Pacrric Great EasrerN RarLway.

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX No. 1.

ECONOMICS OF PROPOSED CHANGE OF LINE AT CROSSING OF COTTONWOOD RIVER.

An economical plant is one where the interest charges plus operating expemses are a
minimum.

The principal operating expenses of a railway that are affected by short changes of line
are usually wages of train and engine crews, controlled by distance; fuel-consumption, controlled
by engine-miles and work performed; maintenance-of-way, controlled by distance and special
conditions, and structure also by curvature; maintenance of equipment, controlled by distance
and curyature. Rate of grade, which, if the ruling grade of the division is changed, would affect
the train-loading for the entire division.

In this particular case the temporary grades introduced to facilitate and hasten the com-
pletion of the grading south of Cottonwood River have not been taken as ruling. They can be
easily eliminated whenever the traffic will justify the necessary small expense. Fuel-consumption
is controlled by the engine-miles run plus the work performed by the locomotive. This work
consists of overcoming friction, which for fully loaded freight-cars amounts to 4 lb. per ton in
summer-time on level track to twice that amount in zero weather. For empty cars these figures
are doubled. In this case I assumed that the average resistance per ton would be 6.8 lb.; that
is equivalent to the resistance of a 0.34 per cent. grade, or the work done in hauling a train
over 1 mile of level track is equivalent to lifting the entire train a distance of 18 feet. The
work done in overcoming a degree of curvature is taken as the equivalent of lifting the train
0.04 foot. The lifting of 1,000 tons 1 foot is the equivalent of 1. horse-power hour. From a yery
extended study of this matter we calculate that 3.5 lb. of ordinary coal is consumed in performing
1 horse-power hour of work. We also calculate that the large Pacific Great Eastern Railway
locomotive will consume 80 1b. of coal per mile run in keeping up steam, running the locomotive,
and wasted while standing on side-tracks, running downhill, ete. The maintenance-of-way will
cost a certain sum plus a variable depending on the amount of traffic, but in this case we have
assumed the conservative sum of $2,400 per mile for both maintenance-of-way and maintenance
of equipment. ‘Train and engine crew wages taken at $0.30 per mile.

The favourable economic features of the line adopted by the Government engineers consist
of a saving of 5 miles in distance and 137 feet in rise and 1,108° less curvature. In addition,
there is the saving of the cost of 4,700,000 lb. extra steel required in the crossing of the river
on the line located by the company engineers, in addition to the cost of 5 miles track material, ete.

Data from profiles and personal examination and based on the assumption that the traffic
over this portion of the line would be carried at a rate of 2 cents per ton-mile, and that the
cost of operating would not exceed a ratio of 75 per cent., which would mean a profit of 0.5 cent
per ton-mile. As this railway was costing nearly $100,000 per mile to construct and equip, and
as the diversion was estimated to cost considerably more than this sum per mile on account of
the expensive crossing of the Cottonwood Creek, before the construction of the line could be
justified it must have been assumed that the railway would earn at least $5,000 (interest at
5 per cent. on $100,000) per mile of road in addition to operating expenses; and, further, to be
on the conservative side, we will assume that $1,000 per mile of this interest charge would come
from profit of passenger business, that would leave to be earned from profit on freight business
$4,000 per mile of track. This sum divided by one-half of 1 cent equals, 800,000 tons of pay-
freight per year over this portion of the road to pay expenses. On the assumptions made
above, from the nature of the country and conditions obtaining, the majority of this freight.
would be south-bound; but assuming that it was balanced in both directions, and as an offset
assuming that the tare and light cars and O.C.S. traffic, such as fuel, etc., would amount to
100 per cent. of the pay-load, that would mean an annual gross tonnage of 1,600,000 tons, or
4,380 gross tons per day.

To haul this tonnage would require at least four trains; that is, two trains in each direction.

To make $1,000 profit per mile per year from passenger business would require at least one
passenger-train per day in each direction; that is, two daily passenger-trains or a total of freight