Having recently ordered some of the forthcoming
InterMountain USRA drop bottom gondolas from from Dave Lotz, I wanted to read
a little about these cars and so consulted the BRHS Freight Car Data Sheet on
the Burlington's Composite Gondola Fleet (for those interested in this topic,
John Mitchell's superb Bulletin on the Q in the Coal Fields also has much good
information). A couple statements in that data sheet made my head itch. First,
it says that "Like most western roads, the Q favored gondolas for its coal
service because they, unlike hoppers, could be used in the off-season to haul
general freight."
What
is this "off-season&quo t;? To what extent was coal a seasonal commodity?
I certainly get that home and other heating demands would be much greater in
winter than summer, but demands for industry, power generation, engine fuel,
and other uses would not be that different, would they? What percentage of
coal went for seasonal uses like heating? And where there were seasonal
differences, wouldn't coal companies try to stay ahead of demand to some
extent and try to even out production? Maybe they wouldn't. I guess with a
commodity as bulky as coal, there's only so much inventory you can store. Best
storage place is probably in the ground, un-mined.
What
other freight typically would have been hauled in these gons during the
off-season? And roughly what percentage of the fleet would have been
reassigned during those months? Would those gons have been pulled out of coal
country and sent to other parts of the system, or would they stay in the same
division and carry other freight there?
Thanks
for any clarification!
Jonathan