Vert-A-Pac

[Bob Bufkin]

An Autoblog article.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/01/vert-a-pac-train-cars-kept-your-chevy-vegas-price-in-check/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl10%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D277588

[pedro]

Visible in the last photo in that gallery is what looks like tri-level auto containers. Was this a cousin to the vert-a-pac? Never seen those before.


And at the risk of being laughed out of the automotive forum, those Vegas weren't too bad looking. I know what a POS they were. We had a red wagon when I was a kid. Which we replaced with a Chevette.    Good times!

[trainforfun]

Did they had to ship it dry of all fluids , you think ?

[C855B]

Did they had to ship it dry of all fluids , you think ?

No. They were driven on to and off of the loading doors under their own power. The cars were designed expressly to use the vertical shipping method. There were baffles inside the oil sump to keep the oil out of the #1 cylinder, the battery had offset filler openings, and other liquid containers were modified to hold their contents either on the road or in the nose-down position.

There were some great technologies all over the Vega, but as GM always seems to do, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by listening to the accountants rather than the engineers. Despite the shortcomings (leaky valve seals the biggest evil), two million of these things were sold in their seven years in the lineup.

[Scottl]

Didn't they rust in the showroom?   

[Robbman]

Visible in the last photo in that gallery is what looks like tri-level auto containers. Was this a cousin to the vert-a-pac? Never seen those before.

Yes, Southern Pacific Stac-Pac

[Bob Bufkin]

My wife owned a Vega when we got married.  What a great POS. 

[RockGp40]

So, if the Vega only lasted for 7 years, what happened to the specialized rail cars? Scrapped, modified, left on a dead line somewhere?

[C855B]

The carrier bodies were scrapped, some at a dismantler close to my hometown, but I believe the flatcars they were on went on to do other things.

[trainforfun]

No. They were driven on to and off of the loading doors under their own power. The cars were designed expressly to use the vertical shipping method. There were baffles inside the oil sump to keep the oil out of the #1 cylinder, the battery had offset filler openings, and other liquid containers were modified to hold their contents either on the road or in the nose-down position.

There were some great technologies all over the Vega, but as GM always seems to do, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by listening to the accountants rather than the engineers. Despite the shortcomings (leaky valve seals the biggest evil), two million of these things were sold in their seven years in the lineup.

thanks !!!

[Packer]

I have one of the Exactrail models... Looks like it'd be at the end of it's life in my era (1976-1987)

[Robbman]

The carrier bodies were scrapped, some at a dismantler close to my hometown, but I believe the flatcars they were on went on to do other things.

Mainly TOFC for the TTX owned flats, but I don't know for how long... I believe some of the road owned flats (SP in particular) actually got new racks applied, but they would have been 'narrow' racks (given the car design), thus limiting their usability.

[Packer]

Yes, Southern Pacific Stac-Pac

Apparently it wasn't just the SP. Looks like the Burlington Northern, Rock Island, and Milwaukee road tried them at least once.
http://bnsfsd70.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1891538

[wcfn100]

Apparently it wasn't just the SP. Looks like the Burlington Northern, Rock Island, and Milwaukee road tried them at least once.
http://bnsfsd70.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1891538

ATSF, D&RGW, FEC, MDT, MILW, MP, RI, Southern, SP and SSW.

http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/spcars/bytype/flat/stac-pac.htm

Jason

[nkalanaga]

For the Stac-Pacs I wouldn't be surprised if they were like coil cars, where the hoods don't always match the car.  The railroads using the service would each supply their share of the containers, and they'd go into a pool.