Semaphore - January-February 1959

Semaphore PIEDMONT AND NORTHERN RAILWAY MAGAZINE [image: three men reading paper] A NEW GENERAL MANAGER JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 1960

Semaphore [logo]PIEDMONT & NORTHERN SERVICE WITH COURTESY

VOLUME 16 NUMBER 1 JAN.-FEB. 1960

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

UNDER THE COVER

Several important changes in management personnel were made in the P & N's transportation department effective January 1 after the retirement of former General Manager W. L. Hogan. Pictured on the cover this month are three men who will fill important posts in this department during the years ahead. Seated in the center is Franklin Way, who was appointed general manager to succeed Mr. Hogan. On the right is Frank M. Sellers, promoted to the newly-created position of superintendent of the N. C. Division, and on the left is Walter N. Page, former S. C. trainmaster, who has succeeded R. R. Vaughan as agent at Charlotte. See pages 8 and 9 for the full story.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Although it will come as a surprise to most employees, pay checks were bigger beginning with the first pay period in January- bigger, that is, in physical size, not in amount. The net amount was smaller because by law the company had to begin deducting North and South Carolina income taxes. This additional deduction necessitated a larger check form to show all the deductions. Three deductions are now mandatory for all pay checks - federal income tax, state income tax, and railroad retirement. All employees should understand that the new state income tax deductions cost the company time and trouble and all of the proceeds go into the coffers of the state in which you work.

North Carolina Division train crews will soon be operating over about six more miles of track. Finishing touches are being put on the new Duke Power track from the Riverbend steam plant to the Cowan's Ford dam. P & N crews will handle construction materials for the $60,000,000 Catawba River project just as they handle coal to the Riverbend steam electric generating plant.

Railroad car loadings generall will be up 5.9 per cent during the first quarter of 1960 as compared with the same period last year, according to estimates fo the 13 Regional Shippers Advisory boards. P & N business was brisk in January - actually a little more than predicted by the traffic department.

Every now and then it is interesting to review P & N locomotive mileage statistics. Did you know, for instance that the P & N's 16 diesel locomotives traveled a total of 526,977 miles last year? That was 46,186 miles further than the previous year and enough to have gotten to the moon, orbited a few times and returned to earth. The most traveled locomotive is the 1602, a 1600 horsepower road switcher which has racked up 377,562 miles during its nine-year history - all without getting off the P & N's 126 miles of main line. The 1601 is running a close second with 366,388 miles through January.

[photo of service awards recipients, spans both columns] SERVICE AWARDS we presented to these N. C. recipients. Years are shown in parentheses. Seated: W. I. Rankin (45), R. A. Williams (30), Mrs. Bleeker M. Jones (40), T. B. Powers (45), C. L. Taylor (20), J. C. McGowan (45). Middle row: D. V. Shippey (20), J. H. Wright (25), W. S. McDonald (20), H. R. Ellis (20), J. B. Bingham (20), M. D. Clark (20). Back row: F. W. Sparks (20), R. F. Hoover (40), M. M. Morrison (30), J. I. Nance (20). Several others were not present.

[photo of door prize winner] LUCKY WINNER of a door prize, Mrs. R. C. Burns, receives percolator from Toastmaster E. E. Culbreath with able assistance from Wanda Davis, left.

[photo of C. S. Reed FEATURED SPEAKER was C. S. Reed, Duke Power Company official. He spoke on the growth of the Carolinas.

4 SEMAPHORE

[headlines, span both columns]

ANNUAL BANQUETS 531 Employees and Guests Attend Events at Charlotte and Greenville

NO fewer than 531 employees and guests were on hand for the P & N's two annual employee banquets held early in January in Charlotte and Greenville. Of these, 300 attended the Charlotte event on January 2 and 231 were present at the Greenville banquet a week later.

As customary, awards were presented to employees for completion of service periods beginning with 15 years and occurring each five years thereafter. All told, 47 employees received service pins which totaled 1,275 years—an average of 27 years per award. Four awards were made for 45 years of service, the longest awarded so far since the company will not have been in existence for 50 years until 1961. There are now 15 members of this select group.

The 20-year group with 12 members was the largest and the 40-year group with three members was the smallest. For the first time in recent history the awards were not presented by W. L. Hogan, former general manager who retired on December 31. Taking over for him were President W. I. Rankin and new General Manager Franklin Way.

Attractive Door Prizes

One of the most popular features of the program was the award of door prizes to those in attendance who were lucky enough to have their numbers drawn. Approximately ten prizes, including hams and electric appliances, were awarded during the course of the evening.

The principal speaker at both banquets was Charles S. Reed, consulting vice president of the Duke Power Company, who delivered his widely acclaimed talk entitled "Times Are Changing." Mr. Reed's speech dealt with the growth and diversification of industry in the Piedmont Carolinas. He was a big hit at both Charlotte and Greenville.

Another speaker on the program was President Rankin, who spoke briefly on the operating and financial results of 1959 as compared with other years in the railroad's history. He stated that although preliminary figures indicated a 10 per cent increase in revenue for 1959 over 1958 the company's net income was slightly less. This, he explained, was due to a combination of factors including the necessirty of reducing rates to meet subsidized truck competition, increase in the per diem rental charge for foreign line equipment, and constantly rising wages and salaries coupled with increasing cost of materials and supplies.

Traffiic Volume Grows

Mr. Rankin also reviewed some comparative statistics extending over a period of 20 years. For instance, in 1959 the P & N handled more than 104,000 carloads of trafic compared with only about 76,000 in 1939. Total Revenue in 1959 was about $5.7 million as compared with approximately $2.3 million in 1939 —an increase of 147.4 per cent.

However, Mr. Rankin pointed out that in the same period expenses of operation, including taxes, jumped from about $1.6 million in 1939 to about $5 million last year. Taxes alone skyrocketed from $284,000 in 1939 to no less than $1,400,000 in 1959—an astounding 415.3 per cent increase in 20 years.

Mr. Rankin concluded his talk with an optimistic prediction for 1960, a call for

JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 5