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How common were multiple boxcar bulk shipments
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Robert G P
Hello everyone, Curious what I can learn of bulk shipments composed of multiple boxcars going from the same origin-destination points and typically staying together the whole time. Reefer/tank/hopper loads are very commonly bulk shipments with more than one car in this manner but how about boxcars? Every so often in pictures I see freights with a group of 2-3 (or 2 together and another close by) same road boxcars in a foreign road train. These are usually in Hotshot loaded manifest etc and not empty. Of course the bulk shipment does not need to be one roadname but i'm using that as reference point here. A very broad question, what types of lading might commonly be shipped in bulk? This question I am intending to deport the instance of bulk cars picked up from a shipper then spread to their respective points from a yard. This question is covering 2-3 cars that stay together the whole trip. A to B. Thanks! Robert |
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One should distinguish between "bulk" shipments and "large" shipments. Bulk usually refers to unpackaged cargo of relatively low value like grain or chemicals consumed in vast quantities. At a local warehouse in Massachusetts I once saw 7 or 8 50 foot single door box cars being unloaded -- I was told they were all full of disposable diapers for a chain of stores that sold lots of diapers! But plenty of products are sold in massive quantities and typically end up being unloaded at warehouses. Grocery products. Consumer goods. In Palmer Massachusetts where the CV crossed the NYC, there were often whole strings of 40 foot 100 ton SP box cars (this is in the 1990's) loaded with pure copper from Arizona. These went to a giant wire and cable manufacturer in Connecticut. When you think of how much copper wire is needed for the entire US phone and communications networks, it's not surprising copper would be shipped in massive quantities. I'm sure there are many other examples of large (but not "bulk") shipments in box cars. On 12/6/2022 9:46 AM, Robert G P wrote:
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Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts |
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Bill Parks
Robert -
I don't have any evidence to support this, but here are my thoughts. During WW2, it would be common to have multiple carloads of war material travelling together from A to B. This could be weapons, ammunition, uniforms, canned goods - almost anything needed by the military (and they buy everything in bulk). For instance, a manufacturer of artillery shells could be shipping multiple carloads of shells to an east coast port to be loaded on freighters bound for Europe. After the war, as consumer demand skyrocketed, and there was a shift in shopping habits of consumers, I could see where multiple carloads would move together for larger retailers shipping products to larger cities. I could see where someone like a Sears warehouse somewhere like LA might get two/three boxcars of new refrigerators at the same time to be sold in all the stores in town (especially when a new model comes out). It could also be just general merchandise needed to restock the stores. Another possibility would be a large furniture retailer getting a multi car shipment from a furniture manufacturer. As far as seeing two/three or more cars together in a train, it may be that way for a couple of other reasons instead of all going A to B together. There is of course the randomness of putting a train together. Also, they could be three loads that originated at the same shipper but bound for different destinations. They could still be together because they haven't reached the point where they will be reclassified into more specific blocks for their destinations. -- Bill Parks Cumming, GA Modelling the Seaboard Airline in Central Florida |
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The B&O used to handle multi-car shipments of newsprint in CN, CV, and DWP 50' boxcars to Pittsburgh, Pa. The cars were unloaded at three different locations at different times and rolls of paper trucked to the printing plant.
Paper also went to a cardboard plant near Eighty-Four, Pa. in multi-car shipments. Recycled paper is shipped out of Glenwood, near Pittsburgh, in multi-car blocks but I'm not sure if it all goes to one destination. Mark |
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Some city newspapers had a MILLION or so subscribers. Can you imagine what a million copies of the Sunday New York Times weighed? I recall reading once that the National Geographic magazine had 11 million subscribers... and each issue weighed well over half a pound ! That's a LOT of box car loads of coated paper ! Of course, potatoes and produce were shipped in whole trainloads, so it's all relative. :-) On 12/6/2022 10:56 PM, Mark Vinski wrote: The B&O used to handle multi-car shipments of newsprint in CN, CV, and DWP 50' boxcars to Pittsburgh, Pa. The cars were unloaded at three different locations at different times and rolls of paper trucked to the printing plant. --
Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts |
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Chris Barkan
On Tue, Dec 6, 2022 at 08:47 AM, Tim O'Connor wrote:
Bulk usually refers to unpackaged cargo of relatively low value like grain or chemicals consumed in vast quantities.Minor refinement here, chemicals are shipped in bulk, but they are frequently very high in value. -- Chris Barkan Champaign, IL |
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Dennis Storzek
Coming in late, but multi car shipments were quite common, and there was absolutely no reason the cars should stay together. Before the advent of unit train rates sometime after the time period discussed on this chat list, each and every car was a discrete, self contained shipment, and if the cars happened to stay together, it was only due to the fact that there had been no reason for them to get separated. I still recall a trip I took across Lake Michigan on the C&O ferry City of Midland in the seventies. Watching the loading at Ludington, the switch crew was pushing a long string of identical black tank cars, chemical cars of some sort, onto one of the outer tracks, with the list increasing with every car that went over the apron. Eventually one of the officers came on the car deck to have a discussion with the switch foreman. Much hand waving ensued, and then the switch crew pulled half the cars off and replaced them with something lighter. If whoever ordered six cars of product expected them to show up together, he was to be disappointed.
Dennis Storzek |
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