Waybills: Feed

I continue to research potential sources for generating waybills, and I did a search to see if I could identify the types of products that the feed and grain companies in New Britain would have received.  There are several companies in New Britain that are candidates.

C. W. Lines Co

C.W. Lines Co was located on the Berlin Line at the Chestnut St crossing and the intersection with Bigelow St. Here are two pictures looking east and west. The date is unknown, but looks like the '20s, perhaps?

The 1950 Sanborn map still identifies it as a grain elevator. They would have received bulk feed and grain in box cars, and probably products shipped in 50 to 100 lb burlap sacks. The early photo advertises flour, potatoes, baled hay, and fertilizers too.

At the moment, C. W. Lines does not fit on the layout, but I could still deliver cars to "hold" in the yard.

Hugh Reynolds Grain and Feed 

This company was located adjacent to New Britain Yard on Commercial St. This company is much smaller, without an elevator. They most likely only received bagged products via box car. This company will be the primary one for these products in my operations.

Stanley-Svea Grain & Coal

Located at the northern Stanley St. crossing, sometime between 1948 and 1950 it stopped selling grain and feed and became the Stanley-Svea Coal and Oil Co.

State Reports

In the process of researching, I came across another fantastic resource. The State published an annual bulletin on Inspections of Commercial Feeding Stuffs. They also published one for commercial fertilizers. These titles, and many others, can be found at this page. The various bulletins go back to 1877, and continue today.

While the format varies over the years, by the 1886 one on fertilizers we start to see some extremely useful information. The purpose of the bulletins is to report on the State's testing of feed or fertilizer to ensure they comply with Connecticut laws. The reports identifies each manufacturer, their location, and each individual brand/product that is being sold. It appears each one was tested at a random location, which is also identified. 

We can see that Hugh Reynolds carried a lot of products from Dailey Mills in Olean, NY. It doesn't take much work to find that this company was adjacent to the PRR's Buffalo St. Yard. I now have specific products, from a specific company, and the railroad serving that company for generating a waybill. 

The dealers appear to have been selected at random. So looking at different years shows different products for a given dealer. Each product was also only tested once. So looking at different years can also help identify other dealers that carry a given product, or line of products. But for our purposes, we only need a handful of options for a given dealer, at best.

Interestingly, I also found that in 1953 Eshelman Red Rose Fattening Mash and Scratch Grains products were tested at William Cohen, Inc. in New Britain. This is a grocery wholesaler, and this is a product I wouldn't have guessed. The John W. Eschelman & Sons Co was located in Lancaster, PA was also served by the PRR.

The CW Lines Co carried products from the Charles M. Cox Co in Boston, MA.  They were served by the B&A in the Boston Grain and Flour Exchange. They also carried General Mills in Minneapolis via Soo, the Minneapolis Eastern, the M&StL, or the Milwaukee road, depending on the specific location.  Other products came from Quaker Oats Co. in Chicago, served by C&NW.