Posted on 06/01/2015 10:30:30 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
I recently had the following FB message exchanges with Union Pacific Railroad seeking clarification of the functions of the rail cars in the photo below.
My requests to UP and the dates of same are as follows:
On 5/11/2015: Can someone there please advise me the intended cargo/function of the rail cars shown in the accompanying photos? Thanks.
Their nearly immediate initial reply (no date):
Hi Richard,
That is an AutoMax automotive rack.
You can check out the different varieties here:
https://www.up.com/customers/all/equipment/descriptions/auto-racks/index.htm
Thanks for reaching out!
Best,
Alison Freemyer
Corporate Relations
My NEXT attempt to get the truth:
On 5/20/2015
Alison, These are distinctly different from the autoracks built by THRALL CAR's Winder, Georgia plant. I supplied many of the overhead cranes in Winder (photo attached of some of the gantries). What appear to be spaced ventilation openings in the sides and the accordian structure between car pairs have led to speculation that they are, in fact, mobile prison facilities being kept ready to incarcerate -- and, some, believe, execute en-route -- those involved in civil unrest and riots should order break down here. That would make these transports very akin to the cattle cars the Nazi used in transporting Jews and others to the camps. Can you send me a photo showing THESE cars being used in a vehicle transportation application? It would go a long way toward improving UP's perception by some members of the public.
Allison, This is my second request for a photo of the AutoMax automotive carriers showing them being loaded or holding vehicles. The photo below is the type of cars to which I refer.
SINCE THAT SECOND INQUIRY ON 5/20, NOTHING FROM UNION PACIFIC!
QUESTION: I'm certain we have some railroad buffs on FR. Can any of YOU furnish us a photo or photos of these cars LOADING or UNLOADING the vehicles UP purports to be their function???
Back in the day, my old railroad (The Milwaukee Railroad) used to transport them from Bensenville (adjacent to O’Hare Airport) to Milwaukee and points beyond via the A20 cutoff to the west of the airport.
In what can only be called the ‘one of the worst cases of bad timing known to man,’ they were rerouting one of those trains back through Chicago and around Pacific Junction (Tower A-5) up the North Main Line when one of the ramps, with car attached(!) fell into the open position while the train was in motion.
It tore up a bunch of signal equipment and other stuff before the conductor (sitting lookout in the caboose) noticed it and stopped the train.
That’s another of the many reasons people never liked Vegas.
Probably vandalism... Would you want your car going through Baltimore on an open rail transport? Not me. Also the design’s probably better - more cars in less space...
Maybe the black racists over at the DOJ can give us stats on how many cars were defaced while traveling through traditional white American neighborhoods....
This looks like upgraded versions of the cars that were used to house banana field workers in Central America during the 40s/50s but are probably upgraded versions of automobile transports.
The part that raises suspicion is the accordian covers between the cars. No reason to do that except so that someone can walk between the cars unseen.
BWAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAAA. OMG OMG BWAAAAAAAAHAAAAA
I'll bet your letter made it to the bulletin board in the lunchroom LOLZ
There’s a u-toob video on the vega and (as I recall) those vertical car carriers were specially designed for them.
Hey I’m a well known paranoid and I really am not seeing this one. But anything could be used to carry people. At this point in the destruction of America there is no evil deed I cannot conceive of.
On the face of it though the picture is not ominous to me.
The take-away line for those typical FReepers who never read the article is the last two paragraphs...
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. But Janek did not produce photographic evidence of the shackles and guillotines inside the alleged prisoner boxcars. That evidence would certainly be useful."
"For us to believe — and spread — Janek’s sensational claims would play right into our political opponents’ cartoon depiction of conservatives as looney-tune nutcases. Don’t fall for it!"
Those are clearly car carriers. I have seen them being loaded at several different auto manufacturing plants. They now have the capability to load several cars at once, without a need any longer to disconnect the cars and load them one at a time and then reconnect them. They can drive through several train cars when loading them, hence the “accordian” seal between the cars.
It is quite an amazing thing to watch. The skill of the car driver is impressive. I would be a nervous wreck!
Those were called Vert-A-Pac’s. They were made specially for Vegas. The cars were made in such a way so that when they were stacked vertically, the engine oil and battery fluid wouldn’t leak.
Oh...simple answer...they are for taking illegal Mexicans back south across the Rio Grande./s
If they were to start transporting patriots in them instead of SUVs they could solve two problems.
Too many environmentally unfriendly SUV deliveries to dealerships and not enough patriot deliveries to internment camps.
LOL.
because they ship them with a full tank of gas and the keys in the ignition?
So they weren’t built to accommodate our 20 foot tall American patriots?
Well, I’ll be.
By the way, a thread from Friday night was about everyone going to be sent to camps, on the roofs of the Walmarts.
Worked for Hitler and Himmler!
“....that when they were stacked vertically, the engine oil and battery fluid wouldn’t leak.”
________________________________________
Well that explains it. Because when the cars were horizontal - they leaked.
Sten, That did have me concerned until it hit me that loading and unloading these things goes much faster if vehicles require only a single ramped entry/exit point for PAIRS of cars as opposed to setting up and knocking down ramps for EACH car.
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