Some fruits, such as bananas, have to be inspected on the road to make sure they are not spoiling. The inspectors are called messengers.
Reefers also carry meat and fish, butter, eggs, cheese and even fresh flowers.
When a reefer’s cargo is bound for a big town or city, it goes straight through, with as few stops as possible. But there are many small towns that couldn’t use up a whole carload of butter or meat before it spoiled. So the railroads have peddler cars to supply these towns with small quantities of food. The cars stop at station after station, just the way a peddler would. The storekeepers get only what they need, then the car moves on.
TO MARKET, TO MARKET
These two black sheep are railroad workers riding to work in Texas. They really do have jobs at stock pens, helping the men load other sheep into the livestock cars that carry them to market. If you have ever tried to drive sheep along, you know that they get confused and contrary. They will scatter in every direction except the right one. But, if they have a leader to show them the way, they will follow quietly behind him.
So railroaders and stockyard workers often teach certain sheep to lead others up the ramp and into the stock car. When the last one is in, the lead sheep runs out, and the door slams shut. Black sheep are best for the job because they stand out from the usual white ones, and they don’t get sent off to market by mistake.
Perhaps you wonder how it is possible to teach sheep to do this kind of job. The answer is that they get a treat every time they finish loading a car. Some pets like sugar or a carrot, but these two were fondest of a big piece of chewing tobacco.
Stock cars for sheep and pigs have two decks. Cars for cattle and horses and mules have only one. And poultry cars have several. The slits in livestock cars let in plenty of fresh air and keep the animals cool. Since pigs are likely to suffer from heat on a trip, they often get a soaking bath before they go into the cars.