Milk cars are a specialized type of railroad car intended to transport raw milk from collection points near dairy farms to a processing creamery. Some milk cars were intended for loading with multiple cans of milk, while others were designed with a single tank for bulk loading.
The Bordon Milk Car
When the Sussex Railroad Company first ran a milk train over their line in 1858, the amount of milk received did not average over 50 cans a night. By May 1874, the milk train carried over 400 cans and was one of the most profitable businesses on the route. The freight charges on a can shipped to Waterloo was 20¢, bringing the total earnings of the train to $75 per trip. Almost all the milk carried was sold to the Newark Milk Company, though a few cans were forwarded to Hoboken. In January 1877, over one thousand cans of milk were being shipped weekly over the Sussex Railroad.
The Milk Train
It has been said that Sussex County has more herds of dairy cows than people, and many of these people live in the area around Newton, the County seat. Newton was the largest town on the Sussex Branch, and logically had the largest station, a two-story brick affair. Nearby, beside the small yard, was the wooden freight station, which still stands. [Editor's note: I think the author is referring to the Hart & Iliff lumber yard as the concrete freight house in Newton was built in 1906 and still stands.] Excluding milk, the greatest freight and passenger revenue came from Newton.