USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 5 > Part 38
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The Interstate Commerce Commission was directed by the law to make a study and publish a tentative plan for the allo- cation of every railroad to one of the few systems to be
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created. Then, after hearings had been held on the tentative plan, the Commission was directed to prepare a final plan to which all consolidations should conform.,
In 1921 the Commission published its tentative plan calling for 19 systems. Hearings were held throughout 1922 and 1923, but the final plan was not announced until December, 1929.
In its 1921 tentative plan the Commission suggested three alternatives for New England. The first, known as the Trunk Line Plan, was to leave the Boston & Albany and Rutland as parts of a larger New York Central system and to that system to allot also the Boston & Maine, Maine Central and Bangor & Aroostook, assigning the New Haven road to the Baltimore & Ohio system, and leaving the Central Vermont and Grand Trunk in Maine as parts of the Canadian National system. The second alternative, known as New England Regional Plan, was to form a single system of all New England rail- roads except the Boston & Albany and the Canadian National subsidiaries. The third alternative, known as New England- Great Lakes Plan, was to attach the New England lines, with the exceptions noted in the first and second alternatives, to a new system to be based upon the Delaware & Hudson, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western and others in Trunk Line territory. Each of the two plans first named had support but the third received scant attention.
THE DISTRICT PLAN (1923)
To aid the governors of the six New England States to decide between these plans, committees were organized. For Massachusetts the members were: James J. Storrow (chair- man), Philip Dexter, Carl Dreyfus, Adolph W. Gilbert, and Frank H. Willard. Storrow was also chosen chairman of the joint committee of thirty. The chief technical advisor was Howard G. Kelley, formerly president of the Grand Trunk Railway.
The report of the joint committee, usually referred to as the Storrow Report, was made public in June, 1923, and rec- ommended a New England regional consolidation. That finding, however, was not unanimous. While the joint com- mittee was created to consider what should be the attitude of
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REHABILITATION OF THE ROADS
New England in relation to consolidation, the scope of its in- vestigation and report went much further. The committee decided that a sound conclusion as to what form of consolida- tion would be best for the future welfare of New England could be reached only as the result of an intensive study of the whole transportation problem. The results of that study were made a part of the report, and certain recommendations were made on methods of rehabilitation.
The "final" plan of the commission, published in Decem- ber, 1929, differed fundamentally from the alternatives sug- gested in the 1921 tentative plan. In the 1929 line-up New England was to have two regional systems, each with "bridge" lines into trunk-line territory. The first was the Boston & Maine system, including the Maine Central, Bangor & Aroos- took, Rutland, Delaware & Hudson, and a number of small roads in their territories. The second was the New Haven system, including the New York, Ontario & Western, Lehigh & Hudson River, Lehigh & New England, and all of the small lines in southern New England. The Boston & Albany was to remain as a part of the New York Central system, and the Central Vermont and Grand Trunk line in Maine were to remain as parts of the Canadian National system.
The plan, however, was final in name only. The Commis- sion, without power to require consolidations, intimated that for good reasons modifications would be approved. Inasmuch as the consensus of opinion in New England favored one rather than two regional systems, if consolidations were to be made the likelihood was that such a modification might be sanctioned if the two systems could agree upon terms agree- able to the Commission.
REHABILITATION OF THE ROADS (1924-1930)
Since the Storrow Report was written the hoped for re- habilitation of the two roads has taken place, although not in the manner suggested in the committee's report.
The Boston & Albany had no financial difficulty during the lean years of 1920 to 1923 as the deficit was paid by its lessee, the strong New York Central system. Since 1924 the net income of the Boston & Albany has exceeded the rental and the lessee company has made a profit from operation.
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The Boston & Maine found itself unable after the war to earn its charges, even though they had been reduced substan- tially by the reorganization of 1919, when the principal leased lines agreed to give up the guaranteed dividends on their own stock and accept preferred stock of the Boston & Maine. Under that reorganization most of the leased lines became parts of the Boston & Maine by corporate merger. The fixed rentals were cut from $5,562,924 in 1918 to $928,550 in 1919, but in spite of that reduction the total fixed charges were not earned in 1920, 1921, and 1923. The necessity; for further reorganization was apparent. In 1925, under the leadership of Homer Loring, a voluntary reorganization was accom- plished which, among other things, called upon the common stockholders to subscribe for a new issue of preferred stock to furnish funds for physical improvements on a large scale. These expenditures brought about substantial economies in operation, with highly improved public service. Among the important improvements during the administration of George Hannaeur (1927-29) were enlarged and improved classifica- tion yards at Mechanicsville and East Deerfield and an entire revision of all terminals in Boston, including the construction of a new passenger station and a new office building.
On the New Haven Railroad a similarly striking improve- ment was made. It had failed to earn fixed charges in 1920 to 1923 but since then it has not only met charges but in 1928 resumed the payment of dividends on its common stock. The improvement in operating results under guidance of President Pearson (1913-28) and President Pelley (since May, 1929) was due mainly to operating economies made possible by large capital expenditures for betterments to physical facilities and equipment. The New Haven Railroad by 1930 had written off the greater part of the losses through unwise investments in 1900-1913 and was in a fairly easy financial position. The earlier public ill-will had disappeared, and cordial relations existed between the road and the public of the section which it served.
The company still held in 1930 nearly all of the stock of the Boston Holding Company, which in turn owned the Boston & Maine stock purchased in 1908 by the New Haven Railroad. Until 1919 that stock was a controlling majority
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STATIONS AND TERMINALS
of the Boston & Maine. When the Boston & Maine was re- organized in 1919, the holding company's block of Boston & Maine stock ceased to be controlling.
TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT (1890-1930)
New England railroads kept pace with the technical devel- opment of railroads in general from 1890 to 1930. In both plant and equipment, and in technique of operation, the progress has been remarkable.
In way and structures the demands of heavier locomotives and cars have been met by heavier rails, deeper ballast of better quality, and bridges of greater capacity. The typical weight of rail in 1890 was 75 to 80 pounds per yard. In 1930 the new installations on main lines was of 130 pound section. Crushed stone was being used on main lines instead of gravel or cinders as ballast. Automatic signals and power interlocking plants have added to safety and traffic-carrying capacity. Bridges have been rebuilt to carry locomotives which have increased from a typical weight in 1890 of 35 to 40 tons on drivers to well over 100 tons in 1930. Cars have doubled in capacity and typically are of steel or steel under- frame construction. The average freight train load in paying freight has grown from 150 tons to nearly 600 tons, and trains of 100 loaded freight cars are not uncommon.
STATIONS AND TERMINALS (1890-1930)
A striking development is seen in terminals and inter- mediate classification yards, where cars are switched by gravity and controlled by mechanical car retarders instead of the old "push and pull" method which required a switchman on each cut of cars. At Somerville the Boston & Maine, in 1928, constructed a large classification yard, which takes the place of several inefficient small yards scattered throughout the whole terminal area. The same treatment has brought about an efficient freight terminal on the New Haven road at South Boston, and on the Boston & Albany at Allston and West Springfield.
In 1894 the Boston & Maine opened the North Station in Boston, displacing the old separate stations of the Boston &
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Lowell, Eastern, and Boston & Maine. In 1900 the Fitch- burg trains began to use that station, and in 1928 a new struc- ture was opened with its colosseum. In 1899 and 1900 the old stations of the Boston & Albany, Old Colony, Boston & Providence, and New England were displaced by the South Station, which until recently accommodated more passengers than any other railroad station in the United States. Coinci- dent with the opening of the South Station in 1899-1900 the Boston & Albany and the New Haven provided new stations in the Back Bay district. The Back Bay station of the New Haven was destroyed by fire in 1928 and was replaced by a new station in 1929.
When the South Station was built in 1899 the intention was to use its lower level for electric operation and the electrifica- tion of suburban lines was contemplated. Progress in that direction has been disappointing. The heavy cost of equip- ping the lines for electric operation has caused the railroads to hesitate to meet the public demand, and the legislature has hesitated to enact compulsory measures. The only electrified sections of lines built for steam operation in Massachusetts are the Nantasket Beach Branch of the New Haven (1900), the Grafton & Upton (1902), the Hoosac Tunnel of the Bos- ton & Maine (1911), and the narrow gauge line of the Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn (1928). The fact that the New Haven is electrified from New York to New Haven has given the New England public a liking for that type of rail operation; but the additional carrying charges incident to electrification, shown to be in excess of economies under the current volume of traffic, have held back further installations.
WATER TRANSPORTATION (1890-1930)
The movement of persons and commodities by water is the oldest form of transportation on an extensive scale. All of the early settlements in this country were adjacent to the nat- ural harbors along the Atlantic Coast. The early settlements on the coast were followed by similar settlements on the banks of navigable rivers, and in a few cases transportation by water was extended inland by canals. Railroads as first con- ceived were to be merely complementary to waterways, but very early in their existence their economic superiority over
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inland waterways was convincingly demonstrated. The build- ing of additional canals soon ceased; by the middle of the nineteenth century those that had been built earlier were abandoned, and the use of navigable stretches of New England rivers became negligible.
The advent of railroads, however, did not seriously affect coastwise shipping. The coastline of New England with its numerous natural harbors, and the long established organiza- tion of coastwise and ocean transportation, are among New England's greatest natural advantages from the viewpoint of industry and commerce. More than 70 per cent of the New England population lives and the major part of its industrial activity is carried on within 50 miles of the seaboard. Within that zone lives 97 per cent of the population of Connecticut, all of Rhode Island, 61 per cent of the people of Massachu- setts, 57 per cent of New Hampshire, and 77 per cent of Maine.
In 1930 daily water service connected all important New England ports with New York and regular lines of steam- boats were running to the principal seaports south of New York and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. While adverse freight rates from inland points in favor of Philadelphia and Baltimore have tended to take away the earlier supremacy of Boston as a port of transatlantic shipping and have trans- ferred a substantial part of its formerly larger volume of imports and exports to New York, Philadelphia, and Balti- more, Boston still has good transatlantic and South American service ; and after the opening of the Panama Canal, in 1912, (especially since 1920) has established adequate and regular service to the Gulf ports and to the Pacific Coast. The port of Boston has made extensive and long continued efforts to have the unfavorable freight rate differentials removed. The Interstate Commerce Commission has thus far been unwilling to give Boston the same rates on export traffic as Philadelphia and Baltimore.
While the railroads of New England were going through the processes of integration in the period under review, simi- lar processes had been at work upon the coastwise shipping companies with the result that the water service, especially on Long Island Sound and in the southern Massachusetts waters,
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had been extending and improving. The opening of the Cape Cod Canal in 1914 cut the running time and increased the safety of the "outside" line of boats between Boston and New York. The canal, built by private capital and operated as a private undertaking, did not pay. During the World War, it was taken over and afterward purchased by the government. Since then no tolls have been charged. The use of the canal by boats other than the Boston-New York pas- senger steamers has been disappointingly small.
The competitive bearing of coastwise transportation on rail transportation in New England did not change materially from 1900, except in the further coordination of activities be- tween the New Haven Railroad and the Sound lines.
THE PORT OF BOSTON
The port of Boston has suffered during the period under review from a dearth of outbound bulk cargo because of the adverse differential rail rates from the interior. This con- dition has left Boston with a fine natural harbor and facilities for handling traffic utilized only in part. There are four dis- tinct dock districts in the harbor-East Boston, Charlestown, Atlantic Avenue in Boston proper, and South Boston flats. The East Boston docks are reached by the Grand Junction branch of the Boston & Albany. They contain ample storage facilities. A large grain elevator, built in 1907, replaced a smaller elevator. The Mystic and the Hoosac Tunnel docks, in Charlestown, are reached by the Boston & Maine Railroad. The latter acquired the Mystic docks with the Boston & Lowell Railroad in 1887, and the Hoosac Tunnel docks with the Fitchburg in 1900. Both docks have grain elevators.
The frontage along Atlantic Avenue in Boston is littered with small piers which are used extensively by the ships in New England coastal trade. Across the entrance to Fort Point channel lie the South Boston flats, where the old New York and New England held property. Most of the area is now used as a freight yard, the piers being small. Just to the east, and also reached by the New Haven tracks, is the State-built Commonwealth pier, large and commodious, while beyond is the large fish pier. Further down the harbor is
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the gigantic Army Base, now used extensively as a commercial pier.
Besides the main docks, enumerated above, there are several piers on the Fort Point channel and on the many reaches of the upper harbor. On the Mystic River are situated a modern lumber receiving and storage yard, and the coal receiving dock of the Boston & Maine. The harbor boasts of the largest dry- dock in the Western Hemisphere, at the Army Base, and of a large and efficient ship-repairing plant at East Boston.
The most notable physical changes during the 40-year pe- riod have been the new grain elevator at East Boston, the Commonwealth Pier, the new fish pier, and the Army Base and dry-dock. The coordination of control of the Mystic and the Hoosac Tunnel docks, which were separately managed until 1900, and the control of the New York and New Eng- land docks by the New Haven in 1895 were events of im- portance to the port.
The shipping which uses the port varies from ocean liners and ocean tramps to the many small coasting vessels which do not go beyond the New England harbors. Most of the large transatlantic lines make Boston a port of call from or to New York, although in the summer months the Cunard and other lines run ships direct from Boston. In this respect the period from 1890 to 1930 has shown a tendency on the part of the major ocean lines to give up Boston as a base port, principally because of the freight differentials mentioned above. The number of sailings to Pacific coast ports has, however, gained steadily and a thriving service is now carried on, especially by the Luckenback and American-Hawaiian lines through the Panama Canal. The Gulf ports are usually reached via New York and the Mallory or Southern Pacific lines, while the southeastern United States ports are reached by regular services of the Savannah and the Merchants and Miners lines from Boston. The Brocklebank-Cunard, as well as a number of smaller companies, carry on trade to all parts of the world, while the small coastwise ships serve all the New England ports. Barges and colliers bring in great quantities of coal, the large coal companies running a heavy service between the Newport News region and Boston. Tramp ships, although preferring the southeastern and Gulf ports,
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fill out the shipping lists. As a port of import and export, Boston no longer holds its position in the 'nineties as second port of the United States in the value of export and import cargoes; but its importance as the port of distribution for New England has been maintained.
TRANSPORTATION BY AIR
Transportation by air, on a commercial scale and on regu- lar schedules is in its infancy in 1930. Its possibilities cannot now be foretold with confidence or its ultimate competitive effect upon the older forms of transportation predicted with certainty. New England, a region of relatively short dis- tances, is not an ideal section of the country for aerial trans- portation development. The time savings, when allowance is made for surface transportation to and from the flying fields, are not sufficiently substantial in comparison with rail or automobile unless the trip is long. Yet Boston has not been backward in providing a modern airport at East Boston and has had a regular daily air service for mail, express and pas- sengers to New York City since 1928.
Throughout New England there are many landing fields but no regular air line service is provided except to New York. The regular air line depends primarily for earnings upon its mail contract. The general public has not yet become suffi- ciently "air minded" to support a service for passengers only.
COMPETITION FOR HIGHWAYS TRAFFIC (1890-1930)
The competitive situation with respect to highway competi- tion by 1930 was very serious from the railroad viewpoint, especially in passenger service. A large part of railroad local passenger traffic was lost to the private automobile and the motor coach. The number of automobiles registered in Mas- sachusetts in 1920 was 223,112; in 1929 there were 973,648. The State, with federal aid, has carried out extensive pro- grams of hard surfacing of highways. From 1893 to 1930 the cost of new road construction in Massachusetts was approxi- mately $100,000,000. For the country as a whole the railroad passenger miles of 1929 were one-third less than they were in 1920, and in New England, especially in Massachusetts, the
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railroad loss was even more severe. The influence of the private automobile as a substitute for rail movement became apparent in the decade of 1910-1920; but since the war period and the more common ownership of private motor vehicles, the highways have been used to an increasing extent for pleasure trips and commercial traveling formerly made by rail. The use of motor coaches on regular routes with regular service began about 1922, with further encroachment upon the railroad short-haul passenger traffic.
The railroad loss has been mainly in passenger business between adjacent cities or inland towns, and in former pas- sengers who now use the automobile for transportation to seashore and mountain resorts. There has been little if any loss since 1920 in commutation passengers between Boston and the suburbs, partly because of parking difficulties and street congestion in Boston. Long-distance rail passenger traffic has been increasing.
Railroad losses to the private automobile and the motor coach have been far more serious than railroad losses of freight to motor trucks. The use of the motor truck as a substitute for short hauls by rail began during the war, when railroad facilities were overtaxed. War-time experience demonstrated the advantages of truck transportation for short distances. The early success of motor trucking led to its widespread use from 1920, and the swing from rail to motor truck went beyond the economic zone of highway transportation. By 1930 there was general recognition of the fact that the truck's advantages are confined to a relatively small zone-something like 50 miles. Within that zone, especially for distances of 25 to 30 miles, the motor has the undoubted advantage. Except in the case of special commodities such as freight of high value, household goods, and commodities which require extra protection in packing, the motor truck ordinarily cannot compete economically with rail movement outside of the 50 mile zone.
The freight which the railroads have lost to the truck is principally in less-than-carload lots. In New England the 1.c.l. percentage in 1929 was about 12 per cent of the total. That class of freight, while moving under the higher class rates, is relatively unremunerative because of the high operat-
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ing costs. It is burdensome in its demands upon equipment and terminal facilities and in times of heavy traffic interferes with the handling of long-distance carload traffic, which from the viewpoint of net revenue is much more attractive. The railroads, therefore, may view without alarm the diminution in the volume of short-haul 1.c.l. freight. The loss to motor trucks, all things considered, is not serious ; and for every ton of 1.c.1. taken by the truck the automotive industry as a whole contributes much more than one ton of carload freight by rail.
Between 1923 and 1930 the New England railroads took steps to meet the competition of highway transportation by better service. They shortened the running time of through passenger trains, provided more luxurious equipment, and ad- vertised more extensively, and in general had adopted modern merchandizing methods in the sale of passenger transporta- tion. They had also gone into motor-coach operation them- selves by organizing their own motor-coach service and co- ordinating it with trains. This development has reached extensive proportions in New England. In 1930 the New England Transportation Company, a subsidiary of the New Haven Railroad, operated 270 motor coaches over regular routes which had an aggregate route mileage of 1,600. The Boston & Maine Transportation Company operated 95 motor coaches on 1,303 route miles.
In freight service railroad activity on the highway has not been as great as in passenger service, but the Boston & Maine in 1930 owned 175 motor trucks used to supplement rail serv- ice. In several cases motor trucks and motor coaches had been substituted for rail service on unprofitable light-traffic branch lines, and the Boston & Maine had inaugurated an ex- tensive system of handling 1.c.l. shipments by trucks from Boston to nearby cities.
URBAN, SUBURBAN, AND INTERURBAN TRANSPORTATION
In 1889 the well-established horse-car street railways of Massachusetts were just starting to change over some of their trackage to electric operation. All of the larger cities in the State had well organized horse-car systems serving the cen- tral districts of each city, while other lines ran out into the
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suburbs. There were also a small number of interurban horse-car lines. Out of a total of some 600 miles of street-car track, only 50 miles were electrified.
In Boston a number of separate companies did business, the West End street-railway horse and electric cars running a daily mileage of more than twice the distance around the globe. All suburban traffic, except the small amount carried on the suburban street cars, was carried on the local branches of the steam roads. On the Boston & Maine system, the Saugus, Marblehead, and Gloucester branches did a heavy commuting business, while the short branches from Woburn, Stoneham, Melrose and Lexington added to the throngs which poured into the Causeway Street station. Across the harbor the Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn discharged onto its ferries a heavy traffic from Lynn and Winthrop. To the west the Boston & Albany, both from its main line and from its Brook- line circuit, did a heavy business, while the Fitchburg and the Central Massachusetts branch of the Boston & Maine carried commuters to a less extent. On the south, the Old Colony trains carried suburban passengers into the Kneeland Street station from the Quincy region, and the Dorchester and Mil- ton branch to Mattapan. The Boston & Providence handled a heavy suburban traffic from its main line, and its branches from Dedham and Stoughton. All these steam lines were still operating suburban trains in 1930, although the volume of business was far under that of the 'nineties.
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