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By November, U. S. railroads had scrapped 54,000 cars, put about as many new ones in service. Meanwhile, the equipment makers, tired of waiting, took new business offered by other sectors of defense. American Car & Foundry filled part of its echoing, long-empty car sheds with $21,500,000 in tank orders, which (along with nearly $30,000,000 of shells, armor plate, etc.) almost put its common back into the black. American Locomotive got $38,000,000 of Army orders, paid off $5 a share on preferred arrears. Even Pullman, ever faithful to the rails, took on some arms work. If defense traffic sends the roads into the equipment market next year, they will find a crowd ahead of them.
When the American Express Co. sold off its motorized wheel chairs after the New York World's Fair, Fair President Harvey Gibson bought three to scoot around his estate.
In 1940 the construction industry had its best year (nearly $11 billions) since 1930. Before defense set in, public construction was on the decline. But by December the Government (including States and municipalities) was spending twice as much for building as in 1939.
Including FHA houses, private construction gained faster than public. This month it ran 300% ahead of 1939. For the year, construction of new factories was double 1939's. Some of this was Governmentinstigated and -underwritten. But heavy construction, public and private, crossed the $4 billion mark for the first time in U. S. history. If residential building continues upward, 1941 may be a record year.
Construction has a prodigal stepson for which a real feast is spread about once a generation, usually combined with war: shipbuilding. And 1940 was its festal year. For Admiral Stark's two-ocean Navy, shipyards launched a naval vessel every twelve days; few were the Washington glamor girls who had not smashed a bottle on a prow. The Maritime Commission at year's end had 932,000 gross tons of merchant shipping under construction, was launching a vessel a week (last week's: the 17,500-ton Rio Parana, for New York-South America service). The venerable Cramp yards in Philadelphia reopened with a $106,380,000 Navy order; eight Navy, 23 private yards worked at top speed. Last week, for dessert, the British attempted to offset their shipping losses by placing a $100,000,000 order for 60 10,000-ton (dead weight) freighters in the U. S. For this, the largest single merchant-ship order ever placed, Todd Shipyards started building two new yards, one in California, one in Maine.
A. F. of L. electrical workers picketed the Triangle Conduit & Cable Co. in Flushing, L. I., then President John McAuliffe's house, then his country club.
Like earlier New Deal years, 1940 was good for operating utilities, tough for utility holding companies. SEC forced Howard Hopson's weird Associated Gas & Electric into receivership, and watched sick Howard Hopson tremble and snore the year out in a criminal court. In St. Louis, it surprised North American's Union Electric Co. in the embrace of the State Legislature, and helped send its management to jail.