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1942 Quiz Book on Railroads and Railroading
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Page 13 of 1942 Quiz Book on Railroads and Railroading
RAILROADS AS BUYERS
306. Why are the railroads called "America's Twenty Per Cent Industry"?
The par value of railway stocks and bonds represents approximately 20 per cent of the total par value of all corporation securities listed on the stock exchanges. Railroads normally purchase approximately 23 per cent of the nation's bituminous coal and nearly 20 per cent of the nation's fuel oil, lumber and iron and steel products.
307. What is the Railway Supply Industry?
The railway supply industry consists of thousands of manufacturing companies and other enterprises engaged in whole or in part in producing
and supplying the railroads with equipment, locomotive and car parts, iron and steel products, building materials, machinery, tools, fuel and other
needs in great variety.
308. Are the railroads big buyers of the products of industry?
Railroads are among the largest buyers and consumers in America. Their shopping list includes more than 70,000 distinct items ranging from soap to steam locomotives, from toothpicks to telephone poles, from box cars to bituminous coal. In the five years 1937-1941, they spent an average of $283,734,000 a year for fuel; $83,520,000 a year for forest products; $311,350,000 for iron and steel products, and $188,339,000 a year for other products - a total average expenditure of $866,943,000 a year for all items, not including large sums spent annually for new equipment and for additions and betterments to fixed property.
309. How widespread are railway purchases?
In 1937, the railroads made important purchases in no fewer than 12,174 cities and towns in the United States. Purchases were reported in 2,635 of 3,072 counties in the forty-eight states.
310. How much have the railroads of the United States spent for additions and
betterments to their properties in recent years?
From 1930 to 1940 inclusive, the Class I railroads invested an average of $330,325,000 a year, or a total of $3,633,572,000 of new capital in improvements to their properties. This was in addition to their expenditures for maintenance.
311. How much do the railroads usually have invested in materials and supplies?
The value of year-end inventories of materials and supplies in railway storehouses and storage in yards averaged $323,000,000 during the ten-year period, 1931-1940.
312. How extensive is the use of ice in railway operations?
It is estimated that more than 16,000,000 tons of ice are used annually by the railroads of the United States. Of this quantity, 13,000,000 tons are used in refrigerator car service and 3,000,000 tons are used in dining cars, commissaries, restaurants, offices, passenger cars, stations, shops, store houses and in other ways. Loaded 30 tons to the car, the annual ice requirements of the railroads would fill 533,000 freight cars, or enough to reach nearly one and one-half times across the continent.
313. What progress have the railroads made toward fuel conservation?
From 1921 to 1941, the amount of coal (or its equivalent) consumed in locomotives was reduced from 162 pounds to 111 pounds for each 1,000 ton- miles of freight service performed, and from 17.7 pounds to 14.9 pounds for each passenger-car-mile From a central electric central board such as this, train movements over a hundred miles or more of railway lines may be directed. Light signals show the location and progress of each train of service performed. This resulted in fuel savings of 31 per cent in freight service and 16 per cent in passenger service.
314. How much water is consumed by the American railroads?
Approximately 600,000,000,000 gallons of water are required annually to quench the thirst of locomotives and to supply other needs of the railroads of the United States. This would be sufficient to fill a channel 600 feet in width and 9 feet deep reaching from New York to San Francisco.
315. Does water treatment add to locomotive efficiency?
Railroads have found that water which is properly treated chemically greatly increases the efficiency of locomotives and the life of boilers and tubes.
Chemical treatment of water prevents erosions or corrosions within the boilers and tubes, reduces the frequency of boiler washings and saves the railroads millions of dollars annually.
316. What distance will a freight locomotive travel while consuming a ton of
coal?
The distance depends upon the locomotive, the weather, the train load and other factors, but the average locomotive in road freight train service consumes approximately one ton of coal for each 9 miles of travel.
317. How much coal is consumed in locomotives in a year?
Locomotives consumed 92,606,000 tons of coal in 1941. They have consumed as much as 139,000,000 tons in a year.
318. How many coal miners are engaged in supplying fuel for steam locomotives?
Based on a coal production of 800 tons per year for each person employed, more than 103,000 coal mine workers were employed to produce the coal consumed by locomotives in 1941.
319. How much fuel oil and other petroleum products do the railroads use in a year?
It is estimated that Class I railroads consume nearly one-fifth of all the fuel oil used in the United States, besides large quantities of gasoline and lubricating oils and other petroleum products. In 1941, they purchased 3,390,453,000 gallons of fuel oil, 119,187,000 gallons of Diesel oil, and 48,950,000 gallons of gasoline.
320. How much do the railroads spend for various types of fuel?
The total expenditures of Class I railroads for fuel for all purposes in 1941 were as follows:
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Fuel Expenditures in Dollars (1941)
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Bituminous coal
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$259,328,000
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Anthracite coal
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4,053,000
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Fuel oil
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77,517,000
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Gasoline
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5,025,000
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|
All other (coke, wood, etc.)
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3,842,000
|
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Total
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$349,765,000
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