Post-64 Head End Cars

[NW Mailing List]

Evan:
Here's Radford Division #4 arriving Roanoke July 18, 1970

N&W 518 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -EMD GP9
N&W 519 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  EMD GP9
N&W 1279 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Baggage (ex-NKP)
N&W 1321 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Baggage (BEg)
N&W 1401 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Mail Storage (MS)
N&W  501 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Coach (P1)
N&W 1611 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Vista-Dome Coach
N&W  538  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Coach (P3)
N&W Sussex County - - - - - - - - - - -  10 Rmtte., 6 DBR Pullman
N&W  400 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Office Car (XO)

It wasn't unusual to see hy-cube box cars in No. 4's consist.  They
were easily identified as Ford "shut down" cars.  Seems there were
some tax advantages, so Ford believed in a "just in time" inventory.
Ford parts en route to the Norfolk Plant would arrive in No. 86 at
Portlock and be spotted to be used on the assembly line the same
day.  So if a parts car was mishandled or bad ordered, it was
expedited to Norfolk in No. 4 (and maybe No. 26) to avoid shutting
the assembly line down.

At one time, the Norfolk plant got a  new manager and it seems every
Friday, the assembly line would be short a parts car.  Ford would fly
the parts in. to avoid a shut down.  It developed that the plant manager
never moved his family from Detroit and he would  get a "freeby" flight on
the parts plane.                                                   Harry Bundy
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