Generally, how far back in a train were stock cars placed behind steam locomotives? Did that change much with the advent of diesels? If so, how much further up did regulations allow?
Thanks,
Tom
Steam or diesel, they generally go at the front of the train. It’s been said that that was to make it easier to switch those cars out if the animals needed their mandated break time. I’ve seen a LOT of photos with stock cars behind the locomotive.
Oddly, I was just wondering this morning what happened with empties. The mandate was not in force.
It has also been mentioned that conductors didn’t like stock cars (full or empty) ahead of the caboose, and would make life hell for anyone who chose to do that.
Ed
Back in the mid-1960s B&O used to have a train come east out of Baltimore almost every day with a block of 10 or 12 loaded stock cars right ahead of the caboose.They were consigned to a packing plant in Philadelphia and their placement at the hind end made shifting them out easier. You could smell them coming. It was fairly common for the conductor to ride the head end, but the flagman had to be back on the caboose.
I read somewhere, probably the Kalmbach book on the subject, that the reason for putting the stock cars at the head end was two fold, one was switching out for watering, the other was reduced buffeting from slack action at the front of the train? Which results in fewer deaths in transit. I might not be remembering that correctly.
That’s what I understood too, from what I’ve read. Easier on the animals, the crew, and for the cattle brokers, and owners.
Mike.
It’s not always the case that loaded stock cars are loaded with stock. Other commodities could also be shipped. Hay and straw were common as uncommon loads. The Rio Grande even used them to load coal in the off season. Can’t be anything too fancy, because even a clean stock car is pretty low class transport, but it did happen. Wouldn’t matter where it went in the train under those circumstances.
And then theres that, I seem to remember that MEC used theirs for pulpwood? When not hauling sheep…I think it was sheep. Hmm… the memory banks are getting full.
Bricks, clay tiles, & similar fired clay products were hauled in stock cars in the off season. I first became aware of this in reference to AC&Y cars, but later found out that it was done by other roads as well.
Tom
Another consideration when discussing these non-stock stock car loads…
Local traffic in stock was some of the first business lost to an improving road system. Because of the requirements to water, feed, and rest stock, the quickness of moving stock by highway enjoyed a competitive advantage.
This made a lot of stock cars surplus to the needs it was originally designed to meet, making it available for these alternative uses year-around in some cases. The closer to retirement age, the more likely a stock car would be in this category, too, in part because interior repairs would otherwise be needed to avoid injuring animals, etc.
As far as I know there are/were no regulations re where in a train a stock car with animals in it had to be placed. However, there have been regulations for many years saying that stock had to be removed from the car at a set number of hours (it changed over time, think it was usually around 16 hours?) and be fed and watered. Because of that, it might be easier if the stock cars were up front - easy to set off the car from the train.
BTW stock cars were often used on logging railroads for hauling creosoted railroad ties. The creosote fumes could be deadly if containted in a regular box car.
How were they packaged? I think with all that fatty tissue and other things would fly out between the opening boards.
It seems like a good idea to air out the materials than trapping that odor in a normal boxcar.
There were not regulations per se, but its kind of hard to sell already dead cattle to the packing company, and its really hard to unload 1200lbs or more of dead weight (or live weight with broken legs) from an 10ft wide car. The slack action is reduced at the front of a train, so thats why they put them there.
Just the 28hr rule, nation wide since 1906.
If you want to read more check out Livestock and Meatpacking, by Jeff Wilson. (I obtained my info from page 69 and 70).
Edit:
He did say with few exceptions. I imagine a local freight would be one of those.
Thanks for the “feedback” everyone. This thread has turned out to be a lot more informative than I had originally anticipated.
I had thought that the stock might have been placed further back in a train because of the noise and smoke from a steam locomotive would be detrimental to the animal’s health and safety. The slack action issue with the couplers and the need to feed and rest the animals at regular intervals makes a lot of sense.
I also didn’t realize that stock cars were used to move non-animated commodity. Being familiar enough with the smell of creosote, hauling rail ties in a ventiliated container like a stock car would help dissipate it’s powerful fumes. I’m assuming that flatcars were also used for that purpose when stock car demand was at a premium during certain times of the year.
Tom
Not to mention the race to develop an economical and reliable refrigerated car.
I would imagine that the refrigerator car did more to hasten the demise of the stock car than anything else.
A little duscussion regarding tie-cars here:
https://lionelllc.wordpress.com/tag/track/
I seem to recall some of the newer B&O stock cars that were converted to tie service and the roof had been cut off.
Interesting,
Ed
Interesting. The most unusual “tie car” I ever saw was a whole train of articulated container cars on the Soutern Pacific in West Sacramento, CA. Every well was loaded with ties. It was at night and I was not able to get a picture.
Good stuff, Ed! [Y][8D] Thanks for the link!
Tom
One elevator operator in northwest Iowa many years ago during a car shortage leased some surplus RI stock cars. He had them lined with plywood and loaded grain into them. I think I’ve heard of this done elsewhere, too.
Jeff
If those was the older wooden frame cars then they would be placed toward the rear. Railroads wanted out of the stock business due to the cost and was reluctant to buy new stock cars or rebuild their aging stock car fleet.
Slack action runs both ways and as a rule engineers did their up most to limit any hard run in or out of slack–a broken coupler knuckle required a explanation since a broken coupler knuckle could tie up a busy main line.
I think by the time the railroads wanted out of the stock business, wood frame cars were illegal in interchange. Around 1928, I think. I’m talking about wood UNDERFRAMES here. But since the stress on the car is through the underframe, I think that is appropriate.
Ed
One other non animal use for stock cars was the movement of golf carts up and down the east coast as the seasons changed.