Greetings All,
HO Scale Tribute to the Penn Central 1973
Award Winning TrailVan Program
Today we'll take a look at the Penn Central's 1973 award winning TrailVan program, take a quick look back on the predecessors TOFC/COFC programs and see how a bankrupt railroad with a reputation for corporate infighting, slow orders and motive power shortages became an incubator of innovation for TOFC and COFC rail traffic.
Believe it or not on June 7th, 1973 the Penn Central won the Golden Freight Car Award for its TrailVan Program.
Let's take a look at how a railroad three years into bankruptcy put together an award winning Trailer On Flat Car / Container On Flat Car program known as TrailVan. The story of how this happened is quite interesting and I'll use some of my TOFC / COFC models to show off some of these trains.
A Quick Look Back
The New Haven Railroad was an early proponent of the Trailer on Flatcar concept introducing Boston to New York City TOFC service in 1938. In 1953 the New Haven carried over 50,000 LCL common carrier and shipper owned trailers generating almost two million dollars in revenue. The NH also won a permanent injunction against the Teamsters Union from boycotting their terminals.
In 1954 the Pennsylvania Railroad started running TOFC service using converted 50' flatcars and leasing two hundred F-39 75' flatcars capable of carrying two 35'trailers from Van-Car. In March, 1955 Truc-Train Service begins.
In November, 1955 Trailer Train is formed by the PRR, Norfolk & Western RR and Rail Trailer to provide standardized TOFC equipment to member / owner railroads.
In January, 1954 the New York Central contracts Rail-Trailer to develop New York-Boston-Chicago TOFC service using dedicated piggyback trains of 75' cars. After a bitter proxy fight that leads to Robert R. Young becoming Chairman and Alfred E. Perlman becoming NYC president the TOFC program was placed "in abeyance pending further study" and the "Early Bird Service" promoted instead. C'mon Al!!
Sadly for the NYC few other RRs embraced the Flexi Van and as the need to interchange TOFC and COFC traffic became overwhelming the New York Central bought into Trailer Train in 1964.
Merger Happens / TrailVan is Born
After seven years of court battles on February 01, 1968 the Pennsylvania Railroad absorbs the New York Central Railroad becoming what became known as the Penn Central Transportation Company.
The Penn Central TrailVan story begins in early 1968 when the PC
launches a naming contest among its employees to combine the PRR TOFC Truc-Trains, the NYC Super Vans and COFC Flexi Vans under a common name.
Communications & Signal Maintainer C.O Waibel of the Pittsburgh Division submits the TrailVan name(one word spelled with a capital T and capital V) which is chosen from over one thousand entries making Mr. Waibel $1,000.00 dollars richer.
Penn Central begins a rigorous promotion of TrailVan service emphasizing the speedy delivery of many commodities such as fresh produce from the West Coast in refrigerated trailers.
In January, 1969 the New Haven RR joins the Penn Central and contributes fifty 85' G85 TOFC flatcars(#778100-#778149), class F55) to the Penn Central TOFC pool.
Trail Van Trailers Head For Europe
In late 1969 the Penn Central begins begins Roll On Roll Off TrailVan Service called Ro-Ro, shipping trailers to and from Europe on specially designed ships. The first shipment travels from Ashtabula, Ohio in a TrailVan trailer loaded with floating pontoons for a consignee in Hedemora, Sweden.
The trailer was loaded at the shippers plant and driven directly to the Cleveland TrailVan facility. From there it traveled in a TOFC train for a fast move to Baltimore. At the Baltimore docks it was loaded onto an Atlantic Container Line ship for overseas shipment and delivery to the consignee in Sweden. Penn Central acquires 150 TrailVan trailers for Ro-Ro service. Pretty impressive!
Below the East Bedford TrailVan facility also known as the Terminal Yard Ramp is off loading TrailVan trailers for delivery to nearby Empire City consignees.
A short time later one of the above TrailVan trailers is delivered to Ralph's Grocery Warehouse in Empire City, NY. completing a quick TV Train trip.
Other PC 1969 News
In December 1969 Paul Gorman becomes president of the Penn Central and Alfred E Perlman becomes vice chair under Stuart Saunders the CEO. This arrangement won't last long.
1970
As 1970 progresses the PC is in serious financial trouble but the TrailVan trains remain strong and profitable. In the March 1970 POST magazine the PC touts "The Big Road Show, Trail Van" and reports that in 1969 the PC hauled 475,000 trailers and containers of freight and 67,000 containers of US Mail.
To handle the increase in business 800 more TrailVan trailers are added bringing the total number of trailers and containers past the 11,000 mark.
Bankrupt
On June 08, 1970 the Penn Central Board of Directors dismisses CEO Stuart Saunders, Treasurer David C. Bevan and Vice Chairman Alfred E. Perlman who will resign from the board upon expiration of his contract on November 30, 1970. PC president Paul Gorman takes over as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President.
On Sunday, June 21, 1970 Mr. Gorman calls a special meeting of the PC board. At the end of that meeting the PC board authorizes the filing of a petition for reorganization under Section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act. The petition is dispatched to the home of Judge C. William Kraft Jr. and filed. At 5:40 PM Judge Kraft signs the order putting the PC into reorganization under Section 77.
TrailVan Service Continues under Section 77
Now under Court Appointed Trustees and a new president, William H. Moore the November, 1971 PC POST reported the following.
MORE PIGGYBACK—PC's TrailVan piggyback service jumped to 39 trains last month with the start of TV-22A, carrying loaded truck-trailers from Harrisburg, Pa., to Baltimore, Md. This cuts a full day on shipments from southwestern and some midwestern points. It's the sixth TrailVan train added this year.
TV-22A leaves Harrisburg at 2 A.M. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with loaded trailers from St. Louis, Louisville, Indianapolis Cincinnati and Columbus. Trailers are placed for Baltimore customers by 6 A.M. the same day. Previously, Penn Central inaugurated overnight TrailVan service between New York and Boston, and between New York, Rochester and Buffalo.
"This service is being offered at the lowest rates for terminal-to-terminal movement of railroad-supplied trailers; and shippers can save an additional $20 a load by providing their own trailers," said Paul Funkhouser, senior vice president for sales and marketing. Penn Central, the country's largest operator of piggyback service, reaches a third of all America's cities with more than 100,000 population.
Piggyback a Glamour Rail Service?
In a February 1972 PC POST interview PC president William H. Moore was asked about Piggyback rail services and gave this answer on the PC TrailVan Program.
Q. Piggyback is widely considered a 'glamour' rail service with great growth potential. You mentioned that this traffic had fallen and then picked up during the latter half of 1971. Can you discuss any other developments?
A. Last year we added six new all-TrailVan trains, expanding the fleet more than 15 percent. We improved our overall on time performance 30 percent. This year we are planning a record expansion of TrailVan operations, offering customers more varied and more effective service than ever before. Among other things, we're doubling the capacity of our terminal at Kearny, N.J., the world's largest piggyback terminal, serving the New York City area.
More Power for The East Bedford TrailVan Facility
The expansion of TrailVan services reaches the East Bedford TrailVan facility also known as the Terminal Yard ramp that mostly serves nearby Empire City and Long Island. A pair of GE U23Cs have arrived from Selkirk to handle the increased TOFC/COFC traffic and the increased tonnage in manifest and mineral trains.
PC Rail-Bridge
In April 1972 the Penn Central and Santa Fe began what they called Rail-Bridge. The first Rail-Bridge Service occurred on April 07, 1972 with a Sea-Train ship loaded with containerized freight from Europe docked at Port Newark. From there the containers traveled on PC's fast TrailVan trains for second day delivery to the ATFS at Streator, Illinois.
Coordination between the Santa Fe and Penn Central kept these trains moving throughout the country with motive power pools and run thru power going all the way from coast to coast.
Piggyback Spectacular!
An April, 1973 PC POST article blared the above title and reported the following: In 1971 Penn Central hauled 420,911 loaded trailers and containers in TrailVan Trains. In 1972 the year of the big push for this traffic the PC handled 516,159 trailers and containers in TrailVan Trains.
This was an increase of 23% for the Penn Central while the rest of the railroad industry has an increase of 8%. PC president Moore called the increase spectacular and noted the increase of piggyback traffic was part of a fundamental shift in PC's sales and marketing strategy.
Golden Freight Car Award
On June 7th, 1973 the Penn Central Trail Van Program receives the Golden Freight Car Award. Spectacular indeed!!!TrailVan Continues Expanding
From the March 1974 PC POST
During 1973, Penn Central hauled more than 600,000 loaded trailers and containers — approximately 20 percent of the total piggyback traffic in the United States. "Substantially all of this business on the Penn Central was carried in exclusive piggyback trains, with special schedules designed to bypass yards and offer expedited service," said Paul Funkhouser, senior vice president-sales and marketing. "Last year, we acquired and placed in service 1,100 trailers, converted some 200 automobile rack cars to piggyback flatcars, and opened new Trail Van piggyback terminals at Valleyfield, Quebec, and Harrisburg, Pa.
"In addition, we increased the capacity of our TrailVan piggyback terminals at Baltimore, Detroit, Kalamazoo, and Montrose, Ontario, while improving our parking facilities at TrailVan terminals in several major cities." Penn Central is taking further steps in 1974 to meet expanded demand for TrailVan piggyback service, Mr. Funkhouser added.
"We are arranging the acquisition of an additional 1,000 Penn Central trailers, with delivery scheduled for April 1," he said. "Last month our Trustees obtained the approval of the Reorganization Court to acquire 575 additional 89-foot flatcars for transporting highway trailers and containers. "On a related front, we're preparing a capital program which calls for the expenditure of $3 million in 1974, and the same amount in 1975, for TrailVan expansions and improvements."
The Penn Central was all in for their award winning TrailVan Program!
How the Penn Central TrailVan Program Succeeded
The PC trustees and TrailVan people recognized that they had a product that served the needs of many different shippers and consignees in the United States and abroad and took the necessary steps with funding, facilities and equipment to sustain its growth potential.
The Penn Central aggressively marketed their TrailVan Program to both shippers and consignees as a fast way to move less than car load freight at a competitive price recapturing some of the freight traffic lost to the trucking industry as interstates and airlines were taking a big bite out this traffic.
The PC with mostly short hauls saw its trunk lines in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania hard hit as interstates sprouted up alongside their mainlines.
Another part of the PC's TrailVan programs success was the use of dedicated TOFC and COFC trains for fast movement between their TrailVan facilities and interchange with other RRs with an emphasis on keeping to tight schedules and eliminating dwell time in rail yards.
This fast movement of TrailVan Trains was accomplished with the assignment of newer and reliable locomotives like the EMD GP38s GP40s and GE U33Bs to the TV Trains on the Water Level Route.
Sure footed six axle power could be found on the TV Trains over the Berkshires and the Alleghenies. Time proven electric motors handled the TV Trains east of Harrisburg, in and out of the Potomac Yard gateway and on the NE Corridor.
In short these trains were well managed, well powered, a high priority, highly profitable and highly regarded from the beginning to end of the Penn Central.
An HO Scale Video Tribute to the PC TrailVan Program
The TrailVan Name Continues
The TrailVan name would outlast the Penn Central and continue with the newly formed Conrail that took over operations from the PC and six other bankrupt Northeast railroads on April 1st, 1976.
Final thoughts and comments
The Penn Central was an innovator in unit train development and its main trunk lines were in decent enough shape to support this.
In 1968 the PC inaugurated the first high priority transcontinental solid mail trains using Flexi Van equipment.
In 1970 the PC inaugurated the first Tropicana Juice Train with the SCL moving the juice from Bradenton to Richmond, VA. The RF&P handled the train from Richmond to their Potomac Yard where the trains was turned over to the PC who hauled the Juice Train to Tropicana's plant in Kearney, NJ.
The PC hauled numerous unit coal trains, grain trains, and ore trains every day. And let us not forget another favorite, Train ML-12, a solid train of auto racks that left Detroit every day and its counterpart Train ML-9 returning the empty auto racks promptly back to Detroit.
Additional Reading and Sources
PC POST 10/68 TrailVan is the name that wins.PC POST 11/69 Ro-Ro Service.
PC POST 03/70 The Big Road Show
PC POST 11/71 More Piggyback
PC POST 02/72 TrailVan a Glamour Rail Service
PC POST 04/73 Piggyback Spectacular
PC POST 05/73 Rail Bridge
PC POST 03/74 TrailVan continues expanding
Penn Central Color Guide tp Freight and Passenger Equipment by James Kinkaid.
Classic Trains Magazine Summer 2016.
NYC Pictorial History by Brian Solomon and Mike Schafer.
A Special Thank You
A special thank you to Terry Link for establishing and maintaining the Canada Southern website which is a wealth of great information on the Canada Southern, its parent the New York Central Railroad and has some good information the Penn Central. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Mr. Link and the information I've gleaned from his site not only for this post but for others as well. Thank you Mr. Link!!!
Thanks for reading and watching!!!
See you soon!!
