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Oliver Mirror May 1951

Description: An employee newsletter
MI RRORONE CARLOADTO MEMPHISthe2. OLIYER0MIRROR • MAY, 1951theOLIVER0MIRRORVOLUME 3 No. 5Published at Chicago, Ill., by and for themembers of the OLIVER Organization.The OLIVER Corporation400 W. Madison Street, Chicago 6, Ill.May, 1951EditorR. S. OverholserPlant EditorsBattle Creek .............................. Dave RichCharles City ........................ Don SchladerCleveland .............................. James LoweShelbyville ........................ W. RichardsonSouth Bend No. l ........................ Dick FrySouth Bend No. 2 ............... .John TuoheySpringfield .......................... Tom RobertsStaff PhotographersCharles Dillman Carl RabeTheron Tallman Alfred DeverellThebert DetrickEl GentryJack FortRecent PromotionsCongratulations are ·extendedby mernbe of The OLIVER Cor­porationto the following men whohave been recently promoted.Charles CityKenneth Hicks, Inspection Fore-man.ClevelandRober t Herendeen, GeneralForeman of Defense Production;Rudy Virant, General Foreman,Department 11 ; Walter Rahz,Foreman, Department 11; JosephRayer, Foreman, Department 14;Leroy Raquet, Dispatch Foreman,Production Control Department;Edward Lasko, Foreman, FinalTest.South Bend 1Frank Goebler, Foreman, Foun­dryMaintenance; Arthur Hog­lund,Foreman, Shipping; PatrickMorra, Inventory Control Auditor;Harvey Pallas, Foreman, SteelRoom; Albert Hesketh, Foreman,Foundry Service Crew ; JohnWathin, Dispatch Supervisor; Irv­ingBoulton, Asst PurchasingAgent; Wallace Carl, Unit Plan­ner,Foundry; Robert Phelps,Methods Supervisor; John Coquil­lard,Asst Production Supervisor;Louis Kapermaros, Foundry Fore­man,Unit No. 1; Earl Zeltwanger,Experimental Engineer; EugeneFoertsch, Process Engineer; JohnGarrett, Factory Superintendent.South Bend 2J. R. Barrett, Foreman, Depart­ment40; 0 . B. Apple, ForemanDepartment 47; E. M. Baldwin,Foreman, Department 41; J. J.Mack, Foreman, Department 40;S. E. Goodr ich, Department 47.Suggestion WinnerAwarded $642.78SOUTH BEND, IND. (Plant 1) -James Gordon, of the salvage de­partmentin the foundry, was re­centlyawarded a suggestion checkof $642.78. With this suggestionaward, Jim vaulted into seventhplace on the Men With Ideasladder.OLIVER Personnel AssumeImportant New AssignmentsIn addition, he is now the lead­ingsingle suggestion award win­nerat South Bend Plant Plant 1.Gordons suggestion concerned theinstallation of a hoist in the sal­vagedepartment, which wouldhelp to eliminate the possibilityof injury in the handling of cast­ings.N. 0. PANZEGRAUALL ABOARDWhat happens to a tractor after it comes off the as­semblyline? What are the operations that take thetractor from its birthplace to its destination? How longis a carload of tractors in transit? These and otherquestions will be answered in this issue of the MIRRORin the featured story on Page 4, entitled One Carloadto Memphis.With your permission, we are going to take you on atrip from the OLIVER plant in Charles City, Iowa, to thebranch in the thriving and bustling city of Memphis,Tennessee. One word of warning-you wont be ridingfirst class. On the contrary, you will be traveling on aflat car with five 88 tractors fresh from the assemblyline in Charles City. Figuratively speaking, you willsee step-by-step just what happens to these high com­pression88s, from their emergence off the assemblyline to their arrival at the Memphis branch.Although in this particular story, we are following ashipment of tractors from Charles City via the IllinoisCentral Railroad, the general scheme of travel (in re­gardto procedure, means of travel, and timing) wouldbe very similar for other OLIVER products shipped fromone of the six other plants by rail. ·The purpose of One Carload To Memphis is two­fold:(1) to recognize the big job that railroads aredoing-the Illinois Central in particular, which handlesa great share of all tractor shipments from Charles Cityand is this year celebrating its Centennial; (2) to ex­plainthe sequence of events which allows a tractor tobe shipped to a sales outlet; to acquaint all OLIVERemployes with the procedures, detailed organization,foresight, and cooperation that is necessary before aproduct can reach its destination.Train is now leavi.ng on Page 4. All board!The death rate from accidentsin 1950 was 59.9 per 100,000 pop­ulation,according to the NationalSafety Council. This is the low­estrate on record, bettering theprevious record low rate of 61.2in 1949.Dont let home mishaps makeyou miss happiness.CHICAGO, ILL.- An important re­alignmentof responsibilities inthe manufacturing and works de­partmentof the Chicago officehas been announced by Carl L.Hecker, vice president in chargeof manufacturing.J . R. Mohlie, veteran OLIVER en­gineeringand manufacturing ex­ecutiveand company director ofdefense operations since October2, 1950, has been appointed worksmanager of heavy line plants.These plants are located at CharlesCity, Cleveland, and Battle Creek.Mr. Mohlie has been with OLIVERsince 1934 when he joined thecompany as a design engineer.At the same time, R. G. Rogers,director of product facilities forthe company since April, 1950,was named works manager forlight line plants, which are lo­catedat Springfield, South Bend(Plants 1 and 2), and Shelbyville.N. 0 . Panzegrau, who joinedOLIVER recently as special proj­ectsengineer, was named to suc­ceedMr. Mohlie as director ofdefense operations. Mr. Panzegrauhas had experience in the auto­motivefield, and spent the last25 years in design engineeringand product development work.He has also had major respon­sibilitiesas an engineering con­sultantin foreign operations.Jack Groninger, who has beenat the Springfield plant for sometime and has had previous ex per -ience with the company in sev­eralcapacities and on a consultingbasis, has hen trans£ erred to Chi­cago.H~ will correlate CMP prob­lemsand also be of some assist­ancein looking after current ma­terialshortages such as the workthat Holmes Collins has been do­ing.Mr. Collins has been trans­ferredback to Springfield for animportant position at that plant.C. W. Thornell, plant super­intendentat Springfield, has beenappointed general superintendentat South Bend Plant 1. C. W.Thomas succeeds Mr. Thornell asplant superintendent at Spring­field. Mr. Thomas was formerlymethods superintendent at Spring­field.If you have any news of interestto MIRROR readers (particularlyhobby or human interest stories) ,please see your plant editor.the3. OLIVER MIRROR • MAY, 1951Mid-Year Sales Announced;Uncertain Future StressedJAMES W. RHOADSSPRINGFIELD $1190.25JAMES SHILLINGMARVIN KALTENBACHCOLUMBUS $1123.60LEROY COZIERSPRINGFIELD $981 .76TED FRANKCHARLES CITY $583.58ROY RENZENBRINK$548.97Balers Prepare forAnother SeasonSHELBYVILLE, ILL. - For the pastseveral seasons the OLIVER Balershave established themselves as oneof the outstanding softball teamsin central Illinois. Having wonCHICAGO, ILL.-Government ma­terialpriority orders providingcertain quantities of steel andother scarce materials to the farmequipment industry on an experi­encebasis must at the same timebe considered as a definite lim­itationon production where mate­rialsare secured through estab­lishedchannels Alva W. Phelps,chairman of the board, said re­cently.This statement was made inconnection with the announce­mentof a record sales volume of$54,815,000 for the first half of thefiscal year, which ended April 30.Mr. Phelps said that the extentto which material limitation or­derswill cut production for OLIVERor the industry below levels main­tainedduring the first six monthscannot yet be determined. Hepointed out, however, that therehas been wide misunderstandingof National Production AuthorityOrder M-55A in that the orderdoes not assure the industry ofunlimited material supplies, butdefin itely restricts the amountof materials available to manu­facturersin this vital field dur­ingthe third calendar year.At the same time, Mr. Phelpsannounced estimated net earn­ingsof $3,159 000, equivalent to 5and 8/ 10 percent of sales, afterprovision of $3,159,000 for incometaxes for the period. He empha­sizedthe fact that under presentlegislation it was necessary to re­servethe same sum of money forincome taxes as the entire amountearned and available for dividendpayments to the companys 11,000stockholders and for reinvestmentin the business to improve thecompany and its products.the city softball league title forthe past two seasons, the Balersare considered the team to beatfor the coming season.Last year the Balers won about80 percent of their 56 games. Withmany of the regulars back thisseason, the team is hoping for atleast as good a record this year.The present plans are to field twoteams this season, since thereseems to be a surplus of talentamong the 480 employes.Called to ColorsBattle CreekRonald GrableBud GrahamUdelbert EllisRobert HimebaughCharles CityDelbert SwancuttJohn SiglinLavern KippMiles MurphyLee CowellLeonard ShatekRobert CoenClarence E. BrayRichard JohnsonSouth Bend 1Donald SturgesRaymond L. GradelessJohn BolenbaughEdward Smith, Jr.Alfred ScottCharles AllenAdelbert A. GregoryCharles ScottTyler E. OslerWilliam StromeEdward RichmondJack ChapmanWilliam JenningsHoward ClarkCharles RickardOchs Elected toHighest Officeat EatonC. I. OCHSC. I. Ochs, a member of theboard of directors of The OLIVERClevelandA. J ereskoJ. HartmanJ . ScramlingR. LillibridgeR. CadmanW. MorelandD. BrowningE. KapoloR. MastrangeloC. BuchnerW. MatejaJ. Bergman, Jr.C. MihilakJ . JacklitzE. ChodzinW. BrooksJ. BarboD. McGoonA. SpadaroW. EnnemoserR. HackerE. BrownW. VecchioB. MustardT. SullensR. SmithR.LynnE. HogeJ . EngleM. RigginsW. KartmanSouth Bend 2F. TolchinskyCorporation, was recently electedchairman of the board of TheEaton Manufacturing Company.Mr. Ochs began his Eaton career35 years ago, and for the past 25has been president of this com­pany.He is the second person inthe history of Eaton Manufactur­ingto hold this highest office.Unless this summer is differentfrom last, seven and a half mil­lionwork days will be lost byabsenteeism, just because outdoorenthusiasts wont take Old Solseriously. Also, seven and a halfmillion workers will suffer fromoverexposure to the sun, but- intheir varying shades of red anddiscomfort- will manage to putin an appearance at the plant oroffice, full of vows that they willnever do it again. Take that sunin moder ation!,-,,.4. OLIVER MIRROR • MAY, 1951J. W. Peery, divisional traffic manager for the Illinois Central Railroad, points outthe city of Memphis, Tennessee, where car number 60968 with its five 88s isheaded. l ooking on is traffic manager J. M. Smith, of the Charles City plant. Themop shows the fr1:: i91t a nd pas en9..r routes for the Ill inois Central Ra ilroad.Shown above is the route that the car will take on its approximate 850 mile tripto Memphis. From Charles City, the car will go to Waterloo, Chicago, Champaign,Illinois; Mattoon, Illinois; Bluford, Illinois; Fulton, Kentucky; and finally on toMemphis.ONE CARThe essential job of transporting products and materialsfrom one place to another is one of the most complicated andinvolved businesses in the country. The main veins throughwhich flows the life-blood of American commerce are the bigrailroad lines of the United States; it takes a big and highlyorganized road to handle these vast transportation operationsefficiently. To give you an idea of just how large these opera­tionsare, consider the latest available figures: In 1947 nearly1,800,000 freight cars were in service, carrying 3,039,365,000tons of freight. It is safe to assume that these figures are atleast equaled today. One of the larger railroad systems inthe United States is the Illinois Central, which hauls a largeshare of the tractors that are shipped from Charles City.Before the railroad can do its job however, many plansand arrangements must be made by the shipper, which inthis case is The OLIVER Corporation. These plans are handledby the traffic department in Charles City, headed by trafficmanager, J.M. Smith. In the case of our story, an order fromthe sales department was received by Mr. Smiths officenotifying them that five high compression 88 tractors wereto be shipped to the Memphis branch as soon as possible afterthe five ordered tractors came off the assembly line, passedinspection, and a flat car was available for shipment.About three or four days prior to the scheduled shippingdate (April 23), J. W. Peery, divisional traffic manager forth Illinois entral Railroad in Waterloo, was con aced bythe plant traffic department, which ordered a flat car de­liveredto the plant by Monday, April 23. This order calledfor one of the larger type cars-ten and a half feet in widthand fifty-three feet, six inches in length-and having a carry­ingcapacity of 100,000 pounds. In addition, the order speci­fiedthe nature and destination of the shipment. Mr. Peery,upon receiving the order, arranged for delivery of the carand made out a waybill to go along with it. This form stayswith the car (in the hands of the freight train conductor)all along the route, and it specifies the route the car will take.A copy of these orders is also sent to the plant shippingdepartment.Another form that must be made out is the bill of lading.This particular bill was sent to the Memphis branch priorto the arrival of the tractor shipment in Memphis. It con­tained,among other facts, the following information: numberand type of freight shipped, date of shipment, destination,weight and route.Car Number 60968On Monday, April 23, the I. C. flat car, number 60968, wasdelivered to the plant. The Illinois Central brought the car tothe plant siding, and the Charles City Western Railway, alocal carrier, switched the car to the loading dock within theplant.At 11: 00 a.m., the loading began. Under the direction offoreman Earl Stenseth, the five HC tractors were loaded oncar 60968. The 88s were driven onto the flat car, blocked,and as a further afety precaution, secured by wire to thesides of the car. Our tractors were then ready to withstandthe strenuous 850 mile trip to Memphis.A short time later a switch engine of the Charles CityWestern Railroad rumbled into the plant to haul number60968 out of the plant, and across E Street to the siding wherethe Illinois Central was scheduled to pick up the load within,,,.5. OLIVER . ~ MIRROR • MAY, 1951LOAD TO MEMPHISthe next couple of hour . At 2: 45 p.m. local 592 of the I.C.came steaming in from the northwest, powered by a 142 tonteam engine of the Mikado class. This train handles localfreight each day between Albert Lea, Minnesota, and Water­loo,Iowa, a distance of 107 miles. It leaves Albert Lea everymorning, and arrives in Charle City sometime around 2: 30,depending upon the amount of work that the local has todo prior to its arrival in the tractor city.The great locomotive backed onto the ide track and pulledout the Memphis-bound car with the five 88 s. A fewminute later, 60968 was coupled to the tender. Thi was ju tone of ten car that the local had picked up since it depar­turefrom Albert Lea, a di tance of ome 60 mile . Now letet out on the first leg of the journey to Memphi .High BallBack toward the end of the train, the conductor waves apouch of way bills and record books in a back and forthmanner over his head. This is the signal to let er go, aterm which railroad men refer to a highball. It i 3: 15 p.m.Slowly but powerfully the big engine pulls it ten cars outof the Charle City freight yard on the last lap of its jauntfrom Albert Lea to Waterloo. Six men compri e the crew oflocal 592 as it set out on a outhea terly course to Waterloo.Besides the conductor, who is in charge of the train, and theengineer, there are the fireman and switchman who ride in thegine cab, and the flagman and witchman who ride in thecaboose. After cro sing through nearly fifty miles of prairieland in northea t Iowa, the Mikado steams into the Waterloofreight yard at 5: 45 p.m., having completed it part of thetrip to Memphis. Here in this indu trial city of some 80,000people, the car of tractors i witched to a fast freight whichis scheduled to leave for Chicago at 3: 10 the following morn­ing(Tuesday) . All cars that are bound for Chicago arewitched to one track in order to make up the 3: 10 dispatchtrain.When a train i being made up, the conductor makes out aform called a wheel or wheelage report, using the data con­tainedon the waybills. This is a list of all of the cars on thetrain, beginning at the head end and running to the caboose.It includes the cars owner, number, type, origin, and desti­nation.The purpose of this report is to keep the railroad in-A switch engine of the Charles City Western Railway moves car 60968 from theplant siding to the freight yards where local 592 will pick up the car. On the freightcar are Roy Eikenberry, left, and Vernon Vanderlan, Western Railway employes.formed of the whereabouts of all cars-its own as well athose of other lines-on it tracks. When cars are added ordropped from the train, they are recorded on the wheelreports. Each day these reports are ent to the roads carservice department, where they are cut apart to form indi­vidualrecords of each car. These are then entered intomammoth car record books.This elaborate bookkeeping system erve two ba ic pur­poe : (1) With cars wandering all over the country, a roadha to keep track of its rolling stock. Otherwise it might notget some of it back. After all, a freight car will work ju tas well for the borrower as for its true owner. (2) Car move­mentsover the different railroad determine the way inwhich the carriers divide the freight revenue they receivefrom the shipper. In hipping the five tractors to Memphis,The OLIVER Corporation would receive a freight bill consi t­ingof two separate part . One is the charge for hauling thetractors to Memphis, while the other is the charge for theuse of the car in transit.At exactly 3: 10 a.m. the conductor waves the sign of thehighball and CC-6, the dispatch freight, pull out of Waterlooon the second lap of its trip. Incidentally, all tractor ship­mentsbound for the South from Charles City must go byway of Chicago, since the main freight line south leaves fromthe greate t rail terminal in the world, namely Chicago.CC-6, a through train, is c mposed o ... many cars, con aininga variety of products and materials. It is known as a meattrain since much of its freight is livestock from the westerncattle markets at Sioux City and Omaha. The engine, aCentral-type, is considered the most powerful steam locomo­tiveof the Illinois Central Railroad. Weighing 416,000 poundsand with a tractive force of 110,500 pounds, this great engineis especially efficient on heavy grades and curves. At ap­proximately7: 00 Tuesday morning we cross the bridge span­ningone of the largest rivers in the world, the Mississippi,at Dubuque, Iowa. After crossing Old Muddy, we enterthe high bluff country typical of northwestern Illinois.Freight Yard PrecisionA few hours later, we approach the outskirts of Chicago,and finally arrive in Hawthorne Yard, located on the westernside of the city, at 1: 30 Tuesday afternoon. The purpose oflocal 592 is powered by this big 142 ton steam engine of the Mikado-class. Herethe engine has picked up the tractor car, which will soon be joined to the othercars of the train. Monday, at 3: 15 the local is on its way to Waterloo.the6. OLIVER MIRROR • MAY, 1951the stop at Hawthorne Yard is to by-pass the loop. That is,car number 60968 and other hot tonnage, is routed on theBelt Railway of Chicago, which skirts the loop of the metro­polis.This line is owned jointly by a number of Chicagorailroad carriers, and takes freight from the west side to thesouth side. Soop. after our arrival at Hawthorne, an LC.switch engine transfers our tractor car load and other carsto the Belt Line.It is not until we reach Markham Yard, where a train willbe made up to take us to Memphis, that we realize just howcomplex and yet how efficiently freight shipments are han­dledby Americas railroads. Here in Markham Yard is oneof the largest and most modern freight yards in the country.The Illinois Central owns and operates this yard exclusively.Freight car switching is controlled by push buttons in thisup-to-date operation. The big job is classifying the cars.That is, all cars that are bound for Memphis will be put onone track; those that are bound for St. Louis will all beplaced on another track, and so on. The yard has 45 tracksin seven groups and hump office controls the route to eachof these 45 tracks. Here is how the freight is controlled bya single operator of a pushbutton panel located in the humpoffice: At the bottom of the hump to the north a switchengine pushes a long string of cars to the summit in front ofthe hump office. A switchman known as a pin puller walksalong side of the cars. At a signal from a horn on the humphouse, he uncouples the cars, either one at a time or in agroup. Gravity then carries them down the long slope intothe extensive yard whose tracks fan out far below in thedistance.A certain number of blasts from the horn determines howmany and which cars to uncouple. The hump office foremanoperates the horn from the hump office. Beside him, theoperator of the pushbutton machine consults his switch listfor the proper track to receive the cars. As the car rolls alongits routing, the switches are automatically thrown with apush of the right button. This mechanism prevents anyderailment caused by a switch being thrown under a car.Another interesting feature of this yard is the pushbuttoncontrol of the retarders. Acting as powerful brakes, retardersare applied to the flanges of the car wheels as they roll downthe hump. With knowledge of the weight of the car and thedistance it has to roll, the operator can apply the exactamount of pressure to slow the car to its proper speed, sothat it may roll to its destination in the classification yardwithout damage to contents of the cars. These retardersor brakes can be applied with four different pressures, fromlight to heavy depending upon the amount of braking powerneeded. As a tribute to this system, fifty cars may be classi­fiedin 30 minutes.Charles A. MarkhamMarkham Yard, which is three miles long, was named forCharles A. Markham, president of the Illinois Central Rail­roadfrom 1911 to 1918, and from 1919 to 1926, and knownas one of Americas great railroad presidents. Although thisYard is considered the finest freight yard in the nation today,improvements are still in the making, including the installa­tionof newer and more powerful type retarders, changes ingradients, and the regrouping of retarder controls.By Wednesday a long train is made up for the journey toMemphis. At 3: 00 p.m. Wednesday we depart from Mark­hamYard and begin our 527 mile ride to Memphis, Tennes­see.Our train, CN-3, which is made up of all kinds of freight,from can-openers to tractors, i powered by a Mountain-typeengine. This engine is known for its mile-a-minute speeds intransporting freight across country. The route between Chi­cagoand Memphis is a direct one and double tracked all of(left below) Here is a partial view of Markham Yard in Chicago from the retardercontrol tower. The opera tor can control the flow of freight cars from this pushbutton panel board. This is probably the most modern freight yard in America today.(Top) From Bluford, Illinois to Memphis, this powerful Lima-type furnishes themotive power for train CN-3. (Rig ht below) In Memphis a switch engine of theFrisco line takes over the job of tra nsporting the carload to the Memphis branch.the7. OLIVER MIRROR • MAY, 1951the way. In fact, three and four tracks are common on muchof the route. Where there are three tracks, the third one isexceptionally heavy, weighing 135 pounds to the yard. Sinceit carries much of the heavy freight traffic, this is known asa heavy track or a hot rail.CN-3 in scheduled to make just five stops before we arrivein Memphis. Occasionally other stops may be made in orderto pick up freight, but even these are on special order only.Four hours after our departure from Chicagos MarkhamYard, we arrive in Champaign, Illinois, where a few cars areset off from CN-3. At 9: 00 we make a scheduled stop inMattoon. Located halfway down state is the city of Edge­wood.Here, at 10: 00 p.m., the train swings off from the mainpassenger line and takes a direct short line to the South.This 17 0 mile stretch of track between Edgewood and Metro­polis,Illinois, is known as the Edgewood Cut Off. One of themain reasons why the Cut Off speeds freight operations somuch is that it skirts the southern Illinois Ozark country.It is considered one of the straightest and flattest sections ofrailroad in the country. Between Edgewood and Akin Junc­tion,Illinois, the track runs for nearly 63 miles with no distin­guishablecurves. The track never angles off from a straightline more than one and a half degrees and the rises on grades(Top) One of the 88s is being driven off the flat car sho rtly after its arrival atthe receiving dock of the Memphis branch. The Frisco li ne delivered the car with thefive tractors right up to the dock. (Bottom) O ne of OLIVERs newest branch b uil d ingsis the one at Memphis pictured here. This building was built at a cost of $250,000and encloses a 52,000 square foot area. (Right below) This view of the display floorshows off its spaciousness and beauty to good advantage.never exceed an elevation of 16 feet per mile. This stretchof track is a railroaders dream because of its gentle gradesand straight as an arrow track.Situated along the Cut Off route is the town of Bluford,which is the main operating point on the Cut Off. The basicpurpose of the stop here is to change the motive power ofCN-3; consequently, a Lima-type engine is put on for therest of the trip to Memphis, replacing the Mountain-type.P owerful and fairly fast, the Lima generally handles thehighest class of dispatch freight.Across The OhioAbout 3: 00 Thursday morning the train reaches the ap­proachesof the high bridge spanning the Ohio River atMetropolis, Illinois. Ten minutes later we are speedingthrough the hilly terrain of northwestern Kentucky. Wemake the last of our regular stops just after dawn at Fulton,Kentucky. Here CN-3 is routed through a relatively newfreight yard, and shortly afterward we enter the rollingcountry of western Tennessee. In this area particularly onecan see the many changes that have taken place in the Southduring the last decade or two. This land used to be devotedalmost entirely to raising King Cotton, but now, in additionto cotton, there are large areas planted in corn, oats, andother grains. Thus, in most sections, crop rotation is prac­ticedextensively. Al o one notices large numbers of dairycattle roaming the pasture lands. A decade ago, dairy cattlewere practically unheard of in this section of the country.We are right in the heart of the Jersey cattle country as weapproach the city of Dyersburg, which is almost midwaybetween Fulton, Kentucky, and Memphis. As would beexpected, many dairy processing plants are beginning to cropout in this vicinity.At 11: 00 Thursday morning, just twenty hours after weleft Chicago, and some 68 hours after leaving Charles City,we arrive in the thriving industrial city of Memphis. Witha population rapidly approaching the half million mark, thiscotton and hardwood market has gained the reputation of thefastest growing industrial city in the nation.Before car number 60968 can be delivered to the branchhowever, a considerable amount of switching must be done.As was the case in Chicago, CN-3 moves around the city ona belt line, until it reaches Johnston Yard. From here, itmoves back to the South Yard where the Frisco Line takesover the responsibilty of the car from the Illinois Central.the8. OLIVER MIRROR • MAY, 1951Early Friday morning, April 27, car 60968 with the fiveOLIVER row crop 88s is delivered to the branch by theFrisco Line.From the branch, four of the tractor will be delivered todealers within the jurisdiction of the Memphis branch. Thisincludes the following territory: Mississippi, Alabama, East­ernLouisiana, Northwest Georgia, Southeast Missouri,Western Florida, all of Arkansas except the northwesternpart and four counties in the southwestern section, all ofTennessee except the extreme eastern part, and a portion ofKentucky. The fifth tractor is scheduled to be delivered tothe Memphis retail store, located within the branch building.Modern Branch OfficeBuilt in 1948 at a cost of $250,000 the branch building is oneof the finest of its kind in the country. While designed ina most modern and attractive style, it is arranged in such away that operations in the branch may be carried on withfew wasted motions and with maximum efficiency. Branchmanager George Umland, estimates that the one story struc­tureencloses an area approximating 52,000 square feet.(Top) Harold Hopkins, service man for dealer John Snider, drives a tractor on to thistrailer, which will soon transport the 88 to a local farmer. (Bottom) Dealer JohnSnider discusses the merits of the 88 which he has just delivered to R. 0. Bell,seated on the tractor.Mr. Bell didnt waste much time in putting his new OLIVER 88 to work, d iscing afield . He farms 878 acres in northwestern Mississippi.Besides excellent storage facilities, it has an attr active dis­playfloor which covers about half of the front of the building.John Snider, local OLIVER dealer, delivered the fifth 88to R. 0. Bell, a farmer in northwestern Mississippi. Mr. Bell,who wa an OLIVER dealer himself from 1945 to 1948, farmson a large scale, as he owns and farms 878 acre . His farmis near Banks, Mississippi, which i located in th extremeeastern boundary of Tunica County.With the tractor delivered to Mr. Bells farm in Mississippi,we have completed the follow-through of the car load oftractors from Charles City to the field ., We have seen howthe tractors were transported 850 miles by rail from Char leCity to Waterloo, to Chicago, and finally to Memphis in atotal time of less than three days. Thats what you callservice in distributing the Finest in Farm Machinery.The foregoing story accurately portrays the delivery of aload of tractors to a branch. In so far as timing and pr oce­dureare concerned, we have tried to picture the operationsjust as they actually occur in the course of normal shippingto our branches.Again we salute the Illinoi Central Railroad- on its Cen­tennial-and the Railroad Industry in general. OLIVER andits customers have been served courteously and well throughthe efforts of Americas railroads.RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEEDTHE OLIVER CORPORATION SECTION 34.66 P. L. & R.U. S. POST AGEPAIDSouth Bend, IndianaPERMIT NO. 156
Origin: 1951-05
Publisher: The Oliver Corporation
Source: http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16827coll9/id/5701
Collection: Business & Industry
Rights: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/
Copyright: It is the researcher’s responsibility to seek permission from the copyright owner and any other rights holders for any reuse of these images that extends beyond fair use or other statutory exemptions. For more information, contact local.history@sjcpl.org.
Subjects: Business enterprises--Indiana--Saint Joseph County
Labor--Indiana
Oliver Farm Equipment Company

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