Modern Stock/Cattle Cars

If I recall correctly, the MTH car is based on what was pretty much the last generation of livestock cars. They started shipping by truck in the 70's. Shipping by train was a major hassle for the railroads.

You might want to check with the UP Historical Society. They might have more definitive info.

The end of the stock car, and the big city stock yards, was the result of refrigerated railcars and trucks.  Slaughter now occurs near where the animals were raised, rather where the meat was to be eaten.  The UP Stock cars used in the 1980s were used to move pigs from the Midwest to Southern California.  California had a pork inspection law that required the live animals be inspected in California. i believe the law has been changed and live animals are no longer transported into the state for slaughter. 

The UP stock cars were equipped with water and feed troughs, and in Nevada there was a track that was equipped to hose the animals down to cool them in the summer.  The cars were also equipped with shutters to keep the animals warm in the winter.  These features got the UP an exemption from having to unload the cars for feed and rest enroute.  

There was was a prototype hi cube stock car built, but I do not think they ever went into production.  At this same time there was also some cattle movements on the BN and DRGW. But I think they were small in comparison to the UP pig operation. 

I do not recall the built date on the UP stock cars.  I was looking at reconditioning them in the 1980s, and they had been reconditioned at least once prior to my effort. The pig's waste was very corrosive and steel was probably not the best choice of materials for these cars.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info. I guess from what you've all told me if I wanted to model a modern animal slaughter and meat packing plant I would be better off having the animals coming in by truck and the prepared meat leaving in a refrigerated rail car.

Regards Daryl

The following is the Wikipedia paragraph I referred to in my first post:

"Modern conversions[edit]

In the 1960s, the Ortner Freight Car Company of Cincinnati, Ohio developed a triple-deck hog carrier for the Northern Pacific Railway based on the design of 86-foot (26.21 m) long "hi-cube" boxcar called the "Big Pig Palace." They later brought out a double-deck version called the "Steer Palace" that hauled livestock between Chicago and later Kansas City to slaughterhouses in Philadelphia and northern New Jersey until the early to mid-1980s on Penn Central and Conrail intermodal trains.

The Union Pacific Railroad, in an effort to earn more business hauling hogs from Nebraska to Los Angeles for Farmer John Meats, converted a large number of 50-foot (15.24 m) auto parts boxcars into stock cars. Originally built by Gunderson Rail Cars in Portland, Oregon for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, the conversions were done by removing the boxcars' side panels and replacing them with panels that included vents that could be opened or closed. The tri-level cars featured built-in watering troughs.

Strings of 5-10 of these "HOGX" cars were, until the mid 1990s, hauled twice-weekly at the front of double-stack intermodal freight trains. However, this service was terminated when Farmer John Meats shifted to hogs produced locally in California. The units have since been scrapped."  (c) Wikipedia

I did not find any photos attached to the article that depicted any of the various pieces of rolling stock discussed.  I am sure a determined search of the Net might result in a few pictures.

I am modeling the "stock yard switching district" of Oklahoma City.  I know they still received shipments of livestock in the early 60s...BUT NOT MANY.  By the mid 70s only one of the original 3 packing plants was still operational and it was a ghost of its former self.  The only photos I have seen of the OKC Stockyards in the 60s showed stock cars that were the typical 36ft and 40ft wood slat cars we are most familiar with.  Likewise, most of the reefers were still 36ft and 40ft ice bunker cars.  Quite a few were still wood cars, but the majority were steel.  Mechanical steel reefers were more common by the end of the 60s.

I elected to model 1963 so I could still run the zebra striped geeps and switchers, thus I can also run the wooden stock cars and the wooden and steel reefers. 

If you are just modeling the mainline and the stock cars are "run thru" I believe the wooden cars would be rare after 1970.  If you are modeling the industry and you are post 1970, I think you would probably not see many stock cars, if any, unless you are modeling specific markets.

If by "modern" you mean in your late-70's-to-today timeframe, the answer would be truck in, truck out -- unless you want to create a fantasy world where railroads consistently make deliveries to a reasonably fast schedule.   However, there's nothing wrong with that approach, and a lot to be said for it.

With best regards, SZ

Best regards, SZ

Hi Guys,

Once again thanks for the great info. By the sounds of it the stock yard and meat packing plant are a no go and consigned to history.

Regards Daryl

 Packing plants still use tank cars to haul tallow, both edible and inedible. Covered hoppers for bone chips. Some modern reefers for boxed meat.

AHM made a cool modern 50 ft semi Hi cube double deck cattle car. I have 3-4 of them....would love to have one in O scale 3 rail!!!  Not sure if any real cars were built but a neat model.....maybe I'll scale one up!!