While I don't have a photo of one of the R.T. Davis cars, I know that it was not unusual in the 1890s for railroads to own cars that were also lettered for the company to whose service they were assigned. But finding
photos of them has proven quite difficult. The only one I've been able to locate is a series of UP boxcars lettered for an Omaha coal dealer, G.B. Havens & Co. They carried coal (and yes, coal was regularly carried in boxcars, as well as open cars -- and
stock cars) mined in Colorado and Wyoming to consumers in the Missouri River Valley region. I'm attaching two images, one enlarged from the other, of these cars at the Omaha & Grant smelter in Denver, along with the caption I wrote for the close-up of the
car. Not Q, but similar and of possible interest.
Hol
BTW, the "Gulf" mentioned in the caption below is the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf, the 1890-1899 predecessor of the Colorado & Southern. It was written for my too-large-to-publish history of the first decade of the
C&S, which also looks at the 10 years preceding that decade.
Boxcars of Omaha independent wholesale coal dealer C.B. Havens & Company were common on the UP and the “Gulf” during the 1890s.
Havens and two partners formed the company in 1886, and when one of the partners left in May 1891, a new company of the same name was incorporated with its main office at 1506 Farnam Street in Omaha and a coal yard at 1407 Webster, plus branches in Lincoln,
Nebraska, and Atchison, Kansas. An 1894 report stated, “This firm handles as much as fourteen thousand car loads annually.”
All of the coal came from mines in Colorado and Wyoming and reached Omaha via the UP, much of it coming north from southern Colorado, then northeast over the “Gulf’s” Julesburg Cutoff.
Its fleet of boxcars – from which G. B. H. & Co. 281is seen here, enlarged from the view opposite – was actually owned by and leased from the Union Pacific, and a large UP shield below the car number related that fact, while the characteristic white
UP fascia of the cars provided further evidence.
The company lasted into the early 1900s, when the cars presumably were repainted and relettered for their owner.
– Jos. Collier photo, Denver Public Library Western History collection No. C-188
From: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io> on behalf of Rupert Gamlen <gamlenz@hotmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2018 9:12 PM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Re: [CBQ] R T Davis Milling
Bill
Looking a bit wider, I find that two of the Burlington’s subsidiaries - H&StJ and KCStJ&CB - also had cars labelled in this period for R T Davis. I’m hoping that someone will have a photo of one of these cars.
Rupert Gamlen
Auckland NZ
From: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io>
On Behalf Of William Hirt
Sent: Monday, 19 March 2018 3:33 a.m.
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Re: [CBQ] R T Davis Milling
About R T Davis. R T Davis was renamed Aunt Jemima Mills in 1913 and acquired by Quaker Oats in 1926. I recall in the early 1960's that the St. Joseph plant was the world's largest pancake flour facility. So it might be reasonable that these cars carried
sacked/boxed pancake flour to customers.
Bill Hirt
On 3/16/2018 8:05 PM, Rupert Gamlen wrote:
ORER’s between 1894 and 1900 carried a note –
“C. B. & Q. cars Nos. 18946, 20192, 20195, 20317, 25973, 25979, 25981, 25983, 25992, 25994, 26002, inclusive, are also lettered “R. T. Davis Milling Co., St. Joseph, Mo.” All movements and mileage of these cars should be treated the same as other C. B. & Q.
cars.”
The cars in question were box cars built between 1885 and 1891, and it appears that the company was involved with Aunt Jemima pancake mix. Does anyone know anything about these cars?
Rupert
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Omaha & Grant Smelter, Denver, Colo., 1890s, Joseph Collier photo, DPLWHD coll. No. C-188.jpg
Description: Omaha & Grant Smelter, Denver, Colo., 1890s, Joseph Collier photo, DPLWHD coll. No. C-188.jpg
C.B. Havens & Co. Coal Boxcar 281, Denver, Colo., c. 1897, Jos. Collier photo, DPLWHD coll. No. C-188.jpg
Description: C.B. Havens & Co. Coal Boxcar 281, Denver, Colo., c. 1897, Jos. Collier photo, DPLWHD coll. No. C-188.jpg
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