The Railway Library, 1909 / A Collection of Noteworthy Chapters, Addresses, and Papers Relating to Railways, Mostly Published During the Year

by Unknown

Next follows a summary giving the number and capacity of locomotives for the seven years since the Commission has included capacity in the published returns:

Year	Number	Tractive Power (Pounds)	Weight without Tender (Tons)	Average Weight (Tons)
1909 (94.4% represented)	55,495	1,421,114,798	4,033,309	72.7
1908 Final returns	57,698	1,519,568,551	4,071,554	71.5
1907	55,388	1,429,626,658	3,828,045	69.1
1906	51,672	1,277,865,673	3,459,052	66.9
1905	48,357	1,141,330,082	3,079,673	63.6
1904	46,743	1,063,651,261	2,889,492	62.1
1903	43,871	953,799,540	2,606,587	59.4
1902	41,225	839,073,779	2,323,877	56.3
Increase seven years to 1909	34.6%	69.4%	73.6%	29.1

Complete returns will raise the totals for 1909 approximately to 57,704 locomotives of 1,465,070,000 pounds tractive power and 4,158,000 tons weight, exclusive of tenders. These figures bear out the conclusion expressed above that the purchase of new locomotives in 1909 was barely sufficient to replace those abandoned or destroyed during the year. The loss, however, was in a measure made good by the greater weight of the new engines. As the average weight of locomotives in 1899 was approximately 53 tons, the figures just given indicate an increase of nearly 114% in the weight of all locomotives during the decade.

In connection with the estimate of $15,000 put on locomotives in this report, it is of interest to reproduce the return to the legislature of New South Wales of the cost of engines built in the railway shops at Sydney recently. The figures refer to 6-wheel-coupled heavy mail and express engines weighing, with tender, 163,128 pounds, as published in the Railway Age-Gazette, December 3, 1909:

Details of Locomotive Costs.
	10 Engines	Cost Per Engine	Per Ton(a)
Direct charges:
Materials	$117,462.77	$11,746.28	$161.29
Wages	76,484.23	7,648.42	104.99
Total	$193,947.00	$19,394.70	$266.28
Indirect charges:
Percentage of shop charges (exclusive of superintendence) on wage basis in each shop, 37.84%	28,943.79	2,894.38	39.74
Superintendence, on wage basis, 3%	2,294.51	229.45	3.10
Interest on capital cost of new shop and machinery, including land	4,850.52	485.05	6.63
Proportion of interest on capital cost of old shops on locomotive work produced for new engines	5,449.53	544.95	7.45
Depreciation of machinery and plant, 2% on capital cost	5,149.99	515.00	7.03
Total indirect charges	$46,688.34	$ 4,668.83	$ 63.95
Total charges	$240,635.34	$24,063.53	$330.23
(a) Ton of 2,240 lbs.

Applied to a Mallet articulated compound locomotive, such as that built for the Erie weighing 410,000 pounds on the drivers, the rate per ton paid by the government of New South Wales would make it cost over $60,000. It did not cost any such sum, but the Australian experience is a straw which shows how the cost of locomotives is soaring. American railways find it necessary economy to build engines whose average weight is well above that built in the government shops at Sydney.

Passenger and Freight Cars.

During the same period, 1902 to 1909, covered in the table relating to locomotives, for which alone full data is available, the increase in the number of passenger cars and freight cars, and in the capacity of the latter, is shown in the following statement:

Year	Passenger Service	Freight Service		Average tons	Company's Service Number
		Number	Capacity (tons)
1909 (97% represented)	44,665	2,050,049	71,028,266	34.6	96,739
1908 (Final returns)	45,292	2,100,784	73,526,440	35	98,281
1907	43,973	1,991,557	67,216,144	34	91,064
1906	42,282	1,837,914	59,196,230	32	78,736
1905	40,713	1,731,409	53,372,552	31	70,749
1904	39,752	1,692,194	50,874,723	30	66,615
1903	38,140	1,653,782	48,622,125	29	61,467
1902	36,987	1,546,101	43,416,977	28	57,097
Seven years' increase(a)	20.8%	35.9%	64.0%	23.5%	69.6%
(a) Final returns for 1909 will raise these percentages materially.