Hello all,

First of all, thank you Andy for posting the GBW conductor's book.  Much appreciated!

As I browsed the book, I stumbled upon a page that had aluminum pigs coming from Wisconsin Rapids, probably from the Pacific Northwest and interchanged at Winona which made sense to me.  But on the same page I noticed that there was "alum" traffic that was picked up at Amherst Jct. which wasn't as obvious to me.  Normally I'd assume that "alum" was an abbreviation for "aluminum" but the different pickup location got me questioning that assumption.

"Alum" could also maybe mean aluminum sulfate which is used in paper making. There is certainly paper making industry in central Wisconsin, and a little google searching suggested that some consumers did manufacture their own, so for a bit I considered maybe this was locally originated aluminum sulfate traffic.  But based on car types involved (i.e. gondolas), "aluminum" being spelled out explicitly in some cases, and the other traffic that was also picked up with it, I think it is indeed western originated aluminum traffic.

Anyway, I assume this is traffic moving on a GN / NP to SOO at the Twin Cities to the GBW at Amherst Jct. routing?  Interesting the GBW managed to get included in the routing instead of a direct SOO - AA at Manitowoc route.  Besides the aluminum, there were a few other interesting shipments such as salmon and batteries, although much of the remaining traffic was of a type that also could've originated on the SOO.  Also interesting is the lack of westbound traffic set out at Amherst Jct.  The cars used weren't using the same route going west, that is pretty clear.  (Or at least not via Train 1 that Conductor Hansen worked.  I don't know if there was another westbound operating at this time.)

Making this relevant to the list, I'm wondering if the cars used were assigned to a pool for this traffic as it seems to be a regular move.  They could've also been random empties that carried steel and pipe west.  Most of the cars were empty eastern road gons, with automobile cars making up the rest.  I made a list of all of the aluminum traffic from the book.  The majority moved through Amherst Jct. and what was received at Winona (I assume) has different car types and a different "feel" to the reporting marks.  All of the Amherst Jct. cars were bound for the Ann Arbor whereas some of the Wisconsin Rapids (Winona) cars were bound for the Pere Marquette.  I'll attach the list below.

Separately, now I'm curious, was aluminum sulfate a significant rail commodity? 

Thanks,
Julian Erceg

On Apr 2, 2022, at 9:31 AM, Benjamin Hom <b.hom@...> wrote:

Another reason why Hundman drawings should be verified before moving forward with a build.  And for those who still find this hard to believe, six words:

Branchline

Forty-One

Foot

Inside

Length

Boxcars

Ben Hom

_._,_

On 03/30/2022 10:45 PM Dave Nelson <western.pacific.203@...> wrote:

 

 

Bill, was there an issue for May, 1990?  It’s the only issue I don’t have and I’ve often wondered whether there really was a May ’90 issue.

 

Dave Nelson

 

From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of WILLIAM PARDIE
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2022 7:33 PM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: [RealSTMFC] FORGOTTEN TREASURES

 

 

IMHO there was never before or after a publication of the quality and depth of subject as Bob Hundman's Mainline Modeler in our hobby. The articles, drawings, how to's and prototype information is unmatched.  The twenty plus years of this magazines  run gave us more information than we can ever absorbance apply.

 

Why, you ask, am I bringing this up?  I subscribed to this publication from the first to the last issue.  Many items were skipped over and forgotten during this time as they were not pertinent back then.  This morning I had to find an article for a current project that I an working on.  Each issue of this magazine featured a listing of the artucles in each issue from day one.  Not five minutes into this venture I had to get a note pad to record forgotten items that I now need.  After twenty minutes when I found the article I has listed twenty five articles to retrieve.

 

I know that many of you have this magazine digitized.  I encourage you to look at this periodically and you will find the answers to many questions appearing on this list.

 

I have to spend less time with Judge Judy and more with this endeavor.

 

Bill Pardie

 

 

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

 

 

Staying (somewhat) on topic; while digging through my box of extra freight car parts (I’ve saved the last 40 years) I came across four sets of Walters steers.  Do you run your stockcars with loads of livestock or empty or a mix?  
--
Charlie Duckworth 
Omaha, Ne.

Staying (somewhat) on topic; while digging through my box of extra freight car parts (I’ve saved the last 40 years) I came across four sets of Walters steers.  Do you run your stockcars with loads of livestock or empty or a mix?  
--
Charlie Duckworth 
Omaha, Ne.

On Apr 2, 2022, at 11:40 AM, Charlie Duckworth <omahaduck@...> wrote:

Staying (somewhat) on topic; while digging through my box of extra freight car parts (I’ve saved the last 40 years) I came across four sets of Walters steers.  Do you run your stockcars with loads of livestock or empty or a mix?  
--
Charlie Duckworth 
Omaha, Ne.

Ah, I see.  The Westerfield 36' WP Stockcars dealt with the board ends by having you sand the corners at a 45 before joining to get the look. Not all the easy to do.
--
-------------------
RJ Dial
Mendocino, CA