Bachman humane stock car

[buzz]

Hi all
Could some one please tell me what live stock is this Bachmann stock car supposed to carry.
Obviously not humane's  ??.
regards John

[CNE Runner]

Uhmmm...what livestock car?

Ray

[buzz]

Hi Ray
Sorry thought it was clear enough
The car in question is Bachmann 18549 50' humane live stock car

[Jim Banner]

There is more difference between human and humane than just the letter e.

A humane stock car treated the animals more kindly, giving them more shelter from the sun, more ventillation, and possibly food and water on board.

Railroads also developed more humane rules, including feeding, watering and resting animals at regulated intervals.

Animals carried included horses, kine, pigs, sheep and occasionally chickens.

Jim

[buzz]

Hi Jim
All true but the common American model is for cattle or horses I have not seen an American sheep wagon.
The Australian ones have two decks for sheep and cattle have one deck.
So it would seem that each form of live stock has a different design of wagon to carry them.
The Bachmann 18549 is so different to anything I have seen that question what does it carry is the first that comes to mind.
The illistration is not large and I cannot pick where the door is on the thing.
The other Bachmann illistrations have a large center door and are single deck so are obiously the common cattle wagons.
regards John

[RAM]

A lot of the cattle cars were convertible.  They could be changed from single deck to double deck.  Single for cattle, double for sheep or hogs.  Bachmann cattle car has some of the features of the last cars run on the U.P.  Around 1990 they converted so 50 foot auto parts cars into tri-level pig cars that featured built-in watering troughs.  They lasted ten years or so.

[Bigboy]

I have one of these cars but it is in storage just now and not readily accessible so I am refreshing my memory from the Bachman product photo.

There is a photo of the prototype car in my copy of the 1940 Car Builder's Cyclopedia Page 163. My copy is a 1973 Kalmbach reprint.

The car seems to be owned and operated by a small company called "Humane Live Stock" as its reporting mark is HSLX 1.

The caption to the photo describes it as a triple deck stock car for sheep, lambs and small live stock. Provision for feeding and and watering. Caretaker's room at one end.
I presume the compartment at the other end would be for food, water and bedding.

The previous two photos show poultry cars belonging to different companies. These are somewhat similar except the caretaker's compartments are in the centre rather than the end.

The Car Builders Cyclopedia generally showed the most recent developments but sometimes if a product was becoming obsolescent the relevant photo may be quite old. Such seems to be the case here as the car has a vertical handbrake shaft (as the Bachmann model) and the lettering style seems early 1930 ish. I cannot make out any of the dates in the photo. 
Hope this helps.

Alex

[buzz]

Hi Alex
Thank you for you answer.
That puts it well in the era of what I call real trains steam.
I assume it would be one of those car types that more than one would be needed say two or three on a very small layout and they would be moved as a train load rather than car load??
Small live stock suggests it could be used for chickens or perhaps turkeys as well as sheep depending on the internal layout.
regards John

[Bigboy]

Hello John,
Glad you found that info helpful.

I've no idea how many of these cars were normally operated together. The cars appear to be completely self contained; the caretakers compartment seems to have a built in heating stove as there is what appears to be a short chimney sticking through the roof. In which case the cars could be run as single items in general freight trains or as many together as required for the traffic movement. The limit being the availability of both cars and caretakers to staff them.

I have no figures for the size of the Humane Stock Cars company's fleet but the 1949 Cyclopedia lists general figures for 1932 for Canada and USA.
There are 93,187 total railroad owned stock cars of which only 27 are listed as 'poultry'.
Of the privately owned cars there are 3,507 total of which 2,807 are poultry.


I have seen many photos of stock car trains of this period which run to 50 or over cars. A few were also accompanied by Drovers cabooses. These appear to be similar to ordinary freight cabooses but with accommodation for perhaps a dozen or so drovers. These would be required where the cattle had to be let out for rest and watering at federally regulated intervals in the middle of the boonies as many of these western trains found themselves running through.
Perhaps cattle trains calling at well staffed yards would only carry a couple of drovers who could use the regular caboose and would only be there to attend to any irregular 'emergency' events.

The Cyclopedia does not specifically state that the Humane cars were used for poultry such as chickens and turkeys. The somewhat similar poultry cars I mentioned previously were also 40 footers and it states that one of them, belonging to "The Live Poultry Transit Company", had 128 coops. The other, very similar, car belonging to "The Palace Poultry Car Company"does not state the number of coops but lists the car as 10 ton capacity.

I would think for a small layout, bearing in mind the number one rule "It's my railroad, I'll run what I like" that single cars running in general freight would be more realistic than a special train all of 'Humane' cars.

Perhaps the 'Humane' cars also had moveable partitions to suit the size and quantity of the small livestock being conveyed.

In British practice cattle was conveyed in four wheel vehicles, all more or less the same size. Most were fitted with moveable partitions which could be set to give 'Small', 'Medium' or 'Large' capacities to stop the cattle being unduly thrown around the vehicle during transit.

On continental Europe a variety of cars were used for animal transit.
Some early (but used well into the 1950s) cars were open topped, others were wooden slat sided, like American 40 foot stock cars and others railways, latterly, just used ordinary ventilated goods vans. At least in France, some 8 wheel 50'   versions of ventilated vans were used for cattle and some horses. No cattle are now conveyed in Britain but I am not sure about Europe though any such traffic will now be much reduced.

I was speaking at an exhibition to a well known British '0' gauge modeller who has a well detailed and very well researched French layout set in late 19th century. His 4 wheel cattle trucks, which like British ones, are fitted with open ventilation apertures near the top and the full length of the vehicle and about 2 feet deep are fitted with curtains. He explained that these were to keep the sun off the occupants. Early Humane cars?

Hope this helps,
Alex

[buzz]

Hi Alex
once again more usefull stuff.
Still have to get at least two I think, I don't know one of a wagon just doesn't seem right I have never seen just one of a wagon on a train.
With the trains I normally run not less than 3 for PO stock but that's 4 wheel
UK stock the visitors get the Bachmann US stock.
It makes it easy to see what they are doing.
regards John