|
Trains Magazine 1961 December You says you can't ride a sleeper behind steam
Trains Magazine 1961
December 1961 Volume 22 Number 2
NEWS-3
RAILROAD NEWS PHOTOS -8
STEAM NEWS PHOTOS10
"WILL CATCH THE SPRAY"16
TRAIN TIME!--18
CASCADE PASSAGE --22
ALL ABOARD FOR ANKARA!34
WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? -39
PHOTO SECTION40
Railway post office 50Of books & trains 53
Second section56Running extra57
Interchange 57
MARGIN NOTES ON MERGERS
/.FORGIVE us, please, for editorializing in this light vein on what is a very serious business, but we feel that someone should note for posterity the plastic phrases and tactics born of current railroad merger maneuverings, as well as grease the track for any road which wants to merge or be merged but doesn't know how. Merger petitions, if nothing else, should lower the incidence of ulcers among railroad management, for they afford a valid and priceless opportunity for one railroad to express its opinion of another. Ordinarily, a railroad doesn't (at least in public) because (1) railroads are supposed to hang together instead of separately, and (2) it just isn't done. But in mergers, anything goes. In the B&O control case, for example, a C&O man is able to take apart "lump by lump" Central's argument that C&O control of B&O would cause ruinous diversions of NYC's coal traffic; and in the WP control case, Santa Fe is able to claim that SP isn't very popular in "its own back yard" since, in one survey, 64 per cent of AT&SF support came from SP territory vs. 1 per cent of SP support from AT&SF territory.
We would submit these definitions to lead our readers through the undergrowth of merger verbiage:
Voluntary mergers - This is the battle cry of the AB&C when it decides to merge with the XY&Z (with the latter's stockblessing) but wants to exclude the MN&O, which has shown up uninvited at the wedding seeking the solace of marriage for its big debt and passenger deficits.
A balanced railroad system - The crusading shout of the big railroad with which nobody wants to merge because it didn't go through the wringer in the depression and is therefore still loaded with debt. Freely translated, the phrase means, "Don't let 'em do that to us, I.C.C.!"
Rail competition is essential - Line of argument when the B&B Lines wants to take over the connecting C&C Road on an end-to-end type merger when the C&C is itself the objective of the A&A which parallels it.
Rails must unite to fight nonrail competition - Clarion call of the roads seeking parallel-type mergers.
In the public interest - All-purpose phrase which can be employed to endorse or oppose any merger, depending upon whose roundhouse is being invaded. Equally useful for management, labor, I.C.C., or legislative spokesmen, regardless of their point of view.
Loose, speculative assumptions - What the other guy's witness said.
Abandonment of many miles of track, the abolition of thousands of jobs, a major contraction of service, elimination of
competition, and a monopoly realignment of the railroad network - Any merger viewed by a Brotherhood.
An economic necessity - Any merger approved by management.
Expert - Your witness.
Completely independent - Position of the XXX Railway concerning the fact that the YYY System has a 30 per cent stock interest in it.
Line has good grades and curvatures but is limited to 35 mph - They've let it go to rack and ruin.
Gargantuan empire - The other roads' merger plan.
Vital to national defense - Your merger proposal.
E7 equals F3 - plus
Passenger train-miles in the U. S. have fallen off almost a third since 1955-1956, when diesels began accounting for 90 per cent of such mileage. Result: too many 2000 h.p. passenger units are stored behind the shops. They won't satisfactorily mate with freight units, can't lug on grades, anyway, because of their gearing, can't be economically traded in on new hoods. A few roads such as Seaboard have operated passenger units on hotshots where tonnage and profile constituted no obstacle (and a few others such as Pennsy have employed A1A-A1A's in local freight and work-train service), but most carriers have been tempted to junk their extra passenger units (P&LE sent six Alco 2000 h.p. cabs to the junkers in 1960).
Bangor & Aroostook, with a pair of Electro-Motive 2000 h.p. E7 cabs and no more passenger trains, was in the same boat, but BAR decided to rebuild its units despite the fact that, as Executive Vice-President W. J. Strout said, "Everyone told us it couldn't be done." In its diesel shops at Northern Maine Junction, Me., the railroad - with the assistance of an EMD team of engineers - revamped its No. 10 as follows: (1) gear ratio was changed from 57:20 to 62:15 by increasing wheel diameter from 36 to 38 inches to allow clearance over the rail for the 62-tooth gear wheels (and adjusting coupler height and lengthening truck brake rods to compensate); (2) electric control circuits were modified to give automatic voltage-current transistion down to 10 mph instead of 19 mph; and (3) the steam generator was removed (and additional ballasting installed to equal out the weight on drivers) and cab heater was repiped to take water from the No. 1 engine instead.
On July 11 the rebuild took to the road with hotshot No. 57 - and came through with flying colors. At speeds below 25 mph the E7 is now as efficient as a 1500 h.p. F3 freight unit - and at speeds above
WE'LL DO BETTER
I THINK one of TRAINS' sins of omission stems from our proneness at times to take too much for granted. But back on page 52 you'll see that Reader Reed is having none of it. What, he asks, are all those cables and hoses hanging between diesel units running in multiple? Good question - and we were obliged to furnish a detailed, illustrated answer. We'll try to tackle similar inquiries of general concern in like manner. . . . Photographers also take much of railroading for granted - but not Howard Patrick, the man responsible for pages 40-41. We all talk about that old bugaboo - hotboxes - but he's committed to film a dandy example. I can't recall another such photograph in 21 years of TRAINS.
All pictures are of the actual item. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
Shipping charges
Postage rates quoted are for shipments to the US only. Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and then ebay ships them to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs / import fees. For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email. Shipping to Canada and other countries varies by weight.
Payment options
Payment must be received within 10 days. Paypal is accepted.
Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us first. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding.
Thanks for looking at our items.
| 
