Stock cars were thoroughly steam cleaned between shipments of cattle or anything else. As a result, they were generally not dirty, though the wood often lost its paint faster than the metal parts and appeared gray or pealing.

At the stockyards the railway furnished bedding for the cars and had to ship bedding to meet the anticipated needs of stock movements. Bedding was usually 3-4 inches of sand. During cold weather, a layer of hay was added. If hogs were being shipped, straw or hay was piled about a foot high around the sides and ends of the car to act as a windbreak. During periods of stormy or severely cold weather, the sides of cars were papered or battened in order to provide addition protection. If shipping hogs during hot weather, the bedding was wetted down and several chunks of ice were place on each deck or hung in burlap bags from the ceiling. Al Richardson reported that ranchers used volcanic cinders for bedding on the Grand Canyon line.

A Santa Fe pamphlet, 1945, stated, "Approximately 2 inches of sand, evenly distributed makes ideal bedding. Cinders are very undesirable. An accumulation of old bedding soon becomes slick allowing the live stock to get down and be trampled. Straw in liberal quantities should be used for bedding cars for hog shipments in cold weather. This prevents them from piling and smothering trying to keep warm. Bedding should be wet down before loading hogs in warm weather and kept wet in transit."

Southern Railway Circular No. 144, Rules and Regulations Governing the Handling of Live Stock, effective January 1,1947, stated, "Cars properly bedded must have at least four inches of sand or fine cinders, or not less than six inches of sawdust, tanbark, shaving, or other suitable bedding. In hot weather, cars for hogs must be bedded with not less than four inches of sand, clay, or earth, thoroughly soaked with water before loading."

Sometimes sand was delivered to stock pens in advance of shipments as bedding. Reports also exist of gondolas of sand traveling with the empty stock cars to loading chutes. John B. Moore has calculated that each 40' stock car required 3.2 yards of sand, so the standard gondola used for sand could service 10-12 stock cars.

Sand for bedding on the Plains Division came from the Cimarron River bottoms near Waynoka, OK.

Operations

Compiled by J. Stephen Sandifer