i never heard of these type of auto carriers

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Wow, I bet those things load and unload insanely fast ... by comparison. But I believe modern auto-racks carry 48 cars? Not to mention, you can't have any fluids in the automobile if you're going to store it like that. So it can't be driven on or off of the train. Maybe the load - unload wasn't that fast after all.
 
Quote from the source of all knowledge (Wikipedia;)):

The Vega was designed for vertical shipment, nose down. General Motors and Southern Pacific designed "Vert-A-Pac" Railroad cars to hold 30 Vegas each, compared with normal tri-level autoracks which held 18. The Vega was fitted with four removable cast-steel sockets on the underside and had plastic spacers—removed at unloading—to protect engine and transmission mounts. The rail car ramp/doors were opened and closed via forklift. Vibration and low-speed crash tests ensured the cars would not shift or suffer damage in transit. The Vega was delivered topped with fluids, ready to drive to dealerships, so the engine was baffled to prevent oil entering the number one cylinder; the battery filler caps high on the rear edge of the casing prevented acid spills; a tube drained fuel from carburetor to vapor canister; and the windshield washer bottle stood at 45 degrees.
 


ok why would you design & build a railcar that was only mono-use , that doesnt make any sense they should be able to use it for multi vehicles :confused:
 
Boy I remember the Vega. What a POS! So the Vert-a-Pac would only be good for a short timeframe, as the Vega didn't last very long.
 
I guess if you weather that car you'd want forklift scrape marks all down the side!

Oh yeah, the Vega... had one years ago and I seem to recall it actually running for a short time!
Geez, trust GM to design a car with one time use features. Great video G!
 
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I wonder how many forklifts accidentally had the forks go thru the skin of hte door and into the vega's.
 
Are there any Vegas in HO? I would buy a vert-a-pac and a handful of vegas just to demonstrate something unusual like that on a layout.

-Jeff
 
nwdrummer379 said:
Are there any Vegas in HO? I would buy a vert-a-pac and a handful of vegas just to demonstrate something unusual like that on a layout.

-Jeff
Click to expand...

If there are, I'd bet that "Fresh Cherries" would be where you'd find them. They specialize in 1970's "crap mobiles" (Sorry but the Maverick, the Gremlin, the Pacer...:eek: what a list! :D)
 


blackz28 said:
ok why would you design & build a railcar that was only mono-use , that doesnt make any sense they should be able to use it for multi vehicles :confused:
Click to expand...

For the same reason anything gets done in Corporate America: Some bean counter did a cost benefit analysis and decided they could make money doing it :D Poor man's translation: "It seemed like a good idea at the time". How many disasters got described that way I wonder??? :rolleyes:
 
Espeefan said:
If there are, I'd bet that "Fresh Cherries" would be where you'd find them. They specialize in 1970's "crap mobiles" (Sorry but the Maverick, the Gremlin, the Pacer...:eek: what a list! :D)
Click to expand...

i do have a 1:87 scale gremlin/pacer at my parents house ;) and its true, just got to dig the little bastard up...hehe


anyone know if these verta pack car doors actually open? if so I just may have to get one with a bunch of pacers and gremlins and other GM failmobiels....and demonstrate some odd goodness ;)
 
I had seen the cars advertised but had no idea that is how the prototype was loaded.
 
Espeefan said:
Boy I remember the Vega. What a POS! So the Vert-a-Pac would only be good for a short timeframe, as the Vega didn't last very long.
Click to expand...

Not so fast calling a Vega a POS..I had a '76 5 speed that I drove 187,000 before I sold it to older guy that drove to/from the store and church for two more years..

The Pontiac Aster couldn't touch it-don't ask how I know this.:D
 
Brakie said:
Not so fast calling a Vega a POS..I had a '76 5 speed that I drove 187,000 before I sold it to older guy that drove to/from the store and church for two more years..

The Pontiac Aster couldn't touch it-don't ask how I know this.:D
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Hmmm, I guess even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while :D. I worked in a chevy dealership for several years during the Vega's heyday. Saw them go out. Saw them come back in. Saw the quality (or lack thereof). Saw the problems. POS. Sorry dude. If you got 187,000 miles out of one, you're in a very small minority. GM is making much better stuff now thank heaven!
 
I does seem a waste to build a car just for one car that was produced for just 7 years. What happened to the prototypes?
 
Espeefan said:
If there are, I'd bet that "Fresh Cherries" would be where you'd find them. They specialize in 1970's "crap mobiles" (Sorry but the Maverick, the Gremlin, the Pacer...:eek: what a list! :D)
Click to expand...

Alan
If thats the case then I must have incredible luck having owned a 74 Vega GT, a 77 hatchback, not to mention thier decendents, a 77 Sunbird and a 79 Monza, all were good cars that had over 100k on them when they were sold with lots of life remaining.
Also had a 200,000 mile Maverick, solid car that doubled as a truck on the farm!:D:D

Boring maligned cars maybe, but they were there when I needed them!;)
 


Espeefan said:
Boy I remember the Vega. What a POS! So the Vert-a-Pac would only be good for a short timeframe, as the Vega didn't last very long.
Click to expand...

The 1974 Vega was the first new car that my wife and I owned.

I remember driving my MIL and wifey to NC in May of 1974. We hit Atlanta right at rush hour and traffic was bumper to bumper the whole way around I-285 to I-20 and it was moving at 80MPH, which was about the best that the Vega could do! Talk about white knuckle driving!;)

The car was relatively trouble free until it hit 50,000 miles, then it started falling apart. The biggest problem it had was that if you put it in reverse too fast, (manual 4-speed), it would lock there, and not come out until you got under the car with a hammer and knocked the linkage free. We traded it and got a Pontiac Le-mans. Lot better car at the time.
 
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