Store Room Practice of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co., Excerpt: Electric Railway Journal V.33 Page 650 - April 3, 1909

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STORE ROOM PRACTICE OF THE PHILADELPHIA RAPID TRANSIT COMPANY

The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company owns about 3800 cars, which are operated on the surface lines from 19 operating car houses. Inspection and light repairs to cars are carried out at all of these depots, but heavier repairs are made at one of the two general shops of the company. One of these shops is located in the north eastern part of the city, at the corner of Kensington and Cumberland Avenues, and the other is located in the old car house at Eighth and Dauphin Streets. The methods employed by this company in distributing equipment supplies from the general storeroom, which is also located in the building at Eighth and Dauphin Streets, to the 19 operating depots and to the Kensington Avenue shops presents a number of interesting features.

The general storeroom at Eighth and Dauphin Streets handles all supplies for the mechanical department, the operating department and the general offices. All heavy material for the track department is stored in and distributed from five division store yards, which also carry the maintenance and construction supplies of the department of lines and cables. The distribution of supplies for these two departments is entirely separate from the jurisdiction of the general store keeper and will be referred to briefly later on. Small supplies for the power house, including nuts, bolts, washers and similar manufactured parts, are drawn from the general storehouse when required; but coal, lubricating oil, waste and packing are delivered direct to the power houses, which make monthly requisitions for these supplies to the purchasing department.

The supplies of all kinds for the Market Street elevated and subway division are purchased through the office of the purchasing agent of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, but as this line is a leased property its accounts are kept entirely separate from the accounts of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, and its supplies are han dled through a separate storehouse.

The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company carries on its books only two accounts for supplies. One of these is the general supply account covering all of the material handled through the general storehouse at Eighth and Dauphin Streets; the other is a similar maintenance of way supply account covering all track material, also material used by the department of lines and cables. As material is purchased and placed in stock in the general storeroom, its cost is entered under the general supply account, which is carried as a capital liability on the balance sheet. Each month the disbursements from the general storehouse are deducted from this general supply account and charged directly to operating expenses, being divided among the several sub-headings of this general account, according to the use to which the material drawn out was put. The cost of coal, oil and other power-house supplies is charged directly to operating expenses as delivered. At certain times, when a shortage of coal is threatened, large surplus stocks of coal are purchased ahead of requirements and a special capital account is opened on the books. As the surplus coal is used up its value is charged off to operatingexpenses against this special coal account.

The general storeroom at Eighth and Dauphin Streets is the central distributing point for all supplies required by the mechanical and operating departments. It is in charge of a general storekeeper, who reports to the purchasing agent. At the Kensington Avenue shops a branch storeroom is maintained under the direction of a storekeeper. This branch storeroom carries a stock of all supplies needed for the manufacturing and repair work carried on in the shop, but no supplies are issued from it direct to any of the operating depots. No stocks of such material as armature and field coil wire, paint and other supplies used solely in manufacturing and heavy repairwork are carried in the Eighth Street storehouse. A complete stock of manufactured parts, however, is kept on hand at this place ready to be issued when required to any of the operating depots. All these rolling stock supplies and miscellaneous car house and office supplies, such as brooms, fire buckets, stationery, ink, etc., are kept in stock at Eighth Street, and here also is kept the paper supply, which is issued from time to time to the printing department for use in printing transfers, tickets and office stationery.

An effort is made to limit the stock carried at each of the operating depots to an amount required for ordinary maintenance for not more than one week. Such supplies as are issued are charged to the car house foreman, who is responsible for their proper care and use. Each depot is provided with its own supply car, and a schedule has been arranged for the cars of all depots so that they make regular trips once each week, arriving at the EighthStreet storeroom at a fixed day and hour. When supplies are needed for an emergency these cars, of course, make special trips. The storehouse has a special freight car for its exclusive use. This car, which has a capacity of 30 tons and is mounted on double trucks, resembles a standard railroad box car, and is used for hauling the supplies from the railroad freight yards, with which the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company has track connections, to the storehouse and for distributing supplies from the Eighth Street storehouse to the branch at the KensingtonAvenue shops.

The keynote of the system of issuing supplies on this road is the requirement that for each new article delivered one worn-out or broken article of the same description shall be returned to the storeroom. ...