Milwaukee Road "Meat Trains" #62 Sioux Falls to Bensenville

I see that I spelled Bensenville wrong again.  I have learned what little I know about these trains from the Milwaukee Road Historical Association magazines, and several excellent books that mention them.  I first became aware of the "Morrell meat train" when I was a young boy in Spencer, Iowa and watched them when they picked up the day's production from the local packing plant.  This is what fueled my love of trains in general and the Milwaukee Road in particular.

I wish there were more people with knowledge of these trains that were willing to share.

Art

Hi Art,

What type of cars did you remember seeing in Spenser, Cattle cars or Ice Reefers? John Morrell did have a huge kill and processing plant for both Beef and Pork in Souix Falls SD. It still exists but is now owned by Smithfield. That might account for cattle cars going there, but for processed meat coming back, hanging sides of beef and or whole hogs, those would be transported in the reefers.

And until 1971, there were still both live Cattle, Hogs and Sheep being sent to Chicago’s Union Stockyards too. So it wasn’t until after they closed down that one would see the now traditional 60 and 80 pound boxed beef and pork cases.

@BRicch posted:

Hi Art,

What type of cars did you remember seeing in Spenser, Cattle cars or Ice Reefers? John Morrell did have a huge kill and processing plant for both Beef and Pork in Souix Falls SD. It still exists but is now owned by Smithfield. That might account for cattle cars going there, but for processed meat coming back, hanging sides of beef and or whole hogs, those would be transported in the reefers.

And until 1971, there were still both live Cattle, Hogs and Sheep being sent to Chicago’s Union Stockyards too. So it wasn’t until after they closed down that one would see the now traditional 60 and 80 pound boxed beef and pork cases.

The meat train picked up sides of beef in iced reefers from Spencer Packing.  It already had picked up ice reefers at Morrell in Sioux Falls.  I didn't see it but I have read that occasionally there were livestock cars for Peterson Sheep and Cattle Co. on the same train.  The beef I'm told was for mostly eastern markets and went to either Clearing or Beltway yard in Chicago after it arrived at Bensenville Yard.  At one time Spencer Pack was the third largest beef processing company in the nation, but it's long gone now.  The last I knew they have a largest frozen warehouse there in Spencer.

Art

Art, it is amazing how business brands and the food industry continues to change. All those meat company brands we remember as young people are long gone. But yet we can still keep their memories alive. I used to sell for Farmland. We were a farmers co-op, and we had 4 pork plants and 2 beef plants that covered western Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Even they are gone now. But in homage,  I do have a grain elevator on my layout with the Farmland logo.