Shippers Guides

Alton & Baltimore and Ohio

The B&O reached New York State on the north, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky on the south, St. Louis and Chicago on the west, and the eastern seaboard. The Alton extended the B&O to Kansas City and blanketed Illinois with lines.

This guide combines both railroads in one book, with the Alton as a separate section. Industries are listed by commodity produced or consumed, then by state and town. It also lists livestock pens, track scales, icing stations, crane facilities, and coal and coke operators.

Ann Arbor Railroad NEW

This shippers directory covers competitive points in Michigan and Ohio, and also Wisconsin. Toledo, Ohio has the biggest listing, along with Ann Arbor, Michigan. Every Michigan town where another railroad crossed is listed with its industries, whether each is on the Ann Arbor or a competing road, and whether reciprocal switching applies.

Especially interesting are the lake terminals where the Ann Arbor solicited traffic and participated in rates: Manitowoc and Kewaunee, Wisconsin, and Menominee and Manistique, Michigan, all car-ferry terminals.

Chicago & Eastern Illinois Traffic Department Directory

The C&EI Directory of Firms and Industries lists towns alphabetically with the industries on the C&EI and whether each is served by reciprocal switching.

Chicago & North Western / Omaha Shippers Directory

Lists industries of the CNW and the CStPM&O (Omaha Road) by industry type, town and state. Full of great old-time industry names.

Chicago & North Western Directory of Industries

Covers both the CNW and the Omaha Road. Industries are listed by commodity type, such as coal dealers, grain elevators and manufacturers. The CNW fills the front of the book and the Omaha the rear third. One interesting page claims that in 1940 shipping livestock by train was safer than by truck, a nod to prewar road conditions.

Chicago Switching District

Shows how much of a manufacturing center Chicago was. Industries are listed alphabetically with the nature of the business, street address, railroad district, and serving railroads. Coverage includes the near-in suburbs, roughly the area bounded by the IHB.

Chicago Switching District, Freight Tariff 22-G

Lists all industries in Chicago and nearby suburbs alphabetically by name, with street address, products, and serving railroad or railroads. Compare it with the 1956 edition: the page counts are nearly identical, so you can see exactly what changed industrially over eleven years.

Great Northern Railway

Great Northern Carload Shippers and/or Receivers, Competitive Rail Points.

Icing Stations in the United States and Canada

Lists every icing platform and service by category (regular, emergency and re-top icing), along with all the railroads offering those services.

Illinois Central Railroad

Dated just before the GM&O merger, when the IC was at its full extent: Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska on the north, and Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on the south. Towns are in alphabetical order, from Abbeville, Miss. with a single industry to Zeigler, Ill. with its coal mine.

Pages added over the years carry A, B and C suffixes. Some listings appear older than the dates suggest. My Northwest Iowa hometown shows 1940s industries gone by 1967 alongside one built in the late '60s, so think of it as covering the 1950s through 1970.

This is a copy of a copy, so about 5% of the pages are hard to read.

Illinois Terminal Railroad Company Directory of Industries

Lists all industries in towns along the IT, including offline industries not on the IT. Peoria alone takes three pages; other major towns include Decatur, Springfield and East St. Louis.

Louisville & Nashville

My first guide covering the Southeast, running from Illinois and Ohio to Florida and Louisiana. The only date is on the 1939 system map, so I estimate a prewar publication around 1940.

Printed by Reynolds & Reynolds of Dayton, Ohio, who also produced the UP, CNW, RI and Milwaukee guides I sell. Industries are listed by type, then by state and town. The L&N edition has a larger foreword describing industries along the line, plus six pages of LCL routes.

Milwaukee Road Shippers Guide

Lists each town on the line and all its industries, identifying each as Milwaukee-served, served by another railroad, jointly served, or a team track customer. Organized by commodity: grain dealers, refineries, ice manufacturers, packing houses and many more.

I use this book extensively for prototype waybills on my own railroad. It has an orange/yellow cover matching the original.

Milwaukee Road Reciprocal Switching Arrangement NEW

A listing of industries right at the end of the classic era. Every town where two or more railroads competed is listed alphabetically, with each industry, its serving railroad, and the reciprocal switching arrangements. Some towns remain listed even though the second railroad had been abandoned. Both Lines East and Lines West are included.

Milwaukee Road Reciprocal Switching Arrangements

Lists every town on the Milwaukee served by two or more railroads. Towns and industries are in alphabetical order, with the serving carrier and whether reciprocal switching is allowed.

Missouri Pacific RR List of Industries

Includes subsidiaries such as the T&P and MI. Towns and industries are listed alphabetically with the railroad serving each industry.

New York, New Haven & Hartford

"Official Freight Shippers Guide and Directory," with many period advertisements. Organized by industry type, then by state and city, listing all industries of that type, not just those on the New Haven.

New York Central / P&LE Freight Delivery Circular 1-E

Covers a huge territory from Illinois and Missouri to Massachusetts, plus Kentucky, Ontario and Quebec. Lists industries and team tracks, including industries on adjoining railroads in each town. Pittsburgh alone runs six pages. Still very much the zenith of classic-era railroading.

Northern Pacific Industrial Guide

Covers the entire NP. The original 6 × 9" pages are enlarged to 8½ × 11" for easier reading. Arranged by town, both competitive and non-competitive points, listing each industry and its serving railroad or railroads. Three pages of notes on exceptions are at the back.

Pennsylvania Railroad, Form CT1000

Lists industries served by the PRR and other railroads in each city. The front half is arranged by region and subdivision in timetable order; the back half is an alphabetical industry index with page references.

Reading Company Freight Shippers Guide No. 1

Besides the Reading, includes the Cornwall RR, the Ironton RR, and the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines. Stations are listed alphabetically with their industries. Includes a list of Delaware River piers and railroad maps.

Rio Grande Freight Traffic Guide

Lists all industries at competitive points in Colorado and Utah served by the D&RGW and other railroads. The back includes maps of the D&RGW and RGS, a detail map of the Front Range joint track from Denver to Pueblo, and lists of coal mines, stockyards, track scales, auto platforms and Rio Grande Motor Way facilities.

Rock Island

Lists, by commodity, towns on the Rock Island and all their industries, noting whether each is served by the Rock, another railroad, or a team track. A very informative guide for prototype waybills or researching the industries of a town or line segment.

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Industrial Directory

Lists all industries at competitive points, including those on other railroads. Towns and industries are in alphabetical order, with each industry's serving carrier and whether it is open to reciprocal switching.

Soo Line List of Industries at Junctions

The Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie served the upper Midwest from the Great Lakes to the Dakotas and Montana. The cover is dated December 1930; a 13-page 1935 update at the back adds and removes industries during the Depression and is an interesting document in itself.

Covers only points where two or more railroads meet. Milwaukee, Wisconsin runs 10 pages and Minneapolis 11. Each industry shows the commodity shipped or received and the serving railroad or railroads.

Southern Pacific – Los Angeles Terminal NEW

The terminal is divided into 16 zones, each with a track plan and list of industries; complex zones need two sheets. The second image shows part 2 of zone 6, covering Butte Street yard, the connecting Pacific Electric yard, and the Union Pacific and Santa Fe interchanges. Maps show streets for orientation, plus depots, towers, yard offices and water columns, since 1952 was still the steam era.

The last 37 pages are an alphabetical index of thousands of industries, with addresses and car capacity. Note that only SP industries are covered, not UP, PE or Santa Fe. My Union Pacific book covers all LA industries.

Western Pacific Railroad, Circular #167-E

Includes the WP, Sacramento Northern and Tidewater Southern, with maps of all three at the back. Large cities like San Francisco and Salt Lake City run several pages, while small towns like Tobar and Loyalton are covered too. All industries in each town are listed, including many SP and Santa Fe customers at joint points.