Milk Train

Milk Train
A slow train.
Modular Layout/Modular Railroading
A type of model railroad layout in which the layout itself is comprised of portable modules constructed to specifications that permit each module to be joined to others, ...

Milk Train - A slow train.
Mixed Train - A train pulling both passengers and freight cars.
Module - A section of a layout that is built following a standard pattern or dimensions.

Passengers often referred to them with disgust as "milk trains". Stopping everywhere to shuffle milk cans tossed all possibility of a fast schedule right out the window. However, the milk trains sure beat walking from Podunk to Cow Hollow.

They would stop at each station along the way to pick up milk, and then brought it into the city. The slang term "milk run," which means an easy journey, came from the milk trains. In the 1950s, dairies used trucks. There were fewer milk trains.

(Please note that milk ran in either head end traffic or it could run in solid dedicated milk trains.) Railway Express Agency (REA) used head end traffic to market the parcel delivery system which was the equivalent to UPS today.

Often referred to in North America as a "milk train" or "milk run" (usage from the days when trains stopped at dairy farms to pick up fresh milk).

See also: Truck, Train, Rail, Passenger car, Layout