I recently read a story about a kind of railroad car that we do not see anymore, a stock car. These cars carried animals, mainly pigs, sheep and cattle. This story, from the 1890’s tells of a new development built by a company in Chicago.

“The novelty of the car is a new folding floor of an unusual design to allow two or even more levels inside the car. It folded out of the way when larger animals were being moved. It could be raised and lowered by only one man. The deck is heavy enough for most loads. To this time a second deck was available, but it was permanent. The upper floors folded away into the sides of the car when not in use. Particular attention was given to the ride of the car. Now, that is important, we like a smooth easy ride, why not animals?”

Several other features included no sharp corners or edges. No nails were used. The bolts used all had rounded heads. The decks were operated from the outside, as were the doors. We would not want the animals opening the doors while the car was moving. We do not see stock cars on trains anymore. The cars were replaced by trucks over eighty years ago. Every now and then one shows up in an old western movie, but even that is rare. Most of the old cars were scrapped or rebuilt into other kinds of cars, like to haul ice. That was one of our local products.

Next time you see a truck load of cows or sheep, it could have been on a train.