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1942 Quiz Book on Railroads and Railroading
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Page 2 of 1942 Quiz Book on Railroads and Railroading
TRACK
12. What is the right-of-way?
The right-of-way is the strip of land, of varying widths, upon which the railroad and its facilities are built. It is wide enough to provide for tracks,
drainage, signals, bridge abutments, telegraph and telephone lines, sidings, buildings and other needs.
13. What is a railroad cut?
When the right-of-way of a railroad is cut through a hill, knoll or slope to provide a road-way, the excavation is called a cut.
14. What is a railroad embankment?
A solid bank of earth, rock or other material built above the natural ground surface to form the roadbed of the railroad is called an embankment or fill.
15. What is ballast?
Ballast is material such as gravel, crushed rock and cinders, placed on the roadbed to drain water away from the ties, to spread the load over softer
subgrade and provide an even bearing for the ties, to hold ties more firmly in place and to check the growth of grass and weeds. Ballasting improves drainage, lessens dust, reduces weeding and maintenance problems, adds to the stability of the road, and makes a smoother riding track.
16. What is meant by the bonding of rails?
In signal operations, electrical current passes through the rails. The narrow gaps between the rail ends are bridged by welding copper wires to the rails. This is called the bonding of rails.
17. What is "continuous rail"?
Rails of standard length which are welded together at the ends to form a single rail hundreds or thousands of feet in length are known as "continuous rail." Among the advantages claimed for continuous rail over standard length rail are a
smoother track, longer service life, reduced maintenance cost and greater safety.
18. What is the longest continuous rail now in actual service?
The longest continuous rail in service in 1941 is 7,700 feet in length, in the track of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, near Schenectady, New York.
19. What is the cost of steel rails?
New steel rails laid in replacements by the railroads in 1940 cost an average of $40.00 a ton at the rolling mills. Transportation expense, storage costs, loading and unloading costs and the cost of installation in track are additional.
20. How much rail is installed annually in the railroads of the United States?
Approximately 2,000,000 gross tons of steel rails, sufficient to build a track 10,000 miles long, are normally laid annually in replacements in the railroads of this country.
21. Who invented and perfected the process of making steel rails?
The original process of making steel rails was invented by Henry Bessemer, of England, and perfected by A. L. Holley, an American. Their inventions produced a steel rail with a life several times greater than that of iron rail. The openhearth process, developed by William and Frederick Siemens, of Germany, and improved by Samuel T. Wellman, an American, has now largely replaced the Bessemer process.
22. Have rails always been made of steel?
The earliest railroads in the United States were built of wooden rails capped with thin strips, or "straps," of iron to provide a running surface for
the wheels. These were called "strap-rails." Iron rails 18 feet in length were imported from England as early as 1831, and by 1845 or 1850 most railroads were being built of iron rails. The first Bessemer steel rails manufactured in the United States were rolled at the North Chicago Rolling Mills on May 25, 1865, and by 1880 about 30 per cent of all tracks in the United States was laid with
steel rails. At the end of another ten years, 80 per cent of the country's mileage was equipped with steel rails, and by the late 1890's steel had almost
completely replaced iron.
23. What are the different parts of the rail called?
The part of the rail which rests on the ties or the tie plates is the base. The top part of the rail upon which the wheels roll is the head. The part
between the base and the head is the web.
24. What is the standard length of rail?
The present standard length of rail is 39 feet. Some railroads use 45-foot rails; some use 60-foot rails at street crossings. A few years ago the standard length was 33 ft., and before that it was 30 ft.
25. Has the weight of rail been increased in recent years?
Due to the gradual installation of heavier rail in replacements, the weight of rail in track throughout the United States was increased from an average of 82.89 pounds per yard in 1921 to 95.30 pounds per yard in 1940.
26. How much does rail weigh?
Rails ranging in weight from 50 to 152 pounds per yard are in use on the railroads of the United States. On trunk line railroads, rail weights range
from 85 or 90 pounds upward. At the beginning of 1941, there were 106,121 miles of main-line railroad equipped with rail weighing 100 pounds or more per yard.
27. How are rails joined together in the track?
Rail ends are joined by means of two pieces of steel called angle bars, firmly held in place by bolts which pass through the rail web.
28. How are rails secured to the ground?
Rails are securely spiked to the crossties and the ties are firmly embedded in ballast or embankment.
29. What is the name and what are the purposes of the thin plates of steel between the rails and the ties?
They are called tie-plates. Their purposes are to provide the rail with a uniformly firm foundation and to prevent the rail from cutting into the ties under the heavy impact of trains. They prolong the life of the ties.
30. How many crossties are there in railway tracks throughout the United States?
There are approximately 1,070,000,000 crossties in railway track throughout the United States. In addition, about 25,000 miles of track are laid with switch and bridge ties.
31. How many crossties are required for a mile of railway track?
The number of-crossties in the average mile of railway track at the beginning of 1941 was 2,994. The average, spacing was, therefore, 21.2 inches, center to center.
32. What is meant by "tie treatment" or "treated ties"?
Crossties, switch ties and bridge ties which have been saturated with creosote, zinc chloride or other preservatives to prevent decay or destruction by insects are called "treated." The treatment more than doubles the service life of the ties. Bridge timbers, piling, poles and other woods are also treated in this manner before use.
33. What is the cost of a crosstie?
The cost varies in different parts of the country, depending on kind of wood, distance hauled before being placed in the track and whether treated or untreated. The average treated crosstie cost the railroads $1.29 in 1940; the average untreated crosstie cost 79 cents.
34. How many crossties do the railroads install in a year?
The railroads of the United States install about 50,000,000 crossties a year, on the average. Approximately 80 per cent of the crossties installed in replacements in recent years have been treated. "Twin ribbons of steel" that form port of the world's greatest railway network. More than 20,000 miles of railroad in the United States consist of two or more parallel tracks.
35. What is meant by standard gauge?
Gauge is the space, in feet and inches, inside of the two parallel rails in a track, the gauge-line being 5/s of an inch below the top of the rail. In the United States and in many foreign countries the standard gauge is 4 feet 81/2 inches.
36. Was 4 feet 8-1/2 inches always the standard gauge in the United States?
In 1871, no fewer than nineteen different gauges, ranging from three feet to six feet, existed on the railroads of the United States, making it impossible for freight or passenger cars to' be freely interchanged. The conversion of the Pacific Railroad of Missouri (now the Missouri Pacific) from 5 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 8-1/2 inches in 1868, and of the Ohio & Mississippi (now the Baltimore & Ohio) from 6 feet to 4 feet 81/2 inches in 1871, gave impetus to the standardization movement. By 1887 practically every important broad gauge railroad in the United States had changed to 4 feet 81/2 inches, which by that time had come to be known as the standard gauge.
37. Are all railroads in the United States now Standard gauge?
Of 233,670 miles of railroad in this country at the beginning of 1941, 232,315 mites, or 99.4 percent, were standard gauge lines and 1,359 miles were narrow gauge lines, mostly three feet. Some 125 miles of railroad tracks were equipped with three rails to accommodate both narrow and standard gauge equipment. The narrowest gauge is two feet, on the 6-mile Monson Railroad, in Maine.
38. What was the broadest railway gauge ever used in the United States?
At one time, from 1867 to 1871, one could travel, all the way from New York to St. Louis over railroads with a gauge of six feet the broadest that ever existed on the North American Continent. The "Great Broad Gauge Route" was as follows: New York & Erie Railroad (now the Erie) from New York to Salamanca, New York; Atlantic & Great Western Railroad (now the Erie) from Salamanca to Dayton, Ohio; Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad (now the Baltimore & Ohio) from Dayton to Cincinnati; Ohio & Mississippi Railroad (now the Baltimore & Ohio) from Cincinnati to St. Louis. The gauge of the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad (now the Delaware & Hudson) from Albany to Binghamton, New York, and the several lines of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad was originally six feet.
39. Why was 4 feet 81/2 inches adopted as the standard gauge?
Ancient Roman chariots were built with a clearance of about 4 feet 81/3 inches between wheels. This was the width between wheels of the early European coaches and carts. Early English tramways, operated by horse power, were built to accommodate carts of this width, and the first English locomotives were built of this gauge. Some of the first railroads in the United States imported locomotives from England, and these locomotives were of the English gauge. The track was made to fit the English locomotives, and, since the English locomotives were considered the best in the world at that time, there seemed to be no reason why the English gauge should not be adopted by locomotive manufacturers and railway builders in this country. This strongly influenced the Delaware & Hudson, Baltimore & Ohio, Mohawk & Hudson and other railroads to adopt the 4 feet 81/3 inch gauge. Of 487 railroads in the United States in
1871, 307 were of the English gauge, and, since the mileage of English gauge roads exceeded that of all other railroads combined, that gauge was adopted as standard to enable free interchange of freight and passenger equipment.
40. What is the longest stretch of straight railway track in the United States?
A straight track, 78.86 miles in length, on the Seaboard Railway between Wilmington and Hamlet, North Carolina, is the longest stretch of track
without a curve in the United States.
41. What are other long stretches of straight track in the United States?
Other stretches of straight track, or tangents, of 50 miles or over are: On the Rock Island Lines between Guymon, Oklahoma, and Dalhart, Texas, 71.94 miles; on the New York Central, between Air Line Junction, west of Toledo, Ohio, and
Butler, Indiana, 68.49 miles; on the Monon Railroad between Brookston and Westville, Indiana, 64.52 miles; on the Illinois Central Railroad, between Edgewood and Akin Junction, Illinois, 62.96 miles; on the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, between Waycross and Kinderlou, Georgia, 60.10 miles; on the Seaboard Railway, between Okeechobee and West Palm Beach, Florida, 57.40 miles; on the Chicago and North Western Railway, between Vayland and Blunt, South Dakota, 53.85 miles; on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, between Villa Grove and Alamosa, Colorado, 52.82 miles; on the Northern Pacific Railroad, between Fargo and Peak, North Dakota, 51.20 miles; on the Southern Pacific Railroad, between Tagus and Slater, California, 50 miles.
42. What is unique about the long tangent (straight track) on the Denver & Rio Grande Western?
This tangent, nearly 53 miles in length, in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, runs through the heart of the Rocky Mountains and is surrounded by high and rugged ranges. Its elevation above sea level is 7,550 feet at Alamosa and 7,900 feet at Villa Grove. It was built in 1891.
43. What is railroad gradient?
The gradient, or grade, of a track is the rate of ascent or descent, the extent to which the track deviates from a level surface. A perfectly level track has a zero grade. A vertical climb of 2 feet in 100 feet of track length is known as a 2 per cent
grade. Terms commonly used: Up grade, an ascending grade; Down grade, a descending grade; Grade crossing, a crossing of one railroad with another railroad or with a highway at the same level.
44. What is the maximum grade on main line track?
Grades from 0.01 to 1.00 per cent predominate on main lines throughout the country. In mountainous territory, grades up to 2.2 per cent are sometimes necessary. Grades in excess of 2.2 per cent in main lines are uncommon.
45. What is the steepest railroad grade in the United States?
The steepest known grade on a standard steam railroad in this country is 5.89 per cent. This occurs on the Pennsylvania Railroad at Madison, Indiana, where the railroad ascends the Ohio River bank. The grade extends about 7,000 feet, and the climb is approximately 400 feet. Saddle-tank locomotives are operated on this track. The steepest known grade on the main line of a standard Steam railroad in this country is 4.7 per cent, at Saluda Hill, on the Southern Railway, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Saluda Hill is located between Saluda and Melrose stations, about thirty-five miles south of Asheville. On the winding 72-mile narrow-gauge Uintah Railway in Garfield County, Colorado, there was a 5-mile 7-1/2 per cent grade between Atchee and Baxter Pass, combined with numerous hairpin curves, the sharpest of which was 66. The Interstate Commerce Commission authorized the abandonment of this railroad in 1938.
46. How are curvatures of track expressed?
Curvatures are expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds. A curve is a part of a circle. The sharper the curve, the smaller the circle, and the shorter the radius.
47. What is the maximum curvature of main line track?
On important standard gauge railway lines, maximum curvatures of from 1 to 3 are not uncommon. Curves of 6 are met with occasionally; and, in rare instances, chiefly in mountainous territory, curves of 10 or 11 are encountered. On some light traffic lines and branch lines sharper curvatures are common. On the 72-mile narrow-gauge Uintah Railway in western Colorado, abandoned since 1938, there were, in a stretch of thirteen miles, 233 curves varying from 4 to 66,
twenty-seven of which were sharper than 50. The 66 curve, at Morrow Castle, Colorado, was originally 80 but was reduced several years before abandonment to accommodate Mallet locomotives.
48. What is the longest railroad curve in the United States?
The Pontchartrain Curve on the Illinois Central Railroad between Ruddock and Tunity, Louisiana, is believed to be the longest single railroad curve in the United States. With slight variations in degree, between eight and twelve minutes, this curve, skirting the western shore of Lake Pontchartrain, extends for 49,884 feet, or 9.45 miles. Another notable curve, also skirting the shore
of Lake Pontchartrain, is on the Southern Railway (New Orleans & Northeastern) approaching the city of New Orleans. This curve, varying from four to six minutes, is almost exactly nine miles in length. The longest perfectly uniform single curve is believed to be on the Texas & Pacific Railroad I between Alexandria and Cheneyville, Louisiana. This curve is 30,100 feet, or 5.7 miles in length, It is a 10-minute curve throughout.
49. Why is the outer rail higher than the inner rail on curves?
The outer rail is elevated to balance the overturning forces that are set up by a train rounding a curve, for the same scientific reason that a circular track for motorcycle, bicycle or motorcar racing is tilted upward from the inner to the outer rim. This is required to resist the centrifugal forces of the moving train. The degree of curvature and the authorized train speed govern the extent of the elevation of the outer rail.
50. What is the highest altitude reached by a railroad line in the United
States?
The highest point reached by a railroad in the United States is the summit of Pike's Peak in Colorado, 14,109 feet above sea level, reached by the Manitou & Pike's Peak (cog) Railroad.
51. What is the highest altitude reached by a standard steam railroad in the
United States?
The highest point reached by a standard steam railroad in this country is at Ibex, Colorado, on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, where
the elevation is 11,522 feet above sea level.
52. What other high altitudes are reached by railway lines in the United
States?
The Colorado & Southern Railway (a part of the Burlington System) reaches an altitude of 11,319 feet at Climax, Colorado, and 10,207 feet at Leadville, Colorado. Both points are on narrow-gauge lines. The Denver & Rio Grande Western
Railroad reaches altitudes of 10,856 feet at Marshall Pass, Colorado, (narrow gauge); 10,239 feet at Tennessee Pass, Colorado, (standard gauge); 10,200 feet at Leadville, Colorado, (standard gauge); 10,028 feet at Monarch, Colorado, (narrow gauge); and 10,015 feet at Cumbres Pass, Colorado, (narrow gauge).
53. How many railway tunnels are there in the United States and what is
the total length?
There were 1,539 railway tunnels in this country in 1937. Their aggregate length was 320 miles.
54. What was the first railway tunnel in the United States?
The first railroad tunnel in this country was constructed in 1833, four miles east of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for the Allegheny Portage Railroad (now a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad).
55. What is the oldest great railway tunnel in the United States?
The Hoosac Tunnel, on the Boston & Maine Railroad, under Hoosac Mountain, Massachusetts, was the first great railway tunnel built in the United States, and it is the oldest of the long railway tunnels now in use in this country. It was one of the most stupendous engineering feats of the period in which it was built. Twenty-five years were required for its construction. The tunnel is
4 miles 3,690 feet in length; was commenced in 1851; holed through November 27, 1873; completed so as to admit passage of cars February 9, 1875; used by Boston-Troy passenger trains October 1875; officially opened for business July 1,
1876; electrified May, 1911.
56. What is the longest railway tunnel in the United States?
The Cascade Tunnel, of the Great Northern Railroad, through the Cascade Mountains in Chelan and King Counties, Washington, is 41,152 feet
(7.79 miles) in length, and is the longest railway tunnel in the Western Hemisphere. It was completed in 1929. In the construction of this tunnel,
boring was started simultaneously at the eastern and western portals, nearly eight miles apart, and when the construction forces met in the center,
after many months of continuous boring, they found that they were only a fraction of a foot out of perfect alignment.
57. What is the second longest railway tunnel in the United States?
The Moffat Tunnel, of the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad, under James Peak in Colorado, is 6 miles 600 feet in length, and is the second longest railway tunnel in the United States. The highest point in the tunnel is 9,257 feet above sea level. Opened for railway traffic in 1928, the tunnel shortened the rail distance between Denver and Salt Lake City via the route of the Denver & Rio Grande Western by 173 miles.
58. How many railway bridges are there in this country?
In 1937 there were approximately 191,779 bridges, with an aggregate length of 3,860 miles, in the railway structure of the United States.
59. What is the longest railroad bridge in America?
The famous Lucin Cut-off, carrying the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad across Great Salt Lake in Utah, is the longest railroad bridge structure in the United States. It is of pile-trestle construction, 12 miles in length, and was completed in 1903.
60. When did iron and steel bridges come into use?
The first iron railroad bridge in the United States is believed to have been built for the Reading Railroad in 1845. In 1846-47 a boilerplate tubular girder, 55 feet in length, was built at Bolton, Maryland, for the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad, and an iron Howe truss bridge, with 30-ft. spans, was built near Pittsfield, Mass., for the Boston & Albany Railroad (now the New York
Central). The first all-steel railway bridge was a 2,700-ft. structure completed at Glasgow, Missouri, in 1879, for the Chicago & Alton Railroad.
61. What was the first railway bridge across the Mississippi River?
The Rock Island Railroad bridge at Davenport, Iowa, opened in 1856, was the first to span the Mississippi River. Built of wood, resting on stone piers, this 1,582-foot structure was described as "the mechanical wonder of the West." The first locomotive, the "Des Moines," crossed the bridge on April 21,1856.
62. How many miles of telegraph and telephone wires are used to operate the
railroads?
The railroads of the United States use 1,294,047 miles of telephone and telegraph wires in their operations. This would be sufficient to reach nearly fifty-four times around the globe at the equator.
63. How many telegraph or telephone poles are required per mile of line?
The number of poles per mile of line varies from 26 to 60 or more, depending on the number bf wires to be carried, the kind of wood, the number of highway, track, bridge or other crossings to be made and other conditions. The standard span lengths for pole lines, and the approximate number of poles per mile required for these spacings, are as follows:
Span Lengths
in Feet
|
Approximate Number of Poles
per Mile
|
|
88
|
60
|
|
100
|
53
|
|
130
|
40
|
|
150
|
35
|
|
175
|
30
|
|
200
|
26
|
64. Is there a difference between a railroad and a railway?
There is no distinction. The terms arc used interchangeablv in the United States. Of 137 Class I railroads in the United States, sixty-four use
railway and sixty-eight use railroad in their corporate names. Five use neither. Most electric street, subway, elevated and interurban lines are
called railways. In the British Empire, railway is used in preference to railroad.
65. What is meant by Class One, Class Two and Class Three railroads and switching and terminal companies?
For statistical purposes, railroads are divided into three classes, as follows: Class One railroads, each having operating revenues above $1,000,000
a year; Class Two railroads, each having operating revenues above $100,000 and not exceeding $1,000,000 a year; and Class Three railroads, each having
operating revenues up to $100,000 a year. (Roman numerals-1, II and III-are usually used in designating them.) Switching and terminal companies
include local switching railroads, industrial railroads, port railroads, stockyard railroads, bridge and ferry companies, union station companies and
various other local railway companies not engaged in line-haul operations.
66. How many railway companies are in operation in the United States?
On January 1, 1941, there were 137 Class 1; 182 Class II; 215 Class III line-haul railroads and 208 switching and terminal companies in operation in
the United States - a total of 742 operating companies in the four groups.
67. What proportion of the total railway plant and activity is represented by Class I railroads?
In 1940, Class 1 line-haul railroads operated 94.24 per cent of the total railway mileage; represented 94.81 per cent of the recorded investment;
owned 94.11 per cent of the locomotives; 98.17 per cent of the freight cars; 98.72 per cent of the passenger-train cars; performed 99.73 per cent of
the passenger-miles and 99.44 per cent of the ton-miles; employed 94.06 per cent of the railway workers; paid 93.90 per cent of railway taxes; and reported 96.35 per cent of total operating revenues.
68. How many railroads in the United States operate more than 1,000 miles of road?
In January, 1942, there were forty-five railroads operating more than 1,000 miles of railroad each.
69. What is the world's greatest railroad center?
Chicago, Illinois, enjoys this distinction. The city is served by twenty-one Class I railroads and fourteen switching and terminal companies. These
railroads--including some of the largest in the country, embrace more than two-thirds of the railway mileage of the United States. They own more than one-half of all the locomotives and cars and perform more than one-half of all the railway passenger, freight, express and mail service of the country. There are about 8,000 miles of railway trackage in the Chicago terminal district. Between
3,000 and 4,000 passenger and freight trains enter or leave the city daily.
70. What state has the largest number of railroad companies?
Pennsylvania, with seventy-three railway and switching and terminal companies, outranks all other states in the number of operating companies. Illinois ranks second with sixty-eight companies and Texas ranks third with sixty-four companies.
Industry and railway transportation go hand in hand. Thousands of manufacturing plants depend upon the railroads to bring them their row materials and distribute their products to widely scattered markets.
71. What is a line-haul railroad?
A line-haul railroad is a railroad that performs main line or trunk line common-carrier transportation service, as distinguished from a switching or terminal company.
72. What is a common carrier railroad?
A railroad which provides the general public with transportation service for compensation is a common carrier. A common carrier is required to carry all goods offered when accommodations are available, and when the fixed price for such service is tendered.
73. What is the shortest railroad in the United States?
The Valley Railroad, I mile in length, at Westline, McKean County, Penna., is the shortest linehaul railroad in the United States. This railroad derives its revenues entirely from freight and switching service. In 1940, the Valley Railroad employed ten persons. It is an independent company, rated as a Class III road.
74. What are the shortest railroads in the United States performing freight,
passenger, express and mail service?
The Beaufort & Morehead Railroad, 3.3 miles in length, between Beaufort and Morehead City, N. C. using equipment furnished by the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad, is the shortest railroad in the country performing the four kinds of
service. The shortest railroads operating their own equipment and performing all four services are the Sandersville Railroad, an independent company, at Sandersville, Georgia, 4.26 miles in length, and the Stewartstown Railroad, an independent company, at Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, 7.4 miles in length.
75. What is the largest railroad in the United States?
The answer to this question depends upon the basis of measurement. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, with 13,408 miles of railroad, ranks first in miles of road operated. The Pennsylvania Railroad, with 24,928 miles of track, ranks first in miles of track operated. The Pennsylvania Railroad also ranks first in total investment ($2,642,839,000), in revenue passenger-miles (3,440,-601,000), in revenue ton-miles (39,748,646,000), in total revenues ($477,593,000), in units of equipment owned (4,533 locomotives, 5,156 passenger cars, 233,765 freight cars) and in the number of employees (109,412). The figures are for 1940 and exclude railroads which are controlled but operated separately.
76. Give a brief description of the railroads of Canada.
The Dominion of Canada is served by two large railway systems, the government-owned Canadian National and the privately-owned Canadian Pacific, and by thirty-four smaller railroads and switching and terminal companies. On December 31, 1940, there were 42,565 miles of railway lines in Canada, of which 42,475 miles were of standard gauge and 90 miles were of 3-foot gauge. Total length of all track was 56,533 miles. Rolling stock consisted of 4,308 locomotives, 6,267 passenger cars, 160,697 freight cars and 14,107 units of other equipment. Railroad properties represented an investment of $3,159,573,547. Their gross revenues in 1940 totaled $429,142,659. The
railroads provided employment to an average of 135,700 persons during the year.
On December 31, 1940, the Canadian National Railways operated 23,638 miles of railroad lines, of which 21,799 miles were in Canada and 1,839 miles were in the United States.
The Canadian Pacific Railway, on the same date, operated 20,986 miles of railroad lines, of which 17,153 miles were in Canada and 5,330 miles were
in the United States.
Other important Canadian railroad lines are the 923-mile Northern Alberta Railway, extending northeastwardly and northwestwardly from Edmonton, Alberta; the 514-mile Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway, owned by the Ontario
Government, with main line extending from North Bay to Moosonee on Hudson Bay; the 348-mile Pacific Great Eastern Railway in central British Columbia; the 321-mile Algoma Central & Hudson Bay Railway, extending from Sault Ste. Marie on
Lake Superior to Hearst, Ontario; the 113-mile Temiscouata Railway, extending from Riviere du Loup, on the St. Lawrence River, to Connors, on the St. John River; and the 104-mile Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway, in southern Ontario.
Railroads of the United States were operating the following road mileage in Canada on Dec. 31, 1940: The New York Central, 500 miles; Pere Marquette, 319 miles; Wabash, 245 miles; Great Northern. 223 miles; Northern Pacific, 74 miles;
Central Vermont, 25 miles; Maine Central, 5 miles; Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific, 3 miles; Pennsylvania, 2 miles.
77. What is the extent of Mexico's railway system?
Nineteen operating railroads in Mexico embrace approximately 12,122 miles of railway lines, of which 82 per cent is standard gauge and 18 per cent is narrow gauge. Equipment consists of approximately 1,300 locomotives; 20,800 freight
cars and 1,200 passenger cars. About two-thirds of the railway mileage is state-owned. The state railways, known as the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de
Mexico (National Railways of Mexico) operate 8,372 miles of railroad, of which 7,048 miles are standard gauge and 1,324 miles are narrow gauge.
In 1941, the National Railways of Mexico owned, 996 locomotives, 15,896 freight cars and 820 passenger cars.
Other important Mexican railroads are: the 1,370-mile Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico, controlled by the Southern Pacific Company, with main line extending from Nogales, Arizona, to Guadalajara; the 564-mile United Railroads of
Yucatan (standard and narrow gauge) centering on the port of Progreso; the 496-mile Mexico North-Western Railway, with main line extending from Ciudad Juarez, opposite El Paso, Texas, to Tabalaopa; the 434-mile Mexican Railway (standard and narrow gauge) with main line, partly electrified, extending from Mexico City to the port of Vera Cruz; and the 332-mile Kansas City, Mexico and Oriente Railway, with main line extending from Ojinaga, opposite Presidio, Tex., to
Sanchez and from San Pedro to Topolobampo on the Gulf of California.
78. What are some of the international aspects of American railway operations?
The 288,000-mile railway system of the United States, Canada and Mexico forms a vast and closely-knit transportation network embracing a large part of the North American Continent. Approximately 99 per cent of these lines are of uniform standard gauge, permitting the uninterrupted movement of trains from one country to another. At forty-eight points on the Canadian-United States border and at eleven points on the Mexican-United States border, railroads cross from one
country to the other or form connections with railroads operating across the border. Canadian railroads own, control or operate about 7,100 miles of railroad in the United States, while railroads of the United States own, control or operate nearly 1,400 miles of railroad in Canada and about 1,550 miles of railroad in Mexico. Mexican railroads control 162 miles of railroad in the United States. The twenty-two railroad companies listed below operate or participate in the operation of through passenger trains between important cities in the United States and Canada or Mexico: Boston & Maine; Canadian National; Canadian Pacific; Central Vermont; Chicago & North Western; Delaware & Hudson; Great Northern; Lehigh Valley; Maine Central; Missouri Pacific; National Railways of Mexico; New York, New Haven & Hartford; New York Central; Northern Pacific; Pennsylvania; Quebec Central; Rutland; San Diego & Arizona Eastern; Soo Line; Southern Pacific; Texas & Pacific; and Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo. Altogether more than 150 passenger trains are operated daily across the Canadian and Mexican borders of the United States, providing through sleeping car, parlor car or coach service from United States cities to and from Halifax, St. John, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and numerous other Canadian cities, and to and from Monterey, Torreon, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Aguas Calientes, Guaymas, Guadalajara, Mexico City and many other points in Old Mexico. Railway tickets may be purchased at any ticket office in the United States, Canada or Mexico to
any city or town reached by rail in the three countries.
79. What are some of the leading private freight car companies in the United
States?
Generally speaking, any company other than an individual railroad company which owns railway cars for service on the railroads is known as a private car company. The ten private freight car companies owning the largest fleets of equipment in 1941, are:
|
Companies
|
Cars
|
|
General American Transportation
Corp
|
55,000
|
|
Union Tank Car Co
|
39,000
|
|
Pacific Fruit Express Co
|
36,030
|
|
Fruit Growers Express Co
|
15,616
|
|
Merchants Despatch Transportation
Corp
|
13,139
|
|
American Refrigerator Transit Co
|
9,962
|
|
Union Refrigerator Transit Lines
|
7,189
|
|
North American Car Corp
|
7,151
|
|
Western Fruit Express Co
|
7,010
|
|
Sinclair Refining Co
|
6,468
|
80. What do the various sign-posts along the railroad mean?
|
Land Monuments
|
Define the limits of the right-of-way
|
|
"No Trespass" Signs
|
Used at points where trespassing is especially dangerous
|
|
Mile Posts
|
For identification and reference to terminal or division locations
|
|
Alignment Markers
|
To define the correct position of tangents, easement spirals and curves
|
|
Grade Markers
|
Used to establish track elevations or superelevations
|
|
Political Subdivision Signs
|
To indicate state and county boundary lines and city limits
|
|
Maintenance Limits Markers
|
Define division of track ownership and maintenance by the railroads or industry and interchange tracks between railroads
|
|
Bridge or Culvert Markers
|
Identify location of bridges, trestles and culverts
|
|
Section Limits Signs
|
Mark the beginning and end of a maintenance section
|
|
Snow Plow Markers (Including flanger signs)
|
Indicate obstruction to snow equipment
|
|
Flanger signs
|
Warn the operator to lift the flangers
|
|
Speed Control Signs
|
Direct enginemen to reduce speed of trains under permissable timetable speed, including resume speed signs.
|
|
Whistle Posts
|
Located in advance of highway grade crossings, stations, railway crossings at grade and at other points where locomotive whistles are required to be sounded by rules or law.
|
|
Location Markers
|
Located in advance of hazards, such as railway crossings at grade, yard limits, drawbridges, junctions and stations.
|
|
Close-clearance Markers
|
Used at points of close horizontal or vertical clearance, such as fixed structures beyond which equipment will not clear at turnouts
|
|
Fire-risk Signs
|
To warn employees and others of inflammable material storage or underground passage of inflammables
|
|
High-Voltage Signs
|
Indicate to employees and others the presence of high-tension wires
|
81. What is a derail?
A derail or derailer is a device designed to guide cars, locomotives and other rolling stock off the rails at a selected location to avoid collisions or
other accidents. Derails are used principally on spur tracks or sidings to prevent cars from fouling main line track. They are rarely used on main line
tracks except in connection with interlocking plants at railroad crossings.
82. What is known as a slide detector fence?
To prevent train accidents due to falling rocks or earth slides in hilly or mountainous regions, electrically charged wire fences are made to serve
as detectors. If a falling rock or an earth slide breaks one or more of the wires in the fence, a relay is released and "stop" signals are set up to
halt a train approaching from either direction.
83. What are the various kinds of railroad yards?
freight station and team track yards for the purpose of loading and unloading freight
freight classification yards for the purpose of breaking up and making up trains
storage yards for the storage of freight and passenger cars and locomotives not in use or awaiting repairs
service yards for cleaning, provisioning and preparing passenger train cars for the next run.
Locomotive and car repair shops also have yards for outdoor repair work.
Heavy materials which cannot conveniently be kept indoors are stored in supply yards adjacent to storehouses. Many large freight classification yards are
equipped with gravity "humps," electrically operated switches, car retarders, floodlights for night operation and other modern improvements.
84. What is a "hump" in a freight yard?
In many large freight yards certain tracks an constructed at steep grades to enable cars to be released and shunted by gravity into various track for reclassification. The cars are pushed to the highest elevation of the track, or "hump", and released one at a time or in groups and sent rolling down the incline. The "hump" track branches into many classification tracks. By remote control, towerman switches each car into its proper track.
85. What are car retarders?
In some freight classification yards, gravity and sorting tracks are equipped with electrically (pneumatically controlled snubbing devices, known as "car retarders," which enable a man located in a tower to slow down or stop the car by the movement of a lever. The car retarder is fitted with a set of movable brake "shoes," located along each side of and parallel with each rail. When applied by the tower man, these "shoes" act as brakes against the rims of the turning car wheels, retarding the speed of the car or bringing it to a halt,
as desired. These devices obviate the necessity of brakemen riding the released cars and increase the safety, efficiency and speed of yard operations.
86. How much land is occupied by the railway plant?
Approximately 4,000,000 acres of land are used by the railroads for rights-of-way, yards, shop, station grounds and other transportation purposes. This is equal to about one-sixth of the area of Indiana.
87. How many railway shop plants are there in this country?
The United States Census of Manufactures for 1935 reports 416 repair and erecting plants, commonly 'referred to as "railroad shops," owned and operated by the steam railroads of the United States, not including more than 1,100 smaller plants engaged in making light and running repairs. The 416 major shops referred to employed 144,300 workers and reported a total payroll of more than $200,000,000 in 1935.
88. How many passenger and freight stations are there in the United States?
In 1939 there were approximately 59,000 railway passenger stations, and in 1936 there were approximately 67,000 railway freight stations, in the United States. It is estimated that cities and towns served by railroads and the territory adjacent to railway lines embrace more than 98 per cent of the total population of the country.
89. How many railway station buildings are there in the United States?
The railroads of the United States own and operate approximately 120,000 passenger and freight station buildings and buildings used for baggage, express, restaurants and other station services.
90. What railroads operate electrified mileage in the United States?
At the beginning of 1941, twenty-five Class I line-haul railroads were operating electrically 2,873 miles of road and 6,755 miles of track, as
follows:
|
Railroad
|
Miles of Road
|
Miles of Track
|
|
Baltimore & Ohio
|
3
|
9
|
|
Beaumont, Sour Lake & Western
|
27
|
35
|
|
Boston & Maine
|
8
|
21
|
|
Chicago, M., St. P. & P
|
661
|
909
|
|
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western
|
68
|
161
|
|
Great Northern
|
73
|
94
|
|
Illinois Central
|
40
|
155
|
|
Illinois Terminal
|
391
|
495
|
|
Lehigh Valley
|
12
|
24
|
|
Long Island
|
139
|
430
|
|
New York Central
|
93
|
470
|
|
New York Connecting
|
21
|
65
|
|
New York, New Haven & Hartford
|
128
|
641
|
|
Norfolk & Western
|
76
|
212
|
|
Northwestern Pacific
|
21
|
42
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
675
|
2,195
|
|
Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore
|
44
|
76
|
|
Reading
|
84
|
193
|
|
Richmond, Fredericksburg & Pot
|
2
|
21
|
|
Southern Pacific
|
--
|
42
|
|
Spokane, Portland & Seattle
|
148
|
188
|
|
Staten Island Rapid Transit
|
22
|
45
|
|
Union Pacific
|
3
|
4
|
|
Virginian
|
134
|
223
|
91. What is a catenary?
A catenary on an electrified railroad is the overhead structure, consisting of cross and longitudinal wires and cables, which holds the electrically charged trolley wire in firm position at an approximately uniform elevation above the track.
92. What is a pantagraph?
A pantagraph is a device attached to an electric locomotive or to the roof of a passenger car to collect electric current from an overhead trolley wire. Its function corresponds to that of a trolley arm on a street car. It consists of a collapsible, diamond-shaped, jointed frame operated by springs or compressed air, and having a suitable collector, or trolley contact, at the top.
93. How many miles of railroad track are protected by signal and train-control
systems?
At the beginning of 1941, 96,459 miles of railroad track in the United States were protected by automatic block-signal systems, 49,405 miles were protected by manual block-signal systems, 14,361 miles were protected by automatic train-control systems, 2,407 miles were protected by centralized traffic-control systems, and 8,583 miles were protected by automatic cab-signal systems.
94. How many railway-highway grade crossings are there in this country?
On January 1, 1941, there were 230,285 highway-railway grade crossings in the United States.
text for picture...
By the turn of on electric switch, this huge bascule drawbridge lifts the rails skyward in a jiffy to admit the passage of river craft.
Huge railway terminals, equipped with warehouses, elevators and loading and unloading facilities, art required to handle the large concentration of freight traffic at seaports and metropolitan centers.
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