68 



CAR MANUFACTURE AND REPAIR 



Car manufacture and repair constitutes the second major use of 

 wood by railroads. The total quantity of lumber used in these operations 

 of which actual record was obtained, was 420,087,887 board feet, divided 

 as follows : 



Construction of new cars 338,941,801 



Repairs 77,146,086 



Not specified '. 4,000,000 



Total 420,087,887 



It is roughly estimated that the addition of firms not reporting would 

 bring this total to 425,000,000 board feet. 



FUTURE REQUIREMENTS FOR WOOD IN THE 

 CAR-MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY 



The substitution of steel for wood in car manufacture has made 

 rapid strides in the last decade, but has so far not reduced appreciably 

 the demand for wood in this industry. Cars made entirely of wood now 

 constitute but 2.68 per cent of all cars manufactured, while all-steel 

 cars have increased to 27.95 per cent. But there remains 66.75 per 

 cent of all new construction, which consists of a steel frame with wooden 

 body, and 2.61 per cent with steel body and wooden interior. The type 

 of cars with steel frame manufactured in Illinois requires, for box cars, 

 between 5,000 and 5,500 board feet of wood for construction, while the 

 older type of wooden box-car required between 6,000 and 6,500 board 

 feet, a saving of but 1,000 board feet per car. For flat cars the re- 

 duction in wood used is about 1,500 board feet per car, all- wood flats 

 requiring 3,100 board feet as against 1,600 board feet for cars with 

 steel frames. Wooden coaches requiring 25,000 board feet, still utilize 

 18,000 board feet when steel frames are substituted, while for wood 

 finish in steel coaches, over 6,000 board feet is required. Thus while 

 steel construction is effecting an undoubted saving of wood and adds 

 to the strength of construction, the extensive use of wood is continued 

 by preference to all-steel cars in 72 per cent of new construction at the 

 present time, in spite of the relatively greater increase in cost of wood 

 materials as compared to steel. As in so many other instances, the 

 complete substitution of other materials for wood will not be brought 

 about by relative superiority of the substitute, but solely by the increas- 

 ing scarcity and rising prices of wood itself. 



