(erielack) Re: D&H Auto Traffic

["Paul Brezicki" <doctorpb_@_bellsouth.net>]

Gordon and List,

I have come across what may be a smoking gun in this debate. Ed also sent me 
a few D&H consists, and I have a BOX-1 (Bingo-Oneonta Extra?) out of Bingo 
on 11-19-75 with 9 loaded racks for Voorheesville and 5 empty racks for 
Albany-Kenwood (the yard serving POA). I'm speculating that shipments of 
VW's to POA was weekly or twice-weekly, whereas the Chrysler move was daily 
or 5x/week. In any event, with the volume and frequency of the Chrysler move 
higher than that of the VW's, there should have been no need to move empties 
to POA from Bingo if there was a backhaul.

I haven't come across any GM's out of Rouses Point.

Paul B

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gordon Davids" <g.davids_@_verizon.net>
To: <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>; "Paul Brezicki" <doctorpb@bellsouth.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 6:35 AM
Subject: Re: D&H Auto Traffic


> Paul -
>
> I'm not positive about the VW backhaul on the auto racks, but like you I 
> don't recall seeing MTs moving in either direction.  I was only an 
> observer, as the Track Supervisor at Oneonta, and I didn't usually mess 
> around with train consists.  We also had a movement of Chevrolets in 
> tri-levels from CP Ste. Therese, QC, Delson, NAJ that began in 1967 after 
> we took some roof down in Willsboro and Ft. Ticonderoga tunnels on the 
> Champlain Division.  I don't know if any of them went Bingo EL.
> The car-carrier trailers in the Rambler piggy back service to Colonie had 
> much lower clearance requirements than tri-level racks.  They fit through 
> Belden Tunnel.  I worked in New York City for NYC in 1960 and 1961, and we 
> also handled Ramblers for Kenosha Auto Transport to Kingsbridge in the 
> Bronx.  In 1960 they moved in classic double-door box cars (which we also 
> called auto racks, from their interior rack arrangement).  In 1961, that 
> movement had changed to bi-levels.  NYC didn't have the clearances to 
> handle tri-levels east of Selkirk on the Hudson Division.  They did have 
> enough clearance on the River Division as far as North Bergen, and that 
> developed into a regular train from and to Detroit and Fairlane, OH, ML-12 
> and ML-9, in competition with EL and everyone else.
>
> I remember running a clearance check in Belden Tunnel on the D&H in early 
> 1970, and I found some yellow paint scrapings on the roof, in the haunches 
> of the arch.  After some checking I found that some of the Frisco auto 
> racks in Chrysler service had stanchions on the top level that were three 
> inches higher than the rest, and they were hitting the roof of the tunnel. 
> That's how tight we figured the clearance in there.
>
> Gordon Davids
>
>>From Archives_@_Railfan.net
> Message-ID: <006901c9514a$b28e74c0$7a01a8c0_@_paul>
> Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 06:16:00 -0500
> From: "Paul Brezicki" <doctorpb_@_bellsouth.net>
> Subject: D&H Auto Traffic; was: Re: (erielack) The December EL Calendar 
> image - AB-91 and VW's via Port of Albany
>
> D&H's first foray into movement of set-up autos began in 1959: 
> auto-piggyback of Ramblers into Colonie NY, where Kenosha Auto Transport 
> had a distribution facility. These were handled by Erie, then EL. from 
> Chicago. Either auto-pigs had a slightly lower clearance than loaded 
> trilevels, or the traffic was set off at Bingo, then taken to Jeff Jct.
>
> Gordon, are you sure about the Chrysler racks backhauling VW's? In that 
> era, racks were usually set up to be model-specific and in assigned 
> service. OTOH, none of my BS-2 and BS-4 consists show empty racks going to 
> the POA.
>
> Paul B
> 


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