Smyrna times., 1941-11-06
DEFENSE TRAIN
AT WILMINGTON
Special OPM Train to Visit
City Nov. 11th; Samples of
Defense Materials
MAY GIVE CONTRACTS

Arrangements were Colnpieleu
today for the visit of the Defense
Special, a red, white and blue train
carrying samples of the types of
defense equipment needed by the
armed services and the United
States Maritime Commission, to
Wilmington on Tuesday, November
18th.
The Special, sent out by the Con-
tract Distribution Division of OPM,
the Army, the Navy and the Mari
time Commission, will arrive here
at 900 a. m, and remain through
to 500 p. m. During the visit it
will be parked at the p. r. R. Sta
ton, middle platform track.
officers and other representatives
of the Army, the Navy, the Mari
time Commission and the OPM will
be aboard. They will give manu-
facturers definite information as to
whether their plants appear suited
for defense production and, if so,
how to go after defense work. In
some instances the train staff will
initiate negotiations which, carried
through at regular offices of the
services in the field, will result in
contracts.
r. A. ]. Wellington, advance en-
gineer for the train, completed ar
rangements for the visit in confer
ences here with civic leaders and
others.
Manufacturers may obtain ad-
mission to the train by writing in
advance to the OPM Contract Dis
tribution Division field Office at 606
Equqitable Trust Building, in Will
mington and, if they have not al
ready done so, enclose information
regarding their machine tools and
other production facilities.
The volume of work to be carried
on in the train will make it impos-
sible to admit the public also, but
limited number of city officials,
civic leaders and representatives of
the press and radio will be invited
aboard at $3.50 a. M, on Tuesday,
November 18th, before conferences
with manufacturers begin. Inter
view with the manufacturers will
begin at a. m. and continue until
5 p. M, with no midday Interrupt
tion. Factory owners will be as
signed definite hours for their visits
in order to avoid congestion. Since
interviews and examination of de-
fense samples will require an hours
time in many instances, the last
will be admitted at p. m.
The train will consist of six cars
equipped with defense samples and
conference tables, and two cars of
living quarters. Aboard will be 16
Army officers, nine Navy officers
and representatives of the Mari
time Commission, and eight repre-
sentatives of the OPM. This staff
will be augmented by representa-
tives of the OPM Contract Distri-
button Division field Office at Will
mington and representatives of the
field office of the Division of Con-
tract Distribution at Philadelphia.
Services represented on the train
by officers and exhibits will include
the Army Air Corps, Ordnance De-
partment, Quartermaster Corps,
Signal Corps, Corps of Engineers,
Chemical Warfare Service, Medical
Corps, Marine Corps, various pro-
curement branches of the Navy,
and the Maritime Commission.
The Defense Special visiting Will
mington will be one of three tour
ing the country to supply essential
information regarding defense pro-
duction needs in areas where full
information and exhibits are not
normally available. The train staff
will endeavor to determine what
types of defense equipment manu-
facturers are capable of produc-
ing and guide those with suitable
equipment either to defense con-
tractors who have work to let I'm
der subcontracts or to the proper
government procurement offices or
OPM Contract Distribution field Of
fees.