Friday, July 22, 2016

Route cards, Part 14 — still more examples

This is the fourth post in a series which primarily displays a range of prototype route cards from the collection of Ralph Heiss. Ralph was kind enough to scan these cards for my use. The previous three posts, containing 20-some examples of cards, are at the following links:

http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2016/07/route-cards-part-11-examples.html
http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2016/07/route-cards-part-12-more-examples.html
http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2016/07/route-cards-part-13-other-examples.html

The present post concludes this series with a number of additional cards, all of which appear to be intended for local switching (though of course it isn’t possible to be sure).
     This first group of cards contains a striking one with the blue diagonal stripe, a Pacific Electric card for automobile car SP 193787, to the Schrimp Co. in Los Nietos, California. The other two are Union Pacific cards, the one in the center marked to Fullerton, the one on the right for car CNW 3103, directed to Corn Products Refining Company.

     The next set shows some examples from widely separated places. The one on the left, from the Texas City Terminal Railway Co., is for empty tank car SHPX 9965 and the consignee is the G & C Chemical plant. The center card from the St. Louis-San Francisco is marked for zone 91, the Sherman Denison Subdivision (Texas). At right is a car from the Kansas City Terminal Railway Company, for car ATSF 93695, moving from Massey Concrete Products to the Santa Fe itself in Calwa, California (Fresno).


     Now I turn to a pair of rectangular cards, the one on the the left a UP card for car MP 87334, to be switched to Whittier Glass, while on the right is a Missouri Pacific card for District 9, Zone 4, C.M.O. North, but the consignee and car information has faded away.


     Another interesting pair of cards forms the next group. The one on the left is not identified by railroad, though it resembles SP and UP cards, and is clearly printed with Colton, a place served by both railroads. Contents are shown as merchandise. The number 90 may be a train or a switching zone. Another zone number is probably the meaning of the number 6 on the one on the right from the Central of Georgia, for PFE 66498, a load of lettuce.


     The next group is all Union Pacific forms, though all three are different. The one on the left, for car SAL 27460, is to Pacific Cartage and is stamped 292 and amended to 292-02, which I believe is a switch job. The center card is to hold a car, though no writing can be discerned on it, and the one on the right directs the car to be switched to UP North Platte.


     Finally, two more examples, both complex  and interesting, beginning on the left with a form from the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, for car NP 27605, with a load of rubber from the Streicher Line, destined to Goodyear Tire & Rubber in Topeka, Kansas, moving initially via the T&NO. At right is a Minnesota Transfer Railway Co. form for car L&N 16614, carrying a load of Cream of Wheat to Philadelphia.


     All these cards are individually interesting, and in toto they amount to a fascinating insight (for me, anyway) into an important yet obscure process of identifying car movements. Many have a very bold number code on them, which could be discernible in HO scale, but many do not, and are probably acceptably modeled with a plain rectangle of paper, Practically all are white or manila, in the ones I have shown, but color photos from the transition era do show other color cards, pink, yellow, blue and green in examples I have seen. I continue to think that these are interesting items to add to your models!
Tony Thompson

8 comments:

  1. I suspect the third card in the first picture (CNW 3103) is actually a CB&Q card, based on the fine print at the top. As you have educated us, the large UNION PACIFIC probably indicates that the car is to be interchanged to the UP.

    Regards,

    -Jeff

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  2. Excellent catch, Jeff, I had not recognized that lettering. You are entirely right. These "interline" cards are quite interesting, glad to have one more.
    Tony Thompson

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  3. I have to admit, I'm starting to wonder if I'd rather have route cards instead of waybills for my model railroad.

    Regards,
    -Jeff

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  4. I agree with your impulse, Jeff. It would certainly work, not only in yards or for local freight, but also for through or interchange traffic. Keith Jordan does this. It would be fun to design an internally consistent set of cards for a layout. But I like having the full info of waybills.
    Tony Thompson

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  5. First off, I'd like to thank you, Tony for sharing with everyone my collection of car tags where people can learn about them and enjoy them (not on my blog, that's for sure!). I have more to share, so hopefully we can talk about it more soon, before we end up beating the horse, LOL!
    In regards to Jeff's comment, I do use these on my layout (though like Tony, I like proto-waybills, too for the obvious reasons), though for my needs, it's too much for my needs. In fact, I wrote two separate articles in the OpSIG's Dispatcher Office back in October 2009, Vol XV, No 4 and January 2010, Vol XVI, No 1 about operating with route cards, though the concept was still at that time, theoretical in use on the layout. Regardless, it's a subject I can go on and on about.

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  6. So I just found my original Word Doc of my DO car carding article, Tony.....Might there be a way for you to post/host said article as a PDF or a link here if people are so interested in reading about the concept in model use? I'd have to update/annotate it, but that's relatively easy. Just a thought...

    Ralph

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  7. Ralph, I have both the DO issues with your articles, and I enjoyed reading them. They are a good explanation of your ideas. I could certainly scan the articles to make a PDF of each, and place that on Google Drive. If you want to update, especially the second article where you talk more about implementing the system on the layout, we could made appropriate adjustments
    Tony Thompson

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  8. Thanks Tony, maybe I'll do just that, I'll be in touch!

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