Fw: Moving Chevy Vega's in the 70"s

[NW Mailing List]

Wasn't the Vega the car that almost destroyed Chevy as a company? Great
article, by the way. I've never seen vehicles transported like that;
interesting that it was fully enclosed, which was something I don't think I
saw on the railroad auto transporters until the 80's or so.

Mike Weeks
now in Seattle, WA


On Sat, Jul 27, 2013 at 6:07 AM, NW Mailing List
<nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>wrote:


> **

> My Uncle sent this along knowing of my RR interest. Thought I'd pass it

> along as I found it interesting & had never seen before

>

> Ron Wilkinson

> ----- Original Message -----

> *From:* maxwell <dacamax at oh.rr.com>

> *To:* Undisclosed-Recipient:;

> *Sent:* Thursday, April 04, 2013 10:15 PM

> *Subject:* Moving Chevy Vega's in the 70"s

>

>  *Subject:* Moving Chevy Vega's in the 70"s

>

>       ****

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> Until the early 1960s, automobiles moved by rail were carried in boxcars.

> These were 50 feet long with double-wide doors.  Inside was room for four

> full-sized sedans on a two-tier rack - two raised up off the floor on a

> steel rack and two others tucked in underneath them.  This protected the

> cars during transport but wasn’t very efficient, as the weight of four

> vehicles was far less than the maximum weight a boxcar that size could

> carry.  When 85-foot and 89-foot flatcars came into service, it was

> possible to pack a total of fifteen automobiles in one car on tri-level

> auto racks. But it still didn’t approach the maximum allowable weight for

> each flatcar.****

>

> [image: cid:1.2452061193 at web125703.mail.ne1.yahoo.com]****

>

> When Chevrolet started designing Vega during the late 1960s, one of the

> main objectives was to keep the cost of the car down around $2,000 in

> circa-1970 dollars.  At the time, the freight charge for moving a loaded

> railroad car from the Lordstown, OH assembly plant to the Pacific coast -

> the longest distance cars produced at Lordstown would need to travel - was

> around $4,800.  Since the Vega was a subcompact, it was possible to

> squeeze three more cars on a railroad car for a total of eighteen, instead

> of the usual fifteen.  But that still worked out to around $300 per car –

> a substantial surcharge for a $2000 car. If only Chevrolet could get more

> Vegas on a railroad car, the cost per unit of hauling them would go down.*

> ***

>

> [image: cid:2.2452061193 at web125703.mail.ne1.yahoo.com]****

>

> The engineers at GM and Southern Pacific Railroad came up with a clever

> solution.  Instead of loading the cars horizontally, the Vegas were to be

> placed vertically on a specially designed auto-rack called the Vert-A-Pac.

>  Within the same volume of an 89-foot flatcar, the Vert-A-Pac system

> could hold as many as 30 automobiles instead of 18.****

>

> Chevrolet's goal was to deliver Vegas topped with fluids and ready to

> drive to the dealership.  In order to be able to travel nose-down without

> leaking fluids all over the railroad, Vega engineers had to design a

> special engine oil baffle to prevent oil from entering the No. 1 cylinder.

> Batteries had filler caps located high up on the rear edge of the case to

> prevent acid spilling, the carburetor float bowl had a special tube that

> drained gasoline into the vapor canister during shipment, and the

> windshield washer bottle stood at a 45 degree angle.  Plastic spacers

> were wedged in beside the powertrain to prevent damage to engine and

> transmission mounts.  The wedges were removed when cars were unloaded. ***

> *

>

> [image: cid:3.2452061193 at web125703.mail.ne1.yahoo.com]****

>

> The Vega was hugely popular when it was introduced in 1970, however it

> quickly earned a reputation for unreliability, rust and terrible engine

> durability.  When the Vega was discontinued in 1977, the Vert-A-Pac cars

> had to be retired as they were too specialized to be used with anything

> else.  The Vert-A-Pac racks were scrapped, and the underlying flatcars

> went on to other uses.****

>

> [image: cid:4.2452061193 at web125703.mail.ne1.yahoo.com]****

>

>  [image: cid:5.2452061193 at web125703.mail.ne1.yahoo.com]****

>

>  ****

>

>  ****

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>  ** **

>

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