IN Erie, Pa. last week, Alfred E. Perlman, president of the New York Central Railroad, ushered in a new symbol of 20th century progress for his venerable old line. Throwing a switch on a signal box (see cut), he formally opened a new 163-mile, electronically regulated stretch of double track between Cleveland and Buffalo. With the new system, the longest in the U.S., only two men seated before a light-studded control panel at Erie can automatically control all traffic between Cleveland and Buffalo.
Instead of the old four-track main line, the Central's electronic system needs just two tracks, will be able to shunt swift express trains around rumbling freights by cross-over switches every seven miles, also step up the speed of freight trains from 30 to 60 m.p.h. The dispatchers can also send passenger trains hurtling east and west at 80 m.p.h. on the same track, switch one to the opposite track to pass. Cost of the Central's electronic progress: $6,238,000 for the first step, as much as $50 million by the time it extends the new system along its entire New York-Chicago main line. In return, the Central will be able to cut its number of tracks in half, save millions on taxes and maintenance. Says President Perlman: "Through electronics, we are now able to control more traffic faster, better and more economically than ever before."
The Central's installation of pushbutton traffic controls is only the latest example of a great revolution sweeping U.S. railroads (see color pages). Since World War II, the industry has poured some $12 billion into new engines, new tracks and trains, a host of futuristic electronic gadgets. As a result of their increased efficiency, the 113 Class 1 U.S. railroads (more than $3,000,000 annual revenue) have been able to cut their road mileage from 249,000 mi. in 1929 to about 220,000 mi. today, the number of locomotives from 61,300 to 34,000, the number of freight cars from 2,600,000 to 2,000,000, the number of employees from 1,600,000 to 1,000,000. But by getting vastly more work out of man and machine power, railroaders have been able to boost the total amount of freight by 45% to 650 billion ton-miles in 1956. And that is only the beginning: in the next ten years, the industry expects to spend $20 billion more for modernization to cut costs and boost volume even higher.
READY TO FIGHT
The new products of modern technology mark a radical departure from the 19th century, when railroads held U.S. transportation in virtual monopoly, and the public could be damned. Even as late as World War II, U.S. railroads had an antiquated plant far behind other industries. Cars, buses and planes started eating into passenger revenues; the booming young trucking industry, along with barges and fast-expanding pipelines, cut into freight traffic. Between 1943 and 1949 the railroad share of the $30 billion U.S. transportation market crumbled from 72% to 59%.
In the same period, railroads were caught in the postwar squeeze between wages and prices, and pre-tax profits for Class I roads dropped 68% to $700 million. Since then, largely because of their race to modernize, the roads have stepped up earnings, last year wound up with a $1 billion profit. Says Southern Railway President Harry de Butts: "Fifteen years ago, when trucking grew up and undercut us, nothing was said. But now we are ready to fight back."