Dave Nelson <Lake_Muskoka@...> asked:

Anyone know when the term ”Block”, describing a set of cars headed to the same location, came into general use?  Or whether that concept is in use outside of North America?  Similar question regarding lcomotives, where I recall hearing the term “lashup” to refer to a set of locos.  Or are these just railfan/model railroader terms?

John H. Armstrong in The Railroad What it Is, What It Does, 3rd Ed. Simmons-Boardman, 1990, page 169, says, "The next step in terminal operations is to assemble the cars from various sources into blocks ... headed for individual destinations; ...."  This is in Ch 12 entitled Classification and Blocking.

Coughlin, Freight Car Distribution, 1956 gives a specific example of blocking from the B&O.

You might try these, but the pdf's are not searchable.

• Railroad Freight Transporation, Loree, 1922
• Freight terminals and trains, Droege, 1912, available on Internet Archive and elsewhere online and published in multiple editions.

A Google search on "locomotive consist" gives a "consist" discussion like that mentioned by Richard Townsend

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/135239/1516637.aspx

along with a lot of official looking railroad industry web pages.

-- 
Rufus Cone
Bozeman, MT