That's nice, Schuyler. It'd fit nicely on my workbench. And I have a pickup :)

Rick Schoch PRRTHS 8245

What's interesting is that the PFE car and the SP&S cars have no side stirrup step on the left corner of the cars or hand grabs. I thought by this time that was a requirement.

Rich Wilkens

Here are two aerial photos from the Vintage Portland website showing the Union Station yards and industries.  One was taken from the southeast during the 1948 flood, and the second was taken in 1954 from the northwest.  You can see both Crown and Albers clearly in the second photo.  In the first, Albers is behind the Broadway Bridge which crosses over the station tracks and Depot Yard, and Crown is further away.  The low buildings between Albers and Crown were part of Portland's Terminal Docks, and one of them served as a paper warehouse, Waterways Terminals, for two paper plants - one up the Willamette in Oregon City and the other in Camas, WA.  The paper was barged from the plants to the warehouse.  By 1960,  Waterways had build a huge warehouse opposite Guild Lake Yard.  NPTCo pulled about 75 loads of paper a day out of it M-F and about 50 loads on Saturday.  It was such a large source of revenue that we alternated switching rights with the SP&S annually.

Todd Sullivan

Photo: SFRD 34786 (Rr-27)

A 1940 photo by Randall Mills from the University of Oregon Libraries:

https://oregondigital.org/catalog/oregondigital:df66xd06j

Note the curved line map, which is the original map style.

This car was part of the series 34500-34950. These cars were rebuilt in 1939-40 from Classes Rr-W, -X, -Y, -2, -3 and -4. There were 451 rebuilt cars but without fans.

There were another 49 Rr-27 cars in series 4200-4248 rebuilt in 1940 from Classes Rr-W and -X. These 49 cars received fans in the rebuilding and the four- digit car numbers signify this.

For modeling purposes there were still 118 of the original 451 cars on the live list in 1971 and 11 of the 49 fan cars on the live list that same year.

I would suppose most of these cars received the updated paint schemes beginning in 1947 and 1959 but I have no photographic evidence to confirm this for specific cars.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA

Photo: UP Boxcar 66597

A circa 1908 photo from the University of Oregon Libraries:

https://oregondigital.org/catalog/oregondigital:df71zx890

This photo can be enlarged quite a bit.

Description: "Freight car and short lumber car next to open lumber shed on SP Line in Dallas, OR."

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA

Crown Flour Mills was located more or less opposite Portland Union Station in Portland, OR - a little northwest, actually, as Albers Feed was directly opposite the depot.  In the 1960s, Crown changed to Centennial Mills.  When I worked for the NPTCo there in 1961-62, Crown and Albers Feed Mill were busy industries that got one switch during first trick (7am-3pm) and two switches during second trick (3pm-11pm).  The low structures in front of Crown were the loading docks which were accessed on both sides (street side and mill side), and the street side spur could hold probably 8 40ft cars.  The street side track was also used for inbound loads of wheat.  The cars were emptied with a scoop bucket on a winch, and then the remainder was hand-shoveled out, IIRC.  The wheat fell out of the boxcar door and into grates at pavement level, and then, I suppose, via a conveyor system into the mill.

Todd Sullivan

Photo: Michigan Central Automobile Boxcar 95861

An undated photo from the University of Oregon Libraries:

https://oregondigital.org/catalog/oregondigital:df72cn51m

This photo can be enlarged quite a bit.

Of the several boxcars in this photo the MC car has the most detail.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA

Photo: O&C Boxcar 88280

An undated photo from the University of Oregon Libraries:

https://oregondigital.org/catalog/oregondigital:df738t96m

This photo can be enlarged quite a bit.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA

Photo: PFE 9450

An undated photo from the University of Oregon Libraries:

https://oregondigital.org/catalog/oregondigital:df71g635x

This photo can be enlarged quite a bit.

PFE 9450 is one of 3,021 Class R-30-5 produce reefers built 1909-1911 by Pullman. Seen in the photo are the "Bohn Standard Ventilator" hatch covers.

There is good coverage with photos of this and related cars in the PFE book.

The car is parked at the Pearson-Ryan Company Fruit Warehouse in Portland, OR.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA

--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts

I believe that the dock with the 6 masted schooner is at SP's lumber wharf on the Willamette River in East Portland, Oregon.  I also think it is more likely that the schooner would be loading lumber for Pacific Ocean ports.  There was a pretty healthy lumber trade using such schooners in the 1890s through perhaps the 1920s.  Also, the SP had 6-8 branch lines on both sides of the Willamette Valley that served many sawmills and lumbering operations.

Todd Sullivan

Photo: UP Furniture Boxcar 85352

An undated photo from the University of Oregon Libraries:

https://oregondigital.org/catalog/oregondigital:df71fs37t

This photo can be enlarged quite a bit.

Looks like there is a "Tack Cards Here" box painted on the door.

And this was the photo of refrigerator cars in flour service I mentioned earlier.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA

No real mystery as refrigerator cars did occasionally carry sacks of flour, as seen in this photo:

https://oregondigital.org/catalog/oregondigital:df71fs37t

Notice the third car to the left has flour sack visible in the doorway.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA

On Wed, Jun 3, 2020 at 05:04 PM, Andy Carlson wrote:

it looks to be an end destination wholesaler. I could see the company offering items which are not meat related, such as select produce and other non-meat items being offered to their local clientele of meat shops and grocers.

Probably not. This is a meat packer's branch house. Typically branch house concentrated on wholesaling meat and sometimes making sausage on site.
Bob Chaparro
Hemet, CA

Really, really enjoyed the Museum's photo collection.
I'm on a local museum Board and I know how much effort it takes to maintain a museum and develop an archive.
Bob Chaparro
Hemet, CA