THE TRANSPORTATION OF WHEAT 195 



weight of 4,500 tons, have been hauled over the line in a single 

 train; 85 loaded cars in one train is the outside limit, and not 

 many more empty cars can be hauled on the return trip. Even 

 70 cars in one train is too wearing on the engine to be profitable. 

 The prime cost of moving a sixty-car grain train, that is, the 

 cost at which a few extra trains could be run over the line 

 without loss where ordinary traffic pays for maintenance and 

 fixed charges, is estimated to be considerably below one dollar 

 per mile, very probably under 65 cents. 1 Single wheat cars 

 weighing 139,000 pounds and containing over 2,000 bushels of 

 wheat have been shipped. About 25 years ago, 450 to 500 

 bushels were considered a large car load and a 1,000-bushel car 

 was unheard of. 



When properly shipped, all cars are sealed in transit. There 

 is, however, considerable carelessness in shipping. For example, 

 out of a total of 202,352 cars arriving at the five terminal points 

 in Minnesota during 1905, 9,112 arrived in "bad order. " Of 

 these, 3,981 were not sealed ; 647 had the seals broken ; 1,019 had 

 open end and side doors; 1,330 had poorly fastened doors; 878 

 had leaky grain doors; 259 had leaky ends and sides; 970 had 

 doors unfastened; and 28 were without doors. Grain is lost 

 from such cars by theft and leakage. 



When shipments of grain are heavy there is often a shortage 

 of grain cars. During such times of car shortage it is a com- 

 mon railroad practice to utilize the cars so as to secure the 

 greatest possible amount of the grain traffic, taking into con- 

 sideration that competing roads will also secure as much traffic 

 as possible. In such cases buyers located at non-competitive 

 points and having their elevators full to overflowing may lose 

 several hundred dollars per day because they cannot secure 

 grain cars. 



The railroads often pursue a generous and far-sighted policy 

 for the benefit of all concerned. Such cases are where trans- 

 portation is furnished, often free of charge, for experts investi- 

 gating questions connected with agriculture, and for farmers' 

 meetings which are held in the interests of agriculture. The 

 thousands of harvest laborers which the roads annually trans- 

 port at greatly reduced rates, and even without any direct re- 

 muneration, is another case in point. The railroads recognize 

 * Interview with competent observers. 



