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In addition to this "nightmare" method of handling lumber and perishable there was in the late 1950's a provision in the lumber tarriffs which allowed for "storage in transit".. I think that most midwest carriers participated in this thing...At least I'm sure that Rock Island and Burlington did since I was employed by both of these carriers during that time period and personally and physically participated in the results of this thing. What would happen is that a lumber broker would start a car of lumber moving out of thePacific Northwest and and would be able to "delay" delivery of this car at some point along the line. On the CB&Q in 1958 at a siding known as Berks, just east of Crete NE would repose anywhere from 25-50 boxcars of lumber held for storage in transit. On the Wymore local which I was working at that time we would get a message to pick up from 3-5 cars of this lumber...Of course out of the 25 or so cars on the siding these car orders would be for the 8th.....12th....15th...25 etc. We were usually on overtime by the time we left Crete after working in the Crete Mill all night. We would have the mainline tied up for 30-45 minutes getting these cars out. The OT probably ate up whatever revenue the Q got on these moves.
After I "hired out" on the Rock Island in December 1959 I found that RI used Belleville KS for it's "storage in transit" lumber. These cars were all "green" lumber which was still "wet" and you could see and smell the "juice" from the fresh cut lumber running out the car doors. I don't know how long this "storage in transit" thing lasted, but, hopefully, it wasn't too long. It had to be a money losing deal for the railroads...In addition to the difficulty in switching out these cars which were "in storage"...these cars were, for the most part owned by GN, NP, and other Northwest lines....hence the road storing these cars was paying per diem.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: 'fhc925@frontier.com' fhc925@frontier.com [CBQ] <CBQ@yahoogroups.com> To: CBQ <CBQ@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tue, Oct 13, 2015 7:17 am Subject: Re: [CBQ] Lumber Yards in Savanna, IL These were probably "roller" cars or cars of lumber purchased by a lumber broker from a mill but not yet sold to a retail customer. The broker would bill the car to themselves to some point and try to sell the car while the car was moving. In this case the cars were billed to these brokers "c/o Agent CB&Q Savanna, Ill". When the cars were sold the broker would divert the car to the final destination. Hopefully the cars were sold prior to arrival at Savanna. If not the car would be put on a hold track and the agent would notify the broker that the car was on hand and ask for "disposition". The broker had 48 hours to give instructions after which the cars were subject to "demurrage" and the railroad charged for storage. Usually the cars were sold enroute and diverted. This was done on the Q through the diversion desk located in the Service Bureau which was part of the Transportation Department at the GOB. The Q allowed one free diversion per car. Savanna was a good point as a car could go towards Chicago or towards St. Louis as well. This kind of traffic was actively solicited by the Granger roads from origin mills on the GN, NP, SP, and UP. Traffic from MILW origins was difficult as the MILW was also a Chicago carrier. Perishable cars were also bought and sold this way.
I have
also been going through GN wheel reports for 1968 and found 7 boxcar loads of
lumber in various trains marked as going to Savanna between 4-16-1968 and
4-18-1968. There were four consignees:
BILCOLLUM
– 3 cars
BONSALES
– 1 car
GRESTALBR
– 1 car
JEWCAMLBR
– 2 cars
Interestingly
GN Train 82 on 4-16-1968 had three boxcars destined for Savanna, 2 for
BILCOLLUM and 1 for BONSALES. Considering the amount of cars shipped over just
three days, it seems like Savanna was a busy place for lumber.
Can
anyone identify any of these consignees?
Did any
of these consignees have their own siding in Savanna?
If no
siding, where were the cars offloaded?
Tom
Mack
Cincinnati,
OH
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