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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1963)
THE RAILROAD TO RUIN Aggressive, Tough Southern Railway President Heads Firm Up Track To Success By RAY CRO.MLEY NrM-spaprr Enterprise Assu. WASHINGTON NEA This is! how one man on one road is beat ing some of the problems that face the railways. When I went to see D. W. Bios- nan, president of the Southern Railway System, I remembered what a union official had said Bros- nan had told him in the midst o! a labor dispute: "1 intend to manage this rail road." Two and a half hours with Bill Brosnan left me no doubt he means just that. He's aggressive. tough and stubborn. He's not go ing to give up. This is the secret of his success He kept ramming and ramming government regulations until lie made a major breakthrough on rales. He has kept ramming ,at "fea- thcrbedding" or "work rules." He designed them in his own shops. has told the unions he's not going to put lircmen on all his freights he'll drup firemen by attrition dune this while other railroads are till negutiatin 7hT . , SOU T; HERN I 7 5 When he couldn't find anyone to design some of tile big new money-saving freight cars he wanted, he rammed through anyway and An engineer from Georgia Tech. Brosnan began his railroad career in IH26 as a track laborer on the as they retire or quit. He has southern. He became president of the system in February, 12. Brosnan's office is as no-non- sense as he is. Though it's just been redecorated in "early coloni al" style, its furniture is modern Behind Brosnan :s a sign "Yt'SFSOYA" mearning "You Can t Sell Freight Sitting on Your i ir'-iMfuvn ! ' '. mui oiosnan ami ins loimci doss. tK&bf'r-'-itT---, "V - a 0?-''' WXL?" 12 3 I Butts, saw Southern in- - ---- M.--wwynjftefifi4p fciM Wm il iilcijr jiiai mi.uit no .mil as eompeiitiors looK the new I haul business. They saw itinerant truckers walking away with 6fi per cent of the grain shipments' into the Southeast. They saw truckers hacking away at lumber. cement, chicken feed, vegetables and a fist full of other profit able freight. Brosnan and Dp Butts sought out five industrial engineers. teamed each with an experienced railroad operating man in five free-wheeling research teams, Each has free access to design, cost and rate experts. A research team seeking to find why Southern was losing lumber haul business to truckers discov ered that trucks were cheaper lo load and unload than box cars. It cost less to prota t lumber from damage in the trucks. The team loui.d it could convert uoodrack rail cars into easy - loading cheap to - protect lumber carriers. A team of Soul hem men fol lowed rail shipments around to find nut why customers were dropping away. Tlie men found rough handling was damaging r T . . . mm wW- tillSxZ.i HOAI) TO SOCIALISM ALGIERS lUPl) Premier Ahmed Ben Bella said .Monday night Algeria s start toward so cialism is "now irreversible." In a radio-television speech Ben Bella said: 'it will continue in the days and weeks to come with the launching of a national campaign for the democratic reorganization of he management committees (which run socialized businesses and farms and by the preparation. in the most favorable circumstanc es, of their national congress, first steps towards popular structures and agrarian relorm. PIPI'Y TIIKFT KANSAS CITY, Mo. 'I'Pl'-Mis. Alice Neal bought two German shepherd puppies five months ago to train as watchdogs. She wanted to stop frequent, petty thefts from her home. Mrs. Neal reported Monday that someone scaled the chain link fence around her house and stole the pups. PRESIDENT Bill Brosnan. president of the Southern Railway, says "I intend to manaqe this railroad." goods. The research team's an swer: a cushioned underframe car that would absorb consider able shocks. A team ordered lo win backi the business of hauling leaf to bacco in hogsheads came up with a sur-long 85-foot car for econ omy and wide doors for easy load ing. When Southern heard alwut work en pipelines to carry coal, a research group visited shippers and made time-and-motion studies on loading and unloading. Seven hundred and fifty of the le suiting lntMon coal cars, used in multiple-car shipments with quick turnarounds, replaced 5.000 eon volitional cars. Coal cars of 150 and 200 tons are on the designing boards. Having developed special cars to haul freight cheaply enough to win business frum the truck ers. Southern's next job was to gel the ICC lo okay rate cuts. problem; Brosnan's sensational maics with tile single-lot. old-style Wednesday. April 24, Wi PAGE 5 A HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Fulls, Oregon Minor rale changes caused no from City A to City B than ha grain-rate proposals caused a fur or. Brosnan asked for permission lo slash rates by as much as 6ti per cent on multiple-car, through shipments in his SKMon Big John freight cars. It took Brosnan 18 months to fight the battle through the ICC. He won part of a loaf, the cheap rale for 450-ton ship ments. He lost out on the 900-ton and l.tMMon rates because they would hit the barge lines too hard. Brosnan told me he would keep fighting. He even plans to step up the ante in another round. He's working on plans now for 150 or 200-lon grain cars that will cut costs fur ther. Brosnan said the economies ofl big, through, grain hauls are such I that he can make money at $3.07 a I Ion in Big John multiple car lots ton for the same distance. He says bigger bargains are in the making. Brosnan's partial victory is sig nificant. He has proved timidity doesn't pay on the railroad. (Next: Jervla Langdon and the bright young men of B. and O.) "Qualify Plus Economy" Now at Buy Low Super Market DiUlio's Dairy All Guernsey Grade A RAW MILK Reg. Price 79c Gal. -5 day Introductory offer c gal. We Service All Appliances J. W. KERNS 734 So. 6th TU 4-4197 "LOOK SMARTER FEEL BETTER" IN Manhattan Shirts FROM THE TOG SHOP 708 Main Gold Bond Stamps Charge It. DON'T MISS fin$tom AD ON PAGE 1-B NEW CARS FOR NEW BUSINESS The Southern picked up new business by de signing bigger, more efficient freiqht cars. At top is the "Big Dropper," an aluminum body car which carries more' than 100 tons of coal, yet can be emptied in only 15 seconds. The entire bottom can be opened. The center picture is a standard size hop per car and the "Biq John" which carries 90 tons of qrain. At the bottom is the biggest boxcar ever built for regular service. It can carry 94 hogsheads of tobacco. I'KRSISTENT BILL GREAT BEND, Kan. lUPD -Bill Daniels, 32, got into a scuffle at a cafe Monday. When officers arrived to break it up, he hit one in the face. ' ' Tuesday, Judge Roy Butler sen tenced him to four months in city jail and fined him $75. Daniels responded by hitting the judge in the face. The jurist calmly added another sis month to the sentence. ' ROSES 58 selections to choose from. No. 1 Grade only. Plant now for best results. Baker's Landscape Nursery 6200 So. 6th TU 2-5553 SHOP DOWNTOWN WHERE SELECTIONS ARE BETTER! Sparkling fresh new spring fashions selected from our regular merchandise and specially marked for this big 3-day event. Don't miss it! Two large groups of spring-fresh coats. Wear them now and right through sum- Vols. to 65.00 $: "4 1 M m. s3y 1 New Spring Cotton DRESSES $000 Values to 16.98 3-Days Only Neighbor! The whole town's going forV I br63Q thsts I MlM yVkLy U lima J6.. &L X , f i ' ''wrl tm , ' JTrfP - rk) f ! ff3foorD)AP)Rri Sunbeam is baked to tender, golden perfection! Just sniff its tempting, oven-rich fra grance! Feel the soft, extra freshness of each tender loaf I Enjoy the delicous health-building good ness of every slice! It's bread beyond compare! Su ubeam d TENDERLY CURLED... STAYS SOFT - FRESH 523 Main
