Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-04-11

prominence two years ago. promise
/ again to become the order of the day.
/ There is shortage. of automobile
| freight cars. and it is becoming more
| acute every day. 1t is estimated to-
! day that there are approximately 10000
| called automobile freight cars,
| which in reality are box cars with eN-
| ira wide door openings. During 1919
! these cars made little more than
! three trips from factory 10 dealer,
hauling automobiles. Three hundred
thousand freight carloads of-motor
cars were handled by railroads.
| Many dealers and distributors. rarh
| er than AXE chance on the ability of
! their factory to procure freight GAYS
! when they have automobiles ready TO
| furnish them nave originated aud
maintain driveway crews. These men
! are all experienced shop mechanics
/ and good drivers. w Zen word comes
from the factory that on such and
] such a date so many cars viii be
availa BILE this driveway crew is hus-
/, tied aboard a train en- route for tie
! factory. Return driving schedules
! have been SO arranged that at no time
! is Il necessary 20 drive faster taah
| twenty miles an hour To complete the
| leg of the journey fixed for any one
/
j ties, as well as hotel accommodations,
are all arranged in advance.
! Delivered In Excellent shape.
| AS result of these precautions cars
{ are brought through in excellent
shape. and in condition ito turn over
| 10 the owner, without NE necessary
| tuning up that any brandnew ma
chine must receive. They have been
! broken in by men who know the car
1
! only diagnose trouble. but anticipate
/ ii. In the three years that one promi-
| nent local dealer has been driving
| from the factory the bulk of his cars
he has had less trouble with those
cars that came overland than has
! oecn experienced with those tina.
came by rail Driveways VIII be more
! prevalent from now on than ever be
| lore. because automobile production
! mas Increased faster than equipment
| aas been built to hah il in.
| William E. Metzger. chairman of
ihe traffic committee of the National
Automobile Chamber of Commerce
| presents some interesting data on
! this question. He says. in part:
! a tabulation covering perioo
! traffic in motor vehicles for that year
| had attained volume of 130.1l4 car
! loads. In 1915. 1872, 575 carloads were
shipped; 1916, 271.174 carloads: 1917.
/! 269.542. During the year 1918 the
! effect of makers turning their plants
| over to war purposes is shown from
/ the fact that shipments dropped to
| 49, 40 carloads in that year. BY
! March. 1919, however. automobile
/, plants were rapidly getting back Into
| normal production, and the records
| indicate that shipping in that year
amounted to 100000 carloads October
shows the highest point of production
reached by the industry in any one
month--29,142 carloads were shipped
| by rail. in addition to which the more
| congested district in the middle west
drove overland 12.50S machines from
he factories and 3.753 were shipped by
| boat on the great lakes.
Unprepnred to, Handle Cars.
Common carriers he adds. ARE re-
| auired to furnish to the manufactur
!! ers and the public 1.-THE means of
!, transportation of manufactured ar
| ticles. but the ordinary freight car in
use some years ago was not designed
! to handle articles as large as auto
| mobiles and trucks. The door open
| ings were only five or six feet wide.
and only the very small machines
could be loaded into such cars.
The early manufacturers of auto
mobiles. therefore, found that they
We're producing an article which the
carriers were not prepared to han
die. and it was at once apparent that
| this industry. among other precedents
! it was destined to upset would re-
qure the carriers and fre1ght car
| builders to revise their ideas of how
i The door openings should be arranged
!! in freight cars. This was one of the
+, first broad problems undertaken by
| the traffic committee of the automo-
| bile manufacturers organization.
Fortunately. the freight cars with
| wooden underframes were about that
! time being superseded by the freight
| car with the steel underframe. this
latter type Of construction permitting
| larger door openings without unduly
| weakening the car. Railroads on
which automobile plants had located
were urged to meet these conditions.
| so that today there are nearly 9.0oO
so-called automobile cars, which are,
! in fact, boxcars with extra wide door
/ openings.
/ gered door: that is, doors that are
placed diagonally opposite each I, other IT.
! Iarpe automobiles through door open
/; ings eight OF nine feet wide, which