Opening Throttle

For the first time in six months, the nation's stalled railroads showed signs of picking up speed. Freight carloadings jumped 7% in a fortnight, hit a 1958 high of 612,715 cars. The rise was in all types of freight, with the most significant gain in wheat shipments. Railroadmen expect that wheat shipments will reach a peak around July 4, stay high as the U.S. harvests its fourth fattest crop in history.

Good news also came from Washington. The rail relief bill (TIME, May 5) rode through the Senate, and a similar bill unanimously passed the House Commerce Committee. Both bills 1) provide for the U.S. to guarantee private loans to the rails (the Senate set a $700 million limit, but the House set no ceiling), 2) give greater power to the Interstate Commerce Commission to reduce service on money-losing routes. 3) tighten up on truckers now exempt from ICC rate regulations. Since chances seemed good that a relief bill would become law within a month, almost all major rail stocks advanced last week. The Dow-Jones rail index closed at the year's high of 119.21, up 19.32 points from the low in January.

For the ailing, n 2-year-old Pennsylvania Railroad, "this is going to be the worst year." The 1958 deficit, said Vice President David C. Bevan last week, will top the $4,048,000 loss of 1946, only other year that the Pennsy was in the red. The line has lost money for seven straight months, and "July will be very bad."

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