Hi all,
Did the typical midwestern small town usually have a single track that served as team track, house track, and served the local grain elevator and stock pens, or were these services usually handled on separate tracks? Also, were most of these small town sidings double ended?
Thank you
A standard, probably not no. My impression was that things were organic and developed on their own. The only true commonality I've ever seen mentioned was the T-Town, where a main street (not always called that) ran perpendicular to the tracks, where a lot of the country's Railroad Sts. ended up being. At the junction of the T was the depot and the grain elevator not far. Even those semi-plans were not set in stone standards and often disappeared into a town like any other street.
Nothing really standardized, but it was common in smaller towns to have a station facing the mainline (one track or double track as the case may be) with a double ended "house track" going around the back of the station. You could have a team track area and/or a freight house, and maybe a business or two (grain elevator, feed mill, beverage warehouse) along the house track. If there were several businesses, or businesses that needed a lot of attention, they might have their own spur branching off from the house track.
The Southern Pacific had Srandard Plans for station layouts that appear to fit wjstix (double ended hous track behind station) description. Don't know if the were alwas followed.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
I think in the early days, when lines were first being built, a double ended siding and a double ended house track was basic. As a town grew, track arrangements would change as needed to accomodate new customers. If towns didn't grow, the original arrangement may have lasted into modern times or abandonment. Actually, many towns that didn't grow or declined may have lost the siding and/or had the house track single ended.
Jeff
jeffhergertActually, many towns that didn't grow or declined may have lost the siding and/or had the house track single ended. Jeff
Jeff,In some cases these towns lost their freight house,siding and had their station closed even back in the so called "glory" days. This happen in my wife's home town in the 30s. If you wanted to catch a train or had a shipment from Sears you had to travel ten miles to the county seat. There was a small team track for a local lumber company but,no freight house.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Union Pacific 428Did the typical midwestern small town usually have a single track that served as team track, house track, and served the local grain elevator and stock pens, or were these services usually handled on separate tracks? Also, were most of these small town sidings double ended?
As others have said, the track arrangement varied. A house track is near the freight house or depot. A station might or might not have a siding (a track to pass or meet trains), the depot might be east of the siding, west of the siding or between the siding switches, it might be on the siding side of the tracks or on the main track side of the tracks. The industry tracks were where the industry owned property, that could be anywhere along the tracks.
Having said that, reviewing a 1942 MP Gulf Coast Lines profile map for the 343 miles between Brownsville and Algoa, TX I found the following arrangements:
Station means a place with a name.
Siding means passing siding
House track means a double ended track around the depot (could be used as a team track too.)
Depot means a frame depot or better (not a passenger shelter).
59 stations
50 stations with passing siding
36 stations with a depot
5 - Depot, no house track, depot not between siding switches
7 - Depot, no house track, depot between siding switches
10 - Depot with house track, depot not between siding switches
11 - Depot with house track, depot between siding switches
3 - Depot on another route (junction with depot on crossing route)
25 - Stations with depot and other industry tracks
Hope this helps.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Thanks to everyone who responded! Those are some great answers.
To sum up everything, it sounds like there were no hard-and-fast "standard" track arrangements, and that it varied from town to town based on size, location, and local industries. However, if a town was big enough, a double ended house track (possibly with a freight house) was pretty common, with this track sometimes also serving as team track, with industries that could be on it or their own spurs depending on size and quantity.
Thanks again.