RE: (erielack) Meat traffic

["Schuyler Larrabee" <schuyler.larrabee_@_verizon.net>]

Good information, Michael, thanks!

SGL 

> Schuyler,
> 
> Here's some data supplied by the DL&W to the ICC for 1950, 
> '52, and '54. I don't have complete corresponding data from 
> the ERIE, but this may still be helpful.
> 
> In 1950, fresh meat was the seventh-most common commodity 
> carried by the DL&W on a carload basis, with 20,232 carloads 
> carried during 1950. Compare this to the 153,051 carloads of 
> coal (anthracite and bituminous coal) carried the same year. 
> Essentially all of the meat traffic originated off-line, with 
> only 22 carloads of meat originating on-line. Of the 
> 20,000-odd carloads of meat, 60% terminated at a customer 
> located on the Lackawanna, while 40% were delivered to other 
> railroads. 
> 
> Unlike coal or cement, carloads of meat were relatively light 
> (averaging only 12 tons per carload) so on a tonnage basis 
> meat becomes less visible.
> Ranked by tonnage, meat was only number 17 in 1950.
> 
> Over the next four years, as anthracite traffic began to 
> decline, meat became more important for the DL&W. In 1952 the 
> railroad carried 23,260 carloads of fresh meat, and in 1954 
> the number increased to 25,741 carloads.
> Meat was now the fifth most common carload commodity on the 
> railroad. It also appears that the bulk of this increase in 
> traffic developed as bridge traffic, as the number of cars 
> delivered to on-line customers stayed fairly constant (at 
> about 12,000) over the period.
> 
> I also just found a handout from Naperville in October, put 
> together by John Greedy and Jim Singer. They list total meat 
> carried by the ERIE as 23,100 carloads in 1950, 25,000 in 
> 1952, and 22,400 in 1954. The ERIE had more overall traffic 
> than the Lackawanna (975,000 cars in 1950 for ERIE vs.
> 655,000 for DL&W) so the meat traffic was a smaller 
> percentage of the total for the ERIE than the DL&W, but 
> without the ICC data I cannot say much more.
> 
> So, to your question. Was some meat carried. Yes! Apparently 
> a lot of meat was carried by both the DL&W and the ERIE. It 
> would then be reasonable to purchase some of those new 
> Intermountain cars you also mention.
> 
> Michael Mang
> 
> 


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