Re: Livestock loading on the NG

John B. Norwood in his book “Narrow Gauge Recollections” has several stories of cattle loading on the narrow gauge. He describes the long bearded billygoat called the “chivato” that led the sheep up the ramp into the car and then waited near the door until the last animal was aboard and then returned to lead the next load. On a RGS live stock contract dated 10/11/23 for D&RGW cars #5704 and #5615 it shows 161 sheep on one car and 160 on the other. Some of the livestock reports in Victor Stone’s “Taking Stock” show 118 and 144 head of sheep per double deck car. These D&RGW live stock reports also from the fall of 1923 show that some trains could be loaded in 10-25 minutes per car depending on breed, which included cattle averaging 24 head per car and “fat hogs” about 57 per car. The confinement law required that livestock could only be confined in the cars for 28 hours before they had to be unloaded for feed, water and rest. The shipper could sign a release that allowed the stock to go 36 hours before being unloaded also. John relates there is nothing quite like the smell of a flock of sheep that have been on the trail for days and subjected to rain or snow and then confined in the loading pens. The good old days…