Excerpt from Ton-Mile Cost The matters to be discussed constitute what is really the most important branch of the analysis of general railroad results, for they deal in the main with questions of cost, which necessarily de termine net earnings and profits. In quite another sense, however, these matters may prove of interest to practical railroad men, for they are, in a measure, the theory of their practice. Experience shows that comparatively few practical men know very much about the theory of their industry, consequently it may profit to deal with it in a purely theoretic way, touching only very superficially upon matters of practice. To those whose business it is to canvass, weigh and examine railroad results, a fairly clear perception of first principles is almost essential, for the evidence upon which judgments have to be made is of such a nature as to be thoroughly intelligible only by the light of these principles. Railroad analysis is, after all, little more than a series of comparisons, but the possibilities of error and fallacy in the process of comparisons are multitudinous unless the way is guarded by a general knowledge of the basis upon which comparisons can alone be correctly made. An attempt is made to indicate this basis in a general way. No originality is claimed for the form of the inquiry or the scheme upon which it is founded. The late Mr. Albert Fink, as far back as 1873, laid the lines upon which practically all scientific railroad thought has since proceeded. We have followed these lines as closely as may be. Those who are curious to see how closely, are referred to the annual report of Louisville 8: Nashville for the year 1873-74. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.