Commodities in general

First, just to correct a nit, the mailgram original was posted by Jimmy Blouch. But Graham is touching on a broader subject that is also related by some earlier posts about operations in the 40's and 50's. We focus a lot on train operations. But behind that is a (presumably) changing traffic base. What was in those cars making up the trains, and why. I suspect we will find the traffic mix in the 40's (and earlier) was much different than in the 50's, etc. The pipe and mud traffic associated with the oil and gas boom is pretty obvious, but it would be interesting to know more about the pattern of mineral traffic, merchandise, and so on, since this is what drove train frequency and size.

I was somewhat surprised to find tractors still being shipped over the ng. in 1961...



I would have guessed relatively high value stuff like that would have shifted to truck before that. I suspect there are other surprises like that if we can find a source of commodity info. I never would have expected bulk coke to be shipped to Farmington in the 1960's.

JBWX



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2023 01:19PM by John West.