Railroads play a vital role in any region’s economy. While the beating heart of the Erie & Southern Railroad will always be coal, it will also connect many rural towns and help farmers bring their products to market.
I have drawn inspiration from some of the most popular granger roads: the Chicago, Burlington & Quincey; Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul; and Chicago & Northwestern.
Livestock
Model railroaders often associate livestock hauling to western roads, such as the ATSF. This can be confusing for the new modeler because they might believe this industry to be exclusive to that region. Not so. Livestock were usually raised out west, but in most cases, traveled to points east for sale. Rolling livestock is one of the oldest industries served by rail, dating back to the mid-1800′s.
I do not want to model the meat packing/processing industry. This requires large packing plants in addition to dedicated reefer cars, and with high traffic areas such as Chicago and New York nearby, it doesn’t make sense to include such a facility to be served by the E&S. I have chosen to model a livestock resting station.
A law dating back to 1873 dictates that animals can not kept aboard a stockcar longer than 28 hours. A 1906 amendment states that livestock must be removed from those cars for at least 5 hours, fed, watered, and rested. Because some runs couldn’t be completed in under 28 hours, railroads maintained resting stations along their lines.
Usually, railroad employees didn’t handle the livestock directly. Employees of the livestock’s owners, called drovers, often road on the same train as their livestock and handled the feeding and watering of the animals. If there was a small shipment, the drovers would ride along in the caboose of the train. For larger shipments that had multiple owners and drovers, the train included a “Cowboy Pullman” that was either a converted caboose or passenger car.
Grain Elevators
During the first few decades of the 20th century, tens of thousands of wooden grain elevators littered the North American landscape. These looming buildings were often referred to as “prairie skyscrapers” by members of the agricultural heartland. With a typical capacity of 30-40,000 bushels, they were a common sight in many a prairie town.
Anyone who has read about my ambitions for the Erie & Southern knows that I often refer to my late grandfather, who was a farmer. It was important to me to include this industry as a tribute to him and to an era that is now long gone.
Prairie Town
I am going to combine these two industries on one area of the layout, forming a prairie town. On one side of the tracks will be an elevator row, complete with an office, weigh scale, and 2-3 grain elevators. The other side of the tracks will include a stockyard rest area complete with trackside and truck loading ramps, pens, barns, and possibly even a small livestock exchange building.
Operations at the prairie town will feature 3-4 tracks for the handling of these facilities in addition to a separate clean-out track for the stockcars. Operating potential for the prairie town is very exciting, and is not just limited to stockcars and boxcars. In 1953, most railroads were still using boxcars to ship grain, though the PS-2 covered hopper was beginning to see some use for this purpose.
I have purchased the N Scale Architect Stockyard and GC Laserkits Co-Op Elevator Complex to begin construction. Stay tuned for build details!
