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Show TROOP CARS WILL HELP At long- last, the war department has decided that "troop cars" shall be built, and railroadmen are meeting- in Chicago to discuss the construction of 1,500 such cars. Essentially, these are typical steel Ixjx-cars, but with windows, steam-hose, steam-hose, sanitary facilities, and three tiers of berths, in which approximately 39 men may sleep. One objection heretofore raised has been that American troops have never been handled in box-cars (despite the famed "40 men and eight horses," familiar to the A E F in World War I), and it was felt that to establish such a precedent pre-cedent would imply that American standards were being lowered. But such is not the case. The cars will be comfortable, com-fortable, clean, warm, well-equipped. When no longer needed need-ed lor this purpose, they may easily be converted into standard-type box-cars. The war department decision is sensible for other reasons. rea-sons. A train of as many as 100 such cars may be handled by one crew, with one freight locomotive. By contrast, a similar movement of troops handled in regular Pullmans would require from five to eight trains, each with passenger locomotive and train-crew. The savings to American railroads rail-roads Will be prodigious. The passenger engines thus released re-leased ought to be diverted to the movement of tank-cars containing oil and gasoline eastward. Thus, shorter trains of tankers, moving on passenger train schedules, would lift the movement of oil from a present slow average of 10 to 15 miles per hour to a point much higher. Christian Science Monitor. . ! 1?.$? |