Electric Lines Hauling Freight

President Hawkes Thinks They Will Not Do It

The question of freight hauling on electric lines is not only attracting the attention of the best minds in the electric railroad business, but the managers of steam roads have done some hard thinking by reason of its possible competition. There is a wide difference of opinion as to the advisability of the electric roads undertaking it.

"I do not believe it ever will be done," said J. D. Hawks, president of the Detroit, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor & Jackson R. R., in the Detroit Free Press. "By that I mean the handling of anything but light package freight, which is really more in the line of express business with freight charges. When it comes to the question of handling all kinds of freight, including stone, coal, etc, there are many matters to be taken into consideration. There are only two ways to do it. One is the single unit system, the single car, and the other, is in trains. If the first were adopted it would require as expensive underneath equipment as the passenger cars, the pay of a motorman, etc., to say nothing of the necessary increase in the power house machinery to move these cars. Then the element of time enters into the question. In most of what we would call the trunk electric lines of the state, in fact of all the states, the engineers have sacrificed everything to time for the rapid transit of passengers. Where preparations are made for fast business, it means more expense in the building and maintenance of the roads - more solid roadbed, heavier rails and heavier cars, and more power. To handle general freight would interfere with the time question. It would be next to impossible to make the time unless the roads were double tracked with frequent turnouts at that.

"Take the train idea. An electric locomotive costs as much as a steam locomotive, its life is not as long and it is useless until the juice is turned into it. And it takes juice to run them, I can tell you. No, I do not believe it is the province of the electric lines to interfere with the steam roads in carrying heavy freight. A light package business is all right and is really a necessity in any well-operated suburban electric line. It has been my observation that the electric lines instead of hurting the freight business of the steam roads have thrown to the steam roads fully as much if not more than they have taken away from them, The lines are also feeders for the steam lines in the passenger business.

"In my opinion the day is coming when cheaper electric lines than those now being operated will be built as branch lines or feeders to the main electric and steam lines, reaching the parts of the rural districts now inaccessible to the steam roads. On these lines the element of fast time will not enter into the matter as much as on the main or trunk electric lines, and it will then be possible for these roads to haul to and from these rural districts freight for the steam roads. I think this is one of the evolutions that is coming, but, as I said before, I do not think that you will see the electric lines enter the general freight business."