Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-12-30 | Page 44 | Novel Method Adopted for Shipping Oldsmobiles

NOVEL METHOD ADOPTED FOR SKIPPING OLDSMOBILES j - .7''- y. .- The Olds motor works have originated a decidedly new and effective manner of conserving railroad equipment in loading Oldsmoblles for shipment. The picture shows the driver, of an Oldsmobile loading it onto the car by its own power. The accompanying article and picture just received by Manager Duncan of the Intermountain Oldsmobile company, explains this Innovation in loading cars that is sure to be adopted by manufacturers of other makes of cars. (One of the marvels of the automobile automo-bile industry is the manner in which it has solved knotty problems and found solutions to so many seemingly insurmountable insur-mountable difficulties," says Manager B. F. Duncan of the Intermountain Oldsmobile Olds-mobile company, local distributors of Oldsmobiles. "It has always had to wrestle with new and unknown conditions condi-tions and has always found a way out. "Being a new 'industry, there oft-times oft-times were no precedents 'for it to follow fol-low and it has been repeatedly obliged to devise ways and means to iueet- new-conditions. new-conditions. Moreover, the demand for ils product thrust the industry at once into quantity production and inade, necessary nec-essary quick- action and quick decision. That is one of the reasons whv everybody every-body has taken such an interest in the automobile business they like to watch the fellows that do things. "The transportation problem has always al-ways been full of vexatious situations and there seems to be no end to them. But at no time have thev been as serious se-rious as at present and" traffic managers man-agers of automobile concerns are straining every resource to move their product. "The rarest visitor to automobile plants these days is the automobile freight car that'was built especially to handle automobiles. They have .been diverted to move government supnlies and the country's food products. Small box. cars, flat cars and similar equipment equip-ment are being used, but there is not enough of them. "Who would ever think of loading automobiles with their front. ends sticking up in the air?' Vet that is just what the Oldsmobile traffic department is doing. They take a flat-ear and build a. heavy frame work around it about six feet high, of six, by six timbers. There are heavy cross members at the top of this frame into which the front wheels of the automobile rest, while the hind wheels rest on the floor and carry most of the weight. "The Oldsmobile is then loaded under its own power, being driven upon skids at almost a forty degree grade. Then the front wheels drop into place, the car rests at an angle of about thirty-three degrees. It is then securely anchored and covered with heavy canvas. When the loading is completed it. looks something some-thing like four circus elephants standing stand-ing with their forelegs on one another's backs. "Obviously, a car must have power and stamina, and brakes must .be absolutely abso-lutely dependable to load them in this manner. Labor is scarce and this operation op-eration takes four times as long to load a machine as ordinary loading. The material and lumber expense, is considerable, consid-erable, but. it enables four machines to be" shipped in the space formerly oc.cu- ! pied by two. Certainly no industry is doing more to conserve railroad equipment-. "