Posted by Dave Maher on Thursday, September 07, 2006 at 9:01AM :
In Reply to: ? for the old timers on new car hauling back then posted by Todd Wilson on Thursday, September 07, 2006 at 1:00AM :
Back in the early fifties, I believe many of the dealerships in the city where I grew up had new vehicles delivered by truck. Four of them was the maximum they could transport. But the local Buick dealer had a rail siding across the street from the dealership, and they used that to receive their inventory. The cars were driven in and out of the double-door boxcars, still only four at a time! I took the time to closely watch them unload one day, and it took forever! To negotiate those big 'ol Buicks, a lot without power steeing, out of the door opening, was a very challenging operation! The risk of the drivers damaging the vehicle was very high, and the unloading procedure was further complicated by a very narrow loading dock. I wonder how many new Buick's first stop was the body shop! There seemed to be a lot of those automobile carrier boxcars back then, but I'm sure the trucking industry took over rather rapidly. Dave Maher