A few CVRR pictures and some other related pictures....

[Rufus T. Firefly]

It all looks very precarious, though the animal only seems mildly annoyed/amused (wearing a chapeau?)

A nasty dirty job, but a job...........100+ years ago was nastier and dirtier, and dangerous.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[rogruth]

Why are the rear wheels so large on the cars being pulled? What is the load?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Why are the rear wheels so large on the cars being pulled? What is the load?

No idea. I'm sure that Wayne will have an answer.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[webenda]

Why are the rear wheels so large on the cars being pulled? What is the load?

I do not know what the load is, but the disparity in wheel size is more due to the way wagons steer. The entire front axle pivots. This pivot action causes the front wheels to hit the load box. Smaller wheels can negotiate sharper turns than large wheels. The Laughlin Dairy wagon design shows this to an extreme example where the front wheels are small enough to pass under the wagon.

Rear wheels are sized for the load, larger wheels can take a larger load. The wagons in question appear to be loaded with more bags in the rear to take advantage of larger load carrying capacity of the rear wheels.

[rogruth]

Thanks, Wayne.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Why are the rear wheels so large on the cars being pulled? What is the load?

I do not know what the load is, ..........

Neither do I, but the width of those wheels either indicates significant weight and/or that the road is a bit on the soft side....bagged up ore of some sort?

[aterry11]

Just a thought but the trailers being pulled look an awful lot like old steam tractors with the boilers removed and turned into wagons.
The tractor appears to have a radiator and a smokestack. Which is confusing

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Just a thought but the trailers being pulled look an awful lot like old steam tractors with the boilers removed and turned into wagons.
The tractor appears to have a radiator and a smokestack. Which is confusing

It's a Holt tractor - not steam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holt_tractor

The trailers could also be from Holt?

BTW, Wiseman sells a kit for a Holt tractor............

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

My guess on the cargo would be sacks of cotton.

About the right size and with a smooth shape. I would think if they had some kind of fruit or vegetable in them they would be more lumpy.

With a sack holding 100+ lbs of cotton it would require a heavy duty trailer to carry them.

[Wolf]

I am surprised that some of you TOC modelers did not mention that they may be bags of grain.
Such grains were commonly shipped in bagged form in boxcars prior to the advent of loose shipping
in boxcars with grain doors, and later loose in covered hoppers. The Pacific Coast Railway out
of San Luis Obispo in California even shipped bagged wheat stacked on flatcars during the dry
season around the 1890's through the 1920's.

I have also seen pictures of similar "road trains" carrying wheat to market in the Central Valley
of California. Railroads did not reach everywhere in the Golden Age

[webenda]

The trailers could also be from Holt?

[webenda]

I am surprised that some of you TOC modelers did not mention that they may be bags of grain.
Such grains were commonly shipped in bagged form in boxcars prior to the advent of loose shipping
in boxcars with grain doors, and later loose in covered hoppers. The Pacific Coast Railway out
of San Luis Obispo in California even shipped bagged wheat stacked on flatcars during the dry
season around the 1890's through the 1920's.

I have also seen pictures of similar "road trains" carrying wheat to market in the Central Valley
of California. Railroads did not reach everywhere in the Golden Age

[webenda]

The tractor was then used to pull a grader for local road maintenance.