THE      NEW      YORK      CENTRAL      RAILROAD      COMPANY

March 30, 1946
 

To the Stockholders:

In 1945 the operations of the New York Central, in
common with those of other railroads and many in¬
dustries, were affected by the unusual conditions
which resulted from the termination of hostilities.

During the first half of the year shipments of war
supplies and the transportation of troops continued
in heavy volume. At the beginning of the year the
movement of traffic was seriously impeded for several
weeks because of weather conditions in the Great
Lakes area, with low temperatures and exceptional!}
heavy snow fall, extending as far east as S\racuse.
 

Following the cessation of hostilities on the European
front, the redeployment of troops from that area and
the transportation of returning service personnel
placed a very heav\' burden on the available passen¬
ger equipment. With the end of the war in the Pacific,
followed by demobilization, the transportation of
military personnel increased to such an extent that
it became necessary to curtail the service provided for
civilian passenger travel. In the latter part of the year
there was a considerable falling off in the volume of
freight traffic, which was due not only to the sub-