Besides wheel spokes, Ford made "Woody" station wagons (during WWII they made
gliders) in Kingsoford, Michiagn. The Chemical plant was an adjunct on the
north side of the boiler plant. The Ford plant had a huge switch yard & I
believe they had they're own steam switchers. Very little of the plant exists
today.
________________________________
From: Gerald Edgar <vje68@hotmail.com>
To: cbq@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, March 5, 2011 12:29:14 PM
Subject: [CBQ] RR Ops
As has been pointed out, many basic industries were vertically integrated but
post-WWII there has been a move to focus on core businesses and outsource
non-core work. Beyond the CB&Q & other RR's being largely self-reliant, take
the
steel, farm implement & auto industries as examples. Ford owned iron ore
deposits, Great Lakes ore boats, smelters, etc and even used the by-products
from wood use (back when cars had some wood content - think wheel spokes, etc)
to let Henry's brother-in-law start Kingsford Charcoal (read the story on the
bag!) International Harvester had a steel mill in Chicago & like Ford, U.S.
Steel, Bethlehem and others, its own railroad. Company hospitals (pre-Work
Comp)
were not uncommon among larger companies but RR's were bigger than most. Bear
in
mind in 1900 one in six Americans worked for a railroad or a railroad supplier.
For the non business majors, more major companies now are horizontally
integrated (i.e. have a big share of one level of an industry whether it be raw
materials, assembly or distribution) rather than vertical when they handled the
goods or service from mine & field to your business or table. The Burlington
did
try to become somewhat horizontally integrated when it began its bus & truck
subsidiaries and even attempted FAA approval for an airline (read Overton) in
the 20's & 30's.
The CB&Q labs in Aurora were perhaps one of the big success stories right up
there with developing a Vista-Dome but its obvious which development has more
P.R.! The lab was even highlighted in some magazine ads and in an Annual
Report.
Beyond the normal loco fuel, lubricant & water testing (still done to some
extent by RR's) they got into special coatings for interior & exterior of
covered hoppers, etc. The nearby foundry also got them to look into metallurgy.
CB&Q was among the few (PRR being another) to develop its own distinct rail
profile (in conjunction with Colorado Fuel & Iron). Extensive work was done
with
creosoting (Aurora) and experimenting with ties (see post a couple yrs ago re:
CB&Q testing triangular shaped ties!). It's fair to say though that among RR's,
the Q was a leader in innovation for a long time. This is evidenced by its
reputation as the 'Road of presidents' - i.e. the number of its mgt team that
wnet on to become CEO's of other RR's (also touted in some CB&Q
advertisements).
The Burlington has a lot to offer the fan, researcher or collector beyond the
obvious. (which is why we're Q fans, right?) :-)
Gerald
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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