| Annual Report of the Mobile & Ohio RR |
| as of April 1, 1866, |
| Chief Engineer's Report |
| |
| Office Mobile & Ohio Railroad Company |
| Mobile, April 8, 1866 |
| |
| Hon. Milton Brown |
| President of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad
Company |
| |
| Sir, |
| I have the honor to submit
the following report of this department for the current years 1864 and
1865: |
|
The earnings were:
|
| |
1864 |
|
| From passengers |
$1,548,870.03 |
|
| From freight |
2,013,794.25 |
|
| From express |
72,678.82 |
|
| From mails |
39,155.89 |
|
| Making a total of |
|
$3,674,498.99 |
| And the expenses: |
|
|
| For repairs of road |
637,195.25 |
|
| For repairs of machinery |
471,810.45 |
|
| For conducting transportation |
1,172,590.68 |
|
| Making a total of |
|
2,281,596.38 |
| And leaving a net
revenue of |
|
1,392,902.61 |
| |
|
|
| The earnings from
January 1, 1864 {should be 1865} to
May 1, 1865, when confederate money ceased to be current,
were: |
| From passengers |
$224,966.74 |
|
| From freight |
279,506.31 |
|
| Unpaid Confederate States transportation,
including mails |
668,391.11 |
|
| Express |
10,356.26 |
|
| Making a total of |
|
1,183,220.42 |
| And the expenses: |
|
|
| For repairs of road |
315,813.10 |
|
| For repairs to machinery |
200,615.55 |
|
| For conducting transportation |
390,254.19 |
|
| Making a total of |
|
906,683.84 |
| And leaving a net
revenue of |
|
276,536.58 |
|
|
In addition to the foregoing amount, there were
unadjusted claims between September 1, 1864, and May 30, 1865, which
would have been paid if the confederate government had succeeded,
amounting to $2,615,811.82.
|
|
*****
|
|
It will be recollected that the last rail was laid on the
22d of April, 1861, and that the federal forces arrived at and
occupied Cairo on the same day. From that date trains were run
regularly through, and the through business would no doubt have been
large, but the embarrassment resulting from the examination of
passengers' baggage and freight for contraband articles gradually
reduced it, until it was entirely stopped by the occupation of
Columbus by the confederate forces. From that time to the close of the
war the road was virtually operated under the direction of the
confederate authorities. The destruction which necessarily resulted to
the rolling stock and roadway from the contending armies and repeated
raids, and from the natural wear and tear, accelerated by the
impossibility of obtaining the materials and supplies necessary for
repairs, may be stated as follows:
|
| |
January 1, 1860 {probably
1861} |
May 1, 1865 |
| Locomotives in running order |
59 |
15 |
| Locomotives under repairs |
8 |
4 |
| Locomotives out of order but good |
-- |
38 |
| Locomotives exploded and condemned |
1 |
8 |
| Passenger cars in running order |
26 |
11 |
| Passenger cars under repairs |
1 |
7 |
| Baggage cars in running order |
11 |
3 |
| Baggage cars under repairs |
-- |
2 |
| Freight cars in running order |
721 |
231 |
| Freight cars under repairs |
62 |
88 |
|
|
The stock designated as in running order on the 1st May
would not have been used before the war, but th pressure of business
forced its use, notwithstanding its bad condition.
|
|
The damage to the roadway consisted in the destruction
and decay of the bridges, trestle-work, and cross-ties from Okolona to
Union City, a distance of 184 miles; the burning of nineteen
warehouses and station buildings, the destruction of the tools and
stationary engine in the Whistler repair shops at the evacuation of
Mobile, and the wearing out and burning of about 37 miles of rails. In
addition to this there were 21 miles of rails burnt by General
Sherman's raid in February, 1864, besides the destruction of the
warehouses, water stations, bridges, and trestle-work in 48 miles of
road, the details of which, together with the short time in which it
was repaired, were given in the last annual report of this department.
|
|
*****
|
|
At the close of the war the road was in fair running
condition to Okolona, 261 miles, and passable for trains to Corinth,
but there were only 15 locomotives, 231 freight, and 11 passenger cars
to operate it; and the tools of the only repair shops for keeping the
rolling stock in order were unfit for use. *****
|
|
***** All of the freight cars on the road before the war
were constructed at the company's shops, of the best material and
workmanship, and were not only better adapted to the business, but
less liable to run off the track; *****
|
|
Roadway -- As far as practicable during the war, no expense was
spared to maintain the road in the best condition; but during 1864, it
was impossible to obtain the necessary labor, and the imperative
demands for rolling stock for government transportation were so great,
that the gravel trains necessary for drainage could not be applied to
that purpose. *****
|
|
Repair shops -- Before the war, I called attention to the
necessity of erecting repair shops at some point, as near as
practicable, equidistant from those at Whistler and Jackson,
Tennessee; but heavy liabilities had been incurred for new rolling
stock, which, it was believed, could be run without greatly increased
cost for a year or more, when the company's financial embarrassments
would probably be relieved, and they could then be erected. The war
came on soon after and made it impossible to obtain the necessary
tools for shops, and nothing was done. *****
|
|
The war has been disastrous upon the railroads in the
southern States as upon any other interest. Some of them, as in
Georgia, had been constructed at small cost, for cash stock
subscriptions, were free from debt, and had been in operation long
enough to be well stocked and with ample supplies for repairs. Others,
as in the Carolinas and Virginia, had been aided by those States to
the extent of one-half or two-thirds of their cost, and the larger
part of their obligations were accessible and paid during the war. In
these cases the stockholders lost their dividends, but the floating
debts and interest on the securities were paid out of the earnings,
and the only material damage was from natural wear and tear of rolling
stock and roadway. Where, however, railroads were just completed, with
a heavy bonded and floating debts, the larger part of which was held
beyond the Confederate States and could not be paid during the war,
the accumulated indebtedness for interest will bear heavily upon their
prostrate condition for some years.
|
|
*****
|
|
Very respectfully,
|
|
L. J. Fleming
|
|
Chief Engineer and General Superintendent
|
|