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Most chutes did not have a cover because you had to be able to "persuade" the stock to go into the cars! That's where the term "cow puncher" came from. The stockmen used long poles to "punch" the cattle in to the car. In my dad's day, they used electric cattle prods. From: "'Nolen Null' NNull@aol.com [CBQ]" <CBQ@yahoogroups.com> To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 10:23 PM Subject: RE: [CBQ] Seasonal Use Of Gondolas On The Q Doug, My family sold hogs for many years at the Bushnell sale barn. It was on the south side of Ill Highway #9 just after you crossed the railroad tracks in an easterly direction. It is no longer there (as most of the rural sale barns are also gone). Colchester also had a much larger sale barn and auction until it burned. There was a good write up about the Colchester operation in last year's Labor Day Celebration booklet, but I didn't save a copy of it. It too was covered. In fact, I don't recall any sale barn auctions in the surrounding area that weren't covered. I don't recall about the loading chutes as we were selling the hogs to order buyers, so we weren't involved in loading or unloading rail cars. Farmers delivered to chutes on the other side of the building. Now that you mention it, it is unusual to see a covered loading chute, but I can tell you that being out in the alleys and pens of a sale barn in January & February with the snow & wind blowing across the prairie is dag-gone down right COLD. I know my dad always hoped for a blizzard market if he could get a load of hogs to town because the price would be a premium as supply was limited by the weather. NOT fond memories!! Nolen Null From: CBQ@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CBQ@yahoogroups.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 2:10 PM To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [CBQ] Seasonal Use Of Gondolas On The Q __._,_.___ Posted by: "John D. Mitchell, Jr." <cbqrr47@yahoo.com> __,_._,___ |