Does any railroad still transport livestock?

[Quilpie]

As mentioned above in 2005, Queensland Rail in Australia were still transporting cattle in that large state.

 

In 2020, pleasingly, there are contracted to government cattle trains regularly run in season by Aurizon (a publicly listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange) and new entrant Watco Australia that is owned by a USA company.

 

The cattle trains run from Quilpie in southwestern Queensland to Brisbane, and also a meatworks along that line at Oakey is served with a new rail siding, while there are also numerous CattleTrains operating down the main North Coast Line from inland Queensland.  The QR rail network is 1067mm (narrow gauge).  

 

[Anonymous]

HighIron, I know exactly what you mean! When the boats need loading at docks on the other side of the country, we get 48 hours to load 6 decks of cattle and race 4500 km across the country. All by ourselves! Any wonder why I gave up that life for a nice little driving job, where I'm home every night!

[Anonymous]

Greyhounds, If it is possible for railroads to fan out into the many small farms all over the triangle at a phone call's notice then go for it.

Many Bull Haulers running hammer down and hat on the mirror will keep the beef plants going. You gotta stand back when they come thru.

The beef plants are places that are not happy. There are at any time many reefer drivers corraled in the bullpen usually a few steps from security. The security is under a great deal of pressure from the drivers demanding when the loads are ready, dispatchers demanding time frames so they can make a schedule and cattlemen demanding cattle right heah right now from the bull haulers.

After having waited anywhere from an hour for a trailer that is LOADED and wasting time.... to 3 days waiting on a load to be loaded on the trailer... no one is going to waste any time. You got to go.

There are probably 4 bullhaulers an hour coming to the plant and at any time several hundred truckers waiting on loads during peak times. How fast is the work?

He he.. the left lane of the interstate is considered the Monfort Lane. (Used to be long ago) because only $1.00 trucks capable of 100+ mph with beef boxed or swinging would lord it over the rest of us.

One saturday I left Garden City in the morning and was in Bakersfield CA at 8 am monday with another half day to go before Salinas who have been riding the telephones to my company DEMANDING that load ASAP or they will find someone else who can. The demands grow strident by the hour. By the time you are on the customers property your team has been threatened with anything from ternimation, execution to starvation wages hauling unimportant cargo with open ended delivery times.

[Anonymous]

I understand Queensland Railways in Australia still do some livestock movements, but I do believe they are nearly finished. Most livestock in the northern and western parts of Australia now move on triple road trains - ie. prime movers pulling 3 trailers of stock.

[mudchicken]

Having had to head for the ditches in the before mentioned triangle more than once due to cattle truckersand had to deal with Amtrak vs. Bullhauler on two occasions, AgBiz is virtually untouchable. Bullhaulers are the bottom of the barrel in trucking's hierarchy and have got to be the least safe thing you will encounter on the highways.
Railroads will never be able to compete here on a level playing field.

[greyhounds]

QUOTE: Originally posted by HighIron2003ar

The "Meat Triangle" bounded by Ft. Morgan Colorado, Dumas TX and on past Liberal KS thru to Omaha in the United States processes beef for the east and west coasts.

Trucking can deliver the cattle for slaugter from the feedlots in less than a day, and the cattle processed into boxes and loaded and rolling by the third day. It should reach the west in 2 days or less and the east in 3.

IMHO Railroads cannot keep up with trucking regarding beef. Im sure historically solid trains used to run both livestock and beef products to and from the packing plant. But time is money in this industry.

Highiron,

If I ever figure out how to begin to put this all together, I'm going to ask several people on this forum to partner with me. You're quoting "rail friendly" schedules for beef movement. Double stack economics with those delivery times will work. Existing rail transit times do what you say needs to be done for the processed beef.

All I gotta' do is "Getter' Done".

Which is easier said than done.

[Trailryder]

Thanks to every one who responded to my question.

Later Bill

[Anonymous]

The "Meat Triangle" bounded by Ft. Morgan Colorado, Dumas TX and on past Liberal KS thru to Omaha in the United States processes beef for the east and west coasts.

Trucking can deliver the cattle for slaugter from the feedlots in less than a day, and the cattle processed into boxes and loaded and rolling by the third day. It should reach the west in 2 days or less and the east in 3.

IMHO Railroads cannot keep up with trucking regarding beef. Im sure historically solid trains used to run both livestock and beef products to and from the packing plant. But time is money in this industry.

[Anonymous]

I would venture a guess that meat processing is a lot more centralized these days and long shipments of livestock probably don't happen anymore. Baltimore once had at least two meat packers receiving livestock by rail in addition to a union stockyard but its probably been forty years since any stock cars came to Baltimore.

[mudchicken]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dehusman

The UP no longer has any livestock moves.

Dave H.

OK - What was westbound at Laramie/ Rock River in a junk freight less than two weeks ago that smelled so bad?

[BaltACD]

From reading some Maritime trade publications, there is a market for livestock being shipped from Austrailia and New Zealand to the Middle East....I can't imagine the smell on a ship for serveral weeks in transit from OZ to the Middle East with with 100,000 head of sheep....I wonder if livestock gets motion sickness like humans...especially in heavy seas?

[greyhounds]

QUOTE: Originally posted by addax61024

QUOTE: Originally posted by tree68

There was a thread not long ago that discussed this. IIRC, the restrictions (water, food, breaks to 'stretch their legs') were/are quite daunting and would make any Wall Streeter more than anxious to turn livestock transport over to trucks.

Do these restrictions not apply to livestock being transported by truck?

No they don't. The Federal regulations regarding humane livestock transport were enacted before truck transportation became an option. They only apply to livestock transported by rail and water. They were never extended to motor freight.

Agricultural interests had enough clout to keep their products free from Federal motor freight economic regulation ( and some other regulations). Regulation served primarily to protect the truckers from competition, not to protect the consumers of transportation.

Interstate motor freight rates on livestock, lettuce, other produce, grain, etc. have never been subject to economic regulation by the US Federal Government. In contrast, rail rates were strictly regulated. This was "A" cause, if not "The" cause for the shift of much of this freight from rail to motor movement.

[Clutch Cargo]

Yes.

The changing face of agriculture in the US favors trucks.

Transportation costs are a HUGE portion of your Grocery bill.

Kurt

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tree68

There was a thread not long ago that discussed this. IIRC, the restrictions (water, food, breaks to 'stretch their legs') were/are quite daunting and would make any Wall Streeter more than anxious to turn livestock transport over to trucks.

Do these restrictions not apply to livestock being transported by truck?

[Anonymous]

Conrail ran a couple of PIG cars behind a intermodal to Oak Island. They no longer do that. They were double decker. I saw a picture of them in Barnes & Noble on Freight Trains

[rockisland4309]

A friend of mine has a slide he shot of a three car HOGX train being pulled by a UP Dash 8 around 1992 just outside of Yermo. I would assume Farmer John was paying big bucks just to have three stockcars of hogs hauled to L.A.!

[spbed]

While I can not answer your question I will say try at all costs to NEVER get behind a truck hauling livestock as the odor coming from the truck is quite unpleasent. [:o)][:D]

Originally posted by Trailryder
[

Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR  Austin TX Sub

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