Hi Tony,

     The short answer is that if the Pennsy had been in business, instead of pretending to be, the Alphabet Route

would not have been. The Erie was a hell of a railroad and I'm sorry it's gone. The time per ton mile always

seemed to be excellent and given the profile of their route from eastern Ohio further east one has to give them

credit for the excellent service they provided. If you look at those figure again It is not only the Erie that had

volume, it was the roads between them andthe four northern New England states. This is why the B&M numbers

were so much higher than the Penny's New Haven partner as well. Most of what the New Haven did carry came

via Maybrook, the Erie's New Haven connection, judging by most photos I've seen, rather then via car floats from

the Pennsy at Greenville, NJ. I know Bruce and others disagree with but to me the Pennsy was little more than

its reporting marks, all PR but not much service. I wish the figures included the Canadian roads as the CPR

carried a fair amount of meat traffic into Northern New England as well but I have no figures for the volume.

My best, Don Valentine