The Railroad Week

Last week railroad men noted well that:

P: The I. C. C. authorized the Pittsburgh & West Virginia to build a six-mile extension into the Donora, Pa., steel district. The extension was granted over the loud protests of the Pennsylvania, once the great and good friend of the tiny P. & W. Va., changed by the threat of territorial competition into its determined enemy.

P: The Baltimore & Ohio appeared well on the way to realize its consolidation ambitions. It announced that during 1929 it had acquired more than 250,000 shares of Reading stock, clinching once for all its control of the road over which it gains access to New York. An even more decisive step forward was the approval by the I. C.C. of the B. & O.'s petition to acquire the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh, for which it has long been angling. This prosperous coal road is a very desirable strategic link between Buffalo and Pittsburgh, the two Great Eastern Gateways. Over it the B. & O. will reach Buffalo, the most important Eastern outlet of the Great Lakes. The road will also be a vital part of the new low-grade freight route between New York and Chicago projected by the B. & O. From the Alleghany Corp. of their allies, the Brothers Van Sweringen, the B. & O. will buy control (84%) of the B. R. & P. for $14,263,000.

P: The Shippers' Conference of Greater New York made some telling points against the I. C. C. Merger Plan. Their specific criticism: that the Lehigh Valley should have been assigned to the New York Central instead of to the Wabash. Their general criticism: a doubt as to the wisdom of increasing the size of rail systems, thus reducing competition and removing responsibility for management further from direct contact with shippers.

P: The Wabash will shortly submit to the I. C. C. a revised merger proposal which will include an outline of the financing involved. This is in accordance with a letter sent out last week by C. D. Mahaffie, I. C. C. Finance Director, stipulating that details of financial arrangements must be included in merger petitions. The letter went also to the D. & H., the B. & O., and the C. & O., none of which have yet taken action on it.

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