No Steel for Cars?

On May 1, the A.A.R. announced last week, U.S. railroads had more new freight cars on order than at any other time in 16 years. The total: 56,502. New locomotives on order, also at a post-1926 peak, totaled 438.

They still had to order many more to keep up with their own schedule of required purchases for the next three years. But the question was, when would the cars already on order be delivered? Ralph Budd announced fortnight ago that railroad-car builders would get priorities on steel. But last week, for lack of steel, two car-building shops had shut down; a third suspended operations at a fabricating plant; two others were running through their last steel inventory. Iron Age reported fortnight ago that most freight-car builders were running at less than 50% of capacity owing to lack of certain necessary special steels. OPM has subordinated railroad orders for steel plates to those of shipbuilders, some of whom can't get enough either.

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