Richard Hendrickson wrote:

Tim, at the risk of flogging a dead horse, those cars weren't consigned to any of the places you list. They were consigned to New
York. And that's definitely a violation of the car service rules as spelled out explicitly, etc.

Richard is exactly right. But as I point out in my waybills clinic, there is a Car Service rule above all others, the "boss rule," or Rule Zero if you will, one which every railroader knows: "Protect the shipment." If a shipper needs a car, you provide a car even if you have to violate ALL SIX of the Car Service rules to do it. That's not to say you ignore the rules, only that you would never leave a shipper in the lurch just because you didn't happen to have an empty handy, which fits the rules.
And as discussed earlier, railroads all over the country loved to confiscate SFRD and PFE cars because they were maintained in good condition. The shipper was happy to get a sound car. The only person upset was the local PFE or SFRD agent, who had been trying to get that car sent westward empty for reloading on the owners' rails.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
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