| Annual Report of the Central Southern RR |
| as of October 1, 1861 |
| Superintendent's Report |
| |
| Superintendent's Report |
| |
| Superintendent's Office |
| Nashville, Sept. 30, 1861 |
| |
| Col. Thomas Martin |
| President |
|
|
| Dear Sir, |
| I herewith submit a report of
the operations of the transportation department of the Central
Southern Railroad, for the year ending September the 30, 1861. |
|
Earnings |
|
|
| From Freight |
$36,423.03 |
|
| "
Passengers |
47,677.21 |
|
| " Mail |
3,782.54 |
|
| "
Troops |
4,371.65 |
|
| " Use
of Cars |
277.41 |
|
| " Use
of Engines |
912.30 |
$93,444.14 |
|
Expenses |
|
|
| For Enginemen and Firemen |
$3,677.21 |
|
| For Conductors, Baggagemen and Brakesmen |
3,470.96 |
|
| For Wood and Water Station Attendance |
647.20 |
|
| For Wood, first cost and labor |
4,585.78 |
|
| For Oil and Waste |
1,210.05 |
|
| For Repair of Locomotives |
2,125.67 |
|
| For Repair of Cars |
5,585.03 |
|
| For Repair of Shop Tools and Machinery |
38.85 |
|
| For Repair of Track |
84.18 |
|
| For Repair of Road Bed |
14.40 |
|
| For Repair of Buildings and Fixtures |
62.96 |
|
| For Repair of Bridges |
4.32 |
|
| For Watching Bridges |
112.50 |
|
| For Office Expenses |
493.10 |
|
| For Stationery and Printing |
981.75 |
|
| For Agents and Clerks |
3,765.19 |
|
| For Station Labor |
326.61 |
|
| For Superintendence |
713.72 |
|
| For Loss, Damage and Overcharge |
264.94 |
|
| For Machine Shop |
925.78 |
|
| For Repair Force |
4,625.21 |
|
| For Incidentals |
518.88 |
|
|
$34,234.29 |
|
| Less work done for other roads |
654.39 |
$33,579.90 |
| Net Earnings |
|
$59,864.24 |
|
| Every effort has been made to
keep down the expense account consistent with the proper preservation
of the road and rolling stock. |
| By examination you will see
that the transportation expenses have been less than almost any other
road, of the same length, and doing the same amount of business. |
| On Wednesday, November the
21st, 1860, your road was completed to the Alabama Line, and on the
next day, November the 22d, the cars ran over the whole Line for the
first time. |
| On that day an agreement
entered into by the Tennessee & Alabama, the Tennessee &
Alabama Central Railroads, and your road, went into operation under
the name of the Nashville & Decatur Railroad Line, extending from
Nashville, Tennessee, to Decatur, Alabama, a distance of one hundred
and twenty-two miles. |
| Without time to effect an
organization, many difficulties had to be encountered and overcome in
putting into operation this new road, not to be met with in any other. |
| The complication of its
operations, made it necessary to adopt peculiar forms, blanks, books
and accounts, with which none of the agents were familiar, and by
which many little errors and troubles would necessarily arise. And
commencing upon a new track to which no time had been allowed to
settle, and upon which heavy rains commenced falling the same day the
trains were started, continuing for eight or ten days, some
irregularities in the trains was expected to occur and some damage to
the cars accrue. |
| But I can confidently say,
that after operating the line for one or two months, no road of the
same length, and of the same number of trains, either new or old, has
run with more regularity, and with fewer accidents. Rarely ever has a
connection been lost, nor has there ever been an injury to any
passenger. |
| We have endeavored by close
attention and untiring application and strict enforcement of discipline,
to make the line a pleasant, safe and popular route, and I hope our
labor has not been in vain. Having attentive, polite and courteous
agents and conductors, the number of our passengers, and the amount of
the receipts has had a healthy increase ever since the line was
opened. |
| Our greatest desire, and the
one to which our greatest efforts have been exerted, has been to make
it a paying road; to this end we have left no stone unturned, spared
no labor, and have never shunned inconvenience, or avoided fatigue,
but have devoted ourselves exclusively to what we considered the
interest of the line; how we have succeeded will appear from the
statement of earnings and expenses. |
| If you will remember that
much the larger proportion of the earnings have been derived from
through freights and through passengers, and ascertain at what small
cost it was done, you will at once see the great benefit derived by
the consolidation, imperfect as it was. |
| Add the earnings from through
freight and passengers together, and deduct the amount from the gross
receipts, and you will find all the profits to have been derived from
the consolidation. |
| In the distracted condition
of the country, the almost entire failure of the crop of the last
year, and the great scarcity of money for the first seven months of
the year, without the consolidation of the line, neither one of the
roads in interest, would more than have made enough to defray its
transportation expenses. |
| I have no doubt but thousands
of dollars might have been saved to each of the Companies in interest,
if a more perfect consolidation could have been satisfactorily
adjusted and agreed upon. |
| The country along the line of
your road having been blest with an unusual fine harvest, and the
demand for the products being equal to the supply, a fine local and
through business has sprung up, giving to your road more business than
it could accommodate; having a small supply of freight cars, I have
found it utterly impossible to meet the demands that have been made,
and now nearly all of you station-houses are filled with freight. But
for a fortunate arrangement made with the Mississippi Central and New
Orleans roads, it would have been impossible to have carried forward
the crops of the country, and even that arrangement will only give
your road a partial relief. |
| I am satisfied that the
Nashville & Decatur Railroad line, of which your road is a part,
has failed to make in the last ten months at least two hundred
thousand dollars, that was offered and would have been made, but for
the small supply of rolling stock. The line is greatly indebted to the
officers of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, for their kindness
in letting us use, free of charge, many of their cars, by which your
receipts has been considerably increased. |
| By the articles of agreement,
forming the Nashville & Decatur Railroad line, all of the cars,
both passenger and freight, belonging to the three roads have been
thrown into common stock, being first valued by competent and
disinterested parties. Making the rolling stock of the line to consist
of: 36 box cars, 14 stock cars, 26 platform cars, 11 passenger and
baggage cars. |
| From which you will see at
once the insufficiency of cars to do the business required. The
greatest wonder is, that the line has done so much work with so few
cars. |
| If the business continues and
the number of cars is not largely increased, what we now have will
necessarily be run down -- and iron cannot stand the heavy demand. |
| I would recommend the putting
in of a good side track, at the Alabama State Line, and the erection
of buildings at that point, suitable to the preservation of your
engines and comfort of the employees who are required to stay there. |
| The trestle work and bridges
on your road require some repairs which should be done at once. |
| The agents and employees of
your road have done well, and deserve the thanks of the Company for
their promptness, fidelity and energy. |
| Respectfully submitted |
| W. O'N. Perkins |
| General Superintendent |
|