1.) (depot eastward (wide)): Hornell depot currently under renovation.
Shows repaired walls, roof and overhanging part of the roof. Actually the
roof and the overhanging portion of it over the walks have been restored
very well. A significant amount of the deteriorated brick structure appears
to have been repaired and again, quite well. Kudos to the construction
company (mentioned in an earlier thread) for their high degree of
craftsmanship. One thing I missed was a close up shot(s) of the replaced
brick. It appears to be of a different color, but it may be the same and
the difference is the many years of weathering on the existing brick. I
don't know if there are plans to sandblast or apply some sort of 'cleaning'
process (Schuyler, any input / insight here ?) the existing brick, which if
done, may result in a more uniform coloration.
2.) (depot eastward): Depot again, a little bit closer up. You can
notice on this and in #3, the extensive amount of work being done and how
all the windows / doorways have been secured / boarded up to mitigate
vandalism on the inside.
3.) (depot eastward (telephoto)): Depot with greatest magnification.
Again, I wish I had taken more close-ups / detail shots to show the amount /
nature of work being performed.
4.) Current NS line looking east. CP CASS St. in the near distance.
5.) Former Alleghany Div. line again, looking east. If you look hard
enough at the land adjacent to the trackwork (granted the resolution is less
that ideal, by a significant degree), you can see the evidence of the
extensive brush cutting that the WNY&PA is undertaking to restore the line
to service. If the 2 - 3 photos I took facing westward had developed well
enough, you could see the brushwork to an even more impressive degree.
Topic #2:
This past Saturday (4/6) I was on my way to Ellicottville to ski and I was
traveling on Rt. 417 between Carrollton and Salamanca, and I noticed a mixed
freight operating eastbound with a consist of boxcars, covered hoppers and
some (maybe 8 - 10) 'bathtub' gons from the something 'Jones' line (has
diamond shaped placard in the middle of the car). I'm not sure which line
it was on (i.e. B&P or WNY&PA). Does anyone know if this was a WNY&PA
movement to Olean?
The Buffalo area members can help with the ownership of the gons, as a
number of them (at least in the past) could be seen from Rt. 400 in W.
Seneca on the track leading to the Ebeneezer car refurbishing plant there
(on the ex-PRR Buffalo line). Oops.... Better get back on topic, I feel the
content police breathing down my back.... Or is that heavy breathing Darth
Vader?
Topic #3:
Erie accounting treatment of equipment expenditures in early part of 20th
century. SGL (whoever that guy is? You know, most people that only use
their initials are those who think they have a really important position or
office, ya' know, like president of a historical society or something like
that! Oh, well, kiss my next Diamond goodbye!) pointed out that the Erie
would directly expense (i.e. 100% of the cost) the cost of locos, rolling
stock etc. instead of capitalizing it as an assets and depreciating it over
a number of years (as is currently done). Bill Burt and others have
discussed in a very lucid and detailed manner some of the reasons for this
type of practice and the history and the motivations of the men behind it;
what were some of the more commonly employed accounting conventions of the
time in the RR industry, and have postulated why the Erie would have
employed these methods.
I wanted to add that at that time, accounting methods, principles,
conventions etc. were not very well established and most companies did not
have to publish financial statements and especially those that were audited
by an outside CPA firm and business at that time had great flexibility in
determining their accounting policies and how they would be applied. An
accounting professor I had in college used to talk about the NYC RR prior to
the Great Depression and when Cornelius Vanderbilt was asked to provide what
the revenues, expense, net income and other financial information of the RR,
he would simply reply that each of these items would be what he wanted them
to be at the time he was asked. Any oversight of corporate financial
reporting and development of a unified and consistent body of accounting
principles and conventions has mostly developed in this country after the
Depression with the enactment of the Securities and Exchange Acts of 1933
and 1934.
Having said this, my take on the Erie's practices here are twofold. One may
be a desire to show a greater loss to be able to obtain greater rates
through the tariff process. However, I am not sure that at this time how
much of rates were set by a tariff setting body and how much individual RR's
could influence them and have them set for them vrs. other competing RR's in
their markets. The other one is that Erie had been the takeover target of
the NYC for a significant portion of its history. Maybe, management wanted
to jack up its debt with the large volume of equipment purchases as
described by one SGL, and then with accelerated write-offs, exaggerate
losses or substantially reduce net income and make the company appear to be
less of a takeover target (i.e. high indebtedness, with inflated losses or
substantially lowered net income (which is where your cash comes from to pay
interest and reduce your debt) makes your business appear less attractive).
I can't comment as to the environment that the Erie operated in the first
decade of the last century, and what aims the NYC or other RR's in the NE /
Midwest had toward acquiring it, but it might be relevant. Maybe someone
with better knowledge or the Erie's history, like Bill Burt could comment on
this.
Anyway, I've ruminated a bit much, so I'll call it quits for now.
Regards,
CRT (A man far greater in his own mind than in any form of reality!)
Christopher R. Thurner
Adelphia Communications
One North Main Street
Coudersport, PA 16915
814.274.9830
814.274.0413 (fax)
Chris.thurner@adelphia.com
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