david vartanoff Wrote:
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> Sprint was a forward looking move away from AT&T
> long lines monopoly for the RR. Merchandising
> capacity on the network was actually a brilliant
> maneuver. The demise of GM assembly division
> plants in CA was a huge loss. An SP employee I
> knew in the 70s said that at one time GM was the
> largest single customer of the RR--the # I
> remember was 11% of carloadings.

More to the Point, was the value of the Auto business. Both the W/B parts trains, and the E/B Auto trains, ran at high rates. I recall reading that the rates changed in the mid - 1970's ( before Staggers Act ), which combined with the rise of Japanese Auto imports on the West Coast, meant that the auto manufacturers were shipping parts West, then more & more finished autos East. Most of the GM plants in California had twins elsewhere, ( Camaros in Van Nuys and Ohio, Chevy Trucks in Warm Springs & Texas ), which made the plant closing decisions easier for GM. Don't forget the Air Quality Nazis in SoCal, along with the higher cost of doing business in California.