Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 202, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 August 1910 — FREIGHT CARS IN SERVICE [ARTICLE]

FREIGHT CARS IN SERVICE

Reading Claims by Long Odds tho Greatest -Number Per Mile of Any Railroad. .The Reading has by long odds the greatest number of freight cars In service per mile of road of any railroad, according to the Railroad AgeGazette. In 1909 it used 42.3 cars per mile, indicating the Immensity and concentration of its freight business. Its nearest competitors were: Western Pennsylvania lines, 37.5; Jersey Central, 33.1; Pennsylvania Eastern lines, 3i.9, and Lackawanna, 23.8. The low record Is held by San Antonio & Arkansas Pass, 3.0, but closely following are Southern Pacific and Union Pacific, with 4.4 and 4.3 cars per mile of road respectively. Pennsylvania Eastern lines have a long lead in actual number of cars, with 128,220 in service in 1909. The total for the system, 181,382, is more than twice that of its nearest rival. The next largest are Baltimore & Ohio, 80,759; -New York Central, 64,846, and Chicago & Northwestern, 58,453. There are some remarkable differences In average length of haul. Union Pacific had an average In 1901 of 383.70 miles and Atchison of 363.53 miles. Compared with these were 75.28 miles for the Central of New Jersey and 77.26 for the Pennsylvania Western lines. New England railroads received the highest rate per ton mile, 1.085 cents, and the trunk lines group the lowest, 0.632 cent. The highest rate received by any road was 1.513 cents by San Antonio & Arkansas Pass. The New Haven received cents and the Denver & Rio Grande 1.310 cents. Four roads received less than a halfcent per ton mile. Chesapeake & Ohio, 0.410 cent; Norfolk & Western, 0.460 cent; Chicago & Eastern Illinois, 0.480 cent, and Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg, 0.482 cent. The average for the country In 1909 was 0.808 cent and in 1908 0.803 cent.