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made into English. For anyone making a study of the Chinese railway situation this publication affords much valuable data. The complete title is as follows: Les Chemins de Fer Chinois, un programme pour leur développement, par A. J. H. Charignon, ingénieur civil, conseiller technique au Ministère des Communications; H. Dunod & E. Pinat, éditeurs, 47 et 49 Quai des Grands-Augustins, Paris, 1914.

CHARACTER OF LINES.

To the writer the characteristics of the Chinese lines to be built seem to be a matter of much importance. As stated several times, most of the present lines are now at a disadvantage in handling their growing business on account of their inability to use as heavy motive power as would seem likely to be most efficient, considering that much of the freight traffic can be moved most economically on the commodity basis (which means by heavy tonnage trains at comparatively slow speeds). One exception is the Peking-Suiyuan line, with its heavy motive power and freight equipment with power brakes, whose working results compare favorably with those of the other lines, notwithstanding the much steeper grades resulting from the rougher country through which it passes. It is therefore felt that expenditures for bridges carrying much heavier loads than the present ones and for lines with reasonably low grades would be entirely warranted in the building of future railways.

Japan has given careful study to the characteristics of the lines to be built. No doubt its action will be entirely controlled by the funds available, but it can be taken for granted that such action will conform to the methods and principles that the Japanese consider most advantageous for themselves; it will in no way be affected by the results of the conflicting advice of foreign railway experts, as has occurred in China.

ROADWAY AND EQUIPMENT STANDARDS.

Japan has the matter of standards thoroughly in hand, and any American manufacturer in doubt as to what is required can obtain full explanation from the inspecting engineer's office, in New York, of the Imperial Government Railways of Japan.

The Chinese Government Railways, however, are very far from attaining this fortunate position. Each of the several railways can be considered as having in many ways the standards of the nationality of its particular loan, and in many respects these are quite different for example, the frogs and switches used on the different lines. The system of uniform accounts is an excellent illustration of what might be accomplished in standardizing all the practices of the Chinese Government Railways as to roadway and track, motive power, and rolling stock of all classes. Certain essentials could be fixed-and alternatives allowed in other respectsthat would enable these lines to secure broadly the benefit of international markets, particularly as regards the price competition that would thus ensue. No doubt direct benefit would result to the Chinese railways if, in the adoption of such standards, special consideration were given to the devices that can now or may in the future be manufactured in China at such places as the Tangshan shops.

As an example, one may mention 33-inch chilled cast-iron car wheels similar to those now being manufactured at the Shakako shops and used as standard on the freight equipment of the South Manchuria Railway, where the conditions and traffic are probably fully representative of the future developments on the Chinese Government Railways as a whole. If wheels of this diameter and material are satisfactory for the service of the South Manchuria Railway (as they apparently are), it would appear that this should be permissible practice to meet the requirements of the Chinese Government Railways, in view of the fact that this is the type of wheels that could be manufactured to best advantage in China at such points as the Tongshan shops on account of the Chinese workman's adaptability for handling this class of work.

FINANCING EXTENSIONS AND BETTERMENTS.

It is felt that the foregoing data warrant a repetition of the statement that one of the big problems in Chinese railway development is the providing of funds for extensions, betterments, and additional terminal facilities and equipment as the business of the roads grows. These remarks apply even to the profitable lines, especially where a considerable part of the original construction funds is amortized in the first 25 or 30 years. Full provision for these requirements of the Chinese Government Railways' appears to the writer to be one of the problems of the consolidation suggested.

There seems to be little occasion to comment on this situation in connection with Japanese railways. The Japanese Government can doubtless secure such funds, to a reasonable amount, as it elects to expend on the Government lines, and the funds for the construction of the subsidized private light railways and tramways will be forthcoming from private investors or the interested municipalities.

BUYING ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT.

In view of the small amount of rolling stock that the Chinese Government Railways now have for the handling of their traffic and the immediate need of additional equipment to take care of their growing business, it appears to the writer that there exists an excellent opportunity for American interests to furnish a considerable quantity of rolling stock, to be financed through the medium of equipment trust certificates, along the same general lines that have been followed in connection with the American railways for many years. The writer discussed the possibilities of such an arrangement with representatives of the Ministry of Communications and the officials of some of the lines that need additional equipment, and in each instance they were very receptive to the suggestion. The need of such additional equipment is shown by the table on page 76.

KIND AND AMOUNT OF EQUIPMENT NEEDED.

At the risk of repetition, it is felt that the situation warrants the statement that additional freight equipment in general should be of large hauling and carrying capacity, that it should be provided with power brakes, and that there should be a continuance of the use of automatic couplers constructed with robust draft rigging for the

handling of heavy tonnage trains over moderately long distances. It is not probable that the hauls in China will equal those in America, but in all probability the average future haul in China will considerably exceed the average in most other countries and much of the business will be done on a commodity basis.

It is quite impossible to state the amount of equipment that will be needed, but, with the car efficiency now obtained, it seems reasonable to assume that the Chinese railways will not need an amount of equipment equal to that needed in the United States. However, as the haul becomes longer (as it has been steadily doing) and as the business grows it is hardly likely that the present car efficiency will be maintained. Therefore, it is probable that a very considerable amount of additional rolling stock-especially freight cars and locomotives-will be required, but that this will not be equal to that on American railways handling an equal amount of business. One element that has helped the Chinese lines and probably will continue to do so is the supply of labor available in all parts of China, which makes it cheaper to unload cars and store the materials than to pay the present high car-demurrage rates.

The actual carrying capacity of the freight cars on the six Chinese Government Railways shown by the table on page 76 is 79 tons (of 2,000 pounds) per mile of line, while the average carrying capacity on the American railways is 404 tons per mile of line; that is, the American railways have more than five times as much freight-carrying equipment as the Chinese Government Railways.

No comments are made in this connection regarding the Japanese railways, since they are steadily adding to the equipment of all their lines, including the South Manchuria and Korean railways. In Manchuria and Chosen, however, this equipment is along the lines above suggested for the Chinese Government Railways. In Japan proper it can be generally described as the goods-wagon type of equipment, as illustrated in figure 38.

WORK EQUIPMENT NEEDED.

The term "work equipment" is used as applying to construction plant and maintenance and wrecking equipment. The lines in both Japan and China have very little of this class of equipment, as one sees it in America. The principal reason has been the large supply of cheap labor always available for handling work. It has been considered cheaper to do all work by hand than to employ expediting and labor-saving machinery; and, in addition, the time element has not heretofore been considered sufficiently vital to offset the cost of the expediting plant. During the past, in the Far East, time, after cheap labor, has been the most abundant commodity; therefore a few days, weeks, months, or years more in the construction of the project was not of the same moment as the direct cost. Modern methods, however, are being given greater consideration, and expediting machinery, which is also labor saving, is beginning to come into use in many ways. There will be a growing use of this class of equipment on the railways in both Japan and China. The recent expansion of all kinds of industry in Japan has produced a shortage of labor in many connections, particularly on the railways, where lower wages are paid than in almost any other industry.

A typical example of the employment of construction plant equipment is the use of 10 or 15 large steam-road rollers on the streetimprovement work in the city of Peking. Their use was due not so much to the low unit price of the work as to the expedition and quality resulting. They were used in spite of the large amount of cheap labor in this section of China. The growing interest charges on some of the large undertakings will no doubt have much to do with the use of construction machinery. An excellent illustration of this is a large reinforced concrete office building being constructed in Tokyo by hand methods; it is taking three times as long to erect this structure as would have been the case with a well-arranged construction plant. This means that the construction interestcarrying charges were probably more than doubled and that the income was lost for this period-more than offsetting any possible saving by reason of the cheap labor. This point is being recognized by the Japanese engineers, and it is also well known to the foreign and Chinese engineers in China.

WHARF AND HARBOR EQUIPMENT.

The foregoing remarks apply to the handling of cargo. At present it is surprising how expeditiously the work is done at some points, particularly the taking of bunker coal at Nagasaki and the handling of cargo coal at Dairen and Chinwangtao. Recently, however, the labor shortage has been serious at times at Nagasaki. In the course of time with increased shipments the consideration of quantity handled, rather than of cheapness, will probably be of primary importance in such situations as those at Dairen and Chinwangtao and in connection with the handling of iron ore at Hwangchow and of fuel and ores at the Han-Yeh-Ping iron and steel plant. At the lastmentioned place there is already in course of construction an unloading outfit for the handling of ore and fuel from the barges in which they are transported from the mines.

SHOP MACHINERY AND TOOLS.

The Japanese railways have given this subject careful study, and their shops, as a rule, are equipped with well-selected machines and tools, a large percentage of which are from American sources, although much equipment is also of British and German manufacture and a growing percentage is of Japanese manufacture. The Japanese are very alert and are increasingly appreciative of the benefit of the best equipment along these lines. They will doubtless keep close watch on American developments, and, in all probability, this will continue to be one of our best fields in the Japanese railway markets, particularly on account of the special adaptability of many American prodAmerican machinery and tool manufacturers are, as a rule, well represented in Japan either by American concerns or by the strong Japanese commercial and engineering companies already referred to several times. The writer had noticed the extensive use of certain tools in Japan, and, in a conversation with a representative of one of the American manufacturers, the latter expressed wonder as to what the Japanese did with all the tools they were buying, in view of the large supply of cheap labor that he understood to be available. Upon an explanation of the factors of expedition and quan

ucts.

tity of product required, he stated that he had not appreciated those points.

Outside of the South Manchuria Railway shops at Shakako and to a certain extent the Tangshan and Harbin workshops, the railways in China are rather inadequately equipped with expediting and labor-saving machinery and tools. Much of the present equipment is of American manufacture, even on the lines built with British, French, and Belgian loans, but in the German-built shops nothing but German machinery has been used.

With the limited equipment and the pressure of growing business the present slow hand methods of doing much of the work have proved unsatisfactory-not from the standpoint of cheapness but because they keep equipment out of service when it is badly needed. A typical case of this is the boiler repairs to the large locomotives in use on the Peking-Suiyuan Railway, which are held out of service almost twice as long by reason of the hand work as they would be if the repairs were effected with a full complement of compressed-air working tools. Therefore, notwithstanding the cheap and capable labor, there should be, and probably will be, a growing demand for shop tools in the Chinese Government Railway workshops.

ELECTRIFIED LIGHT RAILWAYS AND SHORT-LINE TRAMWAYS.

The data shown regarding the electric tramways in Japan and the profits resulting from the Hongkong, Shanghai, and Tientsin electric tramways seem to the writer to warrant the statement that electrified light railways (or what are called interurban railways in America) will be highly profitable in China if operated and managed with ability. In many instances there would be a combination of city and interurban lines. The writer also believes that if such lines as the Sunning Railway, the Canton-Samshui line, the Swatow-Chaochow Railway, the Changchow-Amoy line, and the Kiangsi Railway, instead of being operated as steam railways, were electrified and would do an interurban business, they would show much better working results. This is particularly true of the last three, which are now showing losses instead of profits; but, in view of their small amount of freight business, it is also very probable that the first two lines would show better results.

Railway construction in the congested districts of China will be expensive in any event, but the light electrified lines would be considerably easier to locate, and this would, in a measure, offset the increased cost of electrification. A plan according to which the trunk lines and branches handling freight would be built as steam railways and the short-travel passenger railways and the light railways as electric lines has much to commend it as one of the arrangements to be adopted in a program of railway construction for China as a whole, especially in view of the available data showing that electrified light railways would probably be more profitable than steam-operated light railways.

ORGANIZATION AND METHODS OF OPERATION.

While the distinctly departmental organization and the strictly station-master method of operation may impress representatives

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