Semaphore - August 1957

entering and leaving in a never-ending parade. They go first to the tall stone bin where they receive their allotment of stone, then to the sand bin, and finally the cement is dumped on top. The contractor expects to employ about 150 men when operating at full capacity, many of whom are recuited locally. In addition to the thirty trucks hauling concrete batches there will be 20 trucks hauling nothing but stone from the local quarry to be used as the sub-base.

Largest road contract

Southern Roadbuilders is a long-established paving company which has tackled many such man-sized jobs before. However, the U. S. 29 Bypass job is the largest highway job they have ever done in North Carolina. The president of the company is H. M. Hodges Jr., who has assigned his able vice president, T. E. Wilson Jr., to supervise the Mecklenburg job. The resident superintendent of the property is W. W. Lane, assisted by C. C. Foster. These men, plus several other key company men, expect the U. S. 29 job will move along smoothly if they are not held up by the grading work which is now nearing completion and, above all, by the weather man. Heavy rains could turn the highway strip into a quagmire.

December has been set as the target date for completing the paving job, weather permitting. Highway travelers will then behold one of the miracles of the age. They will be able to travel the full 11.5 miles of bypass without waiting for a single stop light. They will breeze along in safety within the speed limit, over and above intersecting roads. The two white concrete lanes will be separated by a 30-foot strip of grassed area, and all local traffic will stick to the service roads until it reaches one of the nine points of entry to the center lanes. Even then entering traffic will cause little inerference with the through traffic because of the webs of cloverleaf access roads. Prominent green and white directional signs will identify intersecting roads and add to the beauty of the modern highway as it threads its way through the countryside.

When the road is finished and the big trucks begin their relentless use of it, maybe somebody will remember that the ability of railroads to move massive quantitites of materials made the job easier, cheaper, and safer.

[3 photos of loading trucks, spans columns 1 and 2] STONE SAND CEMENT Assembly-line loading at the big plant speeds trucks between plant and paving machines out on the road. Batches are measured amounts of stone first, then sand, and finally the vital cement.

6 SEMAPHORE

[photo of 6 men posed in front of locomotive, spans columns 1 & 2] SPECIAL TRIP guests included Directors R. D. Sellers, Alan B. Sibley, and W. G. McCabe, Jr.; Judge C. F. Haynsworth; President Rankin; and Director P. C. Gregory Jr. Picture was snapped when they stopped in Greenwood for a brief time.

New Directors Take A Trip

A few minutes after 2 p.m. on July 19 Engineer Al Hendrix opened the throttle on his big diesel road switcher and eased a P & N special out of the Greenville terminals heading south to Greenwood.

Instead of the usual string of freight cars, the consist listed only a passenger coach, used as a buffer car, and the P & N's business car, The Carolina. Aboard were President W. I. Rankin and several of his staff members, three members of the board of directors who were elected to membership last March, a fourth director elected in 1956, and a former P & N attorney now turned Federal judge.

The purpose of the trip was to provide the newly-elected directors with a firsthand look at the railroad from Greenville to Greenwood and thence northward from Greenwood through Greenville to Spartanburg—the 89 miles of P & N mainline in South Carolina. The trip, about 145 miles in all, took four hours.

During the course of the inspection trip the directors took special note of industrial progress and opportunities as well as the physial condition of the roadway and structures. They were much impressed with the excellent condition of the South Carolina Division, especially the smooth, well-ballasted main line.

After arrival in Spartanburg the group enjoyed dinner aboard the Carolina.

Among those making the trip in addition to President Rankin were Directors P. G. Gregory Jr., general manager, Union Bleachery, Greenville; W. Gordon McCabe Jr., vice president, J. P. Stevens & Co., Greenville; R. D. Sellers, president, Southern Bleachery & Print Works, Taylors; and Alan B. Sibley, vice president, Judson Mills, Greenville. The special guest was Judge Clement F. Haynsworth of Greenville. P & N officials and staff members included L. R. Lawson, vice president and traffic manager; W. L. Hogan, general manager; T. R. Rhodes, superintendent; and Thomas G. Lynch, director of industrial development and public relations.

AUGUST 7

[photo of staff meeting attendees, left page of 2-page photo] [left page of 2-page caption] COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES attending the mid-year staff meeting in Greenville took time out of their busy schedule to set for this portrait in the ballroom of the Poinsett Hotel of varied subjects

[left page of 2-page headline] Coming Up: More Business in the

[photo of man, left page of 2-page photo] [left page of 2-page caption] OFF-LINE ings, had mu Holzberger, Swaney, Cleve

Last month Piedmont and Northern officials, staff members, traffic salesmen, and Class A agents assembled in Greenville for their traditional two-day mid-year conference. They discussed some 18 topics, ranging from "purpose and objectives" to "adjournment," and covering almost every facet of railroad operations, revenues, industrial development, policies, expenses, gains and losses, problems and solutions.

During the two days they whisked through 108 pages of statistics and reports which weighed in at one pound, two ounces. But the weight was not a measurement of the worth, for the pages were the black-andwhite record of how the railroad had fared in comparison with past years and a thorough analysis of traffic, past and future.

Although the record of the first half of the year was not as bright as it could have been, there was a strong feeling among traffic representatives that the last half will be better, even to the extent of largely offsetting the disappointing first half. Business conditions, they felt, seem to be taking a turn for the better and should remain good for the rest of the year.

Toward the end of the meeting the talk turned to salesmanship, personnel training, expense control, and many other vital topics. If the 40 or more in attendence didn't go away with a feeling of two days well spent, they missed the spirit of a good staff meeting.

[photo of staff meeting attendees, right page of 2-page photo] [right page of 2-page caption] The sessions extended over two days and covered dozens relating to sales, service, finances, and operating matters.

[right page of 2-page headline] Second Half

[photo of 6 men, right page of 2-page photo] [right page of 2-page caption] TRAFFIC MEN, not regularly included in the monthly staff meetch to discuss. From left: W. C. Bridges, Chicago; G. A. New York; J. E. Griffin, Augusta; C. B. Irwin, Atlanta; F. E. land; R. C. Gore, Memphis; and G. S. Egbert, New York.

The Ladies Organize

Whoever said "It's a man's world" will have to back up once more.

Ladies living in Charlotte and its environs and connected with transportation have organized the Charlotte Women's Traffic Club and were 52 strong when they closed out their charter membership drive at the end of June. The ladies represent railroads, truck lines, and industrial firms dependent upon public transportation.

Objectives of the new club are threefold: 1) To provide a medium of association and cooperation among the women of Charlotte engaged in traffic and transportation work; 2) To broaden the knowledge of it members in subjects relating to traffic and transportation work; 3) To exchange ideas of mutual benefit with relation to traffic and transportation.

Mrs. Mary Womble, secretary to P & N Vice President and Traffic Manager L. R. Lawson, is chairman of the membership committee.

A recent survey conducted by the Railroad Retirement Board turned up the interesting fact that at the end of 1956 ten retired railroad employees 100 years of age or older are receiving monthly retirement benefits. Eight of the ten had retired and were receiving pensions from their railroads before the government retirement plan went into effect. Oldest of these veterans is K. Millins, for many years a section worker on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Mr. Millins now resides in Indianapolis. He was born in slavery, and remembers well the days of the wood-burning locomotives.

About 5 per cent of all railway passenger service is now performed by steam power, 6 per cent by electric power, and 89 per cent by diesel-electric power.

[photo of train in industrial yard] SERVICE TRACKS, upper right, are now being constructed in the extensive White Horse industrial District in Greenville. In the foreground are facilties of Greenville Concrete Company. The train is number 48, seemingly headed south as it switches cars on Commodity Warehouse track.

Faces and Places . . . the camera looks them over

[photo of 2 men looking at blueprint at construction site] FLOOR PLANS for the new Charlotte freight station are given a quick check by Agent R. R. Vaughan and Assistant Agent H. M. Parris. The building, on W. Second Street replaces the old Mint St. Station a block away.

[photo for this caption is on next page] DINNER was the next item on the agenda when this picture was made of a group of P & N staff members in Greenville las month. Smiles attest to the quality of the food which they were about to consume.