1. posterid:656644
  2. Bridge Traffic and Stock cars

Re: Bridge Traffic and Stock cars

MDelvec952
 



Generally, there were big markets for livestock on both coasts. In steam-era northern New Jersey the Erie had the lion's share of stock cars rolling over it, but the PRR delivered quite a bit as well.  Lackawanna only had 50 stock cars in service during WWII, so most of what rolled over the Road of Anthracite were of Western and Mid-western origin.  During WWII, the Lackwanna used some of the stock cars as waycars (LCL) often delivering commodities such as loose coal. The open slats were filled in with fresher lumber to about a third of the way up the sides.

I followed the last livestock moves to the East Coast in the early 1990s on Conrail at a place called CP STOCK, and those were in UP cars. The folks at the slaughterhouse said they stopped because during the trip the weight of the animal reduced so greatly. That slaughterhouse still operates today, and the intense and vile stink wafts over Oak Island yard each summer. The trainmen and mechanics in that yard are used to it. Each time I'm there, I wonder if this is what Civil War-era railroading smelled like, when tallow was used to lubricate steam locomotives before the discovery of oil.

                   ....Mike Del Vecchio




-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Thompson tony@... [STMFC]
To: STMFC
Sent: Wed, Dec 17, 2014 1:32 pm
Subject: Re: [STMFC] Bridge Traffic and Stock cars

 
Arved Grass wrote:

 
Generally, neighboring railroads only. I'm sure there were exceptions, but rules required fairly frequent disembarking of the stock carried for feeding watering, and car cleaning. The railroad generally wouldn't wait for the same car to be cleaned, so they'd use their own if available. 

        I think this generalization is all right. But there are certainly exceptions visible in photos. I have photos of both D&RGW and MKT stock cars in San Luis Obispo, and photos of MP, T&P and CB&Q stock cars in Los Angeles. These are kind of "neighboring" railroads for the SP, but at distances probably requiring at least one intermediate stock resting stop. But the predominant pattern, I'm sure, is as Arved states.

Tony Thompson             Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705         www.s ignaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, tony@...
Publishers of books on railroad history
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