—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 22, 1975 20 PennAg Spokesman Says Rail Plan Hurts Farmers The United States Railway Association was asked to reevaluate the impact of its preliminary system plan to restructure ailing Northeast railroads. D. Jay Wolgemuth, Mt. Joy, made the request on Monday when he appeared before an In terstate Commerce Com mission in Harrisburg. Wolgemuth is a member of PennAg Industries Assoc., a group of Pennsylvania agribusinessmen, and is chairman of their tran sportation committee. Referring to light density rail lines in the state, Wolgemuth said, “It appears to us that the more the needs of agriculture are considered by the planners, the more apparent the reasons become for continuing service to remote areas.” Wolgemuth pointed out that last year, the U.S. Department of Tran sportation proposed a plan which would have eliminated rail service to 163 Com monwealth agribusiness firms. The current study would affect only an estimated 56 firms across the state. These 56 firms responded to a recent PennAg survey of their rail service needs. Some who provided tonnage data said they would in crease rail utilization by 54 percent if adequate and consistent service were provided. USRA was urged to check with the firms before reaching their final decision. Eliminating rail service to these Pennsylvania agribusiness firms and the farmers • and communities they serve would mean an economic loss of some $11.2 million annually, Wolgemuth said. His figures were an extension of a study made by Dr. Thomas R. Kershner of Union College, Bradford County. Five mills in that county were forced to con vert to truck transportation for incoming ingredients after tropical storm Agnes wiped out their railroad in 1973. Kershner’s study showed that feed costs in the area have risen. The report also indicated that dairy production was adversely affected because some feedgrains became too ex pensive to use. “American agriculture and its marketing system are composed of vast and intricate subtleties which -elate one to the other and no me really knows for sure what the effect of lost rail fvtfivr I will do your spray paint job right and personally at a more reasonable rate with the latest equipment BRINING COUNTRY SQUIRE Phone (AC) 215-445-6186 PIURES HURST RDI Nanon, Pa. 17555 VtVt'tViVViVA 1 * service will mean,” Wolgemuth said. The PennAg spokesman also challenged the USRA’s method for branch line profitability. He used as an example the Reading to Columbia branch, a total of 39.65 miles which the USRA chose to break into four segments, in determining costs USRA used the daily cost of a five man crew on each segment rather than dividing by four. “Discrepancies of this sort tend to discredit other USRA figures,” Wolgemuth stated. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers