Railroads
(Continued From Page 1)
dire predictions of the railroad
men who addressed the group.
Penn Central’s J. R. Sullivan
said that unless the Penn Central
gets government money by
October 1, they will begin to shut
down by October 31. “The last
road train will travel Pennsy
lines on November 15,“ Sullivan
said. “By December 1, we will
have to drop 73,000 people from
the payroll. And by January 1,
our work force will have been
reduced to 2500 custodial
workers.”
Sullivan lay much of the blame
for the railroads’ troubles at the
feet of the government. “Since
World War 11, the government
has poured over $3OO billion worth
of tax revenues into competing
modes of transportation. They’ve
built the interstate highway
system, they’ve built airports,
they’ve dredged the St. Lawrence
Seaway and other bodies of
water, but they haven’t helped
the railroads at all.
“By subsidizing competing
modes, they’ve eliminated a lot of
the business that made railroads
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profitable,” Sullivan continued.
“And when they took away that
business, they made it impossible
for us to support unprofitable
business, such as passenger runs
and service to marginal branch
lines.”
According to Sullivan, four
steps need to be taken in order to
save rail transport in the Nor
theast. They are:
1. Allow the railroads to
eliminate money-losing lines.
The Penn Central operates 20,000
miles of lines, but 80 percent of
the revenues come from 11,000 of
those miles. The company has
applied to the ICC for permission
to discontinue service on 3500
miles of lines, and been granted
approval to abandon 1400 miles.
2. The railroads need to get full
compensation for money-losing
passenger service. Pennsy
passenger runs result in a $54
million annual loss.
3. Reduce the size of train
crews. Penn Central would like to
see freight crews reduced to one
conductor, a brakeman and an
engineeer.
4. Help the railroads develop an
increasing volume of business.
C. P. O’Rourke said his com-
James High & Sons
Ph: 354-0301
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John B. Kurtz
Ph: 354-9251
K. D. 3, Ephrata
pany, the Lehigh Valley
Railroad, is losing money to the
tune of $300,000 a month, and it
can't keep up for very long. The
company is now operating in
bankruptcy, and like the Penn
Central, has asked the courts for
permission to cease operations
sometime after October 1.
Richard H. George spoke for
the one railroad represented
which is not operating under
bankruptcy laws, the Delaware
and Hudson. “We have endured
because of competition,’’ George
told the group. “We go after your
business. We fight for it. Com
petition has been a catalyst that
has helped our company stay
alive.”
But even George said that D&H
branch lines may be abandoned
unless something is done to aid
the Northeast rail system. Many
feed dealers, if not most of them,
are located along branch lines in
rural areas. Shutting down
branches would mean dealers
would have to move operations to
main line locations, or else have
all their feed ingredients trucked
in.
One interesting point brought
up at the meeting was that a
locomotive can generate 212 ton
miles per gallon of fuel, while a
truck gets only 65 ton-miles per
gallon. One ton-mile is the ability
to move one ton of freight over a
distance of one mile.
M. E. Forst, representing the
Commonwealth, said that one
complicating aspect of the
railroads’ problems was that the
companies’ creditors had to be
protected at the same time that
the public’s best interests bad to
be observed. In bankruptcy
proceedings, the creditors’ in
terests take precedence over
everything else.
In summing up the meeting,
chairman Smith pointed out that
the railroads’ problems weren’t
just the problems of the rail
companies. The feed industry,
and all of agriculture, has a vital
stake in the future of rail tran
sport, he commented, and the
only way to fight for a strong rail
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Trends (Continued From Page 1)
this year, with what turns out to be an added bonus - low
moisture grain. With moisture levels for harvested grain
running at 7 to 8 percent, the need for drying was greatly
reduced. There were some earlier fears there wouldn’t be
enough fuel for drying, which could have meant a lot of
spoiled grain. Maybe they can save that fuel for the corn and
soybeans. Both crops are expected to be up over last year. In
Pennsylvania, small grain harvests are predicted up 9
percent over 1972.
Hardly anyone is pleased with the administration’s at
tempts to control the economy. Prices for farm products are
at historic highs, and there is some speculation that present
conditions could lead to a series of boom-or-bust cycles that
would hurt a lot of farmers and farm businesses. One thing
working against this is the increasing world-wide demand for
food, and increasing incomes overseas which will let people
buy more American food. Even so, some experts are
prediciting a recession by the middle of 1974. Consumers
are notably disaffected with Washington’s attempts to
control food prices. One consumer group has called for a
one-day boycott of all food products, to "teach the govern
ment a lesson”. Maybe they could tape their stomach
rumbles.
Maybe Air Conditioned Barns?
“A lot of Lancaster County barns are going to get painted
this year," we were told by one farmer. ‘This is the first year
in a long while that a lot of us will be able to afford paint.” If
farm prices keep going up, we may see barns with steel
siding, shake roofs and patios before too long.
Farm Calendar
Saturday, July 28
6:15 p.m. - Garden Spot Young
Farmers Summer Picnic,
Blue Ball Elementary School.
Lancaster County Farmers
Association Picnic, Lampeter
Fairgrounds.
Sunday, July 29
12:30 p.m. - Ephrata Young
system m the Northeast is to let
the people in Washington know
that the plight of the railroads is a
matter of concern to industry and
the public at large.
iter Farming. Saturday. Jut/ 28.1973 —
Phase 4 Fiasco
Farmer Picnic, Ephrata
Community Park.
Monday, July 30
Goshen Country Fair, West
Chester, July 30 - August 4.
Tuesday, July 31
Lancaster County FFA Hog Show
and Sale, Lancaster Stock
Yards; 8 a.m., Show, 1:30
p.m.. Sale.
9:30 - 11:30 a.m. - Food
Preservation meeting.
Canning, Chester County
Housing Authority, 222 N.
Church St., West Chester.
Wednesday, August 1
7:30 p.m. - Lancaster County
Conservation District
meeting, Farm and Home
Center.
Berks County FFA Swine Show
and Sale, Leesport Market
and Auction.
Thursday, August 2
Allentown Fair, August 2 -11.
Friday, Augusts
Yorkshire Show and Sale, Farm
Show Building, Harrisburg; 1
p.m. - Show, 6:30 p.m. - Sale.
Saturday, August 4
Twin Valley FFA Barbecue,
Kurtz’ Fishing Lakes.
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