List folks:
There is a good example of head end cars on a banch in Illinois where
baggage cars, express cars (ex troop kitchens), express boxcars and REA
cars went up the Mt. Morris branch to be loaded at Kable Printing in Mt.
Morris. Over the years Kable printed lots of magazines, inserts for the
Sunday Chicago Tribume, and even Playboy, all of which got printed in Mt.
Morris and shipped out of Mt. Morris via head end cars. I have
interviewed some of the old timers who recall little R-class locomotives
doubling the hill out of Mt. Morris with 16-20 head end cars filled with
catalogs.
There are some other fellows on the list who can probably expand on the
Mt. Morris operation, but I hope this is helpful.
Mike Spoor
On Wed, 2 Jan 2002 20:10:46 EST PSHedgpeth@a... writes:
>The only instance I know of where head end cars were actually sent
>onto a
>branch line was at Shenandoah, IA on the Red Oak -Hamburg branch.
>
>In this case empty baggage cars were taken from Red Oak and Hamburg to
>
>Shenandoah for loading at the Earl May and Henry Field Nursery
>Companies.
>The commodity was nursery stock outbound.
>
>The loads were taken to Hamburg for southern destinations and to Red
>Oak for
>points east and north. The loaded cars were picked up on the rear end
>of
>passenger trains at Red Oak and Hamburg. The traffic was seasonal and
>began
>in late winter-early spring and lasted through the planting season.
>This
>business continued through the 1950's and probably into the 60's.
>
>I can remember seeing Number 26 at Langdon during the season with 3-5
>baggage
>cars of nursery stock on the rear end. At Hamburg the branch local
>would set
>these cars over onto an auxiliary track west of the mainline. No. 26
>would
>back in with the whole train and pick the cars up on the rear end.
>This
>commodity moved as Railway Express and had to be kept from freezing
>hence its
>movement on passenger trains where steam heat was provided. There
>may have
>been platform steam available at Hamburg and Red Oak, but I don't
>recall
>seeing any facilities.
>
>At Red Oak, I believe, there was a switch engine on duty who would
>place the
>cars on the rear of No. 14 or other eastbound trains...probably the
>same for
>westbound.
>Seems like one of Corbin's books has a photo of this operation.
>
>One of Corbin's books also has a classic shot of one of the 10
>wheelers
>making a run for the hill up to the mainline at Red Oak with a
>significant
>train of nursery stock in tow. Seems like some book I saw captioned
>the
>photo as being on "The Savannah Branch" which is not correct. My
>feeble and
>aged mind says that this photo in one of the bulletins.
>
>Also I believe that there were instances where mty baggage cars were
>taken to
>a specific industries for Catalogue loading and like stuff.
>
>As for the usual branch line operation ie Creston and Villisca. No.s
>3, 29,
>15 etc would make stops at these stations with mail for the branches.
>Said
>mail and express was unloaded and trucked to either the Motor Car (in
>the
>case of the Creston Branch) this motor had an RPO compartment and mail
>was
>worked enroute. On branches such as the Villisca -Corning branch in
>later
>years the mail was handled in the combination car (3537) and was only
>
>handled as pouch mail not being opened or worked enroute. Railway
>Express
>was handled in the same manner.
>
>Now someone is going to come on here and tell of other instances were
>actual
>carloads of mail were taken "in toto" onto the branches...that may be
>and I
>am willing to be educated and edified as to where and when that was
>done.
>
>Pete Hedgpeth
>
>
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>
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