Incomplete as are the figures of the cost of the railways of the United States, and exclusive as they are of the millions put back into the properties out of income for additions, betterments and reconstruction in the process of operation, yet the statistics of the cost of construction and equipment afford a complete answer to all charges that American railways are over-capitalized.
Upon the question of the cost of road and equipment in 1909, the returns of the 368 roads reporting to this Bureau furnish the following data:
| Summary of Cost of Road and Equipment Covering 221,132 Miles of Operated Line for 1909. | |
| Item | Amount |
| Cost of road (182,046 miles owned) | $6,603,504,463 |
| Cost of equipment | 1,122,409,813 |
| Undistributed cost of road and equipment | 3,080,064,960 |
| Cost of 39,086 miles leased lines rental capitalized | 2,415,699,876 |
| Total | $13,220,678,876 |
Adding to this $290,750,000 to represent the 11,870 miles of road not reporting to this Bureau at $25,000 per mile, we obtain
$13,417,438,876
as the cost of road and equipment of the 233,002 miles of line employed in the transportation industry of the United States in 1909, or
$58,031 per mile of line.
This is an underestimate by reason of the failure of a few lines to furnish even approximate figures on the accumulated cost of their properties. Averaging the cost of locomotives at $15,000, of passenger cars at $6,000, of freight cars at $800, and of company's cars at $500 apiece—their present cost rates much higher—the equipment of American railways represents an investment of over $3,000,000,000, and its bare maintenance alone involves an expenditure of nearly $400,000,000 annually.
Physical Valuation of the Railways.