1934 Report On Fruit Traffic-GN

     The following were found in NP General Managers File 2554-20. Letters sent in response to a query regarding plans in operation for accumulating carload of fruit and vegetables and assembling the refrigerator traffic into trains. Request from Mr. Charles Donnelly, Chairman, Pacific Northwest Division Western Railroads.

      The General Managers files surrounding this file seem to deal with the development of regional railroad routes. This file asked for responses on how fruit and vegetable traffic in the Washington, Idaho, Oregon areas were handled by each railroad. I transcribed the data because I had thought that - though the date of these studies is 1934 and traffic nationwide, is down, the data does have significance to modelers for study in helping determine traffic patterns for their own application.  

Great Northern Railway

State of Washington

Points at which fruit and vegetable loading necessitate the supplying of refrigerator cars as follows:

East and North of Spokane	SC&P Railway	Spokane to Wenatchee	Wenatchee to Tacoma
Good- Hopkins spur 4 miles north of Northport	Millwood	Stratford	Monitor
	Excelsior	Soap Lake	Cashmere
	Dalton	Ephrata	Dryden
Marble	Dishman	Quincy	Peshastin
Grand Forks, B.C.	Apple Center	Trinidad	Leavenworth
Meyers Falls	Opportunity	Ohio Colony Spur	Snohomish
Denison	Vera	Malaga	Monroe
Davies Spur	Flora	Wenatchee	Fryelands
Mead	Greenacres		Kent
Hillyard	Spokane Bridge		Auburn
Spokane	McGuires		Puyallup
	Post Falls		Sumner
	Moscow

Everett to Blaine	Wenatchee to Oroville	Mansfield Branch
Burlington	All stations	Palisades
Bellingham

    For the territory north of Spokane and on Spokane, Coeur d' Alene, & Palouse Railway,  the empty cars are conditioned , and, if the car orders call for it, are iced at Hillyard and distributed to the loading stations by local way freight trains. After loaded, the cars are picked up by local way freight trains and brought into Hillyard, from which point they are forwarded in time freight trains or added to an eastward fruit train if a fruit train happens to be fit to run.

   

    From the territory Stratford to Trinidad, dry cars are furnished from the supply at Hillyard. Iced cars, when ordered, are furnished from Appleyard and either handled on the local way freight trains or through freight trains depending on the service required. Loaded cars eastbound when ready are handled by the local way freight trains to Wilson Creek, where they are picked up by the time freights or eastward fruit trains. Loaded cars moving westward are handled to Appleyard and moved out of there on the westbound time freight trains.  

    Empty cars for the territory Ohio Colony Spur, Malaga, and Palisades are furnished from Appleyard, and when so ordered are iced at Appleyard Empty cars are distributed to the loading stations by local way freight trains and the loaded cars returned by local way freight trains to Appleyard where they are put into time freights or eastward fruit trains.

 

     For the territory Wenatchee west to Leavenworth and north to Oroville, the empty cars are furnished from the supply at Appleyard-Wenatchee Terminal and distributed by local way freight trains. The loaded cars are picked up by local way freight trains or mixed train and brought into Appleyard, from which time they are forwarded in time freight trains or eastward fruit trains. Ice houses are maintained at Wenatchee, Pateros and Oroville. Iced cars are distributed by local freight trains from Oroville south to Barker and sometimes as far south as Omak. Iced cars are distributed from Pateros to Okanogan and iced cars for the balance of the stations south of Okanogan and west to Leavenworth distributed from Appleyard-Wenatchee Terminal.

   

     A considerable portion of the soft fruits and cherries from the Wenatchee Valley district moved as passenger train freight. The empties are supplied from Appleyard-Wenatchee terminal, conditioned and iced for loading when so ordered. Empties are distributed by local way freight train and mixed trains and after loaded, brought by the same trains into Wenatchee for passenger train movement.

    For vegetable loading at Monroe, empties are furnished from Delta, where they are conditioned and initially iced and moved to Monroe by local way freight trains, or in some cases by eastward time freight trains. After loaded, cars are picked up by eastward time freight trains.

    At Fryelands, empties are supplied, after being conditioned, from either Hillyard, Appleyard, Delta, or Interbay, and moved by local way freight trains. Cars are initially iced at Fryelands. After being loaded, cars are either picked up by time freight trains at Fryelands or moved to some convenient point by local way freight trains where they are picked up by the time freight trains.

    At Burlington, empties for vegetable loading are supplied from Delta, where cars are conditioned and initially iced and moved to Burlington by local way freight trains. After being loaded, the local way freight trains move the cars back to Delta where they are put in the time freight trains.

    At Kent, Auburn, Sumner, and Puyallup, empty cars are furnished from Seattle, where they have been conditioned, and are initially iced at the loading station. Cars are moved to the loading station by way freight trains and after being loaded are moved to Interbay by way freight trains, from which point they are placed in time freight trains. Any shipments originating at these stations for California are picked up by the Interbay-Portland time freight train and are moved through to Vancouver, Wash. or Portland, Oregon, as the case may be.

    Berry shipments from Sumner and Puyallup mostly move as passenger train freight. For this movement, cars are assembled and conditioned at Seattle, and in some cases iced there and in other cases are iced at the loading station. Cars are distributed by way freight trains and after loaded are moved to Seattle in local way freight trains and placed in passenger trains there.

    For berry shipments from Snohomish, Burlington, and Bellingham, the cars are conditioned at delta. For Snohomish and Burlington, the cars are iced at Delta, and those for Bellingham are iced at Bellingham. Cars are distributed by local way freight trains and when loaded are picked up by the regular passenger trains at Bellingham and Burlington, and those loaded at Snohomish are picked up by train No.28.

The schedule for the eastward time freight train is:

Seattle to Minneapolis Junction	147' 30"
Wenatchee to Minneapolis Jct.	127' 00"
Hillyard to Minneapolis Jct.	113' 00"

Fruit Train Schedule is:

Appleyard to Minneapolis Jct.	124' 30"
Hillyard to Minneapolis Jct.	110' 30"

    There is no schedule arranged for the return from the east of empty refrigerator cars. Empty refrigerator cars are moved in westward trains as they can be handled, and in preparation for the heavy shipping period in the late fall, a supply of cars is accumulated previously so that when the heavy movement eastward is underway, the balancing movement westward takes care of the empty refrigerator car supply.

State of Idaho

    The movement of fruit and vegetables from points in this state on the Great Northern is negligible.

--------------------------------------------       End of Great Northern    ---------------------------------------------

Rock Island AFEs

This is a summary to the "Applications For Expenditures" (AFE) files which were project files for all purchases, construction or removal of facilities or equipment from Great Northern property. These files sometimes contain correspondence, invoices, blueprints and other project information, and often contain insight into events or changes in a specific area at a point in time.

As a summary, it does give a look into the changes made over the years.

From the GN-NP Archives.

1898 Extend passing track
1900 Replace pipe line
1904 Place water tank from Spokane yards
1904 Place mail crane
1905 Install private crossing
1906 Install Wenatchee Milling track
1907 Office
1909 Move steam pump plant from Leavenworth to Rock Island
1909 Furnish and place a standard 12’ X 34’ portable depot, 4’ X 5’ water closet and 100’cinder platform
1910 Remove steam pump
1911 Replace guard rail at west end of bridge No 359
1912 Place steel in bridge No 357
1912 Construct industry spur 550 feet long—2 miles west
1917 Repair bridge over Columbia River
1917 Move crossing
1917 Remove part of industry track
1918 Construct passing track on north side of main
1919 Extend private spur
1920 Extend Wenatchee Fruit Growers spur
1921 Place Slow Boards-10 MPH bridge No 359
1923 Extend Ohio Colony spur
1924 Move bunk house from Bromley
1924 Install highway department spur
1926 Remove water tank
1926 Remove highway department spur
1926 Bank widening on account of relocation
1927 Sale of property
1928 Install drain tile
1928 Line change
1929 Install 1100’ slide fence-2 miles west
1929 Line change
1930 Install house track
1930 Record 3 private crossings
1930 Install depot from Irby
1930 Install steel pedestrian subway
1930 Install private crossing for S&W
1931 Line change at Rock Island Dam
1931 Install private crossings
1931 Adjust the accounts for the payment received from the Washington Electric Company for the right to inundate approximately 79 acres of railway’s right of way by the construction of a dam in the Columbia River at Rock Island
1931 Relay 237 feet of 80 lb and 110 lb rail with 90 lb and 110 lb rail at west switch of passing track
1931 Relocate 12’ X 20’ tool house and place for use as a garage at Wenatchee
1932 Throw and raise mainline
1932 Remove private crossings
1932 Place rip rap along river
1933 Remove furniture and equipment from depot
1933 Repair roadbed after high water
1934 Remove house track at Rock Island Dam
1939 Relay with 112 lb and 131 lb rail Columbia River to Appleyard
1941 Place rip rap at bridge No 357
1941 Extend slide fence
1942 Remove depot-build SS
1942 Install Wenatchee Alloys spurs
1942 Move depot
1943 Extend public crossing
1943 Place colored light train order signal
1944 Remove office equipment
1947 Extend industry track
1948 Install slide fences
1948 Typewriter
1949 Train order and signal equipment
1949 Install Keokuk Metals track
1949 Install 115 lb rail
1949 Install Keokuk Metals track
1951 Install additional Keokuk Metals tracks
1951 Place train indicators
1953 Install 115 lb rail
1953 Replace inner guard rail at bridge No 359
1954 Relay with 115 lb rail between Rock Island and Columbia River
1955 Install crossing signals at Keokuk crossing
1956 Extend Keokuk Metals spur
1956 New steel bridge
1957 Install 115 lb rail
1960 Acquire property
1962 Easement for fish ladder
1964 Relay MP 1662 to MP 1667.6

Excursion Run Into Big Bend

From the "Spokesman Review."

April 21, 1910

1949 Rock Island

Courtesy of Douglas County.

Also known one time as Hammond. Site of Ohio Colony Spur.

Fruit And Vegetable Transit In The Pacific Northwest In 1934

 The following were found in NP General Managers File 2554-20. Letters sent in response to a query regarding plans in operation for accumulating carload of fruit and vegetables and assembling the refrigerator traffic into trains. Request from Mr. Charles Donnelly, Chairman, Pacific Northwest Division Western Railroads.

The General Managers files surrounding this file seem to deal with the development of regional railroad routes. This file asked for responses on how fruit and vegetable traffic in the Washington, Idaho, Oregon areas were handled by each railroad. 

(Only the GN version is presented here. I'd like to find who transcribed this and thank them.--Dan)

Great Northern Railway

State of Washington

Points at which fruit and vegetable loading necessitate the supplying of refrigerator cars as follows:

East and North of Spokane	SC&P Railway	Spokane to Wenatchee	Wenatchee to Tacoma
Good- Hopkins spur 4 miles north of Northport	Millwood	Stratford	Monitor
	Excelsior	Soap Lake	Cashmere
	Dalton	Ephrata	Dryden
Marble	Dishman	Quincy	Peshastin
Grand Forks, B.C.	Apple Center	Trinidad	Leavenworth
Meyers Falls	Opportunity	Ohio Colony Spur	Snohomish
Denison	Vera	Malaga	Monroe
Davies Spur	Flora	Wenatchee	Fryelands
Mead	Greenacres		Kent
Hillyard	Spokane Bridge		Auburn
Spokane	McGuires		Puyallup
	Post Falls		Sumner
	Moscow

Everett to Blaine	Wenatchee to Oroville	Mansfield Branch
Burlington	All stations	Palisades
Bellingham

    For the territory north of Spokane and on Spokane, Coeur d' Alene, & Palouse Railway,  the empty cars are conditioned , and, if the car orders call for it, are iced at Hillyard and distributed to the loading stations by local way freight trains. After loaded, the cars are picked up by local way freight trains and brought into Hillyard, from which point they are forwarded in time freight trains or added to an eastward fruit train if a fruit train happens to be fit to run.

   

    From the territory Stratford to Trinidad, dry cars are furnished from the supply at Hillyard. Iced cars, when ordered, are furnished from Appleyard and either handled on the local way freight trains or through freight trains depending on the service required. Loaded cars eastbound when ready are handled by the local way freight trains to Wilson Creek, where they are picked up by the time freights or eastward fruit trains. Loaded cars moving westward are handled to Appleyard and moved out of there on the westbound time freight trains.  

    Empty cars for the territory Ohio Colony Spur, Malaga, and Palisades are furnished from Appleyard, and when so ordered are iced at Appleyard Empty cars are distributed to the loading stations by local way freight trains and the loaded cars returned by local way freight trains to Appleyard where they are put into time freights or eastward fruit trains.

 

     For the territory Wenatchee west to Leavenworth and north to Oroville, the empty cars are furnished from the supply at Appleyard-Wenatchee Terminal and distributed by local way freight trains. The loaded cars are picked up by local way freight trains or mixed train and brought into Appleyard, from which time they are forwarded in time freight trains or eastward fruit trains. Ice houses are maintained at Wenatchee, Pateros and Oroville. Iced cars are distributed by local freight trains from Oroville south to Barker and sometimes as far south as Omak. Iced cars are distributed from Pateros to Okanogan and iced cars for the balance of the stations south of Okanogan and west to Leavenworth distributed from Appleyard-Wenatchee Terminal.

   

     A considerable portion of the soft fruits and cherries from the Wenatchee Valley district moved as passenger train freight. The empties are supplied from Appleyard-Wenatchee terminal, conditioned and iced for loading when so ordered. Empties are distributed by local way freight train and mixed trains and after loaded, brought by the same trains into Wenatchee for passenger train movement.