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Trains Magazine 1951 March Florida Woodburners Monon B&A Budd RDCs
Trains Magazine 1951 March Florida Woodburners
57 Pages
Cover photo. By Floyd A. Bruner..1
Clinchfield 4-6-6-4 No. 651, class E-1, near Marion, N. C.
Railroad news and editorial comment. By W. V. Anderson.6
Florida woodburners. By George W. Pettengill Jr.12
In years not long gone by, woodburners pulled trains on common-carrier railroads in Florida. Now they're relegated to lumbering operations.
Today's Monon. By Linn H. Westcott.16
Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville has made great strides since coming out of receivership five years ago.
The busy Beeliners. By Raymond Hannon. 23
A report on Boston & Albany's Budd RDC's after six months of regular service between Boston and Springfield, Mass.
Photo section. The railroad scene in pictures.27
Delaware & Hudson, 27; St. Louis & Ohio River, 28; UP City of St. Louis, 28; Bessemer & Lake Erie, 29; L&N Humming Bird at Mobile, 29; B&O's Manila Tower, 30-31; Nickel Plate, 32; Southern Ten-Wheeler, 33; CPR-B&M Redwing, 33; British 0-6-6-0, 34; Denver Tramway, 35; Pacific Electric, 35.
Night ride on the El Capitan. By Wallace W. Abbey.36
From Kansas City to Chicago on Santa Fe's all-coach Coast-to-Great Lakes streamliner.
The evolution of the railroad. By David P. Russell. -41
What was America's first common-carrier steam railroad? You may be in for a surprise if you overlook that word "steam."
The railroads had a good year in 1950
despite record wage and material costs
On the whole, the railroads had a good year in 1950. Traffic was up, efficiency was up, and as a result earnings were up, though the rate of return on investment remained modest, probably around 41/2 per cent. The increase in earnings came despite increased costs of materials and wages, both of which hit all-time highs.
Freight traffic was 11Y2 per cent greater than in 1949: 587 billion ton-miles. Traffic was down as compared with 19421948, but was 57 per cent above 1940 and 31 per cent above the prewar peak of 1929. Passenger traffic showed a decrease during the year, yet was above prewar levels: 34 per cent over 1940, 2.7 per cent better than 1929. And the downward trend which began with increased availability of automobiles after the war not only leveled off, but was reversed in the last three months of 1950. Total passenger-miles for the year amounted to 31.9 billion.
Freight train speeds were up one tenth of a mile per hour (to 17.0 m.p.h.) during the first eight months of the year, while passenger trains averaged four tenths of a mile increase, from 37.0 in 1949 to 37.4 in 1950. Freight locomotive performance was 28.8 per cent better than in 1929; passenger locomotive performance, 42.4 per cent better; freight car performance, 31.7 per cent better. Freight engines averaged 117.5 miles per day in 1950; passenger locomotives, 234.3; freight cars, 45.3.
The average freight train in the first eight months of 1950 hauled 1199 net tons of freight, highest figure yet recorded. As compared with 1929, the average freight train load was up 49.1 per cent; the average freight carload, up 16.7 per cent; the average passenger train occupancy, up 60.4 per cent; and average passenger car occupancy, up 36.0 per cent.
But in spite of higher traffic levels, the railroads lost out in the competitive traffic picture. Railway Age reports an estimated total increase of freight traffic in 1950 of 12 per cent. The railroad
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