When were milk and cream shipments discontinued?

[NW Mailing List]

Carl

There is no photo that I am aware of, but Virginia was home to several large brick companies. Livestock is a seasonal business, N&W used the stock cars in the off season, to carry brick as it was a product that was immune to weather and harder to damage, and it made a good use of the cars when they were out of livestock season.

I well remember seeing the stock cars on the siding at the nearby brick plant, must have been late 1960s and asking my father about it, since he was a Radford Division Conductor, and that is what he had told me. It had to have been some of the last usage of the cars before retirement.

Photos would rarely depict what was in the car regardless.

I had a small article on the stock cars in an Arrow a few years ago, which included Bob Hundman’s beautifully drawing of the SK class.

As was pointed out by Paul, there is a photo in Theime’s book of the cars enroute to the Honaker Branch, which was retired in 1955, I believe.

Best
Ken Miller



> On Sep 28, 2024, at 5:20 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;} How interesting! Never saw a cattle car carrying bricks!  I assume boxcars would normally do this. Do you have any pics of these?
> 
> Cheers -
> 
> Carl Barna
> Emmaus, PA
> From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> on behalf of NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2024 9:26 AM
> To: 'NW Mailing List' <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Cc: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Subject: Re: When were milk and cream shipments discontinued?   All,
> 
> Early on, back in the 1920s, N&W had four reefers.  They were painted white with (I surmise, since no color photos exist) big black block letters (like the hoppers).
> 
> Of course, they had Class SK cattle cars, since N&W moved a lot of livestock, especially from southwest Virginia (Bristol Line & Clinch Valley).  They were also used for brick loading.
> 
> Tim Hensley
> 
> On Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 07:19:34 AM EDT, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote: 
> 
> 
> If N&W had reefers they must have been very early, before World War II.  They would have hauled express reefers from REA and other railroads in their passenger trains.  N&W did eventually get some insulated boxcars and mechanical reefers, but I'm pretty sure that was after the 1964 merger, and may have even been an extension of Wabash service.  I think NKP hauled a lot of meat reefers out of Chicago, but I don't know if that service was still in place at the time of the merger. 
> 
> N&W had stock cars pulled by a G class 2-8-0 up into the 1950s, the Honaker Branch I think.  
> 
> Milk and dairy didn't necessarily travel in reefers.  That's why speed was so important in transporting them.  The milk cans may have been placed in a chest filled with ice, but otherwise were often loaded on baggage cars as another piece of express in a passenger train.
> 
> Marty Flick
> 
> -----------------------------------------
> From: "NW Mailing List" 
> To: "NW Mailing List"
> Cc: 
> Sent: Friday September 27 2024 2:54:53PM
> Subject: Re: When were milk and cream shipments discontinued?
> 
> Did the N&W have reefers and cattle cars?
> 
> Carl Barna
> Emmaus, PA
> From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> on behalf of NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Sent: Friday, September 27, 2024 11:07 AM
> To: 'NW Mailing List' <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Subject: Re: When were milk and cream shipments discontinued?   I believe most milk cans were transported in baggage and express cars.  From what I've read about the dairy industry, I don't think it was so much that the railroads stopped accepting them but the dairy traffic simply moved to trucks for cost and effeciancy reasons. 
> 
> Marty Flick
> 
> -----------------------------------------
> From: "NW Mailing List"
> To: "NW Mailing List"
> Cc:
> Sent: Friday September 27 2024 7:29:42AM
> Subject: Re: When were milk and cream shipments discontinued?
> 
> I have a follow up question, how did the N&W ship those?
> Thanks,
> David Baker
> 
> > On Sep 26, 2024, at 1:37 AM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> >
> > Good morning!
> >
> > Is there a date that milk and cream shipments were no longer accepted on the N&W, or did that traffic wither away on its own?
> >
> > Best Autumn wishes,
> >
> > Frank Scheer
> > f_scheer at yahoo.com<N&W_FIVE-GALLON-MILK-CAN_PEARISBURG_VA_1.jpg><N&W_FIVE-GALLON-MILK-CAN_PEARISBURG_VA_C.jpg><N&W_ONE-GALLON-CREAM-CAN_BERRYVILLE_VA_1.jpg><N&W_ONE-GALLON-CREAM-CAN_BERRYVILLE_VA_3.jpg>________________________________________
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