Two ( 2) issues 4 further consideration. The former
FRISCO had a fleet of 86 foot a/pts
cars.
They ran on NYC/PCN, North yards Detroit, MI 2 Fenton I
and II on the far west side
of
The St Louis/E St Louis Switching District for Chyrsler
Corp.
After
this plant was closed what other possibilities did these
cars have. One ( 1) interesting
operation
involved the shipment of 'Q-Tips' 4 J&J PRODUCTS
(Johnson & Johnson) from
Denton,
TX to Wilmington, IL routed SLSF/St Louis%TRRA%GM&O.
Further "J&J" had four
( 4)
other DC's which received this fluff material. Any
insights? Any comments?
Fyi,
Pat
Rick:
The
Q handled a lot of assembly parts from
Chicago to Grand Island. Primarily they
moved from Michigan origins to Fremont/Warm
Springs CA for GM. We moved various parts
out of Flint for Chevy and from Pontiac for
Pontiac Motor and GM Truck & Coach.
Mostly it stampings (hoods/fenders/doors)
but some engines and a large move of frames
on flat cars from Pontiac. Because you
mentioned the Omaha area there was a move of
frames on flat cars from AO Smith at
Milwaukee to Fremont via MILW-Council
Bluffs-CBQ-Denver-DRGW-SP for Chevy. We did
not handle any parts for Buick and just a
few for Oldsmobile at Lansing to Southgate,
CA (LA) via GTW-Q-UP.
Via
Denver we handled a nice volume of assembly
parts for Ford at San Jose/Milpitas
primarily from Dearborn MI via
DTI-Wabash(N&W)-Chicago-Q-DRGW-WP. Back
to your Omaha question there was a small
move (once or twice a month) of furfural in
tank cars from Quaker Oats at Omaha or
Fremont (I don't remember which) to Ford at
Mt. Clemens, MI to their paint plant via
CBQ-GTW. We also handled some replacement
automobile glass to Omaha from Shatterproof
Glass at Detroit via NYC (PC)-Chgo-CBQ in
50ft DFs. The Q cars assigned to
Shatterproof were modified low numbered
47000 series box cars.
Wow!
I haven't thought about some of these things
since 1970.
BTW,
most of these moves disappeared from the Q
in the late 1960s as Ford and GM rearranged
their transportation of parts and for one
reason or another we were not included.
Fred
Fred
If I repeated this
question, sorry, I
didn't see the email
from yesterday go
through.
You said the auto
parts could also go to
the West Coast or KC?
How would they have been
routed? For West Coast
(via UP) would they go
on the CGI for
interchange with the UP
in Grand Island?
I am modeling the
Omaha area including a
portion of the
Chicago-Denver mainline
at Pacific Junction so
trying to build a
representative roster of
cars.
Thanks
Rick Keil
Papillion, NE
Tom:
Bill is correct on the
auto parts
traffic moving
to the
Ford St. Paul
Assembly
plant. It was
routed via
Chicago-MILW
on traffic
coming off the
NYC/PRR/B&O/GTW etc. Ford originated a lot of parts traffic on the
DT&I at
Dearborn, MI
and much of it
was routed
DTI-AA-GBW-Winona-MILW.
The Q did not
handle any of
this traffic.
Traffic from
the C&O/PM
lines in
Michigan could
also move via
GBW but I
think most of
it moved via
Chicago-MILW.
There
were some
replacement part
moves that
originated in
the Detroit area
to warehouses
the Q did handle
via the
C&I. The
biggest moves
were for GM
locations in the
Pacific
Northwest and if
memory serves
these moved off
of C&O
points via
Chicago
CB&Q-GN. By
the late 1960s
GM had
consolidated
their
replacement
part origin
operation at
Waterford, MI.
By this time
most of 50ft
cars had been
replaced by 60ft
cars and the Q
had a few
assigned there.
Ford
consolidated
their
replacement
parts at
Brownstown MI
but this did not
occur until the
BN merger. BN
had about 15 or
so 86ft single
door cars which
were ordered by
the Q and GN but
when built had
BN paint and
numbers in this
pool as well.
Seattle was a
destination for
this traffic and
moved over the
C&I. The Q
did not handle
any parts for
Chrysler on a
regular basis.
The
Q did handle
large volumes of
assembly parts
traffic over
Chicago for both
Ford and GM but
they were
destined to West
Coast and KC
area
assembly plants
mostly via DGRW
and UP. How do
I know this? I
worked for the
Q/BN in Detroit
from 1964-1977
and watching
this traffic was
one of my
duties. And I
realized a year
or so ago I was
only one from
the Q era in
Detroit still
alive. Better
start asking
your questions
now.
Fred
Crissey
Tom,
I have
not seen any
of these cars
in actual
consists that
have been
posted. You
might recall
the recent
Trains
magazine
article about
the BN merger.
In the
article, it
says the BN
had no online
auto plants
that it
served. That
reduces the
possibility of
these cars
showing up
regularly on
the Q. The Q
did contribute
cars to auto
plant and auto
part pools.
The recent
Operations SIG
publication
Dispatchers
Office had a
several page
article by
Brian Holtz
about RBL pool
cars for the
Schlitz
breweries. The
railroads made
money on these
cars because
they were in
constant
service, paid
daily per
diem, and
often never
saw their home
rails. I've
read in books
and articles
about the
GB&W that
many auto
parts cars to
the Twin
Cities would
take the Ann
Arbor ferry
across Lake
Michigan to
the GB&W.
It avoided the
Chicago
congestion and
was faster.
That was the
primary
lifeblood of
the GB&W.
They could
easily turn
these cars
over the MILW
at Winona.
When
deregulation
came, the
railroads
changed rate
structures and
that was the
end of the
ferries and
pretty much
the beginning
of the end of
the GB&W
as then
existed. There
was also a
C&O ferry
to Milwaukee
which cars
could be
turned
directly to
the MILW for
hauling to
Ford plant in
the Twin
Cities.
Bill Hirt
Does
anyone know
what routes
the longer 60'
and 86' auto
parts box cars
might have
traveled on
the Q?
I cannot
recall seeing
photos of any
of these long
boxcars
running
between
Chicago and
Mpls/StP. It
got me to
wondering if
there were any
auto plants
along the line
or at either
end that would
be serviced by
these longer
cars. That
might account
for not seeing
any photos or
references.
Has
anyone ever
researched
this or does
anyone recall
photos of
these long box
cars running
on the C&I
in the late
1960's?
Tom Mack
Cincinnati,
OH