Loading Potatoes

Last week we viewed a Jack Delano photograph of a string of reefers at a potato grading station near Belcross, North Carolina. In his travels Mr. Delano also recorded these workers loading a freight car in Elizabeth City, North Carolina with sacks of potatoes. It’s July of 1940, and that’s a lot of potatoes to load on a hot day! Note the interesting truck. It appears to be a short tractor-trailer arrangement. I like the slide out timber in the rear serving as a step up to the trailer deck.

But there’s more . . . the cars looked familiar to me. Turns out I had posted another view of similar cars back in 2019. I had speculated at the time that the “reefers” in that photograph looked like ventilated boxcars. I notice in this photograph that the truss-rod car in the foreground has “ventilator” stenciled on it’s side. The roof hatches also appear to me to be a lot thinner than the typical insulated hatches on an iced refrigerator car. I had also speculated at the time that perhaps tobacco was being loaded into the cars in the background. Looking again at that image, I think it more likely that it was indeed sacks of potatoes. I’m going to call that mystery solved! 🙂

Loading Potatoes at Elizabeth City, NC

While on the subject of potatoes, I have posted a couple other Jack Delano images with this theme. While in Caribou, Maine he had recorded this image of a line of trucks loaded with potatoes in wooden barrels. I also posted a view of the depot in Caribou. In the background is a string of cars being loaded with potatoes. Below is a photograph of one of those cars, a wooden outside braced car. This Bangor and Aroostook car appears to be in excellent condition. Note also the interesting warehouse behind the car. It’s amazing the detail put into a mere warehouse! Mr. Delano recorded this view in October of 1940.

BAR Boxcar at Potato Warehouse

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