TABLE OF CONTENTS Appropriations and expenditures for fiscal year ended June 30, 1928_ Compilation and annotation of statutes.. Cooperation of Federal and State commissions--- Acquisition of control of one carrier by another-- Certificates of public convenience and necessity. Issuance of securities and assumption of obligations-- Recovery of excess net railway operating income, general railroad Reimbursement of deficits during Federal control.. Six months' guaranty after termination of Federal control.. Individual ownership of railroads.. Amendment of section 10 of interstate commerce act recommended.. Locomotive Inspection, Bureau of.. Publication of rates for transportation from and to Canada and Mexico - 36 Signals and train-control devices --- Scope of jurisdiction over electric railways.. Service: Bureau of - Car-service matters_. Coal.. Cooperative tests with Department of Agriculture- 37 79 41 43 47 46 Efficiency and economy of operation.- Refrigerator cars in service_- Transportation of explosives and other dangerous articles_-- Standard time-zone investigation.. APPENDIXES A. Indictments returned, and informations, complaints, and petitions filed, B. Summaries showing action taken since the period covered by the last annual report with respect to cases involving orders or require- ments of the commission and status on October 31, 1928, of cases D. Points decided by the commission in reported rate and valuation cases, with index of points decided and table of cases. E. Digest of Federal court desisions.. F. Statements of certificates and orders issued under various sections of the interstate commerce act and the transportation act, 1920, and statement of payments made by carriers under section 15a of the interstate commerce act-- G. Statistical compilations covering installations of train-stop or train- control devices made by the carriers under the orders of June 13, 1922, and January 14, 1924, Docket No. 13413, and additional in- stallations made voluntarily by certain carriers---- Index--- 305 313 REPORT OF THE WASHINGTON, D. C., December 1, 1928. To the Senate and House of Representatives: The Interstate Commerce Commission has the honor to submit herewith its forty-second annual report to the Congress. The period covered by this report extends from November 1, 1927, to October 31, 1928, except as otherwiss uoted. A statement of appropriations and aggregate expenditures for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928, is embodied in this report. The names and compensation of persons employed are transmitted separately but not printed. BUREAU OF ACCOUNTS The volume of work involved in the determination of- excess income of steam railroads subject to recapture by the Government under the provisions of section 15a of the interstate commerce act has made it necessary for this bureau to devote substantially all of the time of its field force to accounting examinations under that section. By improvements in the methods of conducting field examinations and through enhanced efficiency of the field force we have been able to increase output, so that substantial progress has been made in bringing this work more nearly to a current basis. During the year we have made 813 examinations under section 15a of the interstate commerce act and 12 under section 204 of the transportation act, 1920, as well as 40 special examinations necessary in our other accounting work. The investigation of refrigeration charges on fruits, vegetables, berries, and melons from the South, which was referred to in our last report, and which is nearing completion, has been followed by a similar investigation of the refrigeration charges on like commodities from the West. These investigations involve detailed accounting inquiries into the cost of the service. A number of the accountants of the bureau have been assigned to this work. As stated in our last report, in response to petitions from the carriers, shippers' organizations, and commercial bodies, further consideration is being given the subject of depreciation accounting |