Found this picture on Baltimore Old Photos on Facebook. Too cool not to share.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Very cool. Thanks, Henry.
Rich
Alton Junction
I love this. Any excuse to justify weird operations! I wonder if there isn't a loading dock on the other side of the boxcar at the height of its doors. It would make sense, since that's where they put the track. Maybe there's a warehouse on that side of the alley, and the retail store is on the right side, fronting on a commercial street. Since the shipment was late (I'm spitballin' here now), the store ran out of 80-lb bags of this extra private reserve stone-ground wheat flour, and why not just take a few loads of them directly into the shop?
-Matt
Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.
Here's a look at the same box car from further away. I don't think they would have allowed the boxcar unloading to block the entire street. It's 1952 BTW.
There is so much to see in those wonderful photos. The mix in age of the cars parked. the fact that the sidewalk is totally blocked to any random pedestrians by the ramp leading to the boxcar, and in the second photo it is blocked by a truck that has backed up at Baxter Paper. The mysterious size and shape of the bags being unloaded from the boxcar on the dolly. The entire driving and parking situation looks chaotic.
Clearly this is a warehouse district of some sort, where random pedestrians would perhaps not be expected anyway. There was a similar area south of Milwaukee'd downtown known informally as "Commission Row" where almost all the vegetable and fruit dealers were located and trucks were constantly being unloaded -- and in an earlier era there may have been tracks like this. It was every man for himself in terms of parking driving and walking and I think that was just accepted as being part of the situation. We can only speculate how long the railroad would leave that boxcar there after it was unloaded (and maybe it was LCL so they were not unloading the entire car?). I have seen photos of LCL boxcars being unloaded at grade crossings -- who knows how long that crossing was blocked during the unloading but it was just accepted back then.
A bit of internet searching found an address linked to Baxter Paper: 113 Cheapside, Baltimore. That would seem to place in the wharf and warehouse district. B&O's 0-4-0Ts and Pennsy 0-4-0s worked those areas as I recall
Dave Nelson
I believe the B&O also used tractors to move cars around. Saw a picture of one and it had very large rubber tires.
Mark B.
Power for that B&O street trackage could be interesting. As I dimly recall the B&O tractors actually looked like 'tractors', with comparatively small wheels at the front and the engine hood ahead of the 'driver'.
More interestingly for prospective modelers, B&O also had at least one switcher that was modified with longer traction-motor cables so the trucks could swing to a much more acute angle. This permitted the comparatively large switcher to negotiate the traction-size radii of most of the in-street trackage.
PRR had decidedly more interesting power for their street trackage, starting about 1912 (with hard rubber tires and a vertical ship's wheel for steering!) with a later version in the mid-Fifties with Detroit Diesel power and large heavily-ribbed rubber 'offroad' tires. (I actually saw one of these in the mid-Seventies, still with its cream-and-white New Jersey license plate.)
I was of the understanding that it was fairly common to have boxcars spotted as this one is, as a kind of temporary mobile warehouse in the street in front of a premise, and have freight rolled down a temporary ramp just like the one pictured if there were significant enough volume. The car is plainly on a track running down the street with 'nothing but pavement' on its other side. I'd expect it to be moved reasonably promptly once the crews are finished unloading (or loading) it. What you could do for 'verisimilitude' in modeling would be to spot a car containing "LCL" at one end of the in-street track, and then arrange to push it 'door-to-door' until all the contents had been delivered and all the pickups made. Then move it either to a yard for dispatch or some kind of cross-dock facility for sorting and 'expedited despatch'...
This shot is comparatively late for street running -- note the attractive Woody in the foreground. The thing to consider here is that a truck for LCL in the same service likely wouldn't have had a side door, and it is likely not as practical to ramp up to an end door of a trailer, as appears to be what's going on farther down the street.
Before I was the 'second' picture I was going to ask if we knew what time of day and day of week this was. That would likely make some difference about other use of the street while the car was being accessed...
I notice what looks to be a square, "cat's-eye" glass bead reflector hanging from the end-sill grab iron. Yes, studying the details sometimes raises more questions than they answer.
Some even made it into ConRail ownership:
CR_mule by Edmund, on Flickr
B&O's version:
BnO_Mule by Edmund, on Flickr
Lots of photos of the various Pennsy machines here:
http://prr.railfan.net/RubberTiredSwitchers.html
Page takes a while to load.
Good Luck, Ed
What Ed sees as a reflector, I see as the window in the building.
BigDaddyWhat Ed sees as a reflector, I see as the window in the building.
Maybe I didn't describe its location well enough. End-sill grab iron?
Reflector by Edmund, on Flickr
OK, maybe it is a waffle iron?
Cheers, Ed
Those sawhorses do not look sturdy enough to support that ramp, let alone the worker and the load!
YIKES!
Henry: Thank you for sharing this photo.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190YIKES!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good morning
Neat photo Henry
Makes sense what Overmod and Bear pointed out. And people seemed to be more self-sufficient problem solvers, making their own tasks at hand easier back in the day. Rather curious, deliveries through a standard door not able to accommodate a forklift, but they more than likely didn't build that ramp for a once in a blue moon thing.
I'm sure the merchant's scheduled deliveries were frequent throughout the year. They probably came up with that Back Saving ramp before or not long after, the business opened its doors with a designated place to store it. I'd bet the farm, the workers handled the ramp delivery system of set up and tear down like clockwork.
I'm guessing some type of baking goods, maybe for bread. Perhaps a wholesale merchant. Baking out of a two-story or more building, with the added expense of make-up air doesn't make a lot of sense, unless it took place on the top floor which is doubtful.
If those large sacks were anything else heavier than some type of flour product, as Matt pointed out, (for instance a Portland product) that worker carting six bags would be taking a really fast ride down that ramp rather quickly.
"Ye Olde" wooden saw horse concept is more sturdy than people give credit and more than adequate. Perhaps a few duplex nails here and there gave one a little more assurance.
That was like playing guessing games on the Red Green Show. Thanks, it was fun.
TF
SeeYou190 Those sawhorses do not look sturdy enough to support that ramp, let alone the worker and the load!
Hi Rich. I'm not quite sure about that? Agreeable that the ramp looks sturdy and well built, but respectfully stating, take in a closer zoom.
It appears there is a joint with an upward crook and misalignment of the ramp sides, on the second sawhorse, ("trestle") from the building. It also appears that trestle has an added board on either side, for more surface bearing of the ramp joint.
Judging by the workers height at about 6 ft tall. It makes sense the ramp section he's on is about 16 ft, which would be a more typically available, max length of standard retail lumber.
That single section alone would probably support the weight of the worker and cart with plenty of bounce,....for a while like playing Jenga...
I am going to stick by YIKES!
I have seen a lot of trailers unloaded at jobsites, and if a ramp was used, it was a RAMP! Usually alluminum with non-skid treads and very sturdy supports.
If that ramp was pulled out, someone would destoy it on sight.
I could never have been a laborer back in the day.
gmpullmanMaybe I didn't describe its location well enough. End-sill grab iron? Reflector by Edmund, on Flickr OK, maybe it is a waffle iron?
It's a reflector. If you look carefully you can see the switch lock used to secure it to the car. It was common for the B&O to place reflectors on cars left on the street overnight in Baltimore. Later on they were sheet metal covered with a red reflective decal (Scotchbrite?) The reflectors I remember were always locked on the car.
I don't recall seeing reflectors on cars PC or Conrail left on Baltimore streets, but have been told that at one time, PRR had an employee that rode a bicycle around the street trackage area of Baltimore and hung lighted oil lanterns on cars left on the street overnight. I'm guessing they were locked on too.
DSO17 have been told that at one time, PRR had an employee that rode a bicycle around the street trackage area of Baltimore and hung lighted oil lanterns on cars left on the street overnight.
World class limericist.