Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad
DSP&P Cattle Cars: History,
Photos, Plans
The South Park had nine
stock cars in their fleet. Built in 1881, these were conventional 26 foot cars
with 2x4 or 2x6 slats on the sides, with outside bracing. One or
more earlier stock cars were built on flatcars.
DSP&P #1204 stock car on the author's garden railway
|
DSP&P RR CATTLE CARS 1874 -
1898 |
|
ORIG # |
TYPE |
1885 # |
LENGTH |
MFG |
BUILT |
|
85 |
Flatt / Stock |
== |
26 |
DSP |
1874 ? |
1200-1206
1600-1606 ?? |
Stock |
18000-18006 |
26 |
DSP |
1881 ? |
1207-1208
1607-1608 ? |
Stock |
18007-18008 |
26 |
DSP |
1881 ? |
HISTORY
A
good photo shows a very early stock car built on a flatcar indicates
that the DSP&P ran stock cars before the 1881 order for 9 cars. It
seems to show a screen door instead of a slatted wooden door. This
could not have held cattle on board, so the car needs a little
more clarification.
An email from John Mark Buerer provides a very plausible explanation
for the screen doors. "I
think I know why it had screen doors. When my great grandfather died
in Illinois, my great grandmother rented out the farm, minus the
cattle, and moved to Oregon with her several young men to start a
sawmill and cut timber for railroad ties, which were very much in
demand. The transcontinental railroad ran trains of such cattle
cars, I am told, for farmers moving their cattle West. The train
stopped every morning and every evening to water cattle. Cattle went
in one end (I'm sure there was a cattle fence there) and feed and
provisions went in the other end, and the men slept in the middle --
hence the screen doors. If you look closely at the picture, it does
appear that one or more people are standing in the middle, and that
perhaps a cow or two are in the left side of the stock car. Great
grandma apparently didn't want to afford the train, so she and the
girls took the very long route in a wagon train!"
The1881 era stock cars were 26 feet long, built by DSP&P Shops
in Denver. The first seven had a capacity of 10 tons and the last
two 12 tons.
Originally numbered DSP&P #1200
to 1208, Ron Rudnick suggests they were probably renumbered DSP&P
#1600 to 1608 because a group of 1884 flatcars also carried these
numbers (DSP&P #1200 to 1299). In 1885 they received the new
UP numbers 18000 to 18008. The DSP&P cattle cars showed up on the
1889 roster but none passed to the C&S, who ran quite a fleet of
newer stock cars for many years.
PHOTO
GALLERY
DSP&P #6 "Tenmile" with stock car built on a
flatcar #85
Enlargement of the stock car.
PLANS
by John Maxwell
DSP&P 26 Foot Stock Cars 1200 to 1208
PLANS
by Ron Rudnick
DSP&P 26 Foot Flat Car
85 With Stock Car Body
DSP&P 26 Foot Stock Cars
1200 to 1208
