Ah, yes - the great golf cart drives. I remember reading about them in Weekly Reader, in my elementary school days…
…
Steel underframes were required on cars built after Jan. 1, 1927 or rebuilt after July 1, 1928.
All-wood underframes, including steel-girthed centre sills, were prohibited in interchange after January 1, 1940, but truss rods were still allowed on composite underframes.
On July 1 of that year, arch bar trucks were prohibited from interchange.
Cars with composite underframes were banned from interchange on Jan. 1, 1952.
Note that these cars could still be in service as long as they didn’t leave home rails.
I’d guess that loaded stock cars immediately ahead of the caboose could be an issue, as I recall reading of passengers on open platform observation cars sometimes enjoying the results of washroom patrons using the hopper. [+o(]
Wayne
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/539327/
1993, loaded stock cars on the head end.
9/9 photos showing stock cars in trains in the Livestock and Meatpacking book show loaded stock cars on the head end of trains.
Funny how other threads sometimes tie into each other.
December 1979 issue of model railroader, interview on Switching Prototype Style, lessions from a retired railroader by Alan L. Bates:
“On my old railroad, we had to haul cattle cars at the head end of the to avoid slack damage, flammable loads as far as possible from the engine…”
As an aside, its a really good article about prototype switching practices.
Thank You.
I certainly don’t doubt that. But I sure wish I could find a quart can of it so I can take a “gentle sniff” once in awhile to remind me of summer trackwalking long ago.
Ed
Ed — Check for a PM from me about creosote.
Tom
CR haul some stock cars to but,IIRC that ended around the late 80s. So,two railroads hauled a limited number of cattle cars into the 80s and 90s…Cool…
Also those was privately owned cars-HOGX.
One of the other members mentioned exceptions: Here’s another.
Back when the railroads actually held to scheduals, and the state fairs offered a fair premium to exhibitors there were a small segment of cattlemen that would ride the circuit from state fair to state fair. My grandfather was one of them.
When attached to a passenger trains (never the flagship trains) they were always behind the engine alone or with other cattlemen. It was only when they reached the fair city that being at the front of the train rule suspended. He had a no few short words on some switch engineers that treated the cattle cars like box cars, which was easy to do. Most of the cattle cars weren’t stock cars, but modified 40’ woodsiders or 50’ auto woodsiders. After an earful most yard managers would put the more careful engineers on those trains.
Railroad Bulls were a pan in the keester as were the Pinkertons/railroad police, a pitchfork was always useful in speaking with them. Preferably dirty. Grandpa always thought the best of them were the ones that kept the bums away and made sure the better hobos found the cattlemens car. But the people that he had the most distain for were the conductors that just didn’t care or realize how much money was on the hoof in those cars. Those were ones that couldn’t be talked to, or reasoned with.
Hobos were to be tolerated. After all a little bit of money meant that the three of them wouldn’t have to muck out the car and the hobos were smart enough to realize that the gains were greater working with the cattlemen than trying to rip them off like the bums. He had some great stories (usually involving pointy objects) about post war infantry men dealing with some of them trying to steal cattle, money, or booze from the showboxes.
So as the show opens the cattlemen cars would be gathered up, as the cars would generally
I would place them up front like two cars behind the locomotive or somewhere in the middle.
I remember seeing an article in one of the model mags (MR? RMC?) that some roads used surplus stock cars, minus roofs and with some sort of cross-ties to hold the sides together, to haul coke, which is fairly light lading.
Deano