MERCHANTS DESPATCH - Its History and Equipment (refrigerator cars) NEW BOOK

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Merchants Despatch:Its History and Equipment1870 to 2000by Roger C. HinmanThis is a NEW BOOK - Not a used book.Book is wrapped and mailed in a top-quality, durable container.A Railroad Bookmark is included with each book.We try hard to be the NUMBER 1 Railroad Book Dealer on ebay with 1,500+ titles.Order before 3:00 pm (ET) for same-day postal mailing.Most impressive Hardbound Book mails at 4 lbs.* 300 pages* 300 photosMerchants Despatch or, to give its full name, Merchants Despatch Transportation or MDT , was one of the largest owners and operators of refrigerator cars in the United States .Though owned by New York Central , it was independently operated from headquarters in Chicago and operated a major shop at East Rochester, New York .Over the years, not only refrigerator cars for MDT and its subsidiaries such as Northern Refrigerator Line, but many freight cars for New York Central, were built at the Despatch Shops.This company had origins with the American Express company in 1849. By the 1950s the fleet included insulated box cars (bunkerless) and would subsequently include autoracks, a category of rolling stock which enabled MDT to survive the Penn Central and Conrail mergers. Once Conrail went to CSX and Norfolk Southern in 1998, MDT reached the end in 2000.This book describes that 130-year history in some detail, emphasizing the construction and operation of refrigerator and other freight cars .This thoroughly researched, authoritative, well-illustrated and complete history of Merchants Despatch presents both the long and complex corporate history and information and details about the design, construction, maintenance and operation of the vast car fleet.Book contains a great wealth of photo illustrations, the majority never before published. It will provide freight car enthusiasts as well as New York Central fans with much interesting and valuable history and information.Contents:Acknowledgments, Introduction, pp. 3-8;PART ONE: COMPANY HISTORYKasson's & American Express (1849-1870), pp. 9-16;Vanderbilt's Other Venture (1871-1877), pp. 17-34;The James Wickes Era (1878-1892), pp. 25-32;Creating Despatch, New York (1893-1904), pp. 33-40;The Progressive Era (1905-1922), pp. 41-52;Merchants Despatch Incorporated (1923-1936), pp. 53-62;MDTC Incorporated (1937-1945), pp. 63-68;The Post-War Period (1946-1954), pp. 69-72;New Markets (1955-1967), pp. 73-78;Penn Central and Conrail (1968-2000), pp. 79-86;PART TWO: ROLLING STOCK29-Foot Cars (1871-1896), pp. 87-92;34-Foot Common & Refrigerator Cars (1882-1922), pp. 93-108;36-Foot Standard Cars (1892-1945), pp. 109-126;40-Foot Standard Cars (1908-1945), pp. 127-130;41-Foot Standard Cars Before World War I (1911-1949), pp. 131-144;41-Foot Standard Cars After World War I (1920-1966), pp. 145-162;Milk and Express Cars (1902-1945), pp. 163-178;Steel Frame Standard Refrigerator Cars (1930-1970), pp. 179-192;Steel Sheathed Standard Refrigerator Cars (1946-1984), pp. 193-210;Dry Ice Cars (1930-1970), pp. 211-220;Bunkerless and Ventilated Cars (1933-1984), pp. 221-234;Meat Cars (1886-1978), pp. 235-246;Mechanical Cars, FLexi-Vans, and Trailers (1956-1999), pp. 247-256;Auto-Rack Cars (1961-1985), pp. 257-270;Miscellaneous Equipment (1938-2000), pp. 271-274;Appendix, Reporting Marks, pp. 275-276;Bibliography, pp. 277-290;Index, pp. 291-296.Hardbound w/ dust co ver, 8.5"x11", 296 pages, 300 photos & illustrations, 44 drawings, 50+ period documents and graphics, extensive rosters, tables of car data, Appendix, Bibliography, Index.Visit our ebay store to view other books of interest. We add new books regularly so check back often.We sell books - Railroad, Aviation, Modeling, and Scale books of the Golden Age Era.WE PACKAGE OUR BOOKS EXTREMELY WELL SO THE BOOK WILL NOT BE DAMAGED IN THE MAIL.No one packages books better than we do! read more

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