Milk trains

I lived in Tyngsboro, MA for two years 1961-63, and there used to be a northbound milk train that went by around 8:00 PM, on its way to Vermont, I presume. [A local once told me: "There's more cows than people in Vermont, sonny, and we like it that way!"] The train went back south to Boston, I presume, some time in the middle of the night.

Question: were there other milk trains in New England? Anybody know origin/destination/operating times?

Milk trains were once very common in northern New England on the B&M, CV, Rutland, and their neighbors. The service you remember was one of the last, loaded milk cars from points on the Central Vermont that moved south from White River Junction to Boston on B&M freight JB-4 and empties that moved back north on BJ-3. At that time milk also still moved from Eagle Bridge, NY, to Boston on the Fitchburg line. The remaining business steadily shifted to trucks in the 1960s and the B&M formally discontinued handling milk cars in April 1969.

Hi All,

Another sad story about trains. A Milk Train can carry a lot more milk than a bunch of 18 wheelers. Yet, the 18 wheelers are what is used today. As far as so many cows go, the dairy farm is being squeezed out of its land. In Southern California, many dairy farms are moving to less populated states, and making a fortune doing it. In the Chino, CA area there used to be many dairy farms, now only a few and their days are numbered. The farms become housing developments and the homes are sold before they are built. The land is that valuable. And by the way, there are tracks not too far from these tracts. So, we once had milk trains there as well.

TomNelligan wrote:Milk trains were once very common in northern New England on the B&M, CV, Rutland, and their neighbors. The service you remember was one of the last, loaded milk cars from points on the Central Vermont that moved south from White River Junction to Boston on B&M freight JB-4 and empties that moved back north on BJ-3. At that time milk also still moved from Eagle Bridge, NY, to Boston on the Fitchburg line. The remaining business steadily shifted to trucks in the 1960s and the B&M formally discontinued handling milk cars in April 1969.

Tom,

The trains I saw were dedicated milk trains. They were only about 8-10 cars long at that time. Thanks for the info on the others.

Was/is Hood the only dairy company in the Boston area? So the milk went from the cow to the plant; were there any trains that shipped out milk to the local areas or distribution centers/warehouses in the 1960's or was that already handled by trucks?

I don't think so. I used to deliver milk by hand on a milk route out of Pelham. Delivery of dairy products for some reason was kinda "personal" back then. People had milk boxes outside their doors for such. I think the trains were used to carry large quantities of raw milk to processing centers near large cities. As to the Hood's question, there used to be a large company in Lynn MA called Lynn Creamery, I think. Don't know if it still exists or not. Big enough to receive milk cars? I'd think so.

There was also the Whiting's mik plant right next to Hood's in Charlestown.
I can still remember getting deliveries from both companies as a kid.

Hi Dave,

That Hoods couldn't be where the Hoodsie Ice Cream came from, could it ??? Some of us grew up on Hoodsie Ice Cream.

Ah, Yes! Hoodsies! Remember them well. Made by.......Hood's!

Hi Sumner,

And Hoods Ice Cream just happened to be on Herrick's Road, on Long Island of course.

Hood, Whiting and United Farmers bottling plants were located close to each other in Yard 10 which was behind Roland St. in Somerville, which is parallel to Washington, not too far from the City Club & Holiday Inn.
Up until the rise of very large supermarket chains, milk bottling was done on a much smaller scale. Besides the milk trains that came in on the Cheshire Branch and New Hampshire Route via Lowell, milk also came from Turner Center Creamery near Auburn, ME and was a joint MEC-B & M move. One of the guys told me that into the post WWII days one of the Cheshire regular passenger trains dropped milk cars at Ayer for movement to Worcester. Anyone know who would bottle milk in that area?
The New Haven also delivered milk to a bottling plant somewhere around Wollaston. How it got from B & M to NH is a bit of a mystery to me. In the old old days it came in via Lowell or Fitchburg on passenger trains but they were gone by early 1930s. This NH move continued up to about the end of the Old Colony service in 1959.
On Sunday mornings there was a Boston-Salem milk job that dropped cars for West Lynn Creamery. Lasted into mid-1950s or maybe later.
By the way, United Farmers milk was the brand favored by the regional First Nation Stores chain.

Looks like Hood is the largest distributor of milk products in the US according to their website http://www.hphood.com/about/default.aspx
Not to mention they have franchise rights to process and sell Arizona Iced Tea and best of all Southern Comfort. Both of those products surprised me in that they have nothing to do with dairy... as far as I know anyways!
Does anyone know if Hood (given there size) does anything with transporting their goods by railroad? Or is it all done by trucks?

Hood,or other dairies,has not used rail for years. If my memory serves me,Hood's last attempt was to use "piggybacks"hauling their refrigerated truck trailers,sometime in the late 60's-early 70's on the B&M.

Hood was also a very EARLY user of trucks,and not just the old DIVCOs for route delivery. Being a "vintage heavy truck enthusiast",Hood was featured in a couple of Mack Truck advertisements from the 30's.

The Hood's milk plant in Portland,Maine has been in operation for years,and while adjacent to the former MEC mainline,just "east" of old Union Station,I don't remember it getting milk cars in(probably did when it was Portland Creamery-but before my time,which goes back to around 1950). This plant was/is for milk in the "Greater Portland Area."

As roads around here improved in the 1930's,farmers began shipping their "raw milk" in tank trucks. The early ones were "straight jobs",with a 1-2,000 gal tank. Independent contractors(or farmers disenchanted with running a herd of cows!) buying their own trucks,setting up a pick up route,and hauling the milk to Hood,or 2 other large dairies in Portland,neither of which were "on the railline". Mack's,Diamond T's,Whites,and Reos were very popular,and the hauls were fairly short,as there were many farms within 30 miles of Portland in the 50's.

Hood's also had an Ice Cream plant(built around 1950) about 3 miles east of the Portland Milk Plant. While it is also on the "mainline",at the west yard limit of Deering Jct. and MIGHT have got milk tanks in,I can only recall an L Model Mack tractor and 3,000 gal tank trailer,making short trips from the milk plant by old Union Station,in the 50's. A neighbor worked there,and we'd "visit" her at work,and she'd always give us a few "Hoodsies"!!

Bud

Rockingham Racer wrote:I don't think so. I used to deliver milk by hand on a milk route out of Pelham. Delivery of dairy products for some reason was kinda "personal" back then. People had milk boxes outside their doors for such. I think the trains were used to carry large quantities of raw milk to processing centers near large cities. As to the Hood's question, there used to be a large company in Lynn MA called Lynn Creamery, I think. Don't know if it still exists or not. Big enough to receive milk cars? I'd think so.

The creamery in question was the West Lynn Creamery(now A Garelick Farms operation) Its still there, still operating, but , to thw best of my(admittedly incomplete) knowledge, it never got direct rail delivery of milk, as its sited on the opposite side of what is now Route 1-A/ The Lynnway from the B&M yard, and was also separated from it by the ROW of the Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn, aka, the "Narrow Gauge" until Dec. of 1940, IIRC.[/b]
On the subject of Milk Cars....What exactly was the paint scheme for the last Milk cars delivered in the late 50's, the McGinnis ones? I used to see one in Salem Ma , til it was moved some years ago, but the basic color was so faded/oxidized, I could never tell what it was originally.

Yes, I believe I saw milk cars passing with the McGinniss B&M logo..