The decline in rail auto parts traffic is such an interesting story of changing industrial geographies and management philosophies https://twitter.com/blessedtrains/status/1265824901706940420
In the days when auto production was dispersed/dominated by the big 3/not organized around the principles of just-in-time manufacturing, most auto parts were moved in giant boxcars between (generally midwestern/southern) parts plants to assemblies all over the country.
That changed as:
- Just-in-time manufacturing placed an extreme premium on punctual/reliable parts delivery, which railroads (despite some genuine effort) couldn’t provide
- New entrants to the US market/US automakers building new plants colocated final assembly with parts manufacture
- Parts supply chains were globalized, favoring containerized shipments vs loads in boxcars
- Coastal US plants closed — no more Ford Mahwah or GM Van Nuys, plants whose relative distance from parts manufacturing centers made rail shipping integral to their function
Interesting contrast here btwn the decline in parts traffic and railroad’s success since the 60s in attracting finished vehicle traffic back to the rails.
In the ‘50s, veeeeery few finished vehicles moved by rail. But as railroads invented/improved autoracks, ran auto traffic in unit trains vs in the general merch network and opened mixing centers to act as cross docking facilities for new cars, their fortunes massively improved.
One of a limited number of cases where railroads have seen unequivocal success integrating themselves into a complex and time-sensitive supply chain...
(Apropos the image that began this thread, just would like to note that the liveries adopted by CN/its subsidiaries in the 70s were probably the best ever to grace American rails)

Last photo cred: http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/christmas-week-1987-finds-engineer-ray-boyd-at-the-controls-of-terra-transport-mixed-extra-941-west-about-to-depart-from-grand-falls-for-corner-brook-just-days-after-this-photo-was-taken-a-ctc-rule
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