I don't know how long they have been there (or if they are still there for that matter...) But, Chiquita had/has a large pier and facility in Gulfport, MS for the special banana ships. I've been

On an NYC list, there was recently a discussion of the "banana house" at Weehwaken, where ships were unloaded to a warehouse for movement to railroad cars, which made up fairly hot "banana trains" up

Hi Denny and List, The IC banana trains into Dubuque were hot. These trains typically were broken up between the CBQ, Milw, CGW and some cars continuing into Iowa on the IC. The Milw would run a

Judging by old (1930's) Railroad Magazine stories, it was certainly common for engineers and head brakemen to give firemen a break on "hand-bombers", especially on demanding jobs with big engines,

Assuming MDT was a major leaser of cars to IC(LA), GM&O(AL) and NYC(NY), its a wonder they can't be nicknamed banana cars Roger Hinman

I will certainly second Norm's kudos to Ted for the RMC series. The photos of the underframe detail for the CP "mini" boxcar in the January issue are the sharpest and clearest of this type I have

Boat into Los Angeles and San Francisco. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2942 Linden Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 http://www.signaturepress.com (510) 540-6538; fax,

How did the west coast get their bananas? Homegrown? By boat from Costa Rica? T&NO/SP? Banana magic? Regards, Mike

"There were seven C&NW (NW Region) Automobile Cars loaded with Autos or Trucks from probably a Racine or Kenosha WI Auto Plant." Could be farm machinery (likely tractors) from Racine, which was

Mike Auf der Heide asked: I think Banana Magic is something you get at a bar... Actually the West got most if not all their shipments of bananas from South American countries via the United Fruit

Joe; I think they might have been in a number series including 1955x. -- Regards, Art Richardson Clinton, MS

Bannanas were all imported, virtually all in 9 states (ICC rail loading data, 1950): LA 306k tons 30.0% AL 173k tons 16.9% NY 170k tons 16.7% NJ 124k tons 12.1% MD 94k tons 9.2% WA 49k tons

Haverhill, MA is a logical destination for that car on the B&M. It was one of the large shoe mfg cities of NE. Regards, Norm Larkin

Brian, I've never heard of Seaboard or ACL hauling a significant amount of bananas, especially to IC from Florida points. However, Southern had a "Banana Terminal" built specifically for the

I don't know if any IC banana shipments ever went to the West Coast, but it seems unlikely to me. There is a photo in volume 3 of Lloyd Stagner's "Santa Fe in Color" series showing an IC reefer in an

Funny that you guys are talking about this right now. Frank Hodina just sent me the text of a few interchange sheets, between the IC and NKP in Paxton, Illinois. They include two banana car

Ray Breyer wrote: Ray, When you're at Paxton in January, could you please check to see if there are any interchange reports for the IC at St. Louis? As I recall from an old Terminal Rail

I've uploaded an Iowa Division (1960) track profile that includes East Dubuque: Photos folder, Banana. Perhaps a former IC hand or someone else might be able to identify the banana track. I'm at

Walter Clark asked: Certainly the SP single-sheathed cars all show that the attachments visible on the outside of the car, connecting sheathing to posts and braces, are nuts on bolts. I'd assume

Shawn Beckert said: Yes, the San Francisco Banana Terminal (pictured in the book) was a block away from SP's SF Freight Terminal. In LA, the PE handled banana trains up the 4-track main from the