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Railfan, I believe you have it backwards when it comes to Manifest trains. The coal trains and same car trains you speak of are known as Unit trains. Unit trains carry one commodity such as: coal, ore, coke, grain, etc. And what gets really wacky is how a particular car gets from shipper to consignee. A plastic pellet car owned by Amoco may be loaded in Houston, TX. The customer is in west-central Indiana and takes the plastic pellets and makes them into plastic wrap and shipping containers, etc. The customer is served by CSX, but CSX does not serve Houston directly. This means it has to be shipped by another RR, say UP for example. This is a very general explanation and only a rough example mind you, but it should give some idea of what goes on. 1. UP local picks up loaded pellet car and brings back to yard in Houston. 2. The pellet car is classified in the yard and then put on an outbound train to outlying station. 3. Depending on that particular RR's operations the car could go to Little Rock, AR first and end up being set off there in a block of cars going to a similar destination. 4. Let's say another UP train comes by Little Rock and picks up that block of cars and it heads for St. Louis. 5. St. Louis is a major interchange point for East/West RR's. So the block of cars that the pellet car in ends up being transfered over to CSX. 6. CSX may then bring the cars East to Terre Haute, IN where the pellet car and other cars that go to customers in the same area lie. 7. A local in Terre Haute picks up the pellet car and delivers it to the customer that makes the plastic wrap. 8. The car is emptied by the customer and when ready, it is picked up by the local and the process then goes in reverse over and over and over again. Remember this is a very basic example and is not really accurate, but I hope it gives you a better idea and didn't confuse you more! [:D]
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