Quick GMC Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 A lot of you old timers probably knew this already, but it's news to me. I thought it was kind of cool. http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/01/vert-a-pac-train-cars-kept-your-chevy-vegas-price-in-check/
Old Buckaroo Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Wow, I never knew that. Thanks for sharing this.
421gto Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 Do any of the manufacturers still do that ? An old press pic of mine dated Jan '71.
wisdonm Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 That is why the side-post battery was invented, so that the old style top-post batteries wouldn't short against the hoods during shipping.
Quick GMC Posted March 10, 2014 Author Posted March 10, 2014 I read that they shipped them vertically due to wheel bearing issues. The train would cross 10's of thousands of railroad track seams during the shipping and it would cause damage to the wheel bearings, as they were supposed to take stress under load while rotating. This eliminated that issue. Not sure if that's true or not.
Guest Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 According to the article, all fluids were present. Fascinating, I never knew this.
Art Anderson Posted March 10, 2014 Posted March 10, 2014 I read that they shipped them vertically due to wheel bearing issues. The train would cross 10's of thousands of railroad track seams during the shipping and it would cause damage to the wheel bearings, as they were supposed to take stress under load while rotating. This eliminated that issue. Not sure if that's true or not. No, The Vertipak boxcar concept was meant to get more Vega's onto freight cars than was possible with the 85' Trilevel Autoracks then in use. It wasn't very successful, as railroads and even TTX were at best lukewarm to the concept and not being willing to lay out tons of money for such a new concept. The other flaw was simply that the fluids in the engine tended to get into places where they should not be. Art
Danno Posted March 11, 2014 Posted March 11, 2014 Besides, the Vegas got dizzy from standing on their heads so long.
Lunajammer Posted March 11, 2014 Posted March 11, 2014 They were shipped nose down so the little cars could look at their futures.
Zarana-X Posted March 11, 2014 Posted March 11, 2014 It seems like the expense of purpose built boxcars, and the extra hassle & time of loading and unloading would outweight the "savings". Also seems like a high risk for catastrophy.
Scale-Master Posted March 11, 2014 Posted March 11, 2014 They were shipped ready to run with fluids. Notice the reservoirs have the lids offset towards the rear of the car.
Modelmartin Posted March 11, 2014 Posted March 11, 2014 The batteries had the caps all the way to the back end of the top so the battery acid wouldn't flow out. I remember seeing those when I worked at a few gas stations in the 70s - back when they had attendants and there was no self-serve. Sort of like New Jersey today.
FASTBACK340 Posted March 11, 2014 Posted March 11, 2014 They should have let some of the oily stuff leak a bit. It might have slowed down the rust….. Last summer I went to a show at Belmont Park and there was a beautiful, intact, and FUNCTIONING Vega in attendance. Stone stock. Had a crowd around it all day...
slusher Posted March 11, 2014 Posted March 11, 2014 I wonder if they do any cars like that presently...?
GLMFAA1 Posted March 11, 2014 Posted March 11, 2014 Made and packed in Lordstown, Ohio. You should have seen all the Firebird hood tachs on other cars greg
lordairgtar Posted March 11, 2014 Posted March 11, 2014 I remember this. My dad worked for The Milwaukee Road. He had me come see the unloading at the yards. it was pretty cool to see.
Art Anderson Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 (edited) I wonder if they do any cars like that presently...? I believe that the Vert-A-Pac program that GM and the railroad(s) developed did not survive the Vega. Here in Lafayette, which is the home of Subaru Indiana Automotive, and on one of the major railroad mainlines servicing several auto plants, we can see as many as a thousand automobile-hauling freight cars on any given day--and NONE of them are this type of cars (at least I've not seen any of those in almost 40 years). According to Wikipedia, only 452 Vert-A-Pac cars were produced--all conversions of 85' piggyback flatcars in 1971-73, and all were withdrawn from service in 1977, and were refitted with conventional tri-level decking. Art Edited March 12, 2014 by Art Anderson
ToyLvr Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 Besides, the Vegas got dizzy from standing on their heads so long. Maybe this is why they also fell apart on the showroom floor... ;-) Seriously, it would seem that this sort of transport position might put undue stress on a unibody. IIRC, Chrysler designed their "K" car at a certain length so they could squeeze more onto a standard railcar.
vincen47 Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 The Nov 2013 issue of Trains magazine (Kalmbach publishing) had a series of great articles on auto transportation via railroads, one of which was on the Verta-Pac Vega autoracks. A good read. Yeah, I'm a railfan and model railroader, too.
Custom Hearse Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 They were shipped nose down so the little cars could look at their futures. LMBO!!!!
Chuck Most Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 Also seems like a high risk for catastrophy. Not unlike buying a 1:1 Vega. THANK YOU, GOOD NIGHT....
Ju Ju Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 Not unlike buying a 1:1 Vega. THANK YOU, GOOD NIGHT.... Besides the fact they quit making Vegas like 5 years before you were even born........ So by the time you would have been legal to drive they would have been at least 21 years old by then.
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