Auto Parts Traffic

 In my era Finished automobile traffic is minimal, but parts traffic is still a big part of railroading. On my railroad my auto parts traffic goes in train #98. Train 98 traces its route from Detroit to Atlanta and carries auto parts to assembly plants around Atlanta. I am a Ford guy, and wanted to express this on my layout with Train #98. 

-However-

As it turns out, in reality Ford did not have plants near Atlanta, but,  for my purposes,  around Richmond Va.

-SO-

My train #98 is going to have to set out a large block of Ford Auto parts in Littlerock. “Ninety-Eight” will probably fill tonnage with preferred LCL  and head off South, eventually into South staging at Deepwater JCT.

The Ford Block will have to go into the next available expedited train going to/towards Richmond. I do not know my actual schedule off hand so I can’t say what train that will be.

I don’t think it would be unreasonable to have this auto parts block get added to a perishable meat train.

Finally Train 98 will lose its name, “Ford Fast”. 

Bummer.

On AIR1 my auto parts train delivered a lot of finished automobiles to the “Auto-Ramp”. This time around it will still deliver a small block to the Auto-ramp but for the most part the traffic will simulate actual auto parts, not finished autos.

In a curious quirk of railroad auto traffic,  by my era the railroads had lost the majority of finished automobiles to trucks. Parts were still a strong part of the railroads carloading’s, but railroads wouldn’t start to regain finished automobiles until the 1960’s and the advent of auto racks.

Additionally 50’ boxcars; east of the Mississippi fifty footer boxcars were not the standard. Clearances, more generous in the West, would not tolerate them as well. For example, in my era, the C&O rostered no 50’ automobile cars (They seemed to live on C&O subsidiary Pere Marquette).

Unfortunately I own too many 50’ boxcars.


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