The Railway Library, 1909 A Collection of Noteworthy Chapters, Addresses, and Papers Relating to Railways, Mostly Published During the Year

Part 33

Chapter 332,824 wordsPublic domain

For the first time, the reports to this Bureau cover the division of freight movement into the seven chief commodities; the separation of revenues from Mail and Express; the distribution of expenses for injuries and damages, and the summaries of expenses for maintenance of way and equipment, traffic expenses, transportation expenses and general expenses. It is believed that with the addition of these accounts the annual report of the Bureau has become so comprehensive as to warrant its publication hereafter at an earlier date, without waiting on the publication of the official statistics for the preceding year.

This year the Bureau has received reports from 368 roads operating 221,132 miles of line or approximately 94.4% of the mileage and carrying over 97% of the traffic of the country. Last year reports were received covering 216,460 miles. The increase of 4,672 miles fairly represents the actual increase of railway mileage in the United States for the twelve months.

In presenting these statistics, the writer has endeavored to make them as colorless summaries of facts as an earnest desire to arrive at the truth permits. Such comment as accompanies them will be confined to comparisons and elucidation and not to the furtherance of any personal theories.

For the sake of brevity, the Interstate Commerce Commission will be referred to herein as the "Commission"; the Commission's "Statistics of Railways in the United States" as "Official Statistics" and "the year ending June 30th" will be implied before the year named unless otherwise specified.

The statements as to foreign railways are compiled from the latest official sources available.

Here the writer wishes to record his personal appreciation of the assistance rendered by the executives and accounting officials of the railways, whose co-operation has made this report possible. In the midst of increasing burdens imposed on them in reporting to federal and state commissions and legislatures, the requests for information from this Bureau might have seemed excusably negligible. The completeness of the report itself testifies to the cordiality with which the Bureau's work is viewed.

Acknowledgments are also due to Federal and State officials for their uniform courtesy in responding to the many requests from this Bureau, and the writer has been much gratified to receive from the chief government railway official of one foreign country the assurance that he considers its Annual Report "one of the most comprehensive and useful compilations of statistical matter relating to railways that has come into his hands."

SLASON THOMPSON.

CHICAGO, April 30, 1910.

MILEAGE IN 1909

According to the preliminary income report of the Interstate Commerce Commission for the year ending June 30, 1909, compiled from the monthly returns, the average railway mileage operated in the United States during the year was 233,002.67 miles; and the total mileage operated at the end of the year was 234,182.70.

============================================+================= The former total is made up of: | Large roads operating 251 miles or more | 214,916.86 miles Small roads " 250 " or less | 16,801.52 " Switching or terminal companies | 1,284.29 " +----------------- Total | 233,002.67 miles --------------------------------------------+-----------------

The returns to this Bureau, compiled from the annual reports for the same year, cover 221,132 miles, against 216,460 in 1908, an increase of 4,672 miles. Reports to the Commission for December, 1909, showed a total operated mileage of 236,166 miles.

In its report dated December 21, 1909, the Commission stated that for the year ending June 30, 1908, substantially complete returns had been received for 230,494 miles of line operated, including 8,661.34 miles used under trackage rights. These are the official figures of mileage for 1908, which will be used in all subsequent comparisons with the Bureau's figures for 1909--the latter, however, may include some switching and terminal mileage excluded from the former.

Of the mileage reporting to this Bureau, 8,927 miles were operated under trackage rights, leaving a net of 212,205 miles of line covered by capitalization and rental.

Assuming that the total operated mileage in the United States at the close of the fiscal year 1909 was 234,182, the complete returns to this Bureau cover approximately 94.4% of the mileage and 97% of the traffic of all the railways in the United States. No attempt has been made, or will be made, to segregate the returns of switching and terminal companies from the Bureau's figures, of which they are an integral part.

The first summary under this table presents the _operated_ mileage reported to this Bureau in 1909 and 1908, classified by states and territories in comparison with the official figures of mileage owned in 1908, with relation to area and population of the respective territorial divisions:

SUMMARY OF RAILWAY MILEAGE IN THE UNITED STATES BY STATES AND TERRITORIES IN 1909, 1908 AND 1907 AND ITS RELATION TO AREA AND POPULATION.

================|=================|==========|============|=========== |Bureau's Figures | | Miles of | +--------+--------+ 1907(a) | Line |Inhabitants | 1909 | 1908 | Owned | per 100 | per |Operated|Operated|(Official)|Sq. Miles of| Mile of | Miles | Miles | Miles | Territory | Line ----------------+--------+--------+----------+------------+----------- Alabama | 4,917 | 4,644 | 4,840 | 9.77 | 406 Arkansas | 3,996 | 3,758 | 4,861 | 9.21 | 301 California | 6,376 | 6,251 | 6,664 | 4.38 | 243 Colorado | 5,229 | 5,096 | 5,295 | 5.11 | 114 Connecticut | 930 | 936 | 1,016 | 20.96 | 999 Delaware | 342 | 343 | 336 | 17.14 | 615 Florida | 3,117 | 2,960 | 3,970 | 7.39 | 148 Georgia | 6,485 | 6,293 | 6,783 | 11.65 | 361 Idaho | 1,651 | 1,568 | 1,731 | 2.09 | 102 Illinois | 13,216 | 12,796 | 12,137 | 21.80 | 442 Indiana | 7,774 | 7,326 | 7,259 | 20.24 | 388 Iowa | 9,923 | 9,865 | 9,867 | 17.87 | 252 Kansas | 9,125 | 9,175 | 8,936 | 10.94 | 184 Kentucky | 3,229 | 3,205 | 3,441 | 8.71 | 690 Louisiana | 3,860 | 3,805 | 4,558 | 10.43 | 326 Maine | 1,984 | 1,750 | 2,093 | 7.19 | 361 Maryland | 1,325 | 1,278 | 1,432 | 14.90 | 906 Massachusetts | 2,079 | 2,079 | 2,112 | 26.45 | 1,492 Michigan | 8,384 | 8,312 | 8,941 | 15.63 | 302 Minnesota | 8,258 | 8,100 | 8,246 | 10.46 | 236 Mississippi | 3,545 | 3,281 | 4,081 | 9.00 | 416 Missouri | 8,200 | 8,141 | 8,039 | 11.79 | 429 Montana | 3,537 | 3,406 | 3,307 | 2.28 | 91 Nebraska | 6,099 | 6,083 | 5,932 | 7.76 | 200 Nevada | 1,621 | 1,540 | 1,700 | 1.55 | 28 New Hampshire | 1,211 | 1,211 | 1,248 | 13.86 | 369 New Jersey | 2,046 | 2,046 | 2,250 | 30.59 | 917 New York | 8,106 | 7,989 | 8,472 | 17.86 | 957 North Carolina | 3,567 | 3,332 | 4,385 | 9.21 | 473 North Dakota | 4,026 | 4,025 | 3,906 | 5.56 | 118 Ohio | 8,951 | 9,041 | 9,261 | 22.75 | 502 Oklahoma | 5,572 | 5,532 | 2,821 | 7.84 | 202 Oregon | 1,687 | 1,600 | 1,939 | 2.07 | 237 Pennsylvania | 10,532 | 10,224 | 11,259 | 25.25 | 621 Rhode Island | 192 | 190 | 208 | 20.11 | 2,262 South Carolina | 2,892 | 2,975 | 3,271 | 11.02 | 451 South Dakota | 3,646 | 3,568 | 3,703 | 4.82 | 122 Tennessee | 3,283 | 3,528 | 3,725 | 9.01 | 600 Texas | 12,847 | 12,932 | 12,932 | 4.95 | 263 Utah | 1,820 | 1,772 | 1,957 | 2.42 | 156 Vermont | 941 | 926 | 1,071 | 11.98 | 351 Virginia | 4,099 | 3,900 | 4,056 | 10.43 | 495 Washington | 3,353 | 3,207 | 3,767 | 5.69 | 152 West Virginia | 2,846 | 2,777 | 3,264 | 13.62 | 320 Wisconsin | 7,039 | 6,900 | 7,459 | 14.01 | 304 Wyoming | 1,429 | 1,414 | 1,526 | 1.56 | 70 Arizona | 1,705 | 1,684 | 1,928 | 1.71 | 71 New Mexico | 2,782 | 2,521 | 2,965 | 2.42 | 74 District of | | | | | Columbia | 51 | 42 | 31 | 53.53 | 9,709 Canada(b) | 1,343 | 1,273 | | | +--------+--------+----------+------------+----------- United States |221,132 |216,460 | 227,671 | 7.74 | 370 ----------------+--------+--------+----------+------------+-----------

(a) Official mileage by States not available for 1908.

(b) Mileage operated in Canada by American roads.

SUMMARY OF RAILWAY MILEAGE IN THE UNITED STATES BY STATES AND TERRITORIES IN 1909 AND 1908 AND ITS RELATION TO AREA AND POPULATION--Continued.

=================================+===========+============+=========== | 1908 | Miles of | | Owned | Line |Inhabitants |(Official) | per 100 | per | Miles |Sq. Miles of| Mile of | | Territory | Line ---------------------------------+-----------+------------+----------- United States, 1909 | 234,182 | 7.88 | 379 " " 1908 | 230,494 | 7.76 | 378 " " 1907 | 227,671 | 7.74 | 370 " " 1906 | 222,575 | 7.55 | 373 " " 1905 | 217,018 | 7.34 | 378 " " 1904 | 212,577 | 7.20 | 379 " " 1903 | 207,187 | 7.00 | 384 " " 1902 | 201,673 | 6.82 | 388 " " 1901 | 196,075 | 6.64 | 391 " " 1900 | 192,941 | 6.51 | 393 " " 1899 | 188,277 | 6.37 | 395 " " 1898 | 185,371 | 6.28 | 394 " " 1897 | 182,920 | 6.21 | 390 " " 1896 | 181,154 | 6.15 | 384 " " 1895 | 179,176 | 6.08 | 382 " " 1894 | 176,603 | 6.02 | 379 " " 1893 | 170,332 | 5.94 | 377 " " 1892 | 165,691 | 5.78 | 380 " " 1891 | 164,603 | 5.67 | 380 " " 1890 | 159,272 | 5.51 | 384 ---------------------------------+-----------+------------+-----------

The column of operated mileage in 1909 testifies to the comprehensive character of the reports to this Bureau, while the last two columns demonstrate how railway extension has kept pace with the growth of the country. Territorially the United States now has 43% more railway mileage than it had in 1890, and the last column proves that the mileage is greater proportionately to the population than it was twenty years ago. The contrast in the density of population per mile of line between Rhode Island and Nevada is illustrative of the startling diversity of conditions under which railways are operated in the United States.

RAILWAYS BUILT IN 1909.

The new mileage reported as constructed in 1909 tallies more nearly than usual with the increase in mileage for which operating reports are received. As reported in the _Railway and Engineering Review_, February 19, 1910, the new mileage by states was as follows:

MILES OF LINE CONSTRUCTED DURING THE CALENDAR YEAR 1909 BY STATES AND TERRITORIES.

RAILWAY MILEAGE OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

The ratios of railway mileage to area and population in the table on page 19 may be compared with those of foreign countries for 1907 in the following statement:

SUMMARY OF THE WORLD'S RAILWAYS AND RATIO OF THE MILEAGE TO THE AREA AND POPULATION OF EACH COUNTRY IN 1907.

_From Archiv fur Eisenbahnwesen_, May-June, 1909.

===================================+=========+============+=========== | | Miles of |Inhabitants | Miles | Line per | per Countries | 1907 | 100 Square | Mile of | | Miles | Line -----------------------------------+---------+------------+----------- Europe: | | | Germany | 36,065 | 17.2 | 1,563 Austria-Hungary | 25,852 | 10.0 | 1,818 Great Britain and Ireland | 23,084 | 19.0 | 1,785 France | 29,716 | 14.2 | 1,316 Russia in Europe and Finland | | | (2,057 miles) | 36,279 | 1.8 | 2,941 Italy | 10,312 | 9.3 | 3,125 Belgium | 4,874 | 42.8 | 1,370 Netherlands and Luxemburg | 2,230 | 15.0 | 2,564 Switzerland | 2,763 | 12.2 | 1,205 Spain | 9,227 | 4.8 | 1,923 Portugal | 1,689 | 4.7 | 3,226 Denmark | 2,141 | 14.3 | 1,150 Norway | 1,606 | 1.3 | 1,390 Sweden | 8,321 | 4.8 | 617 Servia | 379 | 2.1 | 6,666 Roumania | 1,994 | 3.2 | 2,941 Greece | 771 | 3.1 | 3,125 Turkey in Europe, Bulgaria and | | | Rumelia | 1,967 | 1.9 | 5,000 Malta, Jersey and Isle of Man | 68 | 16.1 | 5,273 +---------+------------+----------- Total for Europe, 1907 | 199,345 | 5.3 | 1,887 " " " 1906 | 196,437 | 5.2 | 1,993 " " " 1905 | 192,507 | 5.1 | 2,084 " " " 1904 | 189,806 | 5.0 | 2,084 " " " 1903 | 186,685 | 5.0 | 2,084 " " " 1902 | 183,989 | 4.9 | 2,127 " " " 1901 | 180,817 | 4.8 | 2,174 " " " 1900 | 176,396 | 4.7 | 2,220 " " " 1899 | 172,953 | 4.6 | 2,220 " " " 1898 | 167,614 | 4.4 | -- " " " 1897 | 163,550 | 4.3 | -- " " " 1896 | 160,030 | 4.2 | -- +---------+------------+----------- Increase in eleven years | 39,315 | -- | -- | | | Other Foreign Countries in 1907: | | | Canada | 22,447 | 0.6 | 373 Mexico | 13,612 | 1.8 | 321 Brazil | 10,713 | .32 | 1,408 Argentine Republic | 13,673 | 1.3 | 356 Peru | 1,332 | .32 | 3,449 Uruguay | 1,210 | 1.8 | 769 Chili | 2,939 | 1.0 | 1.123 Central Russia in Asia | 2,808 | 1.3 | 2,777 Siberia and Manchuria | 5,664 | .11 | 1,020 Japan | 5,012 | 3.1 | 9,090 China | 4,162 | 0.1 | 85,820 British India | 29,892 | 1.4 | 10,000 New Zealand | 2,570 | 2.4 | 324 Victoria | 3,428 | 3.9 | 351 New South Wales | 3,471 | 1.1 | 394 South Australia | 1,924 | 0.16 | 188 Queensland | 3,404 | 0.5 | 142 Egypt | 3,445 | 1.0 | 2,860 Cape Colony | 3,804 | 1.3 | 463 Natal | 976 | 3.5 | 793 Transvaal | 1,361 | 1.1 | 636 Recapitulation: | | | Total for Europe | 199,345 | 5.3 | 1,889 " " America | 302,927 | 2.3 | 524 " " Asia | 56,283 | 0.38 | 15,540 " " Africa | 18,516 | 0.16 | 8,014 " " Australia | 17,766 | 0.6 | 279 " " the whole world | 594,837 | -- | -- -----------------------------------+---------+------------+-----------

Of the above total railway mileage for the whole world, no less than 332,360 miles, or nearly 56%, is operated in English speaking countries, the mileage of the United States alone being over 35% of the whole.

To the most casual student the disparity between the density of population to railway mileage in the United States and Europe of one to five, is as apparent as it is significant of our necessity for so much greater provision of transportation facilities per capita. If our per capita mileage were relatively the same as that of Europe, the United States would be set back to the transportation facilities of 1869, when the completion of the Union Pacific raised its total mileage to 47,254 miles. But even then it had a ratio of one mile of railway to 810 inhabitants, which was higher than Europe's ratio today.

Clearly there is nothing in the statistics of the railway mileage of the world to account for the epidemic of railway phobia that periodically convulses the people and legislatures of the United States of America.

MILEAGE OF ALL TRACKS IN 1909.

Of almost equal importance to the mileage of American railways are the auxiliary tracks upon which the extent and efficiency of their public service so largely depends. As the next statement shows, these continue to increase more rapidly than the miles of line.

SUMMARY OF MILEAGE OF SINGLE TRACK, SECOND TRACK, THIRD TRACK, FOURTH TRACK AND YARD TRACK AND SIDINGS, IN THE UNITED STATES, 1897 TO 1909.

==============+===========+========+=======+=======+========+========= | | | | | | Total | Single | Second | Third |Fourth | Yard | Mileage Year | Track | Track | Track |Track | Track | Operated | | | | | and | (all | | | | |Sidings | tracks) --------------+-----------+--------+-------+-------+--------+--------- 1909 (94.4%) | | | | | | Bureau | 221,132 | 20,637 | 2,186 | 1,491 | 80,669 | 326,115 1908 Official |(a)230,494 | 20,209 | 2,081 | 1,409 | 79,452 | 333,646 1907 | 227,455 | 19,421 | 1,960 | 1,390 | 77,749 | 327,975 1906 | 222,340 | 17,396 | 1,766 | 1,279 | 73,760 | 317,083 1905 | 216,973 | 17,056 | 1,609 | 1,215 | 69,941 | 306,796 1904 | 212,243 | 15,824 | 1,467 | 1,046 | 66,492 | 297,073 1903 | 205,313 | 14,681 | 1,303 | 963 | 61,560 | 283,821 1902 | 200,154 | 13,720 | 1,204 | 895 | 58,220 | 274,195 1901 | 195,561 | 12,845 | 1,153 | 876 | 54,914 | 265,352 1900 | 192,556 | 12,151 | 1,094 | 829 | 52,153 | 258,784 1899 | 187,543 | 11,546 | 1,047 | 790 | 49,223 | 250,142 1898 | 184,648 | 11,293 | 1,009 | 793 | 47,589 | 245,333 1897 | 183,284 | 11,018 | 995 | 780 | 45,934 | 242,013 --------------+-----------+--------+-------+-------+--------+---------

(a) To the figures for 1908 should be added the 1,626 miles of main track and 2,085 of yard track and sidings of switching and terminal companies, excluded by the Official Statistician, raising the total of all tracks to 337,357.