Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 280, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 December 1917 — Railroads Rushing Cars to Location for Shipyard Lumber [ARTICLE]

Railroads Rushing Cars to Location for Shipyard Lumber

Fifteen hundred flat cars have been rushed to lines operating in the Southern part of the country in order to facilitate the transportation of the piling and heavy lumber, needed for the new shipbuilding yards. The Commission on Car Service of the Railroads’ War Board has also ordered the prompt movement of more than 3,000 box cars into the West and Millde West to protect Government order of grain-and hay. In addition, a large consignment of refrigerator cars has been sent into Colorado, Idaho, North Dakota and Minnesota to handle the apple and potato crops. The potato growers in Colorado increased their production this year without making any provision for the storage of the extra crop. As a result, the demand for refrigerator cars there has been unusually heavy. To safeguard the movement of all perishable crops, the Commission on Car Service has issued a general order to the railroads, instructing them to exercise the strictest economy in the handling of refrigerator cars, the supply of which is unequal to the demand. The order states that cars shall not only be moved with dispatch and unloaded promptly, but that all refrigerator cars must be returned at once to the owning road after they have been unloaded. It also urged more co-operation on the part of the shippers to load cars to full capacity instead of wasting car efficiency through continued shipment of minimum car loads. The Commission on Car Service has supplemented this order with the suggestion that the railroads save refrigerator cars by making a more liberal use of box cars in moving potatoes. These box cars, the Commission states, will be suitable for the movement of potatoes if they are substantially lined and provided with stove protection. t