Source: National Bureau of Economic Research  

Release: NBER Macrohistory Database  

Units:  Number of Freight Cars, Not Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Monthly

Series 03008 Is Presented Here As Two Variables--(1)--Original Data, 1907-1930 (2)--Original Data, 1915-1917. Data Include All Car Requisitions Including Duplication, Therefore "Requisitions" Is Possibly A Better Term Than "Shortages". For Example A Shipper Might Request 25 Cars From Four Lines, However, Only Needing 25. This Data Would Show A 100 Car "Shortage" In This Example. The Railroads Included In These Reports Are The Same Throughout, Except That The Actual Number Of Roads Decreased Due To Consolidation From About 175 To 118. Data Throughout Are Comparable. Data For 1915 Are Based On End-Of-Month Figures. Data Are Converted To Middle-Of-Month By Taking Two Month Moving Averages. Source: Data For 1907-1917: American Railway Association, "Unfilled Car Requisitions", Bulletin No. 6, August 17, 1917; Quarterly Journal Of Economics, Vol. 33, P. 179. Data For 1918-1924: Ara Annual Bulletins. Data For 1920-1930: U.S. Department Of Commerce, Survey Of Current Business, May 1922, August 1924, December 1931.

This NBER data series m03008a appears on the NBER website in Chapter 3 at http://www.nber.org/databases/macrohistory/contents/chapter03.html.

NBER Indicator: m03008a