According to my 1938-1939 John Deere "Farmer's Pocket Ledger" from
the long defunct Munson Store in Morrisville, VT it appears that the
entire John Deere line in that period was available with engines that
burned either gasoline or kerosene. I learned to mow on a 1938 John
Deere Model B that I can well remember, and it is still in existence.
One opened a petcock on each of the two cylinders to reduce the
compression, made sure the fuel valve was set for gasoline and
everything else was set before giving the flywheel a spin. After
warming up a minute or two the petcocks were closed and the fuel was
switched over to kerosene. This was a tricyle wheel arranged tractor
but could be had with a single front wheel for certain row crops,
down to 16 in. between rows, or an adjustable wide front end allowing
a spacing from 56 to 80 in. The latter arrangement was really
beginning to take hold in the years following WW II to the point
where I don't recall ever seeing a Ford tractor with a tricyle wheel
arrangement. The John Deere Model B, Farmall H and Ford 8N were the
most common farm tractors in use in northern Vermont around 1950 with
a few Case and even fewer Allis-Chalmers to be seen as well. The
Oliver line began to sow up about that time and Ferguson picked up
quickly on its own after Henry and Harry had their famous falling
out. IMHO Ferguson made the success of the Ford tractor line, though
it continued quite well after the split. But Ford never offered any
equipment worth owning to use with their tractors other than plows.
Some Canadian tractors such as the Cockshutt were seen on occasion as
well.

How all this equipment arrived was of equal interest, and more
appropriate for this list. My late friend Phil Hastings chased and
photographed the local freight on the B&M's Concord to Claremont,
N.H. line on day about this time with a full load of six new Farmall
H's of M's on a flat car. The tractor loaded flat car shows up in two
or three photos in his book on the B&M and I am fortunate to have
others from that day's outing here. By the time my memory really
began the Munson Store had turned the John Deere dealership in
Morrisville over to Wards and the Salls Bros. has an International
Harvester dealership together with their Studebaker dealership in
the village as well. Given the popularity of Studebaker trucks on
Lamoille County farms at that time this must have been a good
arrangement. Over in Cambridge, on the west end of the county,
T. J. McGovern had a large International Harvester dealership in
combination with his large grain business. When the Burlington &
Lamoille Branch of the Central Vermont Rwy. was abandoned in 1938
the St.J. & L.C. took over about two miles of it to serve a large
saw mill in Jeffersonville. Concerned about his ability to receive
grain and farm machinery, McGovern took over another five miles over
which he moved single cars with a farm tractor as his sole source of
motive power! Just how long that lasted I'm not sure but know a few
oldtimers who still recall it. Ford farm equipment in those years
seems to have come mostly from Ed Collins in Waterbury until he
closed in the late 1950's. That was the beginning of a trend that
saw farmers traveling further and further to go to their farm
equipment dealer. Indeed, L. W. Greenwood & Sons, in East Randolph,
VT is the only farm machinery dealership in Vermont which I can
recall that remains in the same family, or much as it was, in the
1950's. They have survived even though they never had the advantage,
in earlier years, of having rail delivery available almost right to
their door.

To return to Morrisville, the team track there in the post-war
years was the true reflection of a community with an agricultural
base. New autos and trucks arrived in box cars of the appropriate
size and configuration, with larger trucks arriving on flat cars.
Presumedly, other farm machinery and household appliances for the
several stores in town dealing in such goods also arrived in box
cars. Some scrap metal even went out in gondolas, though not nearly
so much as went out that way in the scrap drives I've seen photos of
from the earliest period of W.W. II. In the springtime carloads of
both bagged fertilizer and bagged lime, the latter primarily from
Swanton in a one railroad move, could be seen being unloaded on the
two team tracks. Some was ordered direct by farmers, while the rest
was for the Eastern States Farmers Exchange store, H. A. Slayton &
Sons grain business or the United Farmers Creamery Association's
cooperative store. From late October and about Thanksgiving these
same track often held both gondolas and flat cars with high stakes
along their sides. These were soon piled high with bundles Christmas
trees being shipped as far south as Florida. Like everything else,
unfortunately, by 1960 most of these freight movements were either
gone or had been converted to truck shipment and even Ward's was in
its last years as a John Deere dealership.

Don Valentine



--- In STMFC@..., "Douglas Harding" <dharding@...> wrote:

Correction on my last posting: Farmall MD's were built 1941-1952. I

thought they were later than that, but I was thinking of the

Farmall Super H's & M's which were built in the 50's

http://www.tractordata.com/td/001/td1113.html states the Farmall MD
was the

diesel version of the M. The MD was started on gasoline, by pulling

a lever which enlarged the combustion chamber (to lower the

compression) and closed the circuit for the spark plugs. After the

engine was warm, it was switched over to diesel. Farmall built

a few all fuel tractors that could operate on distillate or

kerosene. Models included the F-20 built 1932-39, the F-30 built

1931-1939, and the M built 1939-1952.

I believe the HO LifeLike tractor is a Farmall Super M-TA built in

1954.

Doug Harding
www.iowacentralrr.org

My father used to tell about being hired to help unload and assemble
box car loads of farm machinery (no tractors, though) consigned to
Clyde Stonebreaker (sic?) in Chapin, Iowa. If "Stoney" had a name for
his dealership, I never heard of it. Point of this story is that, at
least between 1930 and 1940, small farm machinery such as plows, disc
and spike harrows, planters and so on was delivered in box cars. Sure
makes it easy to model. But on my model RR flat cars of tractors are a
must. So far I have material for loads of John Deeres, Farmalls and
Massey-Harris 44s.

Gene Green
OitwTtoEP

--- In STMFC@..., "Gene Green" <bierglaeser@...> wrote:
So far I have material for loads of John Deeres, Farmalls and

Massey-Harris 44s.

Who makes a model of the Masseys?????

Ken Olson

--- In STMFC@..., "ken_olson54022" <kwolson@...> wrote:

Who makes a model of the Masseys?????

Ken Olson

Matchbox (Lesney) makes 'em or, more likely, made them. I bought a
set of six at least 30 years ago. I pointed out to my wife one that
sold on eBay for $36.00 a couple years ago and suddenly she thought
my 6 should go on sale.

The Matchbox Massey-Harris tractors have a figure cast on the seat
that should be ground off for a flat car load. They need repainting
because the ones I have are painted green and the wheels and tires
are silver.

Wiking has a very nice Fordson or Ford-Ferguson in HO. The tractor
only is 892 01 24 and tractor with trailer is 892 01 27. I have one
but stuff from Germany has gotten so expensive that I'll likely never
have a flat car load of Fordsons. The Wiking model could be used to
represent a Ford 9N (1939-1942), 2N (1942-1947) or 8N (1947-1952).
The Wiking model has tall exhaust and muffler sticking up that would
have to be cut off since that was not a feature on the ones sold in
the US.

Somebody made a Cockshutt kit and I have one but it is packed away.
I can't remember who made them. Since the Cockshutt tractor was made
in Canada and was primarily for the Canadian market, a flat car load
of Cockshutts would probably be in appropriate on my layout set in
Iowa.

Gene Green
OitwTtoEP

Matchbox went bust some years ago. I do know that "scale link" do a OO (4mm/foot) white metal
kit of a "little grey fergie" and a number of other tractors etc from our period.

Patrick Grace
UK

Gene Green wrote:

--- In STMFC@... <mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>, "ken_olson54022" <kwolson@...> wrote:

Who makes a model of the Masseys?????

Ken Olson

Matchbox (Lesney) makes 'em or, more likely, made them. I bought a
set of six at least 30 years ago. I pointed out to my wife one that
sold on eBay for $36.00 a couple years ago and suddenly she thought
my 6 should go on sale.

The Matchbox Massey-Harris tractors have a figure cast on the seat
that should be ground off for a flat car load. They need repainting
because the ones I have are painted green and the wheels and tires
are silver.

Wiking has a very nice Fordson or Ford-Ferguson in HO. The tractor
only is 892 01 24 and tractor with trailer is 892 01 27. I have one
but stuff from Germany has gotten so expensive that I'll likely never
have a flat car load of Fordsons. The Wiking model could be used to
represent a Ford 9N (1939-1942), 2N (1942-1947) or 8N (1947-1952).
The Wiking model has tall exhaust and muffler sticking up that would
have to be cut off since that was not a feature on the ones sold in
the US.

Somebody made a Cockshutt kit and I have one but it is packed away.
I can't remember who made them. Since the Cockshutt tractor was made
in Canada and was primarily for the Canadian market, a flat car load
of Cockshutts would probably be in appropriate on my layout set in
Iowa.

Gene Green
OitwTtoEP


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--- In STMFC@..., "Gene Green" <bierglaeser@...> wrote:

Somebody made a Cockshutt kit and I have one but it is packed away.
I can't remember who made them. Since the Cockshutt tractor was made
in Canada and was primarily for the Canadian market, a flat car load
of Cockshutts would probably be in appropriate on my layout set in
Iowa.

Cockshutt also supplied many Co-Op brand tractors to the U.S. if I'm
not mistaken.

Ken Olson

Gene, I seem to recall that Cockshutt tractors were, in later years, assembled in Charles City, Ia. I believe Soph Marty had some
photos of a derailment east of Mason City that involved some flats loaded with Cockshutt tractors, I think taken in the 60's. At
the time I believe Cockshutt was owned by White Manufacturing, the predecessor to Oliver. Oliver/White had their factor in Charles
City.

Doug Harding
www.iowacentralrr.org

All the talk about tractors has brought enough interest to ask my dad, Roger about dual fuel tractors. He used John Deere's with the option.

Bowser owns Selley. They have two tractors #226 and 227. I am not sure what kind they represent.
www.bowser-trains.com/hoother/selley/selley.htm

Sincerely, Mark Morgan

HO kits for Cockshutt tractors were made by Roger Chrysler of
Brantford, ON about ten years ago, and are no longer available.

Steve Lucas.

--- In STMFC@..., "Douglas Harding" <dharding@...> wrote:

Gene, I seem to recall that Cockshutt tractors were, in later years,

assembled in Charles City, Ia. I believe Soph Marty had some

photos of a derailment east of Mason City that involved some flats

loaded with Cockshutt tractors, I think taken in the 60's. At

the time I believe Cockshutt was owned by White Manufacturing, the

predecessor to Oliver. Oliver/White had their factor in Charles

City.

Doug Harding
www.iowacentralrr.org

Since the Cockshutt tractor was made
in Canada and was primarily for the Canadian market, a flat car load
of Cockshutts would probably be in appropriate on my layout set in
Iowa.

Gene Green


Gene They made Cocksutts in Charles City. Got Nora Springs wreck
pictures Soph took of a flat car of them. Don't know if they were made
there in your era though, but hey, we got pictures!
Clark Propst

Before NAFTA, a lot of farm machinery was made in Canada. Cockshutt's
Canadian plant was located in Brantford, ON. A competitor's plant,
Massey-Harris, was also located in Brantford. Both plants were closed
by 1988.

I'm not sure if much of the Canadian product was shipped to the US on
account of import duties/restrictions. More likely would be that some
production was exported to other parts of the world from both US and
Canadian plants. So flatcar loads for export are a distinct
possibility.

BTW, slightly OT, a freind of mine has two Canadian-made Cockshutts and
a Minneapolis-Moline. I am told that later Cockshutt production was
styled by Raymond Loewy, who was more famous in the rail fraternity for
the Pennsy's GG1 electric loco's, and outside it, many corporate logo's.

Steve Lucas.

--- In STMFC@..., "rockroll50401" <cepropst@...> wrote:

Since the Cockshutt tractor was made
in Canada and was primarily for the Canadian market, a flat car load
of Cockshutts would probably be in appropriate on my layout set in
Iowa.

Gene Green


Gene They made Cocksutts in Charles City. Got Nora Springs wreck
pictures Soph took of a flat car of them. Don't know if they were

made

there in your era though, but hey, we got pictures!
Clark Propst

--- In STMFC@..., "Steve Lucas" <stevelucas3@...> wrote:

Before NAFTA, a lot of farm machinery was made in Canada.

Cockshutt's > Canadian plant was located in Brantford, ON. A
competitor's plant, > Massey-Harris, was also located in Brantford.
Both plants were closed by 1988.

It is my subjective opinion that Massey-Harris tractors were more
widely sold in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota in the immediate
post-war period than Cockshutts. I (am attempting to) model September
1950. To some extent I intend to model things I remember seeing hence
a flat car load of Massey-Harris is OK but Cockshutts are not OK.

Another factor in my thinking is that I don't want to model anything
that will induce a visitor to ask, "What's that?"

In 1950 Charles City was still pure Oliver.

In this regard I am envious of those who model in S scale for they have
quite a wide variety of tractors available from virtually any time
period since the use of tractors began. I collect the S-scale tractors
and sometimes I sit and stare at them but they just won't shrink to HO
scale.

Gene Green
Out in the west Texas town of El Paso

--- In STMFC@..., "Steve Lucas" <stevelucas3@...> wrote:

Before NAFTA, a lot of farm machinery was made in Canada. Cockshutt's
Canadian plant was located in Brantford, ON. A competitor's plant,
Massey-Harris, was also located in Brantford. Both plants were closed
by 1988.

I'm not sure if much of the Canadian product was shipped to the US on
account of import duties/restrictions. More likely would be that some
production was exported to other parts of the world from both US and
Canadian plants. So flatcar loads for export are a distinct
possibility.

Did anyone happen to read the really complete history of the Cockshutt
tractor line that someone posted a link to last week?

http://www.ytmag.com/articles/artint190.htm

Go read it. It sounds like most Cockshutt tractors were built under
contract by Hart Parr / Oliver in Charles City, IA. The Cockshutt
plant in Ontario built plows and other equipment. Therefore, those
full flatcars of Cockshutts photographed in Iowa were OUTBOUND, going
to Canada and elsewhere, not inbound.

Dennis

--- In STMFC@..., "Dennis Storzek" <destorzek@...> wrote:

Did anyone happen to read the really complete history of the Cockshutt
tractor line that someone posted a link to last week?

http://www.ytmag.com/articles/artint190.htm

Go read it. It sounds like most Cockshutt tractors were built under
contract by Hart Parr / Oliver in Charles City, IA. The Cockshutt
plant in Ontario built plows and other equipment. Therefore, those
full flatcars of Cockshutts photographed in Iowa were OUTBOUND, going
to Canada and elsewhere, not inbound.

Dennis

Dennis,
Yes, I read it. I have other farm tractor references as well and have
read them, too. Cockshutt tractors were produced in Canada by
Cockshutt from 1946 to 1956 so, in September 1950 on my model RR, there
would be no Cockshutt tractors being carried on flat cars out of
Charles City. Besides, darn it all, it was the the Charles City
Western juice line (I think) that served the Oliver plant in Charles
City. The CCW interchanged with the Rock Island at Marble Rock, Iowa.

While reaquainting myself with some of my references this afternoon I
did notice quite a similarity between the Cockshutt model I have and
one of Olivers pictured in one of my books. I need to do a little more
checking but maybe my Cockshutt should be painted green and
labeled "Oliver." Then I would need 4 or 5 more for a flat car load.

If only I did as much as I talk about doing.
Gene Green

Gene according to http://www.cockshutt.com/index.php?tgt=history a number of Cockshutt tractors were distributed across the
northern tier of states via the National Farm Bureau Co-ops. Apparently popular with dairy farmers. Might be worth exploring the
Farm Bureau Co-op angle. Unfortunately the Landmaster diaries do not specify the brand of tractor, just the car carrying tractors:
primarily flats, but one auto box. Really interesting is the machinery loads (farm machinery?), two being MILW FLs (logging flat)
#62383 & 63459 in different trains. Makes me wonder what kind of machinery was loaded on a logging flat.

Back to tractors, a quick search of various tractor manufactures will generate a number of sites giving history, etc.

Doug Harding
www.iowacentralrr.org