Yellow Cab Truck Frames

[bnsfben]

Working on a project for a model Railroad group I am involved with that’s models the GTW Holly Sub. One of our locations we are modeling is Yellow Cab. Does anyone’s know if yellow cab received truck frames by rail? If so, what years did they get the frames and how many? Thanks in advance!

[GTW6401]

I'd ask that on the GTW Historical Society Facebook page.

[AARR]

Which location is Yellow Cab? If it’s where the pick up trucks were assembled the answer is yes to both inbound frames and parts and even coal up to the early 90’s. I’d guess around 5-6 flat cars a day and around 10 or so boxcars a day and 12 cars of coal per week.

[hoborich]

There does not appear to be a GTW Historical Society on Facebook. There is a Yahoo GTW Historical Society, which is a closed group.

[GTW6401]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/gtwhs/

The GTWHS Facebook page is closed, but you can request to join.

Or better yet become a member.

[trainjunkie47]

Yes the GTW provided frames by rail. How many per week on average, I have no idea?

[Manistique]

The original Yellow Cab factory which was roughly the SE corner of South Blvd and what is now called Martin Luther King Avenue probably never received any freight cars as long as I have been interested in trains (since 1975 or so). The new (1975) pickup truck plant west of Opdyke Road and between Square Lake and South Blvd did get a lot of truck frames and an occasional hi-cube up until it closed in 2009. It mostly got autoracks that were loaded at a holding yard off of Yellow Cab Yard (where a switchback allowed access to the factory and the autorack loading area) until it closed. I do not recall any coal cars going into the new factory.

[hoborich]

Thanks for the link. When I searched in the Facebook search box, this is all that came up.

Muskegon Railroad Historical Society is at Muskegon, Michigan.
July 7 at 7:09 PM ·
Here is the carferry job under steam along McCracken Street about to cross Lakeshore Drive. Charles H Goerrite Collection GTW Historical Society.
'Here is the carferry job under steam along McCracken Street about to cross Lakeshore Drive. Charles H Goerrite Collection GTW Historical Society.'

Muskegon Railroad Historical Society added 2 new photos.
July 26 at 11:36 PM ·
GTW BOX CAB PHOTOS from Grand Trunk Western Historical Society News Letter, Photos are from the Jack Smith Collection. They show the GTW Carferry Grand Rapids being switched by a Box Cab . The cab was...
'The smoke from the stack is from a small stove to heat the cab in the winter. The loco was diesel electric powered.'
+1
22

Chris Hope to Historical Society of Greater Lansing
October 15, 2017 at 3:34 PM ·
There is a coaling tower over the RR tracks (CN I think) just east of the bridge (over the tracks) on Aurelius/Clemens. Does anyone know when it was built? (Probably was GTW or GT tracks when the tower...
6 Comments

[hoborich]

I worked at the GTW Pontiac yard from 1964 to 1969. That was almost 50 years ago, and the memory is a little fuzzy. I recall the Yellow Cab drag coming back into the yard around 5:00. They brought several flats of larger trucks, cab and chassis, loaded elephant style, along with bi levels of smaller trucks. They also had some 89 foot high cubes. Afternoon shift was busy. The Jackson local also returned around 5:00. The PMC Drag, [Pontiac motors] also came back around the same time from the other end of the yard. It was bigger than the Yellow Cab drag, 45 to 50 cars, and consisted of autos, empty high cubes, loaded scrap gons, from Pontiac motors and a few from Sam Allen scrap. No computers back then. We got a physical check of everything that came into the yard. Waybills were pulled from the rack, manila car cards were made for every car, and switch lists were made up. The cars were all carded with the manila cards, large tacks and a tack hammer. Then they were switched out. Westbound trucks and autos were the priority, and they had to be blocked for the interchanges. ATSFs were interchanged at Elsdon, Illinois and were just "Elsdons". ICs were Harveys, CRIPs or Rock Islands were interchanged at Blue Island, Illinois.

429 was our Westbound hotshot, and was called out of Ferndale around 6:30, I think. He usually got up to Pontiac around 8:00 or so, with 3 or 4 F units or GP-9s. His pickup had to be blocked and ready, along with the manifest, which was hand written, making the original and four copies. One copy was hooped up to the engineer as they went by the yard office, and another copy was hooped to the caboose. They usually went by the yard office pretty fast, stopping down at the north end of the yard, near Telegraph, to make their pickup. After they left Pontiac, they didn't stop until they got to Lansing, where I believe they picked up Oldsmobiles. Then they hi balled to Chicago.
Things slowed down a little after we got 429 out of town. 429s counterpart 428 came back east early in the day shift. We had other trains on other shifts that took our Tunnels [TUL] and Toledos [SL].
I was by Pontiac yard a couple years ago, and the yard office is gone. Just an empty lot at the entrance to the yard.