[CBQ] CB&Q & Banana shipments

[<gvlc6@hotmail.com>]

At the BRHS Annual Meet a few yrs ago, held jointly with the I.C. group, one of 
their experts keynoted how bananas came to the Midwest via IC.  East Dubuque 
was one point where IC banana trains would drop off reefers for the Q.  The 
IC's  'Banana Messenger' shed was just a few feet NE of the E. Dbq. depot not 
too far from tunnel entrance.  It shows in some old postcards.  The Q in turn 
took bananas northward to Twin Cities to interchange with GN/NP as well as Q 
jct points along the way.  Obviously the further one got from the I.C., 
shipments were broken down from carloads down to crates; same with a lot of 
commodities.
 If you look inside the cover of older Q timetables (pre-60's) Banana 
Messengers are listed along with Clergy, Circus, Drover's etc re: special 
ticketing.  I.E. folks whose business with the RR meant getting a good deal on 
tickets.  
 The ICHS still has in print issues of their publication that dealt with banana 
movements; they had the lion's share of the business til the end in the late 
50's.  Many came out of Gulfport, Mississippi.    Gerald