Hey folks: I’m trying to figure out how an industrial sized bakery operation would have received ingredients by rail - flour, sugar, molasses and oil. Would the sugar and flour come by boxcars filled with sacks of flour/sugar or via covered hoppers? Molasses and cooking oil would have come in tank cars, I suspect. I’m modeling east coast US in 1954. Thanks. Joel
Find pictures of ‘merchandise’ freight trains from the early 50’s Note that the scattered loads of coal in those trains would be used for home and industrial heating purposes. A lot of homes in the early 50’s used coal heat - more than we realize from our viewpoint of the 21st Century where very, very few homes are heated by coal.
Around 1954, most of the sugar and flour would have come bagged, in box cars. (Take a look at a box car from that era belonging to the Buffalo Creek Railroad–its logo featured a sack of flour [reporting marks BCK]).
Covered hopper cars existed back then, but were not lined for food-grade bulk commodities. You’d find them hauling mostly cement and sand, and a few chemical commodities.
However, 1954 was a pivotal year–General American Transportation Corporation introduced its Airslide covered hopper car that made bulk transportation of both flour and sugar more feasible (they were expensive, and couldn’t hold nearly the volume of a box car of the same era).
A lot of mills were heated by and used coal other power (stationary steam engines). There are a number of grades of coal, and those scattered loads of coal Balt mentions were of different grades for their various end customers. A mill of the size you suggest may well get in regular loads of coal in addition to the other commodities.
Don’t forget things like the paper to wrap the bread (in that era, plastic bags weren’t used). An occasional boxcar of rolled paper would serve that purpose.
Dairy products would likely be locally sourced, and items like yeast and salt probably wouldn’t be used in large enough quantities to ship by rail - unless it was bags of salt.
Will your plant make raisin bread? The occasional insulated boxcar from a raisin producing areas might be appropriate. Adds some variety to your traffic.
To what Carl(CShaveRR) noted:
OwenW. Failed to note a time frame for his modeling project; might be a thought to make it in the 1950’ or 60’s(?). Carloads of ingredients for a commercial bakery would [as Carl suggested, would generally, be in bags, and liquids in barrels].
If the ingredients cam by rail, most bakeries would receive them via a warehouse, and then trucked to the facility as needed. 50# and 100# bags would generally be the packaging.
Bakeries with rail sidings would be the exception, rather than the rule. If there is a rail siding on your layout, I would suggest that possibly a couple of dry bulk storage tanks would be appropriate, and plumbed for a vacuum load and unload system. And the Bakery facility would necessarily be a large building(s (?).
The only bakeries I have seen with rail access is a facility in Paris, Tx. Their product is an unfinished line of bakery rolls[Heat&Serve], baked in the purchasers home oven.
Sam: 1954 is the time period (last sentence of my initial inquiry). Thanks guys, this is all very helpful. And I appreciate the input! Joel
Any idea when the “XF” labelling/lettering on the food grade boxcars began?
XF class boxcars seemed to have entered service in the late 1960’s. General Mills had a boxed cereal plant at about 105th and Commercial (just south of Rail to Water Transfer) and I remember seeing boxcars for various lines with rather large “XF” lettering and the legend “Food Service Only”.
The early to mid 50’s were the land of the 40 foot and 50 foot box cars and the ‘giant’ 53 foot gons.
Well, it’s not a bakery. It’s a flour mill that shipped to the bakery. Look at all them boxcars. They’re spotted 3 wide for loading.
www.idaillinois.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16614coll2/id/12
You may have to enlarge and scroll down on the photo. This was the Pillsbury flour mill in Springfield, IL in 1947. (Close to '54) The plant was switched by the C&IM, a short line that effectively gave Pillsbury a neutral terminal service with access to several competing railroads either at Springfield or through the Peoria Gateway. Steam lasted on the C&IM to 1955. 0-8-0 swithers.
Until just recently, the Nabisco bakery in Chicago was a hoppin place in a rail sense until Mondelez shut it down. (Belt Railway of Chicago switched it 2+ times a day)
Trucks forced the rail to be paved-in and submarine switches inside the plant gates. (did the track structure no favors) That facility was new in 1953.
Was set up to transload boxcars, tank cars and covered hoppers originally. Modified many times by people who clearly did not understand clearance laws. Most likely it won’t ever re-open w/o major track and clearance modifications.
Until it closed a dozen years ago, there was a flour mill in Des Moines IA that still loaded box cars with large sacks of flour. Inaddition to the air slide covered hoppers. I remember railbox cars being used then.
Jeff
Submarine switches??
You know… served on a long loaf of white or wheat bread with meat, cheese and usually lettuce, pickle, tomato and dill sauce! Oh wait, that was ‘switches’ wasn’t it… never mind.
Semper, you’re thinking of po’ boy, aren’t you?
Or a hoagie…
I believe a “submarine switch” may refer to one where the mechanism is all under the pavement, like on a trolley line. I could be wrong.
Thanks, Larry. Makes sense since MC was talking about paving over the the area around the tracks.
Joel, the Hagley Library’s Online collection has an aerial photo of the General Baking Co. in the Crescentville section of Phila. Not Olney, as stated in the pic, but close. They made Bond Bread here.
It was served by the Reading Company:
http://digital.hagley.org/islandora/search/70_200_12369?type=dismax
The photo is earlier than your timeframe, but you can see two boxcars on the siding in the shadows of the main building. I think the second siding was primarily for coal to fire the boilers.
IDK if there are any later views from the 50’s, but I know they received rail service into the early CR era- 1978 for sure, but IDR if it lasted into the 80’s.
Thanks, RDG and the rest of you folks. All very helpful. This photo is great, because it also gives me a concept of the size of a rail served facility, and some kind of architectural starting point for a kitbashed structure.
The building still exists, except for the smokestack, at the following coordinates (fm Google Maps): 40°02’33.2"N 75°06’35.4"W## (40.042542, -75.109835)
Street view shows the details of the front and partial side view of the building. It was used as a retail store for many years, so some of the larger door openings have been modified. I’m not sure when the additions to the east and west sides were built, but the rest of the building doesn’t look like it’s changed very much since 1939.