10 BULLETIN 664, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Plate IV, have been obtained, but it has not yet been possible to 
assign to the 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 
practically 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,t 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 tracks and platforms for each, but often the same 
1Droege, John A. Freight Terminals and Trains. (1912.) McGraw Hill Book Co., 
London. 
