# HO scale Cattle/Livestock Cars



## hoscale37 (Nov 20, 2011)

Just wondering:

I have two Cattle/Livestock Cars that are basically brand new. One is a green ATSF livestock car; the other is a Union Pacific Livestock Car.

Considering that my layout is going to be modeling the 1980s and later and more of an industrial type layout- I've read that Livestock Cars haven't been used since the mid 1970s or around that timeframe. 

I know that I *could* just have the two Cattle Cars on the layout, but I think they may look out of place in one of my freight yards. 

Has anyone converted a Livestock car to something different, or would anyone be interested in buying them for your layout? 

Thoughts?


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## Conductorjoe (Dec 1, 2011)

From my days of being in the LA area, I recall the Union Pacific used those cars into the 80's hauling hogs to Farmer John in Los Angeles. There would be a whole string of them on one train. Sounds like you dont want to use them but thought Id share the info. 
As far as converting it. Anything can be kitbashed but may not be worth it depending on the car.


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

Not sure where you got that info but I seen cattle cars being hauled by St.Louis the other day..


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## Conductorjoe (Dec 1, 2011)

Grabbem88 said:


> Not sure where you got that info but I seen cattle cars being hauled by St.Louis the other day..


Wouldnt surprise me.
I bet its a regional thing. Like to a local slaughter house or nearby at least. I havent seen any on the West Coast in a couple decades.


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

Oh yeah we butcher here alot lol


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

got pics of the cars? i may add them to my string of 10 or so


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

If they don't take the cattle by freight car anymore then how do they move all those cattle? I don't think there are enough trucks to that job. Pete


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## hoscale37 (Nov 20, 2011)

*Livestock Cars*



sawgunner said:


> got pics of the cars? i may add them to my string of 10 or so


Okay. Yes. I do have a photo of the cars. The one that I thought was Green is actually Blue. I was thinking back to when I was little and that is the one that I was thinking about when I started this thread.... 

Both of these cars are brand new. I won these in an online auction about a month ago off of ebay. The Blue Car was from a complete Model Power Set that had never been opened, and the Cox Union Pacific Car I won in a lot with some Athearn Blue Box Cars. 

If you are interested, send me a PM and we can get the details squared away.


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

LOL disregard the quest for Pics in the PM lol i knew i should have looked in here first


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Why not keep the cars and get some moo cows to haul around?...


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Grabbem88 said:


> Not sure where you got that info but I seen cattle cars being hauled by St.Louis the other day..


You sure? Got any pics of that? I've never personally seen any kind of cattle car. I've also never seen any photo of any kind of cattle car more recent than the 1980s (that wasn't in a museum.)


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

Omg I see it all the time there is two slaughter houses close by. What is the difference between a semi hauling them vs a train.

There are actually cargo containers that are hauled by flat bed style tractor trailers that get picked up by a crane and loaded on ships too. 

My dad does this for a living so how is it so hard to believe that cows are being hauled by trains??


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Grabbem88 said:


> Omg I see it all the time there is two slaughter houses close by.


Well, considering that most railways completely eliminated shipments of live animals about 30 years ago, and I haven't ever seen anything documenting modern shipments (and with it being that rare, you'd think that'd be pretty well known under the circumstances) I'd like to see some evidence. If they're nearby and you see this all the time some pics should be easy for you to get.



> What is the difference between a semi hauling them vs a train.


Long distance transportation of livestock was a huge pain for the railways. The animals had to be unloaded, rested and fed every 24 hours, requiring the railways to maintain large stock pens along the way where animals could be unloaded and reloaded while enroute.



> There are actually cargo containers that are hauled by flat bed style tractor trailers that get picked up by a crane and loaded on ships too.


Not with live animals.



> My dad does this for a living so how is it so hard to believe that cows are being hauled by trains??


Because of the above issues, shipping livestock by rail long distances was a pain; shipping short distances makes no sense compared to trucks, and no photos or documentation of anything more recent than the 1980s.

Effective refridgeration is what essentially killed movements of livestock by rail. Before you were able to ship frozen meat long distances and have it stay frozen, the only way to have fresh meat was to ship livestock to local slaughterhouses in large cities. Now it's easier to locate the slaughterhouses closer to where the livestock is raised and ship the frozen meat into the cities.


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## Grabbem88 (Feb 24, 2012)

http://www.tsln.com/article/20110423/TSLN01/110429989

Chicago still ships apparently 

Your Canadian transport still delivers cattle by train to ships for transport to british 

Like most railroads yes they avoid it but it is still done but by select railroads and time frames such as the 28hr law

I'm done with this...not gonna argue this when this is another guys post 

Sorry to the op no more clutter from me that other guy can have the last word


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## hoscale37 (Nov 20, 2011)

*Cattle/Livestock Cars*

It's Okay. Here's a page on Livestock cars. 

Apparently there is more local hauling done then country hauling. 

http://www.american-rails.com/railroad-stock-cars.html


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Grabbem88 said:


> Your Canadian transport still delivers cattle by train to ships for transport to british


There are not any livestock cars in Canada.


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## Canadian Car Knocker (Feb 8, 2011)

Have to agree with cv acr on his last post. I work out of CN Rails Symington Hump and Intermodel Terminal in Winnipeg. For those of you who don't know were Winnipeg is it's smack in the center of Canada and the gateway to the West. I inspect/repair 350 freight cars a day. Thats 91000 cars a year and I have yet to see any livestock cars here. I also make frequent trips to Melville Sask, Brandon Mb, Thunderbay On and sioux lookout On with the Kershaw Crane and have yet to see any. So yeah take it for whats it's worth.


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Canadian Car Knocker said:


> Have to agree with cv acr on his last post. I work out of CN Rails Symington Hump and Intermodel Terminal in Winnipeg. For those of you who don't know were Winnipeg is it's smack in the center of Canada and the gateway to the West. I inspect/repair 350 freight cars a day. Thats 91000 cars a year and I have yet to see any livestock cars here. I also make frequent trips to Melville Sask, Brandon Mb, Thunderbay On and sioux lookout On with the Kershaw Crane and have yet to see any. So yeah take it for whats it's worth.


Do you ever see any cars with poop in them? :laugh:

(sorry... couldn't resist  )


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## Canadian Car Knocker (Feb 8, 2011)

Yup found some poop. Ive found dead animals from dogs to racoons, human body parts, and on the rare occasion a hobo looking for a ride. He actually had a nice spread in a box car hamic and everything. I'm walking down the track doing my inspection in the pitch black and all of a sudden I hear somebody say "HI! Do you work here? Does this train go back down south?" Called the CN cops on him. Turns out he jumped onto a train in Memphis thinking it would go further south very little did he know it was bound for Winnipeg lol.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

WOW! Human body parts? What were they and what did you do with them?


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## Ed Gerken (Jan 23, 2012)

So what's all the argument about?  We gots the picture proof right here. Them cows look more like pets to me, so maybe it's a private car. It's positioned right behind the engine, so maybe they burn cowchips for fuel? :laugh:

Anyway, if you do or don't want 'em on your model railway, that's up to you!

-Ed



choo choo said:


> Why not keep the cars and get some moo cows to haul around?...


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## Canadian Car Knocker (Feb 8, 2011)

norgale said:


> WOW! Human body parts? What were they and what did you do with them?


Part of a leg stuck in the brake beam. When something like that happens you have to go on the radio and do the dreaded "EMERGENCY EMERGENCY EMERGENCY carmen Marion east end East Recieving 10 requesting assistance" radio call. Nobody likes hearing that because it means something has happened were you need the emergency crews assistance.


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## hoscale37 (Nov 20, 2011)

*Cattle Cars*

The Cattle Cars have been * SOLD * to Sawgunner. 

Thank you for those that inquired.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

cv_acr said:


> There are not any livestock cars in Canada.


That's because it's a bad idea to freeze your beef before you get it butchered!:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## gustovski (Jul 7, 2011)

NIMT said:


> That's because it's a bad idea to freeze your beef before you get it butchered!:laugh::laugh::laugh:


nice on north idaho
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

NIMT said:


> That's because it's a bad idea to freeze your beef before you get it butchered!:laugh::laugh::laugh:


There were, 30 years ago. There are not any stock cars in service anymore.


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