Cotton Trains

[USS ALASKA]

https://deadconfederates.com/?s=cotton+train

Looking at these pics from @AndyHall 's web site. The title spawned a question;

"The passengers got the full benefit of the sparks, cinders and smoke"

If the bales are transported on flat cars, was there ever a concern about the '...sparks and cinders...' catching the bales on fire?

Also, if it rained, wouldn't that make the bales incredibly heavy or were they pressed so tight that water couldn't be absorbed?

Thanks for the help!
USS ALASKA

 

[AndyHall]

If the bales are transported on flat cars, was there ever a concern about the '...sparks and cinders...' catching the bales on fire?

That was absolutely a known risk, and may be why the very large crew on this train, to watch for and extinguish cinders. The ginormous cinder-collecting chimney may also reflect that.

I don't recall that normal exposure to rain was considered a particular problem. During the CW blockaders routinely picked up cotton bales thrown overboard from runners, and once it was allowed to dry out it was fine.

This image is said to have been taken here at Galveston, and I believe this locomotive is a local switcher as as opposed to a road engine.

 

[UCVRelics]

@AndyHall is correct on both counts. Cotton trains had very large crew due to men stationed every few cars just to watch for fires. Getting wet was not a problem for cotton and they were wrapped in burlap. Last cotton season the farmer who plants the cotton where my CS camps is, didn't get his cotton out till Dec 12th due to a lot of rain. It was dripping off the plants and hanging 4 to 6 inches. I asked him about it and was told no problem cotton will dry plus its weighs more wet

 

[UCVRelics]

The photo tells several tales. In the South the rail was 40 to 55 lb rail and thats a LOT of weight on that train. If you look at the photo close and try to count the bales on 1 car then multiply by 500 (average bale weight) them multiply by the number of cars, thats a lot of weight for that small of rail especially when there were no joint bars, tie plates and a basic rail bed. These problems hampered the Confederacy more than Sherman.

 

[Drew]

The photo tells several tales. In the South the rail was 40 to 55 lb rail and thats a LOT of weight on that train. If you look at the photo close and try to count the bales on 1 car then multiply by 500 (average bale weight) them multiply by the number of cars, thats a lot of weight for that small of rail especially when there were no joint bars, tie plates and a basic rail bed. These problems hampered the Confederacy more than Sherman.

Seems cotton was important to someone? Why take this great risk otherwise?

 

[DixieRifles]

Also, if it rained, wouldn't that make the bales incredibly heavy or were they pressed so tight that water couldn't be absorbed?

Yes to 2d Q.
Wet cotton is a problem if not dried out. But compressed cotton will not absorb much rain.
One of the recent innovations for modern cotton farmers is a portable field press. This machine compressed the cotton and it was left in the field with a tarp over the top only. This allowed the farmer to keep picking and NOT stop to haul the cotton to the gin before it got wet.
I remember growing up when the worse bewd was to hear about a fire in a cotton gin. Bales would burn but it was a disaster if a fire reached the storage sheds where cotton was stored loose. They had to pour a large amount water on the bales to completely put it out and stop flare-ups and then try to dry what was salvageable.

 

[rebelatsea]

The photo tells several tales. In the South the rail was 40 to 55 lb rail and thats a LOT of weight on that train. If you look at the photo close and try to count the bales on 1 car then multiply by 500 (average bale weight) them multiply by the number of cars, thats a lot of weight for that small of rail especially when there were no joint bars, tie plates and a basic rail bed. These problems hampered the Confederacy more than Sherman.

They appear to be bogie (truck ) flat cars so the weight is spread over 8 wheels. the loco is definitely a 4 wheel switcher, suggesting as Andy did that this is a yard in Galveston.

 

[rebelatsea]

Yes to 2d Q.
Wet cotton is a problem if not dried out. But compressed cotton will not absorb much rain.
One of the recent innovations for modern cotton farmers is a portable field press. This machine compressed the cotton and it was left in the field with a tarp over the top only. This allowed the farmer to keep picking and NOT stop to haul the cotton to the gin before it got wet.
I remember growing up when the worse bewd was to hear about a fire in a cotton gin. Bales would burn but it was a disaster if a fire reached the storage sheds where cotton was stored loose. They had to pour a large amount water on the bales to completely put it out and stop flare-ups and then try to dry what was salvageable.

View attachment 179741

The most dangerous place for fire is in a mill when cotton is being processed, Cotton dust in the right mix of air will ignite at the slightest suggestion of flame, as incidentally will flour, and sawdust !. having seen the large flour mill at Ashford (kent) erupt like Mt Vesuvius I can testify personally.

 

[DixieRifles]

The most dangerous place for fire is in a mill when cotton is being processed, Cotton dust in the right mix of air will ignite at the slightest suggestion of flame, as incidentally will flour, and sawdust !. having seen the large flour mill at Ashford (kent) erupt like Mt Vesuvius I can testify personally.

I dont know how they processed and stored the cotton in the 19th Century.
I worked summer jobs and one fall job at a cotton seed mill plant. That had hugh triagular storage buildings that were 3 stories tall. The cotton seeds were stacked up to the top. I wouldnt think it would be as volatile as a flour mill but it was dusty.