A 1979 newspaper blurb announces the addition of freight cars to the
railroad.
This photo and caption appeared in the June 18, 1979 Green
Bay Press-Gazette. The caption says:
Jim Gingle, switch foreman for the Green Bay & Western
Railroad, rides one of 450 boxcars being delivered to the railroad
during a two-month period. The GB&W is buying 1,650 cars over a
two-year period at $40,000 a car, with 450 to be delivered by
mid-July. Turnaround time for the cars will be about 25 days. They
were built by American Car & Foundry, St. Louis, and FMC,
Portland.
Francis "Jim" Gingle worked out of the Green Bay yard for
42 years, 1946-1988. He often was on the 7 AM switch job no. 4,
which worked the east side of Green Bay, including the "cheese
house" district.
Itel Corporation purchased the GB&W in November,
1978. They took advantage of the "per diem" boxcar craze
of the 1970s which allowed railroads to charge other railroads a high
daily freight car rental fee, and immediately began a program of adding
boxcars to the GBW fleet. This particular car appears to be one of
the GBW 7050-7199
cars built 6/79 by AC&F.
Thanks goes to Colleen Baran, daughter of Jim Gingle, for
sharing this article.
- Related material:
Lease documents for 1,650
GBW boxcars from the US Surface Transportation
Board.
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