Unusual loads
I typically don’t pick-up on unusual load pics because most of our loads on the Cincinnati Northern are related to the industries being serviced. I’m more apt to chase after loads related to a specific industry – So the research into loads begins with the research into a particular industry rather than just picking up on unusual loads and trying to model them. (Though for bridge traffic, unusual loads can add some interest!) But I found myself with quite a few load pics that reflect the types that might be represented on the Cincinnati Northern.
This is a 1882 photo of a shipment of John Deere steel plows. I’m not sure we want to use the 19th century flatcar, but the idea holds for farm equipment being shipped both out of New Idea, and to local farm coops and station team tracks.
Two possible uses of this photo come to mind – First, New Idea was manufacturing farm equipment. Though it was typically large equipment other than tractors that came out of New Idea, this photo provides ideas into large equipment transport. In this pic, a tractor manufacturer uses an auto boxcar for shipping tractors. Do they use the auto-racks for the tractors? The white stripe on the boxcar door signifies that the auto-racks are installed in the boxcar. So the question is whether they loaded the tractors in 2 high with the racks. From the looks of the pic, there appears to be room to stack them.
Since we’re on tractors being shipped by rail, here’s some old tractors being shipped on flatcars. At first glance, I thought they might be steam tractors. It turns out that Hart Parr was the first manufacturer of gasoline powered tractors starting in 1903 (founded in 1901). The sign on the side of the flatcars says, “Modern Horses, Hart Parr Co., Charles City, Iowa.” Look at the coats of the crew on the flatcars. Yet, the flatcars seem to be sporting Bettendorf trucks with a steel underframe. Best I can tell from the photos, these are Hart Parr model 22-45’s built from 1903 to 1911 (a little early for our ‘50s era). The sign on the station says, “Canadian Northern Railway Freight Office.” Hart Parr continued to produce tractors up to the late ‘30s.
Going back to auto boxcars, here’s one with a car already loaded into the top rack. The pic is from 1934, the Auburn Automobile company, Indiana.
Same set of pics, the cars are now being secured.
A while back, I shown a pic of a specialty boxcar used to deliver fire trucks. The trucks were loaded/unloaded from the end. Here’s a similar end door boxcar used to transport busses. This is the NY City Transit Authority receiving shipment of some new busses. (If the bus was driven into the boxcar, how does the driver get out of the bus?)
Is that Santa Claus delivering the bus?
Here M-K-T #47240 is hand loaded with watermelons coming from the growers. Occasionally I see photos of these open boxcars for loading vegetables – I assume this car would be referred to as a ventilated boxcar. I tried to find an Missouri-Kansas-Texas rolling stock roster to see how this car was classified, but no luck. Most of the ventilated boxcars I’ve seen have ventilated doors and end openings. Occasionally you see one with vent openings in the sides. This car seems to be a stockcar with interior liner panels going part way up the sides. Bottom line is that the Cincinnati Northern ran through mostly agricultural based communities. Having a team track by the depot, or a spur by the farm coop or grain elevator provides a track for farmers to bring their harvest for loading. And, ventilated boxcars are probably useful for certain farm products.
Here’s a couple of good images of ventilated boxcars.
This load caught my eye because I had to try and figure out its purpose. It appears to be a large ring of turbine blades shipped in a center-well flatcar, C&O #80977. A point of interest on the flatcar is the brake line that travels outside of the car sides to get around the center well. The dunnage is built to support the ring upright. It appears that the crane is lifting the ring and dunnage together.
Here are some smaller steel coils in high-side gondolas. Note the placement over the trucks.
In an earlier set of pics, we mentioned that for wreck trains, it was easier to bring entire trucks to the wreck scene rather than individual wheel sets. Here’s Canadian National #58981 fully loaded with trucks for a MOW run. (Or maybe it’s returning! – One wheel set is out of its journal.)
We’ve discussed billboard reefers – This photo was probably taken in the ‘20s a little before the billboards were banned. The billboards in this case appear to be painted over the normal reporting marks – you can just make out “NADX __99”. With the reporting marks painted over, I’m not sure if maybe this reefer has been retired from revenue service – which means it could be after the billboard ban. Prior to the new billboard, the old billboard was also for Curtiss Baby Ruth Gum. There’s not a lot that can be taken from the reefer for us (‘50s), but the photo is interesting and represents inner-city freight service. Also, the book-end models on the fenders of the antique car with ads on it’s tire cover and doors – it’s just a fun photo!
The load in this hopper appears to be wood chips – though I’m not 100% sure. The structure behind could be a saw mill – Or possibly the open frame structure for supporting the chutes that load the cars. The hopper is L&N # 64757. Note the chain hooked to a cable running from the frame above the truck off to the left. I can’t be sure, but possibly they’re pulling the loaded hopper via a track to the left – possibly via a powered winch down the track. The brakemen are either setting or releasing the brake – by position of the hands, it looks like they’re setting the brakes.
Since we’re looking at moving freight cars on spurs, my first detour during this research was “poling cars””. Moving cars on spur tracks sometimes required ingenuity. There was a practice (not a very safe practice) referred to as “poling cars” where a pole was place between a car on one track, and the loco on the adjacent track. The pole would allow the loco to push the car down the adjacent track. If you’re like me, you always wondered why the end sills on cars and locos always had those concave round pockets on each side. Those pockets are for poling cars – they are referred to as “poling pockets”. Poling pockets were required on all cars (unless an exemption was filed).
The practice of poling cars remained into the ‘50s, but was pretty much lost by the early ‘60s. Steam locos carried a pole on the tender.
Diesels would have a pole hanging from two hooks under the side walkway (see pic below).
A lot of cabooses assigned to local freight service also had a pole hanging outside. There were also poling cars, where the pole swung out from the side of the poling car. In this pick, you can see the pole along the side walkway below the crewman’s feet. The pole would pivot out from the side of the poling car.
Here’s a better image of the poling car where you can see how the pole pivots out to the side at the middle of the car. Poling cars made the practice a little more safe for the crews.
…Alright, and a second distraction during the research! There was a load involved! That’s the end of a covered hopper that was pulled apart, but it didn’t derail! That’s Kansas City Southern Railway, 2005.
…back to loads. Here’s some long plate girders being loaded into open end gondolas. I can’t tell if they’ll use spacer flatcars between the gondolas. Look at how the gondola appears to be cabled down on the left of the pic. This is the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal.
…and when the freight is unloaded, and you start to pull the empty cars, is that considered air freight? – (Okay – that’s a bad one!)
Thx,
Kevin
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