CSX Palmetto Spur

[Paulman]

Curiously, the local distributor in Orlando does not use 60' beer cars, but 50' cars—Railboxes and many fallen flag cars from EEC and HS, and the occasional FXE box bringing in the Corona.

Since this is a distributor, I would suspect that the the kegs setting on the loading dock are most likely empty kegs as opposed to full beer kegs. It seems more logical that filled kegs are trucked in and the empties go out by rail back to the bottler. Also, the average weight of a half barrel/full keg is between 140-170 lbs. Having full half barrels stacked 8 high, on their sides, on wood seems extremely dangerous if the pallets should split. I have seen empties like this at the large Miller distributor across the street from where I work. This distributor also receives several 40'-50' shipping containers on truck trailer most likely with import beers or wine.

Larry

Larry:

If you look closely, the smaller kegs are wrapped in plastic. That may suggest an inbound rather than outbound cargo. The docks here are concrete, so weight may not be as great an issue as it would be for a wooden dock.