Plastic Pellet Shipping, Late 1960's?

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
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Does anyone have info on specific covered hoppers/roadnames from the late 1960’s used to haul plastic pellets. Much of literature alludes to the covered hoppers being used but I can’t find anything too specific. I would guess that once a car is used for plastic pellets, it would be in dedicated service versus mising it in for other chemicals or grains.

Thanks

Ricky

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It was my understanding that the plastic pellet hoppers were a fairly recent development. I could be wrong on that.

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Nope…they go back to the late 60’s. You should get your hands on an Official Railway Equipment Register from that era.

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I wouldn’t be surprise if the pellets was stacked on pallets in 100 pound bags and shipped in boxcars since boxcars was still king in the 60s.

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Sure I remember. Luetzow Industries in South Milwaukee WI on the C&NW got ACF centerflo cars in the mid to late 60s with plastic pellets.* They used them to make plastic bags – Luetzow started as a dry cleaner, invented those rolls of plastic bags that dry cleaners still use, and eventually switched over entirely to the clear plastic bag business.

One time we found some spilled pellets near the cars. They were about the size of aspirin pills, and translucent. The industry was actually across the street from the unloading hoses and housing.

I remember seeing El Rexene and Rexall center flo cars. There were probably other markings. I think most of them were marked to be returned to Texas.

Luetzow has a website and part of it is company history

http://luetzowind.com/history.html

They show a picture of a Dow Chemical (DOWX) car at the plant – supposedly Dow’s first plastic resin rail car customer in Wisconsin. The photo of the factory is dated 1956 and that may be about the time of that photo. To me it looks like an Airslide car. And note it says “Texas Freeport.” I have no clear memory of seeing Airslide cars but I cannot rule them out.

That photo of their factory is exactly how I remember it in the 1960s. Needless to say finding their website made me happy as I intend to scratch build the factory for my layout!

Dave Nelson

* Amended post – I made it sound like Luetzow Industry’s use of centerflo hoppers with plastic pellets was in the past tense. No they still get loads from time to time. They have upped their storage capacity so now a car can be emptied and taken away soon. Back in the 1960s even the smaller covered hoppers of that era taxed their storage capacity so at some cost, I think Luetzow actually used the cars as a sort of temporary warehouse! And that complicated

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Dave

Thanks, exactly what I needed, I can refine my research a bit.

Flying Crow, I have a 1968 ORER around here somewhere, hopefully it will have the ladings but from the entries I’ve seen, what is shipped is usually not listed unless there are special equipment involved.

Brakie, I have other stories that indicate that much of it went by boxcar but that doesn’t help in this case.

Thanks

Ricky

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Just some more info that I just found. Searching the Du Pont pictures on the rrpicturearchive site revealed several covered hoppers from the mid to late 60’s in resin service. Now to find some of the old Eastern Car Works models of that car…

Ricky