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Commercial
October 21, 1926
The Bamberg Herald
Bamberg, Bamberg County, South Carolina
What is this article about?
The Panama Canal's opening has severely impacted the St. Paul Railway's revenues by capturing 10 million tons of Pacific-Atlantic coast freight traffic, out of 26 million total tons last year, with tolls rising to nearly $23 million.
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CANAL AND RAILROADS
Big Ditch Cut Into Revenues by Big Lines.
Insiders of the wrecked St. Paul Railway say the Panama canal caused its ruin. No sooner had the railway spent more than $125,000,000 to extend its tracks to the Pacific than the canal opened and made its bid for traffic between the Pacific and the Atlantic. The financial report of the Panama Canal for the last fiscal year shows how deeply that waterway has cut into traffic which otherwise would have gone to the railroads.
Total tonnage through the Panama Canal last year was 26,000,000. Of that amount 10,000,000 tons represented Pacific coast traffic destined for Atlantic coast consumers, or vice versa. It may readily be figured how a loss of the long trans-continental haul of 10,000,000 tons of freight has affected railroad revenue.
As a world highway and a money-earner, the Panama canal has risen swiftly to gigantic dimensions. In seven years the tonnage was multiplied more than three and a half times. In the same period tolls increased from $6,165,000 to almost $23,000,000 last year. And how keenly the canal competes with rail transportation is shown by the fact that traffic may be fetched from California through Panama to Philadelphia and then shipped some 500 miles by rail inland for the price of a direct rail haul.--Philadelphia Inquirer.
Big Ditch Cut Into Revenues by Big Lines.
Insiders of the wrecked St. Paul Railway say the Panama canal caused its ruin. No sooner had the railway spent more than $125,000,000 to extend its tracks to the Pacific than the canal opened and made its bid for traffic between the Pacific and the Atlantic. The financial report of the Panama Canal for the last fiscal year shows how deeply that waterway has cut into traffic which otherwise would have gone to the railroads.
Total tonnage through the Panama Canal last year was 26,000,000. Of that amount 10,000,000 tons represented Pacific coast traffic destined for Atlantic coast consumers, or vice versa. It may readily be figured how a loss of the long trans-continental haul of 10,000,000 tons of freight has affected railroad revenue.
As a world highway and a money-earner, the Panama canal has risen swiftly to gigantic dimensions. In seven years the tonnage was multiplied more than three and a half times. In the same period tolls increased from $6,165,000 to almost $23,000,000 last year. And how keenly the canal competes with rail transportation is shown by the fact that traffic may be fetched from California through Panama to Philadelphia and then shipped some 500 miles by rail inland for the price of a direct rail haul.--Philadelphia Inquirer.
What sub-type of article is it?
Railroads
Transportation
Economic
What keywords are associated?
Panama Canal
Railroad Impact
Transcontinental Freight
Tonnage Diversion
Canal Tolls
St Paul Railway
What entities or persons were involved?
St. Paul Railway
Panama Canal
Where did it happen?
Panama Canal
Commercial Details
Location
Panama Canal
Event Date
Last Fiscal Year
Key Figures
St. Paul Railway
Panama Canal
Notable Details
- total tonnage: 26,000,000 tons
- pacific-atlantic traffic: 10,000,000 tons
- tolls: almost $23,000,000
- railway extension cost: more than $125,000,000
- tonnage multiplied 3.5 times in seven years
- tolls increased from $6,165,000