Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 September 1898 — Many Rinds of Freight Cars. [ARTICLE]

Many Rinds of Freight Cars.

Many and devious are the wanderings of the ordinary freight cars. They come forth like a flower and are loaded down, and the next week they are at the other side of the continent and still going. Every railroad whioh they strike empty gets a few weeks’ or months’ free service out of them before shunting them over on to some other line. They usually work hard for their keeping, but sometimes they get stranded on a lonesome side-track and stand there until the moss covers their backs. All of which is suggested by the fact that Gurney Jesson, one of the evening republican’s veteran carriers, is making a collection of freight cars, so to speak. He is not, of course, gathering up and keeping the cars themselves, but he comes as near to that as he can, by taking the names of as many different companies’ cars as he sees going past over the Monon. He begun making this list a few weeks ago, and he has already listed the names of 111 different railroad lines whose cars lie has noticed. Cars from the remotest parts of the nation are among these, and even some from Canada, the Canada Pacific road being among these. From California to Maine; and from Texas to Florida, freight cars come and pass over the Monon here. Young Jesson has also noticed cars of 19 different dispatch or box car lines and of 16 different refrigerator lines going past.