168 THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER IN THE UNITED STATES 



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





Mileage of 

 track operated 



Crossties 

 per mile 

 of track 



Tie consumption 



Year 



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 



Million 

 board feet 



1930-39 i 



2,986 

 3,000 

 3,015 



3,017 

 3,017 

 3,018 



3,01!) 

 3,079 



3,016 

 3,021 

 3,032 

 3,031 

 3,031 



3,030 



320 



1940-49'.. 



195 



1950-59 ' 



163 



1960 



111 



1961 



68 



1962 



68 



1963 



65 



1964 



63 



1965.. 



66 



1966 



66 



1967 



67 



1968 



67 



1969 



66 



1970 



66 





62 



64 











Low projections 















1980 



330.0 

 325.0 

 322.0 



307.0 

 302.0 

 299.0 



3,030 

 3,025 

 3,020 



1,250 

 1,260 

 1,270 



29,550 

 29,590 

 30,050 



1,180 

 1,190 

 1,200 



28,190 

 27, 680 

 27, 360 



1,130 

 1,110 

 1,090 



1,360 

 1,910 

 2,690 



50 

 80 

 110 





1990 



70 



2000 



70 





70 



Medium projections 



1980. 

 1990. 

 2000. 



330.0 

 325.0 

 322.0 



307.0 

 302.0 

 299.0 



3,030 

 3,025 

 3,020 



1,370 

 1,380 

 1,400 



32, 450 

 32, 570 

 33,240 



1,300 

 1,310 

 1,330 



31, 010 

 30, 450 

 30,100 



1,240 

 1,220 

 1,200 



1,440 

 2,120 

 3,140 



60 

 90 

 130 



70 

 70 



70 



High projections 



1980. 

 1990. 

 2000. 



330.0 

 325.0 

 322.0 



307.0 

 302.0 

 299.0 



3,030 

 3,025 

 3,020 



1,510 

 1,520 

 1,550 



35,960 

 36, 170 

 37,060 



1,440 

 1,450 

 1,480 



34,450 

 33,840 

 33,440 



1,380 

 1,350 

 1,340 



1,510 

 2,330 

 3,620 



60 

 100 

 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). 



