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32

The railroads said it was unreasonable to ask them to do work on trackage which none of their motive power could operate on. Of course, our response to that argument was that although they didn't have the proper power, it was available and GE would be glad to supply it to them. For a price, that is. We analyzed practically all the car movements in the plant, putting each in a category of some sort, and segregating all the moves we felt the railroads were responsible for. I believe our trips to Cleveland, Akron, Detroit and Chicago were for the purpose of looking into how this general problem was handled by others. In Detroit I think we may have visited Ford because the two companies had close relations. However, whom we actually visited at these places and what we found out, I do not have the slightest idea. Another phase of our study, of course, was determination of the cost of Schenectady Works doing the work and what costs would be eliminated if the railroads took over, as well as what costs would remain for doing the work for which the railroads had no responsibility. It was quite an involved picture. Why we failed to visit Pittsfield, Philadelphia and Lynn, where we had smaller but similar operations to Schenectady, I don't know. Nor do I know what the ultimate outcome of the thing was except that the railroads never did the work because at the time of World War II we were supplying locomotives to Schenectady Works for their switching. My experience later on convinced me that the railroads in general continued to court their customers with attractive switching allowances or free service where they could do the work. I'd guess, therefore, that Mochrie finally was successful in making an acceptable settlement on the basis of both railroads coming through with generous allowances for GE doing the work. And thus endeth a somewhat unsatisfactory report on what I did for six weeks in the early fall of 1933.

And thus endeth also my account of the year 1933 in general. I'm sure that many other interesting things occurred in my personal as well as business life but whatever they are, they are lost forever, I fear. Moral: Even a line-a—day diary is far, far better than nothing.


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