Re: PC: "Flex-Van" trademark

["Terry Link" <trlink@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Flexi-van was developed by the NYC and Fruehauf / Strick due to the tight
clearances on the eastern end of the NYC.  It was their way to compete with
the PRR who was using trailer on flats.  Milwaukee Road quickly picked up on
the Flexi-van concept as well, though not to the same degree as the NYC.
This allowed for through service from coast to coast via the NYC and
Milwaukee Road and resulted in vans heading overseas in 1959 to Japan,
Korea, Egypt, etc.  By 1961, there were over 5000 vans in service on over 8
railroads and 5 leasing/transport companies and many more tried it later on.

What probably killed the Flexi-van design was the development of container
crane/stackers which allowed containers to be loaded onto regular flats,
eliminating the need of the special flexi-van flats.

Terry Link
Bramalea, Ontario, Canada
trlink -AT- canadasouthern.com
www.canadasouthern.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roger Hensley" <hensley6 -AT- localnet.com>
To: <penn-central -AT- smellycat.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 9:08 PM
Subject: Re: PC: "Flex-Van" trademark


> Don't think so. The NYC video tape I have indicates that it was the
> developed by the Central and that terminals were established in a large
> variety of places in order to better serve their customers. More than
that,
> I can't say.
>
> At 05:28 PM 5/29/04, you wrote:
> >Is it possible that the Flexi-Van trademark was actually owned by
> >Fruehauf/Strick who built most of the equipment ?   Flexi-Van appears on
the
> >equipment owned by the other railroads, so it was not just a NYC thing.
> >
> >Terry Link
> >Bramalea, Ontario, Canada
> >trlink -AT- canadasouthern.com
> >www.canadasouthern.com
>
> Roger Hensley  kc9eji
>
> == Central Indiana Division, NMRA -- http://cid.railfan.net ==
> == Railroads of Madison County - http://madisonrails.railfan.net ==
>
>
>
>