Tim wrote:




"And dividing 541,606 by Stephen's 36,726 stock cars yields
14.74 loads/car for a year -- about 25 days per carload. If
you factor in the 28 hr rule for loaded livestock cars, I
guess these cars spent most of their time empty and idle. I'm
actually amazed they managed to load them that often -- The
~15 loads/car per year is pretty close to the present day
average for 'loose car' traffic."

Tim,

The total number of stock cars in service as of January 1, 1947 was 53,092. I believe Stephen noted that his total was for the major owners and is not complete, though there would have been some reduction in numbers by 1949. Western lines dominated with 41,732 cars, Eastern Lines 7,349, Southern Lines 2,253 and Private Lines 1,758. 30,196 of the total were forty foot cars.

Regards,

Guy Wilber
Reno, Nevada












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