Freight Car Commodities |
APRIL 2001
When it comes to operating our transition era model railways, it helps to take stock of the revenue freight traffic which our chosen prototype generated. Such an analysis will take a good deal of research, which can be as much fun as modelling or operation. This month we will introduce the commodity classifications and sub-classifications used on Canadian railways during the 1950s. American modellers familiar with AAR classifications will note the similarities (if not exact correlation). Every freight car load fitted into one of these categories. Therefore, we may assess our railroads' purpose and nature of carloadings, and thereby have the basis for developing an operating scheme, by reviewing the commodity classifications systematically. To keep things simple for specific numbers presented here, we will zero in on revenue freight tonnage handled in Canada during 1953, using data from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (predecessor of StatsCan).
Revenue freight in the transition era was broken down into five main categories. Including their approximate portions by tonnage of revenue freight loaded in Canada in 1953, they were: agricultural products (23.3%), animals & animal products (1.2%), mine products (34.0%), forest products (10.4%) and manufactured goods (31.2%).
The lion's share of the agricultural group was taken by grains (wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, flaxseed and others such as dried peas, beans and soya beans). Flour, feed, hay & straw, cotton, fruits and vegetables completed the category.
In the relatively small animal category, live loadings of horses, cattle & calves, sheep, hogs and poultry comprised a minor portion of the total. Dressed meats (fresh and frozen), edible packing house products, eggs, butter, cheese, wool, hides & leather rounded out the list.
In the heavyweight corner, anthracite coal, bituminous coal and coke accounted for a large percentage. Iron, copper and other ores and non-ferrous base bullion also logged a large share, as did the ever-prevalent sand & gravel, stone and slate. Rounding out the mine group were crude petroleum, asphalt and salt.
In the forest department, logs, posts, poles & pilings; cordwood & firewood; ties; pulpwood; lumber, timber, box, crate and cooperage material; and plywood were the categories.
Finally, the manufactures were diverse in type and nature of commodity. They were comprised of gasoline; petroleum oils & products; sugar; iron (pig & bloom); rails & fastenings; iron & steel; castings, machinery & boilers; cement; brick & artificial stone; lime & plaster; sewer pipe & drain tile; agricultural implements; automobiles, trucks & parts; household goods; furniture; beverages; fertilizers; newsprint paper; other paper; wallboard; wood pulp; fresh, frozen & cured fish; canned food; and merchandise.
Now, how do we apply this knowledge? Let us look at the commodities which would be unloaded in almost all locales. Firstly, it is significant to note that 20% of freight car loadings in Canada in 1953 were less-than carload lot (l.c.l.), or merchandise. Right away, we may allocate one in every five carloadings to l.c.l. freight. For the most part, boxcars employed in merchandise service were routed among freight sheds and transfer platforms. Therefore, we should plan our car routings to replicate this pattern. Another 10% of the carloads at any one time were hopper cars of coal or coke. A further 7% were tank cars containing either gasoline, oil products or asphalt. Gondola and hopper car loads of sand, gravel and crushed stone accounted for 4% of the carloadings. Finished lumber and plywood, such as that delivered to supply yards, gobbled up 3% of the loads. Likewise, carloads of cement (boxcars and covered hoppers) accounted for another 1.3%, while fertilizer and wallboard each claimed 0.6%. Refrigerator cars of fresh fruit and vegetables amounted to 2%, with an additional 0.3% carrying meat. Flat cars loaded with tractors and other farm machinery consumed 0.7% of the carloads. Half a percent of the cars were carrying flour. Without having to allow for regional disparities, we have pegged one of every two carloads.
Beyond these generalities, we need to assess regional factors. Is the portion of railway we are depicting part of the grain conveyor belt? If so, that alone may generate half our carloads (see Grain Transshipments). If we are in an industrial area, then iron & steel deliveries (not to mention iron ore if we serve a steel mill, directly or indirectly) will be significant. In certain rural locales, livestock traffic was significant. Pulpwood, ores or newsprint may also skew the distribution. Don't forget the unusual but interesting industries, some of which have been described in past topics (Christmas trees, field crops, orchard crops), others in our publications (see To Stratford Under Steam, for instance, for details on the movement of hides, leather and packing house products). Look also at the seasonal traffic cycles.
The approach I am taking for my layout is to look at each industry (including team tracks and freight sheds), siding by siding, and arrive at a total number of specific carloads received and loaded over the course of a year. I am then breaking this number down into a feasible value for the month of interest (September 1952). Through traffic is then being assessed (for instance, I am modelling a portion of the CNR Newmarket Subdivision between Bradford and Allandale, so carloads to and from Orillia and Gravenhurst must also be considered). Finally, I am looking at non-revenue car movements, such as company coal traffic, ballast extras and work trains. I believe that the most realistic way of representing transition era freight car movements is the way the prototype did: with handwritten train consists and switchlists. That is, I am as fascinated by replicating the jobs of the station agents as I am with running trains. But that is another topic for another month!
As usual, if you have any comments on this or other topics, I am interested in hearing them. E-mail me at ian@canadianbranchline.com
Ian Wilson
April 2, 2001
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