In both France and Belgium also the railway rates have been considerably lowered during recent years.
Carrying-loadThe great secret of cheap transportation is to handle and carry large quantities; for example, in the United States in 1850, the capacity of trains carrying grain from Chicago to New York was only 25 cars or waggons of 8 tons each—a total trainload of 200 tons. At the present day train loads of from 1000 to 1200 tons, between Buffalo and New York, are not uncommon. In 1850 the largest craft employed for transporting traffic by water between Chicago and New York did not exceed 600 tons, whereas now the maximum is not less than 3,000 tons.[1]
These facts shew the result of competition between Railways and Waterways abroad—and the way in which this competition has brought about an improvement of structure and a reduction of rates on both systems.
English Freight Rates.Turning to our own Railway rates we find a marked difference. The late Sir James Allport, for many years Manager of the Midland Railway Company, stated in 1883 that the cost of transporting mineral traffic on that system, assuming 42 trucks or 336 tons of minerals to a train, was 2s. 6d. per train mile.[2]
Freight Rates 1865-1889. No increase.Now it is a remarkable thing that on three of the principal English Railways, as far back as 1865, the ascertained cost of working mineral traffic varied from 2s. 6·6d. to 2s. 10·7d. per train mile,[3] the cost per ton