L. C. L. Freight

Big roads carried many shipments of Less than Car Load (L.C.L.) freight in express cars and baggage cars to agency stations up and down their lines.  It was pretty lucrative business, and included some door to door deliveries in company trucks.  This business was the forerunner of today’s multiple overnight express carriers.  The Rahway Valley was a carrier that serviced many small industries, and not ever Bill of Lading was a full carload.  Innovative and willing to do whatever it took to keep customers happy, Rahway Valley crews would make L.C.L. package deliveries in their own special way.  Lacking a baggage car or even a side door caboose, the crew would pull one of the engines up to the freight platform in Kenilworth and load the large pilot decks of the engines with these shipments.  The engine could then be run up and down the line making deliveries, ultimately saving time and fuel over other alternatives.