Semaphore - August 1957

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August 1957 Front Cover
Complete

August 1957 Front Cover

Semaphore PIEDMONT AND NORTHERN RAILWAY MAGAZINE

[photo of train locomotive] NORTHBOUND FREIGHT TRAIN AUGUST 1957

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August 1957 page 1
Complete

August 1957 page 1

Semaphore [logo of Piedmont and Northern] PIEDMONT & NORTHERN SERVICE WITH COURTESY

VOLUME 13 NUMBER 7 AUGUST, 1957 Published at Charlotte, N. C. by the Piedmont and Northern Railway Company, a 130-mile railroad extending in an arc through the rich Piedmont Carolinas and serving such thriving cities as Anderson, Greenville, Greenwood, and Spartanburg in South Carolina, and Charlotte and Gastonia in North Carolina. Address all communications to the editor, P. O. Box 480, Charlotte, N. C. Comments and suggestions are solicited.

EDITOR THOMAS G. LYNCH Director of Industrial Development and Public Relations.

CORRESPONDENTS Elizabeth N. Watt ........................... Anderson Elsie K. Walker .............................. Charlotte Jean Wallace ................................. Gastonia Harry T. Campbell ......................... Greenville Louise DeShields ........................... Greenville Evelyn Williams ............................. Greenville F. E. Furr ....................................... Pinoca W. R. Page ..................................... Spartanburg

UNDER THE COVER [photo of P & N local freight train No. 62]

The P & N's northbound local freight train No. 62, which operates during the afternoon between Greenwood and Spartanburg, was waiting on a siding at Piedmont when this month's cover picture was made. The freight was in the Piedmont pass track waiting for a meet with a special train. Unfortunately from the standpoint of photography, most of P & N's heaviest freights move at night; but nevertheless No. 62 made a good subject. At the head is Locomotive 1606, one of the 1600-horsepower road swichers in use on the South Carolina Division.

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August 1957 page 2
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August 1957 page 2

NEWS AND VIEWS

The proper training of young men and women for greater responsibility has long been a matter of major concern to industry. Too often this all-important matter has been neglected to such a point that when management looks around for promotable material it can find none. This sad state of affairs, which exists on the Piedmont and Northern as well as in many other organizations, was given close scrutiny at the P & N's mid-year staff meeting held in Greenville last month. In fact, President Rankin used it as his prinicpal topic during the last day of the conference.

* * * * * Recently there was an opening as agent of one of our larger stations. Although a thorough check was made in an effort to promote a deserving employee, the management finally had to look outside of the company for a qualified and willing replacement. Such a condition underscores the importance of on-the-job training. As President Rankin pointed out, the responsibility for proper training lies with those who are in a supervisory capacity. They should exert every effort to prepare employees in lesser positions for ultimate assumption of greater authority and responsibility. The followers of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and they should be given every opportunity and encouragement to learn not only their own jobs but also the jobs above them. That's the only way the P & N can assure itself of a reservoir of trained personnel, ready to step up into responsible jobs.

* * * * * The means of accomplishing this are simple enough, but they have to be systematically pursued. First of all, people learn by example. If the teacher is incompetent and sloppy, then what can be expected of the pupil? Secondly, mistakes should be corrected by explanation, not be condemnation. A word of advice or encouragement is worth ten times an angry rebuke. Thirdly, initiative and responsibility should be encouraged day in and day out. It is a poor leader, indeed, who sets himself up as the sole clearing house for ideas and decisions, thereby relegating his followers to the status of unthinking pencilpushers. Fourthly, try being friendly and helpful instead of setting yourself up as a hard-bitten overlord. If supervisors followed these and other common-sense rules of leadership, they wouldn't have to worry about their pupils taking their jobs. They would be on the way up themselves.

* * * * * Legislative bodies of fourteen states have now urged Congress to repeal the excise taxes imposed on transportation during World War II. Resolutions passed by these state legislatures have pointed out the inherent discrimination of the tax, which is imposed upon common-carrier transportation, thereby lessening its ability to compete fairly. For instance, the 3% tax on freight transportation must be paid by shippers using common carrier transportation but is escaped altogether by those using their own trucks or barges. South Carolina was among the states which urged the repeal within recent months.

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August 1957 page 3
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August 1957 page 3

[photo of heavy equipment at construction site, spans columns 1 & 2]

HUGE SUPPLIES of sand, stone, and cement are being stockpiled on Southern Railroads' four-acre site in preparation for highway paving job. Below, P & N's Assistant General Freight Agent E. E. Culbreath, second from left, inspects the plant site with the contractors. From left they are Supt. W. W. Lane, Assistant Supt. C. C. Foster, company Vice President T. E. Wilson Jr.

[photo of 4 men at construction site, spans columns 1 & 2]

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August 1957 page 4
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August 1957 page 4

PAVERS OF U. S. 29 POUR Concrete By The Mile

The largest road paving job in the history of Mecklenburg County is under way.

On August 8, Southern Roadbuilders, Inc., an Augusta Ga., firm, begain paving the 11.5-mile limited-access U. S. 29 bypass which will skirt Charlotte to the west through a maze of underpasses, overpasses, and cloverleaf intersections.

All told, the pavers will lay approximately 50 miles of roads within the 260foot right-of-way of the giant highway. There will be two 24-foot express lanes in the center, flanked on each side by 18-foot asphalt service roads, plus a web of intersecting and access roads. There are nine intersections in the 11.5 mile route at which access to the concrete express lanes will be provided.

161 acres of pavement

The scope of this paving contract, which was awarded to Southern Roadbuilders for something over 2.5 million, strains the imagination. For instance, the surface to be paved covers over 161 acres, 91 of which are to be concrete and 70 asphalt. No less than 220,000 tons of concrete will be needed for the concrete strips alone. More will be needed for over two miles of curb and gutter to be installed at the various intersections. About 100,000 tons of stone will be required for the sub-base of the concrete strips, plus many thousands of tons for the asphalt service roads.

It would be nearly impossible to move these vast quantities of materials to the job without the help of the railroad. To meet this need, Southern Roadbuilders leased four acres of property at the point where the bypass crosses the main line of the Piedmont and Northern and has set-up an extensive base of operations. Enormous quantities of crushed stone, sand, and cement have been stockpiled on this property. A lengthy track was built parallel to the P & N main line to handle the hundreds of carloads of sand and stone required for the job and a second track was constructed for unloading cement.

3,755 carloads of material

During the next few months Southern Roadbuilders expects to receive 2,200 carloads of stone, 1,180 carloads of sand, and 375 carloads of cement, a total of 3,755 carloads of materials. All of this will be unloaded at the base of operations located about mid-way along the route of the new highway. The unwashed stone to be used as a sub-base is being trucked from a local quarry.

Initially, Southern Roadbuilders will operate two giant paving machines, each capable of paving about 2000 feet of the 24-foot highway each working day. Thirty big trucks will shuttle back and forth between the base point and the paving machines, hauling what the pavers call "batches." The batches, four to a truck, are carefully-measured dry mixtures of sand, stone, and cement. As the trucks arrive at the paving machines they deposit their batches, which are mixed with water and laid on top of the stone base as finished concrete.

The contractor's base of operation is a constant beehive of activity, with trucks

AUGUST 5

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