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(5) Classification and Departure Yards

Report is submitted herewith in Appendix B, as information.

(6) Transfer of Lading of Bad-Order Cars

As the report of this Committee was presented at the 1921 Convention and appears in 1921 Proceedings, it was not thought necessary to submit any further report at this time.

(7) Outline of Work for 1922

H. J. Pfeifer, Chairman; C. A. Briggs, C. H. Spencer, B. H. Mann, J. B. Hunley, Sub-Committee.

The work of Sub-Committee (7) has been conducted entirely by correspondence. The following program is recommended:

Subject (1) Revision of Manual.

This subject is always with us and should be continued.

Subject (2) Unit Operation of Railway Terminals.

It is our opinion that study of this subject should, by all means, be continued, as it is far from being exhausted. With it might be coupled a revision of the catechism of unit operation of terminals.

Subject (3) Passenger Station, Freight House and Grain Weighing Scales. It is recommended that this subject be continued for another year.

Subject (4) Handling of Freight, etc.

Continue study of handling freight by mechanical means, and also report on the relative economies of one and two level freight houses with particular reference to the cost of the various elements of freight handling and the area of land occupied.

Subject (5) Classification and Departure Yards.

Continue study of Classification and Departure Yards.

New Subject: Study and report on best ways of arranging terminals to reduce preparatory leaving time and terminal arriving of trains.

CONCLUSIONS

1. The Committee recommends the following definition for insertion in the Manual:

SORTING YARD.-A yard in which cars are classified in greater detail after having passed through a classification yard.

2. The Committee recommends that reports on subjects 3, 4 and 5 be received as progress reports.

3. The Committee recommends the reassignment of subjects 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the assignment of the new subject contained in report of Sub-Committee (7), for next year's work.

Respectfully submitted,

THE COMMITTEE ON YARDS AND TERMINALS,

A. MONTZHEIMER, Chairman.

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Your Committee has held two meetings in the offices of the Association in Chicago, and submits the following as a progress report:

Some of the principal advantages of constructing warehouses in connection with L.C.L. freight houses may be briefly stated as follows: (1) The development of the air rights above the freight house for warehouse purposes creates an added source of revenue which helps reduce the charge for high land values which would otherwise be absorbed entirely by the freight house. (2) The warehouse, by being located on the railroad company's property, attracts traffic to the railroad which might otherwise be lost.

(3) The occupant of the warehouse is saved the usual time and expense necessary to truck his goods between warehouse and freight station. In many locations, where streets are narrow and already congested with traffic, this elimination of trucking is desirable, both from the standpoint of the warehouse operator and the municipality.

The extent and importance of these various advantages depend entirely upon local conditions, and must be determined for each individual location. It might be mentioned in this connection that the operation of buildings above freight stations for light manufacturing and other purposes has proven successful.

Some of the principal disadvantages of constructing warehouses in connection with L.C.L. freight houses may be expressed as follows: (1) There might be created by this arrangement considerable interference between the employees and patrons of the warehouse and those of the freight station, which would be objectionable.

(2) Railroads are not organized to conduct a warehouse business and some of them are legally restricted from engaging in such activities.

(3) A warehouse operated by a railroad company is governed by the regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which is not the case with a privately operated warehouse company. This places the railroad company on an unfavorable competitive basis with the private company.

In numerous cases the last two handicaps have been overcome by the railroad company by either organizing a subsidiary warehouse company to operate the property or leasing it for a period of years to an independent company.

If a warehouse is to be most successfully operated in connection with an L.C.L. freight house, particularly if the latter is of some magnitude, it is desirable to eliminate interference between employees and patrons of the two facilities. It is, therefore, desirable in so far as possible, without a too great duplication, to provide separate and independent facilities for each. This applies particularly to tailboard space, railroad trackage, shipping platform space and elevator service. Adequate facilities should be provided for the warehouse without interfering with the freight house operation. To do this, it is necessary to determine the amount of trackage, tailboard space, shipping platform area and elevator service required for a given warehouse floor area. (These various elements, for convenience, will hereafter be referred to as factors of design.) If this is not done, and inadequate facilities are provided, it is very probable that the future effectivness of the freight house may be seriously handicapped by the use of facilities for warehouse purposes which were originally intended for the use of the freight house.

The success or failure of a warehouse in connection with an L.C.L. freight house depends very largely upon the proper design and operation of such facilities. Before it is possible to intelligently consider the feasibility of constructing a warehouse above a freight house, the proper relation which should exist between the various factors of design should be determined. Especially is this true if the freight house is of the multiplestory type. With this information and a knowledge of economic height and type of warehouse buildings, it is possible to determine if a warehouse and freight house can both be constructed on the parcel of ground available for that purpose. If these facts are not known, and a warehouse is constructed in connection with the freight house and later found to have insufficient facilities to permit of its complete operation, the result will be very unfavorable,

This is a subject on which very little information is available. Perhaps this is partially due to the fact that so many variables are involved that an exact solution is not possible. However, it is felt that a study of existing warehouses and the experience gained from their operation should be of value in securing a general idea of the relation which should exist between the various factors of design.

A study has been made of fifteen warehouses, and the data collected is here presented as information. Table No. 1 contains general data on the fifteen warehouses selected for the study. This information is supplemented by additional tables which follow in the report.

TABLE NO. 1-GENERAL DATA ON WAREHOUSES INVESTIGATED

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Wherever floor area is used in this report gross area is considered, no deduction having been made in any case for columns, walls, elevators, checkers' booths, scales, aisles, etc.

NOTE A-The same reference number will be used to designate warehouses throughout all tables in this report. If the identity of any of the warehouses is desired for a further analysis of the information herein presented, same can be obtained from C. H. Mottier, Office Engineer, Illinois Central Railroad, Chicago.

NOTE B-The shipping platform space shown in Column 4 is the platform space adjacent to car siding used for shipping purposes.

NOTE C-The storage space shown in Column 5 does not include shipping platform space shown in Column 4, but does include all other space served by elevators.

NOTE D-The total storage space shown in Column 6 includes all warehouse space except shipping platform space shown in Column 4.

NOTE E-The U. S. Army Warehouses Nos. 1 and 2 are located on seaboard, and are served by both boat and rail.

NOTE F-Facilities of Warehouses Nos. 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 14 are used by both freight house and warehouse and, therefore, exact amount used by warehouse is not obtainable.

NOTE G-The first section of Warehouse No. 13 was constructed in 1905, the second in 1908, and the third in 1920.

In order to profit by the experience secured in the operation of these warehouses, the operating officials were requested to suggest any alterations which in their judgment would make a more satisfactory relation between the various facilities. This then permitted not only a comparison of the actual facilities, but in several cases also the comparison of factors which the experience of the operating officials showed were desirable. Elevators

The question of amount of warehouse space per elevator is one which does not admit of a definite solution and a very great variation might, therefore, be expected. The principal reasons for this variation are the size of warehouse, the number of tenants involved and the wide difference in the length of turnover of goods, size and speed of elevators. As an indication of the prevailing practice as to the size of elevators, the information contained in the Table No. 2 is presented.

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Supplemented by whip hoists.

First section constructed in 1905, second in 1908, and third in 1920.

In order to reduce the many sizes of elevators to a uniform basis, they are listed accordingly to their capacity in number of 3 ft. by 6 ft. trucks, which seems to be the size in use in the majority of the warehouses. The warehouses are placed in order of dates of construction. By referring to Table No. 2, it is evident that the tendency in modern warehouse construction is to install larger elevators. The more recent installations have elevators with a capacity of four trucks, which requires an elevator platform approximately 9 ft. by 17 ft. It is also evident that the capacity of elevators in pounds has been increased in proportion to their size. There has also been a tendency to increase the speed, but as an increase in speed very materially increases the cost of elevators the progress in this direction has not been as rapid as in the size and capacity. The number of floors traveled also functions in determining the proper speed, but as most warehouses do not exceed eight floors in height, the question of speed is not as vital as in some other classes of buildings. In arriving at a suggested area of warehouse floor space per elevator, it is assumed that elevators will be installed of a size sufficient for four trucks, with a corresponding capacity and speed as dictated by modern warehouse practice, which seems to be a capacity of 10,000 lb. per elevator and a speed of 150 ft. per minute. This assumption is also justified by the development in freight house construction, as practically all of the recent elevator installations in freight houses have been of this size elevator.

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