07-25-2011, 07:35 AM
Cool pickle cars. Interesting to think that there was once such demand for pickles that they had a whole rail-served industry with specialized cars to boot...!
Boxcars carried a lot of bulk goods before the widespread use of specialized cars (although the boxcars themselves were often specialized to a degree). Other bulk good in boxcars that did not react well to moisture included wheat and salt.
I agree that cement is very heavy and bulkheads/slope sheets may have been used to limit loading and/or make unloading easier. However, the "guy with shovel" was also a lot more common in days gone by, and the railroad or industry would have always had a few handy to assist with the unloading. It seems unthinkable today with all the mechanization, but I have seen videos (linked here at Big Blue... I'll find them later) of guys with shovels helping to empty ships of the last bit of grain...!
Andrew
Boxcars carried a lot of bulk goods before the widespread use of specialized cars (although the boxcars themselves were often specialized to a degree). Other bulk good in boxcars that did not react well to moisture included wheat and salt.
I agree that cement is very heavy and bulkheads/slope sheets may have been used to limit loading and/or make unloading easier. However, the "guy with shovel" was also a lot more common in days gone by, and the railroad or industry would have always had a few handy to assist with the unloading. It seems unthinkable today with all the mechanization, but I have seen videos (linked here at Big Blue... I'll find them later) of guys with shovels helping to empty ships of the last bit of grain...!
Andrew