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(erielack) Fisher Body, Mansfield, OH was: Loose Car Railroading



> Getting back to EL, I believe Steve has a file that concerns a
> solicitation
> for a steel move in Ohio, proposing EL as an alternative to truck. It was
> the kind of short-haul move the RR's no longer seek, but was instructive
> nonetheless. Steve, can you share that with us?
>
> Paul B

The movement Paul refers to is a proposed coil steel unit train Fisher Body
at Mansfield, OH with the steel originating at Republic Steel and/or J&L
Steel in Cleveland.  Basically the EL was trying to ascertain if securing a
unit train movement of steel to Fisher Body would be worthwhile.  Fisher
Body had no problem with this as they kept large inventories, rendering
timeliness a secondary factor with consistency as the primary factor.  Truck
haul was about 3-4 hours, railroad haul was 3-4 days.  Let me point out,
that Mansfield is about 80 miles south of Cleveland, straight down I-71, but
rail movement over the EL or connecting lines moved away, then back toward
Mansfield.  Fisher Body was consuming 8,000 net tons of steel per week and
the EL was only moving about 30% of the total inbound movements in 1963,
1,949 cars.  Trucks were handling the traffic out of Cleveland.  If moving a
shipment direct, the car had to move from the River Terminal or Cuyahoga
Valley to either the B&O or NKP then to the EL, then moved to East 55th,
then into the proper train.  This was taking 3-4 days to get the movement,
through all the connections, and ultimately to Fisher Body.

Due to the time involved with going direct, the EL explored receiving the
cars at mainline junctions.  The NKP-Kent-EL routing realized a 2-3 day
shipment with some of the samples taking a 3rd day.  The B&O-Akron-EL
routing was erratic with some mishandlings, generally though, it took
between 24-48 hours.

The reports conclusions eliminate the need for a unit train as long as
consistent service is maintained.  In addition, it was determined to utilize
the NKP-Kent-EL and B&O-Akron-EL routings to ensure an availability of
equipment.  Depending on what area of the EL in the
Cleveland-Akron-Youngstown area is reborn on my HO scale pike, this unit
train movement may be resurrected.  However, I digress...

Steve





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