I was reading Railroading in Texas by Fred W. Picker, a very good, easy read about South Texas railroading from 1930 to 1970, or so. He often refers to setting a defective car off at the "house track" when they pass the next station. What is the house track? Thanks.
Thanks for asking that question. I didn't know the answer so I did an internet search of Trains Glossary of Common Railroading Terms which provided the following: House Track - A siding located near a station to unload passengers or freight. Rich C TrainBoard.com
House track = FREIGHT HOUSE TRACK. A track near or alongside a freight station or combination station. (Combination = both freight & passenger in one bullding) I notice a very common pattern for Santa Fe from looking at many station plats. The main track will run right in front of the station operator's bay. The passing siding is on the opposite side of the main track from the station, so that it does not block the view of through trains. And the house track will often run in BACK of the station. I cheated on one station by having then house track dead end at a platform at the end of the freight portion of a combination station.
It all depended upon space available, or perceived need. Some house tracks wrapped behind a depot or freight house. Some were stacked on the opposite side, across the siding from the depot. Some were a spur behind the building. Some stubbed against one end of a freight house. Some had no building, just a loading platform. And some were out in the open by themselves, often used much like a team track. Whatever was designated for such use by the railroad, if any was named at all. Boxcab E50
The New York Central often stubbed a House Track into the side of the station nearest to the baggage doors, on the opposite side of the platform from main or through tracks. This was done at larger stations along lines where one or more baggage or express cars would have loads solely for those stations. In many cases trains consisting of mostly baggage and express cars, and a single coach, would be run late at night, dropping and retrieving cars at those locations.
I thought that a house track was what you called a third track where there is already a siding. I guess the term is much more expansive than that. But some 'house tracks' may not have stations near them, perhaps because the stations have been demolished at some point. My impression is that these days, operationally, a 'house track' is what you call a track used to temporarily set out or store rolling stock, rather than to load or unload.
I don't know what's up with all these answers. Who'd of thunk! It's a track where a house once set. House track. Or, a track that was put in to drop a house off for the railroad crews Ie., An old troop car turned into a track crews bunk house or a new single wide mobile home. Well, this might work for Balderdash, but not here. I said, with a short lived chuckle. The previous posted answers are correct. Having fun!
These days, yes. Many are now used that way. So many depots being gone. So many local shippers trucking or gone. Some are still used much as a team track. Boxcab E50
AND all of them are correct! The use was pretty much determined by the carrier. At Cicero Yard(Cicero/Chicago IL) there is a track named "House Track" It was the north track of three lead tracks on the north side of the(former)hump yard. The tracks were numbered/named north to south thus House Track, North Lead,North Bowl Lead, Bowl tracks 1 - 42 , South Bowl Lead, South Lead, Fence Track. The way a carrier names or refers to a track is a whole 'nuther story! Charlie
Charlie is as usual pretty well on the money and his comment about a whole "nuther story" is right on. In my railroad experience I have named spurs for customers or towns many of which today are no longer even served by the railroad but I'll bet the crews still uses the track name I gave it. My experience was that a house track originally was the destination for team track or freight house shipments like Boxcab pointed out as in a track behind a small town combination passenger/freight depot which also may have served a separate freight platform. It often was a double ended track so cars could be worked from either end by trains in either direction. I also seem to recall the term "house cars" as in "high" cars like boxcars and reefers which distinguished them from "low" cars like tanks, hoppers, gons and flats. These cars contained shipments like hardware, clothes, and groceries etc. which were spotted on a house track for unloading by a local merchant who used a team of horses and wagon ( hence the term "team track") and later trucks to take the items from the car to his warehouse or store. Since the shipments he received were smaller and sometimes unpredictable he couldn't justify the cost of his own spur track and so utilized a public team or house track. These are my observations. Barry
If I had known this question would turn in to a thread this interesting, I would have posted it sooner. Link to Storytime With Charlie. Recommended reading.
