THE 80'S PT 4

 A final look at Hillsdale in the 80's...

A Mack R600 pulls a City Market trailer into town, heading for the grocery distributor warehouse downtown.

A Kenworth K100 Aerodyne pulls a Transamerica trailer out of town. The trailer has been stretched from 40' to 45' and repainted into Transamerica's classic blue and red striped scheme. During the 80's,  and 90's Tranamerica leased trailers, containers and chassis. In 1999, the company was bought by a Dutch firm Aegon, and in 2000, it sold off its intermodal unit to Interpool.

A Peterbilt 359 pulls an Intermodal Systems Inc. reefer trailer into town, headed for the grocery distributor. The slogan on the side of the trailer says "WE CONSERVE ENERGY DOLLARS" -hence the green "Dollar Bill"-shaped graphics.

Yet another 80's classic semi: another Peterbilt 359 pulls another reefer, this one owned by Leaseway Transportation. Seen leaving town after making a pick-up at the dairy plant. Leaseway was also known for the dark blue trucks of its auto-hauling division, and by 1980 was the fourth largest highway transportation company, behind UPS, Consolidated Freightways and Roadway. The 80's recession, however, especially the auto industry's slowdown in the late 80's, hit Leaseway hard; after being taken private at the end of 1986, the company went bankrupt in 1992. It merged with Penske Truck Leasing in 1995.

A shot of Hillsdale Yard, circa 1986. Note the stored 53' Railgons; a common sight during the early 80's. Formed in 1979 as a subsidiary of Trailer Train, the purpose was the same as Railbox; to provide the railroads with a pool of gondolas to ship goods in. By the 70's, many of the gons currently in use were aging (much the same as the nation's boxcar fleet was, which lead to the creation of Railbox), so Trailer Train sought to solve this by creating Railgon. Unfortunately, the early 80's recession shut down lots of steel mills around the country, just as four thousand brand new gondolas were being delivered, resulting in most either being stored or transferred to member railroads; half wound up on either Chessie System or Seaboard System. The situation improved by the late 80's, and Railgon is still rolling on today.

The Norfolk & Western-Southern merger that created the modern-day Norfolk Southern is four years old, but the identities of the two originals remain. The boxcar on the left has been recently repainted into a simplified scheme, while the other one is still in its original paint. (The original NS was a North Carolina railroad that ran from Norfolk, Va. down to New Bern, N.C., and from Elizabeth City west to Charlotte. It was known for its fleet of Baldwin diesels and was purchased by the Southern in 1974).

An APRR 65' gon sits in the yard as well, wearing the tan paint of the newly formed AP&W. This car was recently repainted, but not re-lettered!

A car that has been re-lettered is this former 12-1 sleeper car. Converted into a training car by the APRR in 1970, the Whitefish is resplendent in its new tan and brown paint!