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OF THE

FRANKLIN INSTITUTE

DEVOTED TO

SCIENCE AND THE MECHANIC ARTS

EDITED BY

MR. LOUIS E. LEVY, Chairman; MR. EDWIN S. BALCH, MR. JOHN
BIRKINPINE, MR. W. C. L. EGLIN, MR. EDWARD H. SANBORN,
Committee on Publications; with the Assistance

of the Secretary of the Institute.

VOL. CLXXIII.-Nos. 1033-1038

(86th YEAR)

JANUARY-JUNE, 1912

PHILADELPHIA

Published by the Institute, at the Hall, 15 South Seventh Street.

Sci 1520.3.0

2

JUN 20 1917

FRANSFER TO

TANYARD COLLEGE LIONARY

COPYRIGHT, 1912

BY

THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.

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THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT TO RAILWAY OPERATION.

BY

WILSON E. SYMONS,
Chicago, Ill.

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So much has been written and said on the subject of Scientific Management of Railways" and the remarkable economies that either have been or can be accomplished in railway operations by "efficiency engineers," that the reading public no doubt feels that our railways are, with one or two rare exceptions, very inefficiently managed. The testimony taken at the hearing before the Interstate Commerce Commission in the recent rate case together with the numerous newspaper and magazine articles by the very able advocates of this plan all tend to show that, by the adoption of "scientific management" in the operation of our railways, a saving of one million dollars per day could easily be effected, and, as this information, so widely circulated, has no doubt carried partial or complete conviction to many who have not paused to consider the question of the practicability of this plan to all branches of railway operation, it will be the purpose of the writer to treat the question from the broad standpoint of a highly efficient transportation unit, to which all branches or integral parts must be subordinated.

It also seems quite proper in this connection to analyze some of the misleading figures and statements presented through the columns of one of our leading magazines in support of the general adoption of this plan, and to offer a very fitting, though tardy,

[NOTE.-The Franklin Institute is not responsible for the statements and opinions advanced by contributors to the JOURNAL.] Copyright, 1912, by THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE.

VOL. CLXXIII, No. 1033—1

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