AT THIS MOMENT

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] train 82 on track 5. 82 on 5. [Music] scotties it's not today promised my wife i'd eat home for a change miss all the latest news uh-huh and arguments well see ya say hello to kelly for me pardon me yeah i'm looking for a joint of some sort around here called scotty's uh can you tell me where it is yeah i can tell you something else too mister don't let kelly hear you call scotty's a joint kelly who's kelly on a hill to the right you can't miss it oh and say hello to kelly for me yeah [Music] sure kelly i must be getting old i keep hearing echoes did you get your message on the board george yeah i saw it when i came in 85 90 a dollar thanks a lot george i'll bet you're kelly well you wouldn't want to vet with me i happen to know i might have guessed it what'd you say uh well um i was looking for a superintendent named paul todd i was told i'd probably find him in here well no he's not here now but he usually comes in about this time oh well i guess i'll wait then all right uh could i trouble you for a cup of coffee trouble i brought you some more coffee kelly good hey how about a cup of coffee huh good and hot easy on the cream heavy on the chicken no trouble at all russ how about those twins of yours have been saving a page one spot for the news you know any day now hey bill yeah what's all this about oh well that's all i know about it just what it says there hey you got cigarettes thanks i understand they've already had a program on steel one on automobiles nice railroads that i want to see well thank you why not after all what's more important to the welfare of people and business than the railroads sure but how can they tell the story of the railroads in one program maybe with six but one uh i've been talking railroading to my wife for 20 years i haven't repeated myself once uh not funny uh not funny well what's so hard i got all they need for a tv show look every hour one thousand trains leave somewhere four somewhere four thousand five hundred carloads of freighter ship four thousand five hundred are received fifteen thousand railway express shipments are handled one million three hundred thousand pounds every hour scotty you and your facts and figures yeah well it comes easy i have to listen to you guys for 15 years here oh thank you you should be here when they start discussing baseball or better yet congress like i was telling my brother-in-law from detroit oh i forgot your spoon back on track one boys like i was telling my brother not to detroit sure i said automobiles are mighty important but how would they make them if it wasn't for the tons of steel the railroads haul to your factory yeah 25 000 tons a day along with 000 square feet of plate glass 900 000 pounds of copper and oh sorry russ why pick autos phil all right sorry how would you make anything without railroads refrigerators breakfast food airplanes you name it here tell me don't you get tired of railroad talk in here all the time no i like it why oh just curious you see i'm not a railroad man oh not really so maybe it's hard for me to swallow all this talk about how important railroads are after all almost everything i buy seems to be delivered to my house by truck after it's first been hauled by railroads about a hundred or a thousand miles change kelly excuse me who's city boy bill never saw him before maybe they ought to put a memory genius like scotty on this tv show hey how about that oh he's only kidding scotty no maybe some mc fella gets me up there and asks me questions about the railroads tries to stop me see might be terrific i'll take wrestling maybe they'll call me the human encyclopedia oh brother how much railroad track in the nation maybe this fella has right off by teller nearly 400 000 miles how much straight to the railroads haul more tons of freight more miles than all other forms of transportation put together how much taxes do the railroads pay in a year 1 billion 250 million dollars how much does it cost to haul a ton of freight a mile by railroads averages less than a cent and a half you can't stop me you see then maybe he turns to the studio audience and he says anybody in the audience got a question to ask yes i have what happened to those ham and eggs i ordered [Laughter] coming up coming up but don't forget these are hauled by the railroads too yes i know you know maybe scotty's got something there on that 400 000 miles of track business i mean or built paid for and maintained by the railroads don't forget that and with every mile of line you got a cash investment of a hundred and ten thousand dollars don't forget that and maybe that's the story this tv program ought to tell suppose you took just one moment he showed the people what's happening on the railroad tracks of the nation in a single moment that'd be something wouldn't and see the headlines editor turns tv producer okay okay but look well maybe you have this follows he's sort of a sort of a narrator while he talks you show pictures of what's happening along the 400 000 miles of track maybe he'll start off by saying right at this moment right while you're thinking about it at this moment as in every moment of america's history the wealth of the nation lies dispersed far and wide throughout a vast continent to make this reservoir of wealth useful huge quantities of raw materials must be moved regularly to the centers of production finished goods must move freely to the marketplaces of the nation and the world in the endless and indispensable movement of materials and goods the greatest role is that played by the railroads of america at this moment the railroads are hauling the food products on which the health and vitality of the nation depends so at this moment the railroads are moving the endless variety of raw materials which the industries of the nation will refine convert fabricate process and manufacture at this moment the railroads are carrying the finished products of industry and agriculture which the people of the world will buy sell and use [Music] so today as always the welfare of the nation depends upon its railroads [Music] the welfare of the nation depends on the railroads i wonder just how many people up and down all the main streets realize that and rush to haul the same load carried by one big freight train would take a convoy of heavy trucks 10 miles long just one train mind you and about 15 000 freight trains are on the move every day nice and cold scotty tell you what i wouldn't mind i'm showing on tv especially for those people who never think much about railroads who weren't for railroads how would you move large equipment across the country like that for instance or something that size as long as you're talking about the holland jobs the roads you do how about mail about 90 of all intercity mail is carried by the railroad and what's more uncle sam paid the railroads less to move that 90 percent and it cost them to move the remaining 10. and don't forget express the railroads pick up and deliver over 350 000 express packages a day kelly how about another cup of coffee oh sure say you know i've been thinking about that remark you made a few minutes ago about railroads being overrated yes oh don't get me wrong i know that they've been important at least in the past but this is a modern age oh and i suppose railroads aren't modern well maybe i don't know enough about railroads maybe you and a lot of other people pick it up kelly okay anyway stick around you might find it interesting i will you know there's another story they could put on tv see you later saw pete about all the advances the railroads have made correction are making all the time at a cost of over a billion dollars a year and all their own though i mean private capital today you've got more tonnage moving in a single train faster movement of freight why why a whole fistful of reasons and i'll tell you one of them power take the new diesels they've speeded up switching and train makeup operations and at this moment new diesel power is pulling greater tonnage trains than ever before and pulling freight at passenger train speeds too diesels are hauling three-quarters of the nation's rail traffic and even newer types of power are being tested all the time right along with the new motive power you can talk about the advances in air brakes added power made faster heavier trains possible advances in air brakes make it practical the force it takes to stop a freight train going 60 miles an hour would be enough to lift that whole train ten stories in the air that's a lot of force how many people realize that with a simple movement of a single lever an engineer can put that kind of force into action with just one lever he has complete and positive control of the longest and heaviest freight train on the steepest grade because of air brake improvements even the fastest train loads of livestock or fragile merchandise can be brought smoothly and swiftly to a stop without injury or damage but power and brakes are only part of the story like today trains run with greater regularity and dependability yet with greater safety than ever before because of the big advances made in the signal systems with today's modern systems trains can automatically control signals behind them following trains get an immediate and clear picture of conditions ahead the wayside signals are duplicated in locomotive cabs regardless of outside conditions the engine man always has a clear vision of the signals which ride with him in the cab nowadays two-way train traffic can move with greater speed and safety over single-track systems than ever before why because train traffic can be handled by signals over hundreds of miles of track from a remote tower by a single man lights show the location of every train by simply flipping levers he can put trains on sidings and allow others to move by in the opposite direction on the main line [Music] faster train movements safer i wonder how many folks know why well bill there's this to be said new communication methods doing a lot to speed up train movement eliminate delays and increase safety okay dick flagman's back on right eastbound nine six nine six to eastbound nine five four one okay eastbound nine five four one everything looks good okay nine six nine four putting you on a siding at quentin conductor 9604 the great tower cattle on the track had to stop a mile south of crooks road just another example of modern methods the railroads use you're right there bill and what's next there's more to the story why freight shipments are moving faster today right at this moment improved systems for classifying cars freight cars can be classified at the rate of one every 12 seconds by a single operator in a tower he pushes various speed selector buttons and retarders grip freight wheels with the exact amount of pressure to slow the car down to the speed the operator selects it's a long story the story of the advancing rails i'll say it's a long story yeah and it could go on too about rails road beds and roots the new rails you have today are heavier sturdier and made of better metal and the new road beds being put down how much faster they're made how much faster rails are being laid because of modern mechanized equipment new rails new road beds new track laying methods grades reduced sharp curves eliminated so that goods and people move more smoothly safely and faster than ever before this tv program ought to have the story on modern passenger service how many people know that they can enjoy the same comfort on trains as in their own living rooms and the same kind of safety too [Music] it would be a mighty interesting story on passenger service believe me bill telephone okay kelly thanks you know they shouldn't forget the number of purchases the railroads make either all the things it takes to give the public modern transportation service how many items scotty oh nearly a hundred thousand different items from manufacturers and suppliers in over twelve thousand cities and towns the bill amounts to almost seven million dollars a day and that's all railroad though no subsidies no tax money bill should i tell them you call them back and i'll be right there any way you look at it it's a tough story to tell in half an hour and i don't envy the guy who's got the job don't rush say i'm sorry about paul todd he's usually here oh that's quite all right i enjoyed the wait you know maybe you want to see this new tv show the boys have been talking about i think it'll be any good yeah well i sure hope so i hope so too 25.50 a dollar thanks a lot and stop back again sometime well thank you i might surprise you and do just that so kelly did you know that 4 500 oh scotty not tonight well now figures don't lie why thank you scotty good night kelly tonight we bring you another in a series of public service programs featuring the american private businesses upon which our whole way of living depends this is a story which begins in the research centers and laboratories of railroads railroad associations universities engineering societies and in the research facilities of thousands of suppliers and manufacturers this is the story of the advancing rails it's an important story for no matter who you are where you are or what you do the railroads influence your life and the way you live tonight we present the story of the nation's railroads a story happening at this moment hey that fella's face looks mighty familiar it should isn't that the fella was having coffee here a couple of weeks ago when we were off that's him if you ask me he's a wise guy hey look bill they're doing just what you were talking about look at that [Music] as a private business the railroads welded a continent into a nation help little shops become large factories small towns become cities linked every community with every other community the welfare of other businesses and the welfare of the nation's people have and always will depend heavily upon the railroads continuing to operate as a private business continuing to advance continuing with these advances and as private businesses to help keep the nation prosperous in times of peace strong in times of emergency under a free and enterprising system of business operation the railroads can serve you best at this moment and as they work on through every moment of every day and night [Music] [Music] for me hey kelly i don't think that fella's a wise guy that program's good kelly i hope you find the tv program as good as i found your coffee and irish advice john well kind of a nice wise guy anyway [Music] you