HARDWOOD RECORD 



43 



The writer in his letter, which is published in the Manufactnvers' 

 EecorJ of Baltimore, Md., in its issue of November 9, does not present 

 a single statement that eouutervenes any that has been made by 

 Hardwood Eecobd. He attempts the specious argument that the 

 failure of the steel cars in the It. Wayne wreck and the escape from 

 material injury in the wooden car was accidental; enlarges on the 

 alleged fireproof value of the steel car; and cites that in a Le}iigh 

 Valley wreck some months ago a derailed excursion train collided 

 with some oil tanks, which caught fire and burned some old wooden 

 cars. If this calamity be true, it is such a remarkably isolated one 

 as to constitute little in favor of the necessity of employing a total 

 of steel in passenger car construction. 



The writer also refers to the ' ' creaking of the old wooden sleeping 

 car, ' ' being just as nerve-racking as the reverberation from a steel 

 car. This statement is undeniably true, but old and worn out equip- 

 ment of this character has been consigned to the scrap heap years 

 ago. 



The steel door man also ventures the statement that tlie steel interior 

 finish of a car is more sanitary, and of more pleasing appearance than 

 a wooden car. This statement will be recognized as the veriest bosh. 



Nothing has previously been said in this discussion about the mag- 

 nificent interior wood cabinet work, the pride of the nation, that has 

 obtained in the modern wood-finished Pullman. It has been a delight 

 to the eye of every lover of beauty, and has become an exposition of 

 marvelously beautiful wood effects that can by no means be dupli- 

 cated on steel panels. The very fact that it was the most alluring- 

 interior finish effect possible is demonstrated from the fact that in the 

 new type of steel cars attempts are made to simulate wood effects 

 with paint, graining and varnish. 



Enough of this discussion. The ease against the steel car has been 

 amply pjroven in the minds of the public, and to every fair-miuded 

 and experienced engineer and railroad man in the country. 



THE WEAKNESS OF STEEL FREIGHT CAR EQUIPMENT 



Another feature of this subject which thus far has been but little 

 touched upon by Hardwood Eecokd, and which is of manifestly more 

 importance lo the lumber industry of the country, from the reason 

 that it consumes a vast deal more of wood than passenger cars, is 

 the steel freight car question. 



The Eailway and Engineering Eeview of Chicago, one of the com- 

 petent authorities on railroad affairs, quotes an eminent civil engineer 

 in the statement : " If I were a technical railway journalist, I would 

 be giving my greatest attention right now to the subject of the desigu 

 and construction of freight cars. I do not know of any other field in 

 which there is so much room for improvement or in which sucli vast 

 saving of money can be effected." 



The Eeview alleges that opinions taken as a whole are strong in 

 the belief that engineering science has not yet entered into the design 

 of American freight cars as it should have done. ' ' The neglect of the 

 subjects of structural strength, dead weight, provision against the 

 shock and impact of pulling, fewness of parts, etc., and the general 

 failure to include symmetrical structure of maximum strength and 

 minimum weight, have resulted in an investment of approximately one- 

 and-three-quarter billions of dollars in freight cars, which is prob- 

 ably the most expensive property in the world to maintain. ' ' 



These figures are arrived at by multiplying the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission's report of the number of cars in the country by 



the average cost of $755 per oar as i;i\en \<y the American Eailway 

 Associati(m. The report of this association states the average annual 

 cost of repairs of freight cars, which are now largely of steel con- 

 struction, is $86.91 per car, and that the total amount paid for main- 

 taining freight car equipment is therefore close to two hundred mil- 

 lion dollars a year. In other words, eleven and a half per cent of the 

 cost of the ear has to be spent on it every year, and these figures do 

 not include the loss of time of the car, nor the expense of detention 

 and delay of tratfic due to defective equipment, which would multiply 

 the expense by more than three. 



The Eeview alleges that every day of the year there are over 17-5.000 

 crippled freight cars undergoing and awaiting repairs, and sometimes 

 a good many more; and that there are already over twenty- five hun- 

 dred all-steel passenger cars running in this country, and it has 

 recently transpired that the railway company using most of them has 

 been obliged to abandon its design of under-frames as unsatisfactory 

 in practice. 



Another system which uses many steel coaches has a number of 

 tliem in the shop, and it has not been able to decide how to handle 

 them owing to their structural weakness. Some steel coaches recently 

 acted so badly in an accident that they are to be scrapped. 



The Eeview refers to the rate hearing before the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission at Washington last winter, at which the legal 

 rejiresentatives of some roads gave as a reason why greater revenue 

 was needed, the fact that steel passenger equipment was demanded in 

 the interest of public safety; but that their experience showed that it 

 was far more expensive to haul and to maintain this type of cars. 



The Shippers' Manual of the Chicago Board of Trade says: 

 ' ' There are great differences of opinion among railroad oflficials as 

 to the proper material for the construction of freight cars. All 

 seem to agree, however, that steel should be used to a greater or lesser 

 extent. Many of them favor steel under-frames, while others are op- 

 posed to them unless the upper or body frame is also of steel. Some 

 still cling to wood for the entire structure, but, by means of steel 

 plates, reinforce the doors, ends and side posts." 



Tliis writer further states that a great obstacle to the construc- 

 tion of the ideal freight car is caused by the constant dissension 

 between various departments of railroads. Each department is in- 

 terested in making the best showing for itself. One department wants 

 the cost as low as possible; another, however, a low cost of mainte- 

 nance, which means a well constructed and perhaps expensive car. 

 The master car buildier or mechanical engineer, whose prime object 

 in designing a car is ,quality, upon submitting his plans for approval 

 finds that he is hampered by the selfish criticisms of the department 

 that has to pay for handling or maintaining the equipment. 



The Eailway and Engineering Eeview says that in the endeavor to 

 iix the blame for the damage to freight equipment there is almost in- 

 variably a tendency to shift the responsibility. The operating depart- 

 ment claims that the design or construction of car is poor while the 

 mechanical department evades the blame by insisting that the damage 

 is due to rough handling. 



In connection with this article, by courtesy of the Eailway and 

 Engineering Eeview, Hardwood Eecord is privileged to present sev- 

 eral pictures illustrating a condition which appears to a greater or 

 lesser extent in all-steel type freight cars. Nearly every railroad man 

 and railroad engineer has little to say in defense of the modern type 



i^^fe 



STEEL CAR BEING SCRAPPED 



This Car Failed in Service, and the Scrapping Cost More Than the 



Value of the Scrap 



RESULT OF STEEL CAR WRECKS 



These are Wrecked Ore Cars. Thrown on the "Dump" During the 



Busy Season to Be Repaired Later 



