1) Selection of Principal North-South Routes 2) Obtain Data Concerning Physical Facilities 2233 M M 3444 29623OTOTH APPENDIX A TAPLES 1. Comparison of Estimated Waterborne Commerce to Unused 2. Railroad Capacity, Hay Estimates. Page 16A 17 3. 4. Railroad Capacity, Department of Transportation Estimates 18 5. 6. 7. Impact of Signals on Estimated Line Capacity. 8. Impact of Distance Between Sidings on Line Capacity - 26 9. Impact of Distance Between Sidings on Line Capacity - 10. Impact Length of Sidings Have on Carrying Capacity of 31 11. Effect of Increasing Cubic Capacity of Rail Cars on 34 12. Estimated Capacity of National Car Fleet 35 13. Effect Number of Rail Cars Per Freight Train Has on 38 14. Impact Train Speed Has On Line Capacity of a Single 39 15. Operating Speed Limits on Various Class of Track. 16. Estimated Unused Rail Capacity. 42 55 FIGURES 1. Estimated Capacity of National Car Fleet. 2. Estimated Capacity of Cars Owned By Class I Railroads. 3. 4. Major North South Rail Routes Between Chicago, St. Louis, Major North South Rail Routes Between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Kansas City, Chicago and St. Louis. 2 INTRODUCTION Rail capacity is a complex subject generating sub stantial interest throughout the United States. Various Statements have groups in Government, industry as well as the railways, have been doing considerable work in this area. been made by the Corps of Engineers concerning how near the capacity limit certain railways are operating. Proponents of expanding barge transportation argue that if the railroads are in fact operating near capacity the railroad industry could not handle the estimated 205 million tons of waterborne traffic the Corps projects will move through Locks and Dam No. 26 by year 2040. Proponents further argue that without unused rail capacity many of the railroad objections to this proposed waterway expansion would be without merit. The basic conclusion reached in this study is that the eleven principal north-south railroad routes from Chicago St. Louis and Kansas City to the Gulf have an estimated unused capacity of at least 146 trains daily or 279,771,500 NT annually. A comparison of estimated waterborne commerce projected by the Corps of Engineers to move through Locks and Dam 26 for the years 1980 through 2040 are compared to existing unused rail capacity in Table 1. There is no doubt that these eleven rail routes could handle the estimated 205 million tons of waterborne commerce with these existing rail facilities in signals and tracks. 3 While the railroads now have the unused capacity to handle the additional traffic projected by the Corps, railroad line capacity can be greatly increased by making relatively modest capital investments in signals and track if such additional capacity were required. DEFINITION OF CAPACITY Historically, the greatest interest in capacity has been displayed in the "over the road" aspects of train movements usually expressed in the number of trains a railroad line can handle within a given period of time. The concept of line capacity must be expanded and viewed as a system composed of many factors such as the number of tracks, carrying capacity or railroad cars, signals and communications, and many others. Each part of the system must be in balance and coordinated with other parts to obtain maximum efficiency. |