I would like to get info on a map of Eastern Rate. I bought this map at an estate sale. It had been folded to fit a smaller frame. I have included some close-ups to better show some rail lines. This map covers all of Illinois -Indiana -Ohio up to the Ohio River and far Western Pennsylvania and New York and Canada between Lake Huron and Lake Erie.
Good luck on your quest. Research is interesting.
David
That map is a beauty. And, of course, the Illinois portion captures my attention since it is my home state.
Was is the actual title of the map?
Rich
I suspect that the âcollateralâ of the various regions and rate arrangements will be in the ICC records at the FRA, but I wouldnât be surprised to find some of the stuff somewhere on multimodalways â I have no idea where.
Add to this, fun was had around WWII when the rate base was âtinkered withâ by some bright sparks at (I think) OPA. They carefully totted up all thr route-miles in a particular lane that had been subject at any time to land grants, then carefully exploited the âroute pricing equalityâ under the ICC to invent a fake route with as many land-grant miles ⌠even if ridiculously circuitous ⌠and based the governmentâs wartime payments on that.
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I live in Illinois too. I acquired this map from an estate sale.
Just from looking at the rail lines abbreviation it looks like it may be from the 30âs or 40âs.
I just wanted to know how these maps would have been used, and where.
In an office, a way station?
I am a former ârate manâ in the LTL trucking industry during the 1980s. I am not an expert on the railroad method of rates, but there is considerable carry-over on how the rail and trucking rate structure worked.
My guess is that the maps group small regions into rate basesâŚthat is general groupings of a geographic area in which one rate will apply FROM or TO the points in that area. For instance looking at the Illinois portion of the map shown, all points in blue will be applied the same rate base and thus a rate from Bloomington, Il and Streator, Il will carry the same rate for a class of freight to Eastern points.
For instanceâŚany shipment of a certain commodity from any point in the blue section of the map (Bloomington, Streator, Pontiac, etc.) will carry the same rate to a group of points in the Eastern region. So, a shipment of steel from that blue section would carry the same rate to a similar region in the East that is grouped together.
Why this method? Much simpler than having individual rates from all communities in the blue to all points in the EastâŚor Central States, or Middlwest, or Southern or Western regions.
The LTL rating system was very similar, but we didnt have the maps, we had "rate groupings tariffs). One would look up the community shipped from and apply the rate from the central community.
These regions on the maps are very similar to the zip code groupings developed in the 1960s for Postal service.
More on this laterâŚoff to church.
I have quite a bit of old books, etc. covering this if you have more questions.
Ed
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Illinois Central GuyâŚI am back and have given your post some thoughts. Also pulled a few volumes from my book stack.
I have an âAtlas of Railway Traffic Mapsâ published by LaSalle Extension University in 1919 which is a very nice volume of fold out maps,similar perhaps to your map. The volume has 18 âtraffic mapsâ and then 10 railroad system maps (NYC, PRR, UP, ATSF,C&NW, etc). Really a nice book of maps.
Also, worthy of your interests given your nameâŚâOrganization and Traffic of the Illinois Central Systemâ published by Illinois Central in 1938 which is an internal volume describing the IC freight and geography of the railroad (breakdown of geography area and breakdown of traffic handled). Interesting look at how the IC operated in the late '30s
Also picked up âThe Station Agents Blue Bookâ published by Kirkpatrick Publishing in Chicago which âgive a clear andcomprehensive analysis f the many function of the railway station from the viewpoint of the station agentââŚ
Finally - âThe Illinois Central Railroad Storyâ by Alan R. Lind of Transport History Press (1993), This book is a gem of the IC in the early 1990s with descriptions of all districts of the IC at that time with numerous track charts, maps, etc. I picked this book up at an estate saleâŚmint condition. Quite a bit of IC stuff at the sale. I asked the estate sale personnel and she said he was an executive of the IC. Looked it up and sure enough he was VP - Traffic and Sales in the 90s.
Sometimes one gets really lucky at those sales. This was one of those times for me.
Let me know if you have any questions on the maps, rates, tariffs, etc.,
Also, I grew up on the IC (1 block from tracks) and it has always been my âhometown railroadâ.
Ed
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Ed, who was this guy? I might have known him.
I also think itâs a rate grouping. For class rates similar to LTL. Commodity rates would generally be point to point.
Per my Official Guide - G.F. Mohan.
ed
Gerry Mohan! We shared the 27th floor.
Iâm sorry to hear that he died.
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He had quite a place here in NW Indiana. My wife and I like estate sales and when I noticed all the IC stuff (piggyback HO scale cars, etc) I asked the manager of the estate sale and she said he âownedâ a railroad. A little research revealed he was a Senior VP at IC. There was also a locomotive bell (I had no interest) and the mentioned book on IC. I got it for $5.
I was primarily interested in any paperwork records or other IC stuff so that was all I purchased.
Ed
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