(c) The smaller roads, not only had little or nothing in the way of records, but had in many cases no department with employees qualified to make or keep such records;
(d) The purchase of new equipment, the construction of new buildings and bridges, and the destruction, sale, or removal of old property, create a condition of continuous change which is seldom recorded by either operating or accounting officials, and makes book inventories derived from the roads of very doubtful value for use in an appraisal.
Field Inspection.—The decision had been reached, after careful discussion, not to permit the field inspectors to place a money value on any structure, but to examine it, make a full description of it in all particulars, and assign to it a percentage which should represent the present value, or the depreciation from a similar new structure rated at 100 per cent.
The field inspectors were furnished with the records of the office inspection covering the district assigned. They were given notebooks, tape lines, and various blanks for reporting progress and recording original estimates in the field. Provision was made for inspection by the field men, either by the use of hand-cars, gasoline inspection cars, or velocipede cars, although, with one or two of the roads, no satisfactory arrangement could be made, and the men were compelled to go on foot. A careful inspection of every structure was made. If any correction to the office inspection record was necessary, it was made; if the structure was new, it was carefully measured and described, and everything noted which would be of service in estimating its value. Side-tracks were measured, and the weight and type of rail noted. All culverts and bridges were examined, described, and their condition noted. Estimates were made of excavation and embankment, clearing and grubbing, etc. (based on the standing timber at the time of the examination), and careful estimates were made of classifications of material. The records of the field inspector generally contained only the description and the percentage, but, occasionally, when apparently valuable information as to cost of any particular structure was available it was noted, as was special information of local matters affecting the value of any part of the work.
It was the plan (carried out with but few exceptions) to complete the record with the field inspector so that from his notes a full and accurate descriptive inventory might be made. There were a few exceptions to the general method of field inspection work as outlined, which were:
Special Work on the Chicago and Northwestern Railway.—The Chicago and Northwestern Railway had no records of any sort, all construction papers having been destroyed by fire. This company organized and placed in the field four complete engineering parties, each under one of its own engineers, and with each party was sent one field inspector. The line was carefully surveyed and cross-sectioned, and complete records of every building and structure were made, side-tracks were measured, and data taken for rail and ballast charts, etc. All work was done in the presence of the field inspector, and he was given copies of all notes. He placed his own percentage of depreciation on everything. The estimates, made up independently by the Chicago and Northwestern engineers and the appraisal staff, using in the latter case the same unit prices as applied elsewhere in the Upper Peninsula, varied less than 2 per cent.
Special Valuations.—Certain special structures, such as ore docks and ore and coal handling machinery, were of such a character as to require expert appraisal. These were examined in the field, appraised, and valued by G. H. Hutchinson, M. Am. Soc. C. E., whose special training and experience in such work had qualified him perhaps better than any other man. Interlocking and signaling plants were specially appraised by the late Elliot F. Moore, who for 10 years had been Engineer of the Michigan Railroad Commission, and whose intimate personal knowledge of almost every plant in the State specially qualified him for this work.
Some of the bridges were of such a character as to require expert knowledge, and this inspection was assigned to William Dunbar Jenkins, M. Am. Soc. C. E., a man of ripe experience and sound judgment. The larger and more elaborate station buildings were examined and appraised, and values finally placed by Mr. F. G. Susemihl, Chief Architect of the Michigan Central System, whose special work in railway buildings made him thoroughly familiar with these values.
Work equipment and special equipment were appraised by Mr. G. L. Lewis, who had been connected with the Marion Steam Shovel Company for many years.
Except for these special assignments, all the field inspection was handled in accordance with the appraiser's plan.