Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.) OUR RAILROADS TO-MORROW OUR RAILROADS TO-MORROW BY EDWARD HUNGERFORD NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1922 COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY THE CENTURY CO. COPYRIGHT, 1920, 1921, 1922, BY CURTIS PUBLISHING CO. PRINTED IN U. S. A. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I IN INTRODUCTION 3 II THE UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 25 III THE UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION (continued) 47 IV THE RETURN OF PRIVATE OPERATION 65 V THE PRESENT-DAY SITUATION 79 VI THE MAN FACTOR OF THE PROBLEM 91 VII SOLVING THE RAILROADS' HUMAN PROBLEM 115 VIII THE POSSIBILITIES OF ELECTRIFICATION 135 IX MORE ABOUT ELECTRIC MOTIVE-POWER 159 X A CASE FOR THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 172 XI THE GASOLINE-MOTOR UNIT AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 191 XII SPEEDING UP THE FREIGHT TERMINALS 213 XIII THE TWILIGHT OF COMPETITION 238 XIV THE REGIONAL RAILROAD OVERSEAS 272 XV THE REGIONAL RAILROAD AT HOME 293 XVI THE UNITED STATES RAILROAD 317 OUR RAILROADS TO-MORROW CHAPTER I IN INTRODUCTION Do you chance to recall the story of Frankenstein, of the man-made monster, who, having been created, arose to slay the man who had created him? The railroad to-day is in much the position of the man who created the Frankenstein. Having in no small sense created the modern world, having riveted its very sinews of commerce together, it now stands in apparent danger of collapse. The world over, it is at least in peril of bankruptcy. Everywhere it is in trouble. One of the greatest if not indeed the greatest of factors in our social and commercial structure to-day is flying the signals of distress. Its perplexities are upon all tongues. Their solution seemingly has become the problem of all men. The railroad is almost the single great unsolved economic problem of the entire world to-day. The sweep of a great war, the debris of men and of human understanding that followed in its wake, the new and independent position of labor everywhere, the vast increases in fuel and in raw material costs--all have contributed to the serious embarrassment of our railroads. But never to their breakdown. Please remember this. It is a common phrase these days to allude to "the breakdown of the railroads." But it is an incorrect phrase, decidedly incorrect.