Re: [CBQ] Meat Traffic on the C&I

[Bryan Howell <tubaman21@yahoo.com>]

The 20013, Number 1 issue of NorthWestern Lines from the CNWHS covered the CGW in the Twin Cities and included a section on the meat packing industry in South St. Paul.  The information you are looking for will be on page 28.  To paraphrase, the CGW handled switching at the plants after they purchased control of the St. Paul Bridge & Terminal.  Starting in 1950 for Armour and in 1953 for Swift, they rotated carries weekly for eastbound shipments.  The Milwaukee, RI, CB&Q, Omaha, CGW and Soo were in the Armour rotation while the Soo, MILW, CHW, RI, Omaha and CBQ made up the Swift cycle.  There was incentive for the railroads to make the eastern connections and if they didn't, they would be removed from the rotation for a time.  Eventually, the CGW ended up with most of this traffic on Thursdays for Monday delivery out east.  Two CGW yard jobs worked Armour and Swift and made setouts at the Belt Yard, just west of Dayton's Bluff, around 4:30-5:30PM.  Each RR had a track in the Belt Yard that their transfers would pick up.  Just throwing this out there, based on this timing, perhaps this traffic was handled mainly in overnight runs on the C&I?

The CRI&P tracks went south to Des Moines and Kansas City.  Traffic on the RI to Chicago could be handled via Manly-Iowa City-Chicago or via Des Moines going south from the Cities.

 

Bryan J. Howell

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From: "rksmes@q.com" <rksmes@q.com>
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 10:05 PM
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Meat Traffic on the C&I

 

Bob-  I worked at the Armour plant in South St. Paul in 1951- 52 and saw lots of loading of meat refers.  One factor may be that both the Armour and the adjacent Swift packing plant were served by the Chicago Great Western and the CRI&P.  The CBQ tracks were on the east side of the Mississippi and South St. Paul is on the west side of the river.  The plant had a very large "dry sausage" operation and much of that was sent east for consumption or export.  I do not remember which railroad did the switching of the plants and the large adjacent stock yards.

The CGW had direct tracks to Chicago in those years.  I am not sure where the CRI&P tracks went.

Bob Sorensen

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From: herrick@krausonline.com
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 8:27:19 PM
Subject: [CBQ] Meat Traffic on the C&I

 

In looking through photos in Mike's books and elsewhere I don't see meat reefers in Twin Cities/Chicago trains. There are BREX/WFEX/FGE cars with produce from the Northwest, but meat reefers aren't evident.

I'm looking at a limited selection of photos, of course, but I wonder whether this is because the meat was still live in stockcars headed to the Chicago yards, whether competing RRs handled it or because there just wasn't that much butchered meat shipped between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago.

Anyone care to weigh in?

Bob Herrick

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