Rouge: Pictured in Its Prime

30. Product Shipping

30 PRODUCT SHIPPING Efficient shipment of fully assembled cars and parts from the Rouge Plant was an ongoing challenge. The bulk of manufactured automotive parts had to be shipped either by rail or by water to other assembly plants, while the relatively small number of vehicles assembled at the Rouge could be either driven or hauled by highway truck to nearby dealerships. Local dealers often would take delivery of their vehicles at the drive-away garage in the B building and sometimes would pass along transportation savings to the customer. Much ingenuity was used in methods of shipping both body and chassis parts to domestic assembly plants by rail without excessive damage. For maximum efficiency, constantly moving conveyors brought automotive parts directly from Rouge manufacturing areas to inside railroad sidings. Body parts were particularly bulky and awkward to fit compactly into standard 36-by-10foot boxcars, whereas chassis parts were much more amenable to systematic packing within the standard railroad cars. Railroad cars and trucks designed to carry completed vehicles safely later became quite commonplace. Shipment by water was employed for moving both cars and parts to Atlantic and Gulf Coast assembly plants in the United States and to foreign assembly plants which in nearly every case were located on water where ocean freighters could dock. 188 Fully assembled Model A cars, one above the other, are shipped in railroad boxcars in October 1929. Because of height limitations, wheels and tires have been removed and fastened to the walls of the boxcars. (833.54046) 189 A 1931 Model A Fordor sedan body fits neatly within the 9-foot-6-inch width of the standard railroad boxcar. (833.56127) 190 Top: Doors of Ford 1934 automobile bodies are packed in the end of a railroad boxcar for shipment to Ford Motor Company’s Kansas City assembly plant. (833.60062) Bottom: A railroad carload of 1934 automotive frames ready for shipment to an assembly plant. Note that the railroad car was loaded inside the factory. (833.60051-1) 191 Above: Seen in the doorway of a railroad boxcar, these well-braced 1936 Ford body panels will soon be on their way to an assembly plant. (833.65441) Left: Transporting rear axles in railroad cars by stacking them neatly together between wooden braces so that the axles do not touch one another. (833.65941-C) 192 Above: From within the engine plant, 1936 V-8 engines arrive on a conveyor at the doors of a railroad boxcar destined for the Long Beach, California, assembly plant. Here at the door of the car, using a sling, men quickly move an engine from the conveyor to a hand truck in the doorway of the car. (833.65084-B) Right: Inside the boxcar, the V-8 engines are placed on end in rows on the floor of the car. There is space for another tier of engines if the car will stand the weight. (833.65084-A) 193 Top: Using a crane to load ten engines at a time into the holds of the Green Island on June 30, 1937.These engines are going to Ford’s East Coast assembly plants.(833.68486) Bottom: The first shipment of the season of fully assembled 1937-model cars and trucks destined for the East Coast.The waterways of the Great Lakes, together with the Canadian and New York canal systems, are not entirely clear of ice until the month of March.This Ford ship at the Rouge is loaded and ready to leave on March 3, 1937. (833. 67992-C) ...