Team tracks are still in use

Team tracks are still in use today.

I think the key thing about early steam era is that most industries did not have their own sidings so team tracks were used very heavily. However, team tracks have always existed to provide access for industries or individuals that are not otherwise rail served. It would be very approriate for a 1958 layout although it would see less traffic then one in an earlier era.

Chris

Team tracks in use.

East of the Oxnard UP office, there's a team track that's still in use.  Every so often, I see a flat car with new John Deere green tractors on it, parked up against the buffer at the end of a concrete dock with a ramp.  It's usually unloaded within 24 hours.   I'll have get a camera and start carrying it regularly, so I can get a pic.

Autos were big

Automobiles and trucks were commonly delivered at team tracks, at least in the days when they were carried in box cars rather than carriers.  Out my way (San Ramon Branch of the SP) in the mid-twentieth century, the most common deliveries were vehicles and building materials, being primarily a fast-growing residential area.  Of course, vehicles are now unloaded at central locations and distributed by truck carrier and the branch is now a bike trail.