A freight house is a building owned and operated by a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

for receiving, loading, unloading, and temporary storage of less-than-car load (LCL) freight. Having a protected area for temporary freight storage improves efficiency by allowing railroads to accommodate customers' delivery and pickup schedules without leaving

boxcar A boxcar is the North American ( AAR) term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most ...

s idle at loading points and destinations. A typical freight house has at least one trackside door with one or more doors for trucks or wagons to load and unload on the opposite side of the building.

House tracks

The track adjacent to the freight house is called a house track. Boxcars are positioned on the house track with their door adjacent to the freight house door, so a portable short steel bridge can be positioned allowing wheeled vehicles to move between the freight house and boxcar while loading and unloading. Some freight houses use several parallel house tracks by carefully positioning boxcars on the more distant house tracks adjacent to boxcars on the closest house tracks so boxcars on the inner tracks serve as a bridge to boxcars on the outer tracks; but providing a platform between the house tracks allows more flexible positioning of boxcars on the more distant house tracks.

Procedures

Larger communities might have separate freight houses for inbound and outbound freight. Railroad employees in the outbound or receiving freight house take freight in through the doors on the driveway side; and inspect it, weigh it, and handle billing and marking before moving it into boxcars on the house track. Inbound or receiving freight houses are typically wider to allow temporary storage of freight unloaded from boxcars before the customer is ready to load it. Both functions are combined in a single freight house which is the more common installation in smaller communities.

Variations for larger cities

Most freight houses are single-story structures, but some have been built with multiple levels where land values are high. Upper floors may be used for storage, and the ground floor may be used for freight transfer to trucks and wagons, while elevated or subterranean house tracks serve a different level. Some rail hubs have special freight houses dedicated to sorting and transfer of LCL freight into different boxcars so freight originating from different locations may be placed in boxcars for similar destinations.

Legacy

Although early railroads shipped a large percentage of freight in LCL quantities, most rail freight now moves in bulk quantities directly between mines,

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

s, and industrial sidings. Freight houses which were once among the larger structures in their communities have found a variety of uses when no longer needed for their original purpose. Others have been preserved as historic structures: * Freight House (Kansas City, Missouri), constructed in 1887 * Freight House (La Crosse, Wisconsin), listed on the National Register of Historic Places in La Crosse County, Wisconsin *

Allamuchy Freight House The Allamuchy Freight House is located in Allamuchy Township of Warren County, New Jersey. This freight house was built in 1906 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 23, 2002, for its significance in transportatio ...

, constructed in 1906 *

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Freight House The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Freight House, known locally as The Freight House, is a historic building in Downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. History This Fre ...

- in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

Delaware and Hudson Railroad Freight House (Cohoes, New York) The Delaware and Hudson Railroad Freight House is a historic railroad building located at Cohoes, Albany County, New York. The freight house was built in 1910 by the Delaware and Hudson Railway. It is a one-story, rectangular brick building on ...

, National Register of Historic Places listings in Albany County, New York * Paducah Freight House, constructed in 1925 * Spring Street Freight House, constructed in 1925 * Southern Indiana Railroad Freighthouse, constructed in 1901

References

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