Waybills: Finding a Route

Once I select a source for a given commodity, I need to figure out how the car got here.

I'm using UTLX 35552 as an example. This is a Rapido UTLX X-3 10,000 gallon tank car.  It will be loaded with Tetrachloroethylene at the Pittsburgh Plate Glass plant in Barberton, OH on its way to Stanley Works in New Britain.

I selected this source after searching for the largest producers of this chemical in my era. DuPont, Dow, Hooker, and Pittsburgh Plate Glass were among them. This is a chemical that can be shipped in general service tank cars without any hazardous placards. So this car is feasible.

With a little research I find that the plant is served by the Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad (ABB). This railroad was formed from several smaller lines and controlled by the AC&Y, B&O, ERIE, and PRR specifically for servicing this plant and several other major companies in Barberton.

Connections were:

• AC&Y: Belt Junction and East Akron
• B&O: Barberton and East Akron
• ERIE: Barberton
• PRR: Akron and Barberton

I have collected a number of railroad routing guides, and have ones for AC&Y, ERIE, and PRR. These will provide the potential routes to New Britain.

Akron, Canton, & Ohio

Starting with the AC&Y one in 1935.

All documents like this assigned a number to every station in the North American rail system. This particular book does not list them, though. The ERIE and Pennsy books do. Another book that was published annually is the list of Open and Prepay Stations. I have the one for 1949. So I know that New Britain is station 3910 in CT.

There are 30 different notes in the AC&Y routing that specify which destinations are applicable. For example, note 1 indicates it is for stations 70-5150 (cue the Van Halen references...). Note 2 is for 70-4955, 5005-5065, and 5150, etc. 

For New Britain, notes 1, 2, 4-7, 12, 25-6, and 28 apply.

Belt Jct. is to the west of Akron, so I'm going to work only with the connections from Akron. Some of the routes start at Copley Jct., west of Belt Jct. and Akron so I won't consider those.

Others start at Mogadore, which is east of Akron, or Akron. Since the junction with the ABB is Akron, I'm assuming that those are the valid routes. But since Mogadore is east of Akron, cars could be routed through there first, so I'll include them too. The AC&Y would want to participate in the rate for moving the load where they could. A through freight schedule for the AC&Y would clarify how cars are blocked and routed. I'm presenting them in the order they are listed in the book, and you'll notice that the note numbers are not sequential. 

AC&Y at Mogadore, OH to W&LE to Cleveland, OH to:

• (4) NYC - East Buffalo, NY - DL&W - Pt. Morris, NJ - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (4) NYC - Buffalo, NY - LV - Jersey City, NJ - NH
• (5) NYC&StL - Buffalo, NY - DL&W - Pt. Morris, NJ - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (6) NYC&StL - Buffalo, NY - LV - Jersey City, NJ - NH
• (7) NYC&StL - Buffalo, NY - ERIE - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (12) NYC&StL - Buffalo, NY - NYC or West Shore RR - West Albany or Selkirk Jct - B&A - Springfield, MA - NH
• (1) NYC&StL - Buffalo, NY - DL&W - Norwich, NY or Scranton, PA - O&W - Campbell Hall, NY- NH
• (12) NYC - Gardenville, NY - West Shore RR - West Albany, NY or Selkirk Jct - B&A - Springfield, MA - NH
• (12) NYC (West) - Gardenville, NY - NYC (East) - West Albany, NY or Selkirk Jct - B&A - Springfield, MA - NH
• (1) W&LE - Kent, OH - ERIE - Maybrook, NY - NH

AC&Y at Akron, OH to:

• (1) ERIE - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (2) PRR - Harlem River, NY - NH
• (25) B&O - Cumbo, WV - PRR - Shippensburg, PA - READING - Allentown, PA - CNJ* - Easton, PA - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (26) ERIE - Binghamton, NY - D&H - Mechanicsville, NY - B&M - Springfield, MA - NH
• (28) B&O - Park Jct, PA - READING - Bethlehem, PA - CNJ* - Easton, PA - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH

ERIE

The Erie book is from 1944 and lists each station and provides the index number. Barberton has four different index numbers, and this matches the Open and Prepay book too.

Barberton is Index 137. This points us to NH routes 1, 3, 7, and 8.

ERIE at Barberton to:

(1) Maybrook, NY - NH

(3) Binghamton, NY - D&H - Mechanicsville, NY - B&M - Springfield, MA - NH

(7) Binghamton, NY - D&H - Sidney, NY - O&W - Campbell Hall, NY- NH

(8) Carbondale, PA - D&H - Scranton, PA - ERIE - Maybrook, NY - NH

Route 8 is applicable only on carload shipments of Apples, Pears, Prunes, Dressed Meats, Packing House Products, Butter, Eggs, Cheese, Condensed or Evaporated Milk, Pearl Barley, and Dressed Poultry, stored and/or reconsigned or diverted at Scranton, PA on the D&H RR.

Pennsylvania

The PRR book is from 1953.

PRR at Barberton to:

• (1) Greenville Piers, NJ or Jersey City, NJ - NH - Note: When on account of clearances shipments cannot be handled via the Greenville, NJ, or Jersey City, NJ-Float-NH route, such shipments may be routed via Belvidere, NJ - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (5) Buffalo, NY - LV - Jersey City Terminal, NJ - NH
• (6) Buffalo, NY - LV - Sibley Jct, PA - O&W - Campbell Hall, NY - NH
• (6) Buffalo, NY - LV - Easton, PA - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (7) Buffalo, NY - NYC (E) - NYC (WS) - Rensselaer, NY or Selkirk Jct, NY - NYC (B) - Springfield, MA - NH
• (8) Cleveland, OH - NYC (W) - Gardenville, NY - NYC (E) - NYC (WS) - Rensselaer, NY or Selkirk Jct, NY - NYC (B) - Springfield, MA - NH
• (9) Cleveland, OH - NYC (W) - Buffalo, NY - LV - Jersey City Terminal, NJ - NH
• (11) Cleveland (Woodland Ave), OH - NYC&StL - Buffalo, NY - Erie - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (12) Cleveland (Woodland Ave), OH - NYC&StL - Buffalo Jct, NY - DL&W - Port Morris, NJ - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (14) Cleveland, OH - NYC (W) - Buffalo, NY - DL&W - Port Morris, NJ - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH
• (22) Mount Vernon, OH - B&O - Cumbo, WV - PRR - Shippensburg, PA - READING - Allentown, PA - CRP - Easton, PA - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH

*Note that the route between Allentown and Easton is listed as the CRP. The Central Railroad of Pennsylvania was formed in 1944 by the Central Railroad of NJ in an attempt to avoid some New Jersey taxes. Equipment leased in Pennsylvania were transferred to the CRP in 1946. The courts struck this down in 1952, but they were still listed separately in the 1953 ORER and routing guides. 

These PRR routes listed above are for originations located west of Pittsburgh or ERIE, PA. For all PRR cars originating on the Pennsylvania east of these cities, there are only two routes.

• Greenville Piers, NJ or Jersey City, NJ - NH 
• Belvidere, NJ - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH, but only for petroleum products, sewer pipe flue lining and other clay products, and over-clearance cars. I also remember seeing a notation somewhere that indicated all coal destined for points north or east of Stamford utilizes this route.

While it's interesting to see the many options here, I really only need one or two routings to produce waybills. So which should I choose?

The routing could be selected by the shipper or the recipient. But unless they had a specific reason to choose one over another, it was usually selected by the freight agent. There was a group of railroads, including NYC&StL, the W&LE, Reading, CNJ/CRP, L&HR, and the NH that formed an agreement in 1931 to create routes that would run from the midwest to the east coast and compete with the PRR and NYC.  

The most direct routes would be the ERIE to Maybrook, or the PRR to Greenville or Jersey City and then via float to the NH. My assumption is that the routes are presented in order of preference. Since there are four potential loading roads the documented options would be:

• ABB - Akron, OH - AC&Y - Akron, OH - ERIE - Maybrook, NY - NH
• ERIE - Maybrook, NY - NH
• PRR - Greenville Piers, NJ or Jersey City, NJ - NH - Note: When on account of clearances shipments cannot be handled via the Greenville, NJ, or Jersey City, NJ-Float-NH route, such shipments may be routed via Belvidere, NJ - L&HR - Maybrook, NY - NH

Ultimately, I think it's unlikely that the AC&Y would participate, simply because the B&O, ERIE, and PRR can pick up the car directly. Both the ERIE and PRR are single-road hauls directly to interchange with the NH and either is an obvious choice. But there are two potential routes via B&O that are noted in the other guides.  These routes will run the car through multiple Alphabet Route roads. If a NH Agent is selecting the route, they may have been encouraged to utilize these routes. So I'll use a B&O route based on AC&Y no. 28. since Mom lived in Easton, PA for a while. I've included the train numbers in parentheses. As you can see, the Reading, CNJ/CRP and L&HR use the same train number. 

• B&O (96) - Park Jct, (Philadelphia) PA - READING (HO-6) - Bethlehem, PA - CRP (HO-6) - Easton, PA - L&HR (HO-6) - Maybrook, NY - NH (OA-4) 

In 1953, if the train left Barberton early Tuesday morning, it should arrive at Maybrook about 11:00 AM on Wednesday, and arrive in New Britain around 12:30 AM on Thursday morning. In a year where the Maybrook-Hartford freights weren't running, it would arrive in New Britain around 3:45 AM Thursday morning on NY-2 instead. 

While this shows the entire process, most loads won't have as many options for originating roads. The first applicable route for any given commodity will probably be the best.

For true prototypical accuracy when filling out waybills, remember that the typewriters only had uppercase letters. In addition, state abbreviations were different. For example, CONN and PENN instead of CT and PA.