THE 80'S PT3

More of Hillsdale in the 80's...

The 80's scene included this tractor-trailer combination; an owner-operator Kenworth W900 pulling a 45' Fruehauf van trailer. While Kenworth is still very much in business, Fruehauf was purchased in the 90's by Wabash and no longer exists.

Later, another rig passes, this time a Coca-Cola truck. It's probably circling the block to get to the supermarket next block over. Notice both the VW bus and the Plymouth GTX convertible parked on the street.

A Fredrickson tractor trailer turns onto Main St, after leaving the business district. To my knowlege, this company doesn't exist anymore either.

As another intermodal train passes through town, we see what was then a new concept; two containers double-stacked in a well car. With 48' containers being the maximum length (matching trailer lengths), these cars feature 48' wells to hold the containers. Seen in their as-delivered paint sceme, these cars are still in service despite the switch to 53' containers; the containers are retired by now -and in the case of the Conrail-Mercury containers, so is the owner!

One of the unfortunate casualties of the 80's was the caboose. So it was quite a treat to not only see one still in use, but on the tail end of a stack train at that! The bay window caboose is still lettered for its previous owner, the Memphis, Chattanooga & Knoxville RR. The MC&K was the central partner in the AP&W merger; serving Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and into northern Florida. Like partner APRR, the MC&K was a coal hauler, but also served much of the lumber and steel producing regions of The South, as well as the kaolin clay producing areas of Georgia.