TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE FACILITIES 591 



known by this symbol until it reaches its destination and the contents 

 are delivered. 



The average rate of speed over long distances for carloads of 

 perishable freight depends largely upon the character of the roadbed 

 and the number of transfers from one railroad to another. From 

 Los Angeles to Chicago and from Jacksonville, Florida, to Chicago 

 the rate of speed averages about 13 miles an hour, including all stops. 

 One train was scheduled to run from Los Angeles to Chicago in 173 

 hours and 25 minutes, the average rate being 13 . i miles per hour. 

 A vegetable express run from Jacksonville to Chicago over three or 

 four different railroads covers about 1,140 miles in 89^ hours, the 

 average rate being 12.7 miles per hour. By another route the trip 

 from Jacksonville to Chicago is reported to be made in as short a time 

 as 84 hours. Over some routes which do not traverse mountains the 

 average rate, including stops, is about 16 miles per hour for long dis- 

 tances. A certain train from New Orleans to Chicago covers 930 

 miles in 57 hours and 20 minutes, the average rate being 16.2 miles 

 per hour; and on the Atlantic Coast a train carrying Florida produce 

 northward runs from Tampa, Florida, to Richmond, Virginia, in 54 

 hours and 15 minutes, making an average of 15.8 miles per hour. 

 After a train is once made up and does not have to stop so often to 

 receive new cars the rate of speed is naturally much higher. Between 

 Memphis and Chicago the average rate of speed for a certain train 

 is 1 8 miles per hour, while the rate* from New Orleans to Memphis is 

 14 to 15 miles per hour. From Tampa to New York the rate for the 

 distance south of Potomac Yard, Virginia, is about 16, while the dis- 

 tance between Potomac Yard and New York is covered at an average 

 rate of more than 18 miles per hour. 



At the rates of speed mentioned in the preceding paragraph, a 

 train would run from 312 to 432 miles in 24 hours. The time taken 

 to move cars from Potomac Yard, Virginia, just south of Washington, 

 D.C., to New York, is about 12} hours; to Boston from Potomac 

 Yard, 36^ to 40 hours; and to Montreal, 46 J. These figures include 

 the time required for icing and for transferring the cars from one road 

 to another. From Miami to Chicago the time required is about 108 

 hours. It is thus possible for fruit and vegetables grown in regions as 

 far away as southern Florida to be delivered to consumers in Chicago 

 or New York within five or six days from the time of gathering. 



While these fruit and vegetable trains, as any others, may be late 

 sometimes, nevertheless their regularity is such that transactions are 



