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Peter's Model Railroading | Articles | Structures | Milk Station
Prototype Information

Milk stations were found along a typical branch line in areas where dairy farms abounded. The local farmer would put his milk cans out on the platform or inside the building, and the daily train would stop at each of them along its route and pick them up. Empties were returned back to the milk station. I presume they were each individually labeled with the farm or farmer's name. A milk station consisted for a raised platform. This made unloading full milk cans from a truck onto the platform easier, and also loading and unloading cans from the train cars easier. The shed on top of the platform may have had a lock on its doors to keep unwanted "guests" from availing themselves to the bounty within.

Depending on the volume of milk produced along a branch line, one or more cars in the train would store the milk cans (both empties and full ones). Since this was a perishable item, they were handled as normal passenger trains, and sometimes the train consisted for both cars for milk transport as well as passenger cars. If there was a large volume of milk produced along the line, a dedicated milk train might be put in service by the railroad. Traveling as a passenger on one of these trains may not have been fun, as the train made frequent stops, but it was an economical way to travel back in the day.

(external link: Milk Trains and Traffic)

Actual prototype information about milk stations is hard to come by searching online. However, the NASG Dispatch linked to here, contains an article that does shed some light on how the process worked. From that, I gleaned that in the era that I model, milk cans would have been transported in box cars, and have ice placed over them to keep them cool. Reefers weren't used, according to the article. Also, from reading eye-witness reports online specifically related to the Chartiers branch that I model, no reefers were ever seen on the line. Starting in the mid-1920s, milk was transported in dedicated milk cars, which were insulated box cars that held two 3,000-gallon tanks internally. The insulation was sufficient to keep the content at a certain temperature. However, that is after the time period that I model. So, for me, a box car here and there would be sufficient to model this.

(external link: NASG Dispatch Milk Article)

This is a link to a three-volume set on the topic of milk cars.

(external link: Railway Milk Cars)

This is a link to a photo taken in the 1920s of a PRR milk station. It is different from the kit I'm building.

(external link: PRR Milk Station)