, 123

economics of, 118, 125 ^

incompetent, 118
Yardmaster's offices, 35
Yardmasters' reports, N. Y. Central. 322
Yards as storage places, 10

at Crewe, Eng., 100

at Dresden, Germany, 100

at Edge Hill, Liverpool, 99, 109

congestion in, 121

classification, 27, 61, 100
search-lights In, 114

clearing snow from, 57

departure, 27

economics of, 20

effects of grades in, 73, 85

freight, economic question, 9

gravity, in Europe, 65

importance of proper construction
of, 11

lighting, 58

of B. & O. at Brunswick, 91, 109

Yards, of Big Four at Lyons, 111., 92, 95
of Chicago Union Transfer R. R.,

65, 76, 79, 80

of Chicago & Eastern Illinois at

Dolton, 97, 98
of Chicago & N. W., at Chicago, 92,

93, 110
of Lake Shore at Elkhart, 85, 96, 110
of Lehigh Valley at Oak Island, 86
of N. Y. C. at West Albany, 92, 94
of N. Y. Central at Dewitt, 63, 64,

80
of P. R. R. at Altoona, 84, 113
of P. R. R. at Columbus, 97, 98
of P. R. R. at Conway, 96
of P. R. R. at GreenvUle, N. J., 65,

66, 67, 87

of P. R. R. at Harrisburg, 96

of P. R. R. at Sheridan, 96

of Peoria & Pekin Union R. R., 87,

90
poling, successful types, 76
receiving, 21, 26
"red tape" in, 124
relief engines in, 108, 119
team, location of, 173

typical delivery, 179
saving labor in, 120
separating, 26
storage, 27
summit, W. H. Board man's theory,

65
winter effects, 85

80

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Droege, J. A.
Freight terminals and trains.

10125