Freight Routing

Freight car interchange and routing was more complex 60 years ago when there were more class 1 Railroads, and more railroads in general. The NKP created this document in the early 1960’s (Date estimated since the Erie Lackawanna RR is listed, Not Erie and DL&W) to assist shippers in routing carload traffic. Some listings are obvious, some are head scratchers. It’s important to remember the railroad didn’t set the route in most cases.

A few routing samples are below. (I’ve never heard of the Moshassuck Valley railroad until today.)

The full document can be found here.

Hey modelers you could make use of this document in operations.

Thanks for stopping by.

Brian J Carlson, P.E., NKPHTS Collections Management Director

LCL Freight

I am fascinated by the the complexity and nuances of the movement of LCL freight on railroads before trucks took over most of the business. In the archives of the NKPHTS we have several documents that the NKP put together to assist shippers and employees with the movement of freight,

The first document is a more efficient plan for shipping LCL from Cleveland Ohio to points on the NKP . The document states, “The information contained in this circular is intended as a guide to shippers with a plan for acceptance and forwarding of less than carload shipments on certain days of each week, termed “shipping days” at stations designated..”

Cleveland LCL went to metropolises like Buffalo NY and small towns like Dunfee In. For further reading check out the document here.

The second document is from 1956. The scan is a little beat up, but the information is interesting. The document “Schedule of Merchandise cars and service operated by and in connection with the Nickel Plate Road”

Origin and destination points of LCL cars are shown as well as frequency of service and arrival date. The document can be found here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Brian J Carlson, P.E., NKPHTS Collections Management Director

AMC - Adventures in Standards - Episode 1

The Advisory Mechanical Committee (AMC) was formed by the Van Sweringen brothers' to coordinate and standardize best practices between the four railroads, Chesapeake & Ohio, Erie, Pere Marquette, and Nickel Plate Road, held by the brothers. The most famous AMC design may be the standardized 2-8-4 which found service on all of the Vans railroads.

But did you know AMC standards went far beyond motive power? This ongoing series will present some of the lesser know standard items. Without further ado I give you Step Box Monograms

Brian J Carlson, P.E., NKPHTS Collections Management Director