| Annual Report of the Mobile & Ohio RR |
| as of April 1, 1863, |
| Chief Engineer's Report |
| |
| Chief Engineer's Report |
| Office Mobile & Ohio Rail Road Company |
| Mobile, March 31st, 1863 |
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| Hon. Milton Brown |
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President Mobile & Ohio Railroad Company
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Sir,
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At the last annual meeting of the Stockholders, the Army
of the West was occupying Corinth, which rendered it necessary to make
that station the headquarters of the operating department of the Road.
That meeting was held soon after the battle of Shiloh, and while the
movements of the Army for the concentration of men and materials, and
the transportation of stores from Memphis just previous to its
evacuation so occupied the officers of the Company that they could not
devote the time necessary to the preparation of the usual statistical
Tables and Reports. It is therefore proper that this Report should
review the operations of the past two years. The Earnings and Expenses
of 1861 were reported to the Stockholders, but for comparison they are
repeated as follows:
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| Earnings 1861 |
| From Passengers |
$424,870.49 |
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| "
Freight |
745,884.65 |
|
| "
Express |
15,136.44 |
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| " Mail |
79,426.77 |
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| Making a total of |
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$1,265,318.35 |
| And the expenses of
1861: |
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| For Repairs of Road |
$280,549.16 |
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"
"
Machinery |
131,181.36 |
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| " Conducting Transportation |
266,417.42 |
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| Making a Total of |
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$678,147.94 |
| And leaving
a Nett Revenue of |
587,170.41 |
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It will be recollected that the day the last Rail was
laid, the Federal forces occupied Cairo, and that soon after, the
blockade was effectually established at Mobile, cutting off the
freight from both ends of the Road, preventing the importation of
supplies necessary to operating the Road, and the transportation of
the crop of cotton of 1862. Superadded to this was the stringency of
the money market, produced by the failure to dispose of cotton, and
the consequent inability of planters to make the usual fall purchases,
and the beginning of that increase of prices which has so steadily
progressed to the present time.
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While, therefore, the receipts of that year were half a
million less than they would have been in times of peace, the expenses
were increased by the higher prices of supplies and labor, and the
stock of supplies then on hand was consumed in the repairs, and
charged at the original invoice cost. For these reasons the receipts
of 1861 were largely decreased, and the expenses were greater than
they would have been in times of peace, while the depreciation
consequent upon the want of the necessary supplies to maintain the
Rolling Stock and Track in good order left them in worse condition
than at the beginning of the year.
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Report of the Earnings and Expenses of 1862
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The annexed statements, marked 1 and 2, from the
Auditor's office, show the earnings and expenses for the year:
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The causes before adverted to, which in 1861 increased
the expenses and prevented the maintenance of the Roadway and
Machinery in good order, operated in still greater degree in 1862. In
addition to this, the military authorities assumed the supervision of
the Road, and trains were forced to run out of time, while the cars
were forced upon other Roads, and mutilated and destroyed while thus
diverted from the control of the Company's officers. And I deem it
proper here to protest against that policy which looks to the
interchange of cars, and which, if persisted in, will ruin every Road
in the Confederate States. Each Road has had its cars constructed from
peculiar patterns, and is prepared with brasses and castings to keep
them in good running order; but when sent upon another Road, that Road
has not the necessary parts to repair them, so that when out of order,
they are placed on the side tracks, many of the parts which cannot be
replaced are lost, they are rendered useless, and are frequently
broken up and destroyed. It is this policy which has caused a loss of
141 cars during the past two years, which cannot be replaced until the
close of the war. This, as well as the depreciation of Rolling Stock
and Rails is as legitimate a part of the expenses as if the articles
had been purchased upon credit and the notes of the Company given in
payment.
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I have made an accurate inventory of the Rolling Stock,
the number of laminated and defective Rails in and removed from the
track, and submit the following estimate, at the original standard
value, of the depreciation during the past year, and recommend
that a special fund be appropriated out of the year's earnings and set
apart for the renewal:
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| 141 Cars lost |
$112,000 |
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| Depreciation of 583 Cars |
116,000 |
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"
Engines |
132,000 |
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| Two Locomotives lost in Tennessee |
20,000 |
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| 2,729 rails removed from Track |
19,000 |
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| 6,144 Rails Laminated in Track |
20,000 |
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| Depreciation of other Rails |
52,000 |
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$471,000 |
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| To which add Expenditures per statement of
Auditor |
753,313 |
26 |
| And for Engine House and Station Buildings |
42,442 |
24 |
| And for unadjusted claims |
25,000 |
26 |
| Making the total
Expenses |
$1,291,755 |
76 |
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The foregoing estimates of depreciation are based upon
that portion of the Road in our possession, extending from Mobile to
Okolona, and does not include the damage to the Bridges, Roadway and
Station Buildings north of the latter point.
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Our information as to the damage to the Road and
buildings above Okolona, is too meagre to authorize the making any
estimate of the amount required to repair them; but, enough is known
to justify the laying aside a large fund especially for this purpose.
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Referring again to Statement No. 1, it will be seen that
the earnings were --
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| From Passengers |
$1,365,389.55 |
|
| "
Freight |
1,014,845.75 |
|
| "
Express |
32,163.09 |
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| " Mail |
59,263.92 |
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| Making a total of |
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$2,671,662.21 |
| And the expenses as before stated |
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1,291,755.76 |
| Leaving a nett revenue
of |
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$1,379,906.45 |
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Dividing this latter item in proportion to the length of
the Road in operation during the respective months, there was earned
in the State of Alabama, $276,546; and the remainder in the States of
Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky.
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Reference to Table No. 9, hereunto appended, shows that 5
1/4 miles of worn-out rails have been removed from the track, and that
there are now upwards of eleven miles of laminated iron, which should
be removed during the present year. A comparison of the results given
in this, with the corresponding Statement in the previous Reports,
shows that the number of defective rails is rapidly increasing. If
there were no considerations of higher character, it is important to
the preservation of the Rolling Stock, now so valuable and difficult
to repair, that the surface of the Rail should be perfectly free from
lamination. The well known crystallizing and weakening effect of
impact or sudden jars upon the structure of wrought-iron, which human
foresight cannot discover or prevent, is occasionally developed in
broken axles, now justly regarded as the most terrible form of
accidents, and, as it will be impossible to obtain other axles until a
return of peace, no pains or expenses should be spared to obtain Rails
for renewal.
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The Railroads of the Confederate States have recently
taken steps to inquire into the most feasible way of establishing
machine shops for the construction of Locomotives and Rolling Stock,
and Rolling Mills for making Rails for making Rails and other iron
necessary in maintaining the machinery. If these inquiries should
result in the practicability of the construction of these works within
the present year, and upon plans which will insure success, it will be
to the interest of this Company to unite with them.
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Many of the books and papers necessary to make out the
statistical tables of the North Division of the Road were lost in the
hurried removal from Jackson, and therefore the tables are not as full
as in the last published Annual Report.
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Since the last Annual Meeting, a large and commodious
Freight Warehouse has been completed at Mobile, and a Gravel Train
will be employed during the present year in filling up the Station
Grounds above high water mark.
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For the better protection of machinery and other property
of the Company, the following buildings should be erected at Whistler:
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Blacksmith Shop, Storehouse, Round House for the
protection of Locomotives, Car Shed to protect Cars not in use, and
Carpenter's Shop for the construction of Cars.
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These buildings should be erected in the most permanent
manner, and adapted to the future business of the Road.
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The Trains have been run with as great regularity and
freedom from accident as could have been expected from the uncertain
movements and the amount of work required in the Government business.
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Before this war, it had always been with great pride that
I informed the Board that no passenger had ever lost his life on this
Road, and but for the interference in its management, the Government
and the public would have been better served, the machinery would have
been in better condition, and the same record of personal safety would
again be written.
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The employees of the Company, with few exceptions, have
faithfully discharged their duties, and deserve the thanks of the
Company.
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Respectfully submitted,
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L. J. Fleming
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Chief Engineer and Gen. Sup.
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