10 BULLETIN 664, U. B. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Plate IV, have been obtained, but it has not yet been possible to 

 assign to ihe tracings any accurate value in pounds pressure or 

 other standard expression of force. To observe the working of 

 the impactographs the investigators rode in freight cars with the 

 machines and watched the records they made, noting by actual ob- 

 servation the relation between the character of the record of train 

 movement and the condition of the eggs in the cases. Plate IV 

 indicates that the shocks incident to yard shifting are much greater 

 than those due to lurching and air brakes while running, even when 

 the speed of a train of 60 cars reaches 45 miles an hour. 



A very large amount of damage is caused because the packages 

 get wet, especially those on the floor of the car. A wet filler affords 

 practicall} 7 no protection to the eggs. A wet floor is' generally caused 

 by faulty bunkers or clogged drains, due to dirt from the ice. or 

 failure to remove the slime from the bunker. Observations made 

 during one season showed that 38 per cent of all the egg cars ex- 

 amined were more or less damaged by water. Much, if not all, of 

 this damage can be prevented by washing the ice more carefully 

 befor it is placed in the bunkers, especially where natural ice, which 

 has been packed in sawdust, is used. Too often the so-called wash- 

 ing merely pushes the sawdust around to the lower side of the cake 

 of ice, so that it eventually enters the bunker. 



CONDITIONS AT THE TERMINAL. 



The 39 terminals at which shipments were received and observa- 

 tions made included freight houses on Manhattan Island, station 

 piers, 1 to which the cars had been transferred by ferry, private ware- 

 houses, and the railroad yards of Philadelphia, Boston, and other 

 cities east of Buffalo and Pittsburgh. A freight train upon arrival 

 at destination is broken up into groups or strings of cars, which are 

 shunted and shifted by yard engines in classifying them for delivery 

 to the receivers. The receiving freight yard is usually a large one, 

 and is generally located at some distance from the actual unloading 

 terminus. The cars may have to pass through minor yards before 

 they reach their proper station. The delivery is made at one of four 

 receiving locations, namely, a freight house, a freight yard, a sta- 

 tion pier, or a private warehouse or siding. A brief description of 

 each form of terminal follows, and the general method of handling 

 is indicated. 



Freight houses are usually located near the point of commercial 

 activity. They serve the purpose of inbound and outbound freight. 

 Some have separate track's and platforms for each, but often the same 



1 Droege, John A. Freight Terminals and Trains. (1912.) McGraw Hill Book Co., 

 London. 



