In a message dated 8/13/02 7:52:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time, asychis@...
writes:

<< Here's a question. Would it be typical for a railroad to load a mixture
of
livestock, say sheep cattle, calves, and hogs into the same single-deck
stock
car? >>

Jerry,

It was permissible to ship different types of livestock in stock cars, but in
most cases the use of a partition was required to separate the species. The
only exception to this rule was that goats could be mixed with sheep or veal
cows.

Larger cows could be shipped with bulls as long as the bulls were tied. If
cows were smaller, or with suckling calves, the bulls were required to be
partitioned and tied.

The mixing of livestock with hogs was rare even with the use of partitions.
Hogs were the hardest of all livestock to ship due to their sensitive
digestive systems and, like dogs, they don't perspire, thus cool themselves
via panting. Hogs required cooling in summer and large amounts of warm
bedding in winter. Hogs and the car's bedding material were often drenched
with water during warm days to cool them. Additionally, blocks of ice were
added to stock cars--placed on the floor or hung from burlap sacks attached
to ceiling hooks.

The Santa Fe operated cars that were equipped with partitions, and other
roads may have had stock cars with built in partitions as well. When
required, partitions were constructed from 2x4s and 2x6s and then wired to
the side posts of the stock car.

Regards,

Guy Wilber
Sparks, Nevada