The Railway Library, 1909. Various
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may be made, "If this Road must prove a profitable investment, why other works in Pennsylvania, favorably located, have not yielded remunerating dividends to their proprietors?" In reply it can be stated that there is no important work, leading from Philadelphia, that ought not now to divide large profits, if their stock and funded debts exhibited a fair cash value of the property represented. Most, if not all, of these works, were commenced with inadequate capital, for the object in view, and from the anxiety of the stockholders to realize the large profits promised on their completion, and the public to enjoy the use of the improvement, they have been pressed forward faster than true economy, or the funds of the company, would justify. Engagements were made, relying upon fortune, or accident, to provide the means to meet them. These resources failing, they were thrown upon the mercy of either the contractors or the money lender. And, in consequence, the cost of the works has been rolled up to an amount not anticipated, and, in many cases, debts incurred, under the pressure of the moment, in the most objectionable shape, to meet which the whole of the receipts of the companies have necessarily been mortgaged.
In New England, and also in New York—where railroads have, in many cases, been deprived of the privilege of carrying freight—judiciously located roads have invariably paid well. Their success has not been caused by the exercise of any peculiar skill or economy in their management, as generally supposed, for, in this respect, though they stand deservedly high, there is none that conduct their business, under all circumstances, with as much economy as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, or some other southern companies.
In closing this communication it gives me much pleasure to acknowledge the zealous and cordial co-operation that I have received from my Associate and Assistant Engineers in carrying on the important work that you have committed to our charge.
Respectfully submitted, by
Your obedient servant,
J. EDGAR THOMSON,
Chief Engineer.
Note.—By way of "Then and Now" contrast, the income account of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for the year ending June 30, 1909, from Interstate Commerce Commission Bulletin No. 5 is subjoined.
Revenues and Expenses of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for the year ending June 30, 1909.
| Miles operated | 4,087 | |
| Operating revenues | $138,449,119 | |
| From Freight | $100,356,160 | |
| Passengers | 28,774,281 | |
| Other transportation | 8,438,972 | |
| Non-transportation | 879,706 | |
| Operating expenses | 97,107,751 | |
| For Maintenance of Way and structures | $16,503,246 | |
| Maintenance of equipment | 27,225,887 | |
| Traffic | 1,844,365 | |
| Transportation | 48,064,176 | |
| General | 3,470,077 | |
| Net operating revenue | 41,341,368 | |
| Taxes(a) | 2,370,314 |
(a) Exclusive of some $1,790,000 taxes paid on leased lines.
Observe that the amount expended on maintenance of way and structures in 1909 was more than double the total estimated cost of the road from Harrisburg to Pittsburg in 1848.
The amount expended during the calendar year 1909 in revision of grades and alignment, and for additional tracks, yards and other terminal facilities, abolition of grade crossings and improvement of equipment was $5,581,809, exclusive of $4,000,000 applied towards construction of New York Terminal Extension.
This road as it exists today is a living monument to the sound policy of the American railway practice of a dollar for improvements for every dollar of dividends. S. T.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] By an alteration of the line, since made, the distance lost by the river route is reduced to four-tenths of a mile.
RAILWAYS AND THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
By James J. Hill.
[On the occasion of the completion of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Ry., connecting Portland with British Columbia, Mr. Hill delivered three noteworthy addresses at Portland, November 6, 1908, at Tacoma November 9 and Seattle November 10. The speech at Portland was an earnest plea for a more intelligent and economical cultivation and conservation of the vast agricultural resources of the Pacific northwest; the other two related largely to the part played by the railways in the development of that territory. The portions of these addresses which follow are taken from the full reports which appeared in the Seattle and Tacoma newspapers the next days.]
MR. HILL AT SEATTLE.
After Mr. Hill had been introduced and warmly applauded as the "Empire Builder," who had been intimately associated with the development of the northern tier of states from the Lakes to the Pacific Ocean, and he had acknowledged his obligation to the indomitable spirit of Seattle and its people, he began his address by disclaiming the ownership of the Great Northern railway. "Fifteen thousand people own it." said he. "The average holding is about 120 shares. Over 6,000 women are owners in the Great Northern railway, and I have to manage their affairs." Then he proceeded:
"It is three years since I was here, and I never expected that three months would pass without my coming to Seattle, but three years have passed and what do I find? I think the city in three years has doubled. I think it has doubled in everything that goes to make a city. Just look at the streets lined with commercial houses which would be a credit to any city in the world. It is far beyond what I expected to find, and I think that Seattle has a future. Seattle is entitled to her growth, and if the same spirit that has moved her citizens in the past continues, if the mantle of the older men falls on the shoulders of the younger men, Seattle cannot help but thrive. You have behind you one of the richest states in the Union; one of the very richest.
DEVELOPMENT OF RAILWAYS.
"Now, to come back to the relation of the railway to the development of the country. Next to the cultivation of the soil itself, in the amount of money invested and in the importance to all the people, is the railway property of this country. It is on a little different basis, I am sorry to say, from the general attitude of the public, from any other property. From what Judge Burke says as to the Golden Rule, if you can have it fairly applied, it would make our hearts glad.
"We frequently hear about railroad watered stock. It is a hackneyed phrase which is used with which to catch gudgeons, and it has caught a great many. Now, let us see. You can open a bank—five of us sitting here, if we had the money, could open a bank, put up the building and draw our checks, and that is disposed of. We have a million or a million and a half of capital, and,