PUBLIC DOCUMENT No. 12 1903 51ST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Railroad Commissioners TO WHICH ARE ADDED STATISTICAL TABLES COMPILED FROM THE Annual Reports of the Steam Railroad Companies of × PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE LEGISLATURE HARTFORD PRESS THE CASE, LOCKWOOD & BRAINARD COMPANY 1903 REPORT. To His Excellency, ABIRAM CHAMBERLAIN, The Fifty-first Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners, containing the reports of the operations of the steam railroad and street railway companies for the year ending June 30, 1903, with the statistical tables compiled therefrom, and a condensed statement of the proceedings of the Board to the date of this report, is herewith submitted. During the period covered by this report the Tariffville branch of the Hartford & Connecticut Western Railroad, 10.01 miles of which is located within the State of Connecticut, and the East Granby & Suffield branch of the same road, 3.77 miles long, have been opened for business; also 11.30 miles of additional sidings have been laid within the state during the year, making a total mileage of 1,861.76 main line, branches, and sidings included within the state, an increase for the year of 25.08 miles. The volume of business transacted by the steam roads during the year has been unusually large, exceeding that of any previous year, showing gross earnings amounting to $48,988,685.72, being $3,863,037.02 in excess of the earnings of 1902, which were thought at that time to be phenomenally large. The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company earned $47,296,077.51, the New London Northern Railroad Company $1,014,554.52, the Central New England Railway Company $663,103.06, and the South Manchester Railroad Company $14,950.63, all exceeding the earnings of the previous year, excepting the latter company. The earnings derived from the passenger department have been $23,489,094.18, and from the freight department $25,051,029.01. It will be H.6424 observed that the increase in net earnings, amounting to only $20,257.61, has not been proportionate to the increase in gross earnings, owing to the largely increased transportation expenses, arising principally from the advance in cost of fuel, wages of employees, and the change in demurrage charges for use of freight cars from a mileage to a per diem basis adopted by the American Railway Association. There have been 4,873,251 more passengers carried and 1,304,377 more tons of freight handled than during the previous year. The double tracking of the Naugatuck Railroad south of Derby Junction is completed and in operation, and that portion extending from Derby Junction to Ansonia is so near completion that the traffic of the New Haven & Derby branch now passes over the new tracks. The Bridgeport improvements of the N. Y., N. H. & H. Railroad are so far advanced that the traffic will be transferred to the elevated tracks on or about the 1st of January, 1904, when the construction of a new passenger station will be commenced. The Rockville Railroad, extending from Vernon to Rockville, has been acquired by the purchase of its entire capital stock by the N. Y., N. H. & H. Railroad Company during the past year, and the Middletown, Meriden & Waterbury Railroad has been leased to the same company for a period of fifty years from the 10th of November, 1902. PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD RELATING TO STEAM RAILROADS. NAUGATUCK. On January 8, 1903, the warden and burgesses of the borough of Naugatuck presented their petition for gates to be erected or a flagman maintained at a crossing on the Naugatuck Division of the N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R., known as Bridge Street, or Foundry Road, in Union City in the town and borough of Naugatuck. After due notice to the parties the petition was heard on January 30, 1903, and we found that public safety required that a gate be maintained at said crossing daily, Sunday excepted, between the hours of 6.30 A. M. and 7 P. M., and an order to that effect was issued to the company. NORWICH. Upon the application of the corporation counsel of the City of Norwich, asking that the whistling for highway crossings within the limits of said city, on the line of the Vermont Central Railway, be discontinued, we issued an order to said company, similar to the order issued to the Norwich & Worcester and the New England companies, under date of January 2, 1895, and February 15, 1896, in compliance with an agreement between said city and said company, waiving the right to a public hearing thereon. WINDSOR LOCKS RAILROAD COMPANY. On the 18th day of February, 1903, the Windsor Locks Railroad Company presented to us its petition for the approval of the layout and location of its railroad, extending from a point on the line of the East Granby & Suffield Railroad, in the town of East Granby, to a point at or near Chestnut Street in the town of Windsor Locks, said proposed railroad being four miles in length. A hearing upon said application was held February 27, 1903, when the parties in interest appeared and were heard and on March 24, 1903, we issued our written approval of the layout and location of said railroad. NEW HAVEN. The mayor of the city of New Haven presented a petition asking for permission to construct a spur track for switching purposes at grade across Sherland Avenue in said city, to be used for transporting stone from the quarries owned and operated by C. W. Blakeslee & Sons. After due notice to all parties in interest a hearing upon said application was had on the 20th day of March, 1903, when the parties appeared and were heard, and no opposition being made the petition was granted. TRANSPORTATION OF EXPLOSIVES. Upon the application of the N. Y., N. H. & H. Railroad Company, under the provisions of Section 3771 of the Revised Statutes of 1902, we prescribed written regulations for the transportation of an explosive material or compound known as Masurite, under date of April 21, 1903. |