Tractors and Team Tracks

 I have at least three models of P2K 53’ flatcars with tractor loads on them. Two John Deere and one Farmall. These flatcars usually get billed to Team Tracks in small towns all over my layout. One flatcar is modeled completely full of tractors, another has one or two MTY spots between the tractor loads, to simulate a car that has dropped off one or two tractors to a small farm equipment dealer.

What I learned recently was that the larger farm equipment manufacturers establish distributors around the country where full carloads of equipment were shipped. THEN from these large distribution centers, LCL shipments of equipment AND parts were made up and shipped to local addresses.

The idea was that it cost much less to ship in car load lots than it did to ship LCL*. Equipment went 9/10th of the way at a car load rate, then the final leg was billed at the LCL rate. 

Knowing this a modeler might want to build Farm Equipment dealer on his layout. This industry might receive loads of assembled farm equipment on flat cars, automobile boxcars* or boxcars of parts, and then ship out a couple tractors on a flatcar, or a boxcar of LCL. 

Instead of one flatcar making the rounds of the layout, several different cars arrive at the John Deere Distribution warehouse. Then the warehouse requests an MTY flatcar for loading. This flatcar then makes the rounds of the layout, moving from team track to team track. The warehouse also requests an MTY boxcar, which then is loaded and moved to a freight house, where the load of John Deere parts gets broken down and dispersed into several boxcars which get pulled and travel across your layout. 

We change a one car move into a multi-car move. Car loadings. On a model railroad more IS better.

*The LCL rate was probably 100 times the car load rate. Literally. A car load customer might only pay a few cents a pound for 50000 pounds of cargo by the car load rate, while a package weighing a pound or two might cost a few dollars to ship the same distance.

*Automobile Boxcars, not often seen hauling farm equipment, but how many articles have you seen detailing the shipment of fire equipment in end door automobile boxcars? A great deal of farm equipment traveled this was also. If your distribution warehouse has a dock built to accommodate an end door auto boxcar you can start this service on your layout.