68o 



The National Geographic Magazine 



of the United States, therefore, are face 

 to face with the greatest business prob- 

 lem that has ever -threatened the nation. 

 The following figures, compiled from 

 the official reports of the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission, and covering the 

 growth of the railroad business for the 

 last ten 3'ears, exhibit the significant 

 facts : 



Total single-track 



IvOconiotives 



Passenger cars 



Freight cars 



Passenscer mileagt 

 Freight 

 ton mileage 



1,196,119 

 88,446,271 



27-515.891 



48.357 



'lo.7'3 



1,731,409 



23,800,149,436 



Within the last ten years the volume 

 of railroad business in this country has 

 increased over no per cent. Meanwhile 

 the railroads have endeavored to meet it ; 

 while the increase in locomotives has 

 been 35 per cent in number, and in 

 freight cars of all classes 45 per cent, the 

 substitution of larger cars for smaller, 

 better methods of loading, and increase 

 in weight of locomotives have greatly 

 added to the carrying capacity of the 

 railroads so far as rolling stock is con- 

 cerned. There are and will be cars 

 enough to carry the country's traffic if 

 the cars can be moved, but engines and 

 cars must have tracks upon which they 

 may run. 



A striking tale is told by the statistics 

 of railroad building in the United States. 

 Not only is it true, as stated above, that 

 there has been in the ten years ending in 

 1904 an increase of but 21 per cent in 

 mileage, but the most impressive fact is 

 that railroad building has, within a gen- 

 eration, fallen ofif just as the demand 

 upon trackage has increased. At this 

 moment, when that demand is greatest 

 and the whole country is clamoring for 

 relief, it is the smallest in years. These 

 are the figures : 



1906 (estimated). 



The disparity between the growth of 

 traffic and the additions to railroad mile- 

 age and the extension of terminals,, 

 shown by new mileage of less than ly^ 

 per cent a year since 1904, to take care 

 of a traffic increase averaging 1 1 per cent 

 a year for ten years past, presents and 

 explains the real problem. 



The best judgment of many conserva- 

 tive railroad men in the country is that 

 an immediate addition of not less than 5 

 per cent per annum to the railroad track- 

 age of the country for say five years 

 should be made to relieve the situation, 

 and put an end to unreasonable delay in 

 the transaction of business. 



In order to handle the enormous addi- 

 tion of. no per cent in business with only 

 21 per cent more track the railroads have 

 utilized, as never before, the carrying 

 capacity of each mile. Not only were 

 there 35 per cent more locomotives and 

 45 per cent more cars in service in 1905. 

 than in 1895, but each engine and car did 

 much more work. The passenger miles 

 traveled per locomotive increased from 

 1,218,967 to 2,043,553, or more than 65 

 per cent, the ton miles per freight loco- 

 motive from 4,258,821 to 6,690,700, or 

 more than 57 per cent. Trains run 

 faster, cars are larger, locomotives are 

 more powerful, and methods of handling 

 the business have so improved as to in- 

 crease the general efficiency. Only by 

 these improvements has the disparity be- 

 tween trackage and business done been 

 prevented thus far from creating wide- 

 spread sufifering and loss. 



No addition to equipment and no in- 

 creased efficiency in operation can take 

 the place of the imperatively required 



