168 THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER EST THE UNITED STATES 



Table 127. — Railway mileage, and ties consumed, 1920-70, with projections (1970 relative prices) to 2000 





Mileage of 



Crossties 

 per mile 

 of track 



Tie consumption 



Year 



track operated 



Total 

 volume 



Crossties 







Total 



Laid on 

 crossties 



Total 



In replacement 



In new track 



Switch and 



bridge ties, 



volume 





Number 



Volume 



Number 



Volume 



Number 



Volume 





1920-29' 



Thousand 

 miles 

 400.4 

 399.9 

 378.3 

 369.8 



360.6 

 357.9 

 354.5 

 352.3 

 350.0 



348.0 

 346.6 

 344.9 

 343.1 

 341.5 



340.0 



Thousand 

 miles 

 372.4 

 371.9 

 351.8 

 343.9 



335.3 

 332.9 

 329.6 

 327.7 

 325.5 



323.6 

 322.3 

 320.8 

 319.1 

 317.6 



316.2 



Number 



Million 

 board feet 

 3,598 

 2,085 

 2,000 

 1,262 



745 

 622 

 693 

 687 

 750 



776 

 807 

 832 

 899 

 899 



880 



Thousands 

 96,400 

 52, 506 

 48,353 

 29,523 



17, 370 

 14, 210 

 16,090 

 16,000 

 17,544 



18, 198 

 18, 979 

 18,652 

 20,322 

 21,363 



20, 915 



Million 

 board feet 

 3,278 

 1,890 

 1,837 

 1,151 



677 



554 

 628 

 624 

 684 



710 

 740 

 765 

 833 

 833 



816 



Thousands 

 90,000 

 50,552 

 45,111 

 26,431 



15,150 

 12,719 

 14,209 

 14,463 

 15,629 



15, 817 

 16,436 

 16,093 

 18,323 

 18,556 



19,336 



Million 

 board feet 

 3,060 

 1,820 

 1,714 

 1,031 



591 



496 

 555 

 564 

 609 



617 



641 

 660 

 751 

 724 



754 



Thousands 

 6,400 

 1,954 

 3,242 

 3,092 



2,220 

 1,489 

 1,881 

 1,537 

 1,915 



2,381 

 2,543 

 2,559 

 1,999 

 2,807 



1,579 



Million 



board feet 



218 



70 



123 



121 



86 

 58 

 73 

 60 

 75 



93 

 99 



105 

 82 



109 



62 



Million 

 board feet 

 320 



1930-39' 



2,986 

 3,000 

 3,015 



3,017 

 3,017 

 3,018 

 3,019 

 3,079 



3,016 

 3,021 

 3,032 

 3,031 

 3,031 



3,030 



195 



1940-49' 



163 



1950-59' 



111 



1960 



68 



1961 



68 



1962 



65 



1963 



63 



1964 



66 



1965 



66 



1966 



67 



1967 



67 



1968 



66 



1969 



66 



1970 



64 







Low projections 



1980. 

 1990. 

 2000. 



330.0 



307.0 



3,030 



1,250 



29,550 



1,180 



28,190 



1,130 



1,360 



50 



325.0 



302.0 



3,025 



1,260 



29,590 



1,190 



27,680 



1,110 



1,910 



80 



322.0 



299.0 



3,020 



1,270 



30,050 



1,200 



27,360 



1,090 



2,690 



110 



70 

 70 

 70 



Medium projections 



1980. 

 1990. 

 2000. 



330.0 



307.0 



3,030 



1,370 



32, 450 



1,300 



31,010 



1,240 



1,440 



60 



325.0 



302.0 



3,025 



1,380 



32, 570 



1,310 



30,450 



1,220 



2,120 



90 



322. 



299.0 



3,020 



1,400 



33,240 



1,330 



30,100 



1,200 



3,140 



130 



70 

 70 

 70 



High projections 



1980. 

 1990. 

 2000. 



330.0 



307.0 



3,030 



1,510 



35,960 



1,440 



34,450 



1,380 



1,510 



60 



325.0 



302.0 



3,025 



1,520 



36, 170 



1,450 



33,840 



1,350 



2,330 



100 



322.0 



299.0 



3,020 



1,550 



37,060 



1,480 



33,440 



1,340 



3,620 



140 



70 

 70 



70 



1 Data shown are annual averages for the decade. 



Note: Data on tie consumption by class I railroads as reported by the ICC 

 have been adjusted to include consumption by all railroads. 



rapid growth was for particleboard, with consump- 

 tion rising from 106 to 669 million square feet (%- 

 inch basis), and for hardboard, with use growing 

 from 760 to 1,361 million square feet (^-inch 

 basis). Lumber consumption also increased from 

 3.9 to 4.7 billion board feet in the 1960's, but 

 veneer and plywood use remained close to 1.7 

 billion square feet (%-inch basis). These recent 

 trends reflect both growth in the volume of pro- 

 duction of manufactured products, and technologi- 

 cal changes which have affected the kinds and 

 amounts of materials consumed. 



Manufacture of household furniture has been by 

 far the largest end use of timber products, account- 

 ing for more than 60 percent of the total lumber 

 and particleboard used in manufacturing in 1970 

 and about half the veneer and plywood and hard- 

 board consumed. Moreover, use of timber products 

 in household furniture manufacture has grown 

 substantially in the past two decades. Wood use 



Sources: U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission, Bureau of Transport 

 Economics and Statistics. 1920-53 — Statistics of railways in the United States; 

 1954-1970— Transportation Statistics in the United States. 



Projections: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 



by other product groups listed above has increased 

 only moderately or has declined in recent years. 



Shipments of Manufactured Products 



Between 1960 and 1970, the value of shipments 

 of the household furniture industry, measured in 

 constant 1967 dollars and based on trend values, 

 rose by an average of 4.5 percent annually (table 

 129, fig. 65). Value of shipments on a per capita 

 basis also increased during this decade, rising by 

 3.3 percent per year (Append. V, table 10). 



Changes in the per capita value of household 

 furniture shipments during recent years have 

 been closely correlated with changes in per 

 capita disposable personal income (fig. 65). 

 Projections of the value of shipments of the 

 household furniture industry based on this re- 

 lationship, and on the population and income 

 assumptions presented earlier in this chapter, 

 increase threefold by 2000 (medium projection). 



