The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1888-04-26
nAyDLING FRElQI
HOW n IS CARED FoR A. ~
AND "ouTs DEpo14 \


freight In L.rgs Citsss-nes
Rehssdiing-Ths vsiss -
Making Up . Trsis-
Many people Imagine that fFse1l -
one after anoth OF q hundred ueUo0 b
simply dumped on a.platform and from
there showed into car, and that incoming
and out going freight Is handled on the
anne plat.or In a country town. or
even In a city ambitious TO metropolitan
honors one platform does suffice. and on
that all freight is received and from that
all freight is shipped But in large city
the railroad OF any prominence making
half living must have two depots. one
An in and the other an out house
Through the latter all Of the receipts go
except in heavy and bulk goods. in large
lots when track receiving and unloading
Is the most convenient and cheapest In
receiving freight all such cars are cut out
or off of the train and switched to what
ever points NAV be desired The bills Of
lading ALWAYS come ahead of the train,
long enough generally to get through the
Office and out to the yard men before the
tr,,tn arrives. or at least on its arrival.
THIS Is done so that no time may be lost.
Receiving the bills. the yard force know
exactly what each car contains and where
II must be placed Some OF these cars are
TO 20 to certain parts of the yards, Others
to private ware houses, and some are to
be- left where they are These are all cut
ont taken away. and the balance Of the
train switched into the freight house,
where the broken tless than car load and
valuable or perishable freight Is stored to
await the call Of the owners. the latter
beng notified by postal of the arrival. In
receiving freight in this way there Is a
great deal Of handling and rehandling
that cannot be helped but SO far as posi-
ble II is avoided By storing as loosely as
POSSIBLE so that one consignment may
be moved without touching another II
the housemen only knew whether John
Smith would be more prompt than Samuel
Brown In answering his notice and taking
away his goods, much rehandling could be
obviated and the goods could be stored
closely without loss of space by putting
Ill DrD"i iTopcity "ioV'
But this is knowledge that cannot be
had There may DO dozen Samuel
Browns and two dozen John Smiths, and
every one of the Browns may come for his
fto,ds at the same time. while the Smiths
may never come, and may leave their
goods to be finally sold as unclaimed.
Thus however, is only the case with small
merchants and plain every day citizens,
| who do not receive pound of freight as
often as they celebrate Christmas The
merchant who receives with any regular
ity authorizes his drayman. or, in st.
| Louis the Transfer company to receive
his freight whenever it comes, and the
drayman or transfer agent is always on
hand to receive it, and ii does not have tC
be stored away Still there are enough
men of the Smith variety. and entering q
large receiving ware house after few
trains have been unloaded the floor has
the appearance Of succession OF mounds,
made out of boxes, furniture. baby CARR
ages implements etc.
The most interesting of the platforms
however, is that where goods are received
for shipment This is where there is sys
TEN There is no dumping together OF
anything that simply comes to hand first
IN one side are strings of empty freight
cars pulled up so evenly that the doors
from the one next to the platform oper
INTO the one on the next track. and the
cars on the outer track can be loaded by
pushing the truck through the ones next
to the platform and over connecting
bridges The shipping platform can il
this way be widened to as many tracks as
there arc on which to stand the cars Or
the opposite side. the receiving side, whert
the wagons pull up and unload, are nailed
signs TO pillars representing divisions
The first IS marked "Jonesville. while
the board on the second pillar may be-
marked Brownsville and half dozen
other ylles. while the one next to it may
lave double that number. or only one.
This is an indication that on this line
Jonesville is a heavy shipping point, and
that Brownsville and the other yilles with
it. are Of small Importance and have to be
numerous to count
Al the merchants ware house the goods
are loaded into the wagon by towns and
tie driver knows just what towns he has
II lie has lot for Jonesville he backs into
that pillar and unloads He may haze a
few pieces for Brownsville or some of its
sister villes in which case he can unload
al JonesyGe and roll them over to the
Smithvlle. further on however he must
swing around with his wagon again ant
back in there Here the freight accuInu
lafes. in these divisions. until time fol
loading, by which time quite respectable
amount is gathered Jonesville is situated
100 miles away, Brownsville eighty, Jack
sonyille fifty and Yellowvillo forty miles
out There's not enough of Jonesville to fl
car, and just enough of the others to sup
ply the deficiency Jonesvlle is Their
loaded in first Brownsville next, and st
oil until fellowville is reached The
loaders 60 through the house loading II
this way, hiling each car, taking inferno
di4te stations to the extent required tC
make up the required weight, that from
the station nearest the shipping point
first
Then the train is made up In the same
way GENERALLY so that cars can be dropped
of from he end il desired without losing
time to cut il uut switch around and con
meet again Will the rear portion anc
caboose Arrived at Yellowville the
freight for that town is piled on the plat
form, the door is resealed, and the train
| pulls ont for the next station Their