GEO. LeBOUTILLIER Vice-President

the ocean and 194 feet above its level. The remaining part of the island is extremely level, well watered by numerous streams and lakes, and, in its western half, being fairly well wooded. Briefly and incompletely this gives one an idea of the area and topography of an island, destined, in all probability, within another quarter of a century, to be the most densely populated in the world, consisting of highly cultivated, unusually intelligent and well-to-do home owners, and at its western end vast numbers of industries.

Fortunate Position of the Long Island Railroad This, too, is the area in nine-tenths of which the Long Island is the only existing railroad, which there is every probability it will remain, a railroad owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad System, but separately managed, a railroad now serving three and one-thirds of a million people, both the population and the railroad growing by leaps and bounds. In fact, within the area of Long Island, and more particularly its eastern end, there is a rapid cutting up of acreage into homesites that bids fair to rival if not succeed in growth the hectic development of Florida, even in the latter's palmiest days.

Carl Fisher to Develop Montauk Point

At the extreme easterly end of Long Island Carl Fisher, who brought Miami Beach, Florida, into world-wide prominence, and in doing so amassed millions of dollars, has recently focused his attention, having purchased an area of 10,000 or more acres, regarding which a Long Island Railroad folder issued this year says:

This section is about to be extensively developed by Carl G. Fisher, who has been such a large factor in making Florida famous, and it is no idle fancy to say that with his reputation among discriminating people who winter in Florida, the wealth of scenery and abundant opportunities for rest and recreation offered by Montauk will make it one of the greatest summer resorts on the Atlantic Coast.

Initial Long Island Railroad

In early railroad days grades were a serious matter to railroad engineers, and the topography of New England even close to the shore then possessed difficulties that

would now be quite inconsequential. Thus it was that the long level stretches of Long Island so admirably helped to solve the difficult problem (and at the same time minimize construction cost), of becoming the link that would carry from New York onward toward Boston, the projection of railroads between that city and Charleston, S. C., leading to the beginning of a railroad the length of Long Island on April 24, 1834. When this line was finally completed it functioned successfully until another line was built to Boston, a few years later competition forcing the abandonment of this service. Subsequently, of course, the existing Long Island was established, and, in 1900, it came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad System, since which time vast sums have been spent to provide for its ever-increasing traffic. Great tunnels under the East River have been built to give Long Island direct rail connection into the heart of Manhattan; electric train service has been installed, and this most modern, clean and efficient service is rapidly displacing steam, with its attendant coal and smoke. New equipment, additional tracks, and many other momentous improvements were made to provide for the one hundred million passengers and the eight million tons of freight carried by the Long Island Railroad in 1925.

Personnel and Equipment

The chief executive officers of the Long Island Railroad are: W. W. Atterbury, president, (also president of the Pennsylvania System); George Le Boutillier, vicepresident, in charge of all operations; C. D. Baker, general superintendent; Donald Wilson, general freight agent; P. H. Woodward, general passenger agent; L. V. Morris, consulting engineer, and Thomas J. Skillman, chief engineer.

The passenger equipment consists of 1,318 cars, of the following type: 154 wooden and 333 steel coaches, and 615 steel motor cars; 33 wooden and 9 steel passenger and baggage and mail cars; 4 wooden and 11 steel baggage and mail cars; 23 wooden and 43 steel baggage and express coaches; 5 wooden and 12 steel motor baggage cars; and 24 wooden milk cars.

The freight equipment consists of 2,562 cars of the following types: 2 tank, 1,332 box, 993 gondola, 35 cabin and 300 hopper.

Of the Long Island Railroad's locomotives, 75 are used for passenger; 45 for freight, and 37 for shifting purposes.

Equipment of and Freight Handled at Maritime
Terminals

The floating equipment consists of 6 tugboats and 9 carfloats.

In 1925 there were 374,426 cars handled at the Long Island City maritime terminal, and 82,030 cars handled at the Bay Ridge terminal.

At Fresh Pond, the interchange point between the Long Island Railroad and the New York Connecting Railroad, 14,185 cars were used in the transfer of freight from and 16,278 in the transfer of freight to the New Haven Railroad.

Long Island Railroad Passenger Operations

The Long Island Railroad has 397 miles of road with 957 miles of first, second, third and fourth track and company sidings. Of the total miles of road, 357 are utilized for passenger service, of which 114 miles are electrified. The company owns 1,321 passenger train cars, over 80 per cent of which are of steel construction. On an average 1,100 passenger trains are operated daily on the summer schedule now in effect, and between 250,000 and 450,000 passengers are handled on these trains every day. More passengers are handled per mile of road than on any other railroad in the United States.

Of the 100,000,000 passengers handled in 1925, 56,675,000, or 56.1 per cent, were daily commuters, 14,000,000 traveled on multiple forms or other low-rate tickets, leaving little less than 30,000,000 transient travelers who paid standard rates of fare. The average revenue per passenger per mile was about 11⁄2 cents. Over 39,000,000 passengers were handled in and out of the Pennsylvania Station in New York City, and 27,000,000 passengers in and out of the Flatbush Avenue Terminal in Brooklyn. The Long Island Railroad handles the largest number of

L. V. MORRIS Consulting Engineer

cummuters of any steam railroad in the New York City district. Of the commuters handled in 1925

39.8% lived within 15 miles of the terminals.
20.8% between 15 and 20 miles of the terminals.
26.4% between 20 and 25 miles of the terminals.
4.3% between 25 and 30 miles of the terminals.
2.5% between 30 and 35 miles of the terminals.
1.5% over 50 miles of the terminals.

Last year there were 21 stations on the System having more than 1,000 commuters, 24 stations having from 500 to 1,000 commuters, and 50 stations from 100 to 500 commuters.

With a steady increase in the percentage of pas sengers riding on monthly tickets, increasing from 30% of the total traffic handled in 1911 to 56.1 per cent in 1925, coupled with the fact that this railroad therefore depends on profits from passenger business to a greater extent than other railroads do, makes it absolutely necessary for the ever-increasing low rate traffic to stand a greater share of the cost of the facilities needed and demanded for its accommodation.

Relation of Commuters to Total Number of
Passengers

The following tabulation shows the relation of commuters to the total number of passengers, and the average revenue per passenger per mile:

Average revenue per

passenger per mile (cents)

1.358

1.326

P. H. WOODWARD

General Passenger Agent

Long Island Railroad Freight Operations

Deriving nearly 70 per cent of its gross revenues from the handling of passenger traffic, the Long Island Railroad is essentially a passenger-carrying line, the freight business yielding something over 28 per cent. On other trunk line railroads the situation is exactly the reverse, freight receipts representing 70 per cent or more and

DONALD WILSON

General Freight Agent

passenger receipts less than 30 per cent.

Notwithstanding this substantial difference as between the passenger and freight revenues on the Long Island Railroad, it will be seen that the freight service which it performs is, relatively speaking, a large one, when the tonnage hauled is known, and when it is realized that the bulk of the freight traffic handled is of a short-haul nature, there being no great distance for freight to be moved on Long Island.

In 1925 the Long Island Railroad was called upon to haul 8,016,763 tons of freight, of which 7,761,795

tons consisted of carload freight and 254,968 tons less-than-carload freight. Of the carload freight 3,241,892 tons comprised manufactured and miscellaneous products; 2,945,633 tons represented products of mines; 784,604 consisted of products of agriculture and 121,587 tons represented animals and products of animals.

Two large and growing industrial communities depend almost entirely upon the Long Island Railroad for their freight transportation requirements, namely, the City of Brooklyn and Queensboro, which includes Long Island City.

The Long Island interchange freight with the Pennsylvania, New York Central, Lehigh Valley, Erie, Delaware, Lackawana & Western, N. Y. & N. H., Central Railroad of New Jersey, Baltimore & Ohio, & New York, Ontario & Western. To what extent this interchange with the above roads is carried on is indicated by the following tabulation, which shows the number of loaded and empty cars received by the Long Island Railroad from connecting lines, and the loaded and empty cars turned over to its connections for westbound movement, covering the period from 1914 by years up to and including 1925:

August, 1926

$11,000,000 In Railroad Improvements Long Island Railroad improvements included in the company's budget for 1926, reach a total of approximately $11,000,000, among the major projects being the following:

Extension of electrified system from Floral Park to Mineola, on the main line, and from Mineola to Valley Stream, on the New York Bay Extension, or West Hempstead Branch, to cost about $900,000, and completed this Fall.

Double-tracking the Long Beach branch from East Rockaway to Wreck Lead, or Island Park, to cost $400,000.

To install a second track on the Montauk Division from Sayville to a point east of Patchogue, and the construction of a storage yard and engine terminal, to cost about $500,000.

Six thousand seven hundred tons of 100-pound rails to replace lighter rails and provide additional running tracks and sidings, together with tie-plates and anti-creepers, in all costing about $650,000.

New ties numbering 155,000 to replace worn-out ties and in double-tracking on the Montauk and Long Beach divisions. Stone ballast to replace cinders on about 12 miles of main line roadbed, and on 15 miles of roadbed on the Bay Ridge division.

Two passenger stations, one at Northport and the other at West Hempstead.

Elimination of grade crossing at Broadway, Elmhurst, to cost about $450,000, one half to be borne by the railroad company, one-quarter by the State and one-quarter by New York City.

Elimination of grade crossing at Mattituck, on the main line, as per order of the Public Service Commission, to cost about $75,000.

A new steel and concrete bridge over Queens Boulevard, on the North Shore division, to cost over $400,000.

Two bridges, to carry Park Drive over the Rockaway Beach and Montauk divisions, will be rebuilt at a cost of about $160,000.

Interlocking facilities at "VD" Tower, at Vanderbilt Avenue, on the Atlantic division, to be enlarged at a cost of about $66,000. Interlocking changes will also facilitate train movements at Freeport. Two automatic signals to be moved between Baldwin and Freeport, for better spacing of trains and to avoid delays. This work to cost approximately $87,500.

The largest of many other improvement projects is the electrification of the Bay Ridge division, in compliance with law requiring all railroad tracks within the limits of New York City to be electrified.

Seven electric freight locomotives, to cost about $910,000, three for switching and transfer service in the operation of all Long Island freight business on the Bay Ridge division between Fresh Pond Junction and Bay Ridge Yard, the four other engines to be used in switching operations for the New York Connecting Railroad and the Long Island Railroad at Bay Ridge yard.

Last year the railroad purchased a 100-ton oil-electric Diesel locomotive for freight service, at a cost of $100,000, and early this year acquired a new gas-electric engine, for freight shifting service, costing $60,000.

STEAMER "SHINNECOCK"

Two new carfloats to be added to the railroad's floating equipment, at a cost of about $200,000; also an oil-electric shifting tugboat, to cost about $195,000, the latter to be used for floating operations at Long Island City.

Twenty new all-steel passenger equipment cars for steam train service, to cost about $370,000. The twenty steel parlor cars which the company owns and operated last year, are being converted into steam passenger coaches at a cost of $132,000.

Building Operations Reflect Rapid Growth of
Long Island

New buildings aggregating 37,608 were erected during 1925 in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to the twenty-first annual survey of Long Island construction activities recently completed by the Long Island Railroad Company. This exceeds by 1,421 the number of buildings put up in 1924. It is estimated that in 1925 more buildings were constructed on all Long Island than in any previous year of its history.

Of the 37,608 building units just mentioned, 26,950 were dwelling houses, 2,621 stores, 44 factories and 7,993 miscellaneous structures, such as garages, outbuildings, etc. In Queens County 24,475 new buildings were put up in 1925, being 842 less than in 1924. In Nassau County 9,714 new buildings were erected, being an increase of 1,844 over 1924. In Suffolk County 3,419 new

buildings were erected, being an increase of 419 compared

with 1924.

Population in Three Counties Estimated to Have Increased by 134,750 in 1925

Taking the 26,950 buildings erected last year and used for residential purposes (which exceeds by 1,080 the number of homes built in 1924), the railroad's survey shows that 17,830 of them are located in Queens, 6,787 in Nassau and 2,333 in Suffolk.

Estimating that five persons occupy each of the 26.950 new dwellings erected in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties, it may be said that the population of these counties increased by 134,750 people in 1925.

Placing the low cost of $5,000 on each of the 37,608 new structures erected in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties, something over $188,000,000 represents the sum invested in that portion of Long Island building operations during 1925.

In the past 21 years, the railroad's record indicate that 284,868 buildings of all kinds were erected on Long Isl

and. These units range from a barn, or garage costing a few hundred dollars, to a palatial private home, a large apartment house, or a commodious office building, costing upwards of a million dollars. Figuring the cost of these 284,868 structures at $5,000 apiece, it appears that nearly a billion and a half of dollars has been expended in Long Island building construction since 1905. One hundred and seventy-one different Long Island communities are embraced in the 1925 building survey made by the railroad company. Of this number, 100 places show an increase in the number of buildings erected last year as compared with 1924. At 40 points the increase was 100 per cent or better. Construction activities at some places were intense.

An Example of Electrification Benefits The effect of railroad improvements on the growth and development of Long Island communities is indicated by what has happened along the new electric line to Babylon. In 1924, when it was announced that the two tracks of the Montauk division between Jamaica and Babylon would be electrified, building operations on a larger scale than ever before were soon under way from Rockville Centre to Babylon, in the twelve villages then served by erected in that territory. Electric trains have been opersteam trains. During that year 2,555 new buildings were ating in this section for one year. In 1925 some 3,172 new buildings were put up in the 12 communities referred to. This is an increase of 17, or 24 per cent over 1924. In the past two years, therefore, 5,727 new buildings were erected in the villages between Rockville Centre and Babylon.

More than 100 new buildings were erected in 29 communities served by the railroad in Queens County; 100 or more new buildings were erected in 29 communities served by the railroad in Nassau County, and 50 or more new buildings were erected in 17 communities served by the railroad in Suffolk County.

Unique Possibilities of Montauk Point Montauk Point, a magnificent promontory projecting into the Atlantic ocean, surmounted by a notable and towering lighthouse, on its north shore is washed by Napeague Bay and Block Island Sound, and making, (Continued on Page 30)