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Re: (erielack) 1963 Notes - early MARC-EL?
Paul,
I'd like to contribute to the archives, but the downloads from the news
database in question come with foreboding copyright notices. I can say
through fair use doctrine that the article regarding TOFC service from
Philly appeared on page 48 of the May 2, 1963 edition of the NY Times, and
quotes Harry C. Schmidt, EL's VP for Sales at the time.
Paul, you pointed out good reasons why a RDG-CNJ-EL TOFC service from Philly
was a non-starter. Another reason that comes to mind was the B&O/C&O.
IIRC, by mid-1963, the CNJ and RDG were looking to the B&O/C&O for salvation
(I believe that the Chessie had control of the B&O by then). Why even try
to steal TOFC revenue from your savior? (I believe that the B&O's
Chessie-funded clearance projects were done by then and that fast TOFC
service out of Philly East Side was thus available from the B&O). I can't
help but wonder if some people on the RDG and CNJ were a bit suspicious as
to how far the Chessie would go for them. Perhaps ditto for the EL relative
to the N&W. The LV had similar false hopes regarding its part in the
upcoming PRR-NYC merger.
I honestly wonder if this little, seemingly irrational (and obviously
unsuccessful) attempt at service coordination reflected a bit of "MARC-EL"
thinking way back in 1963. Perhaps it was a 'trial balloon' for greater
cooperation. With 20-20 hindsight, the EL, RDG and CNJ should have pressed
on with an "operation bootstraps" consolidation plan in 1963, especially if
they could have talked the Valley into joining. Had the D&H also joined by
1970 (they wouldn't have had much choice), and a lot of ruthless
consolidation were done (e.g., no more need for separate backshops in
Hornell, Scranton, Sayre, Reading, Colonie and Elizabethport) I can't help
but wonder if an early MARC-EL might have reached a "tipping point" of
profitability and viability that the EL alone just couldn't (and didn't)
achieve. Another great "what might have been" (especially since it would
have brought Perry Shoemaker back into the fold! He was the CNJ's leader at
the time).
This little scrap of evidence hints that some people on the relevant lines
(Perry Shoemaker?) might have been thinking this way in 1963, when there
still might have been enough time left to do something. Perhaps William
White squashed whatever was happening in this regard (he was to come on
board in another month or so). IIRC, he was very fixated on the N&W as the
EL's ultimate savior (and his protegee, Greg Maxwell, also gave the MARC-EL
concept a pass ten years later on the eve of Conrail). Perhaps that was
White's one mistake. And possibly a very big one. A consolidation like
that would have left the N&W over a barrel regarding the ex-NKP in Buffalo
and the Chessie regarding the Royal Blue Route in Philly (especially if the
D&H were in the mix).
Would the ICC have allowed such a merger in 1964? My first instinct is to
say no, but then again, perhaps the lines in question could have traded
favors against the hearings for the pending N&W/NKP/Wabash and NYC/PRR
mergers. We support your mergers, you support ours. But it was just not
meant to be.
Jim Gerofsky
>From: "Paul Brezicki" <doctorpb_@_bellsouth.net>
>To: "EL Mailing List" <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>,"Jim Gerofsky"
><graytrainpix_@_hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: (erielack) 1963 Notes
>Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 06:41:28 -0400
>
>Very interesting, Jim. I wonder if that material can somehow be conveyed to
>the ELHS Archives, particularly the merger stuff? It would be valuable
>reference material.
>
>I think your speculation as to the routing and futility of the
>Philly-Chicago TOFC service is accurate, although I hadn't heard about it
>either. Several factors doomed it from the outset. First, it was in
>competition with already established single-line single-train service of
>the PRR and possibly B&O (I'm not sure what year B&O started the
>TrailerJets). In comparison the RDG-CNJ-EL service was on a roundabout
>route on 3 RR's using at least 3 trains with potential for missed
>connections. Secondly, neither the CNJ or RDG could possibly break even on
>a TOFC linehaul under 100 miles, even back in 1963. RDG could maximize its
>linehaul using the Alphabet Route via Hagerstown; if TOFC service hadn't
>started on this route by then it would within a year or two. My guess is
>that after a few weeks or months, the RDG people realized they were losing
>their shirts on the service and they killed it.
>
>What does "CRP" stand for ("...ran the CRP up to Taylor...")? The line was
>the L&S (Lehigh & Susquehanna) before the CNJ acquired it.
>
>Paul B
>
>With regard to freight operations: there was a short article saying that on
>May 3, 1963, the EL, Reading and CNJ inaugurated a 31 hour TOFC service
>from
>Philadelphia to Chicago. The article didn't give any details about
>routings.
> Now, that's one I never heard of. I can't imagine this service was a
>roaring success. If the CNJ was involved, that would eliminate a routing
>via Newberry Jct. My guess would be that the RDG ran a TOFC train up the
>Bethlehem Branch and handed the train over to the CNJ at the Bethlehem
>Union
>Station. It then ran the CRP up to Taylor, and got on to the EL. The June
>1, 1963 EL Freight Schedule indicates that HB3 left Scranton at 1:15 AM,
>and
>connected to NE-99 at Binghamton. If the Reading train left Philly around
>7
>PM, it might have made Scranton by 1 AM, assuming it was operated as a
>priority train with 2 to 3 HP per ton. NE-99 was carded into Chicago at
>1:30 AM Central Time on the following day, so that would be around 31
>hours.
> I would imagine that the Reading and CNJ ran the train for maybe a month
>or so, and that it never exceeded 10 cars. However, if anyone knows more
>about this service, and what they called it, and how long it lasted, I'd be
>very interested to hear about it.
>
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