GTs Damaged in Railroad Derailment

A total of 14 Shelby GT cars were damaged when a railway car derailed at a switching yard. It is believed there was also one Ford (non-Shelby) vehicle loaded with them. A railway car can hold 15 Mustangs (three levels, five cars per level).

The latest shipping date from Shelby American (cars 'released' to Hadley Transport Company) is June 28, 1967.

The derailment would therefore have occurred after 6/28/67.
Most of the later-discovered damage was found on the right-hand sides of the Shelby GT cars.

The cars were likely loaded at the Ford Pico Rivera yard, and the derailment possibly happened at a switching yard (Taylor?), between Pico Rivera and San Bernardino, of which there are several in the Southern California area.

The cars were all destined for dealerships in the Midwest.

There would have been no insurance company involved, and therefore no claim paperwork. The railroads self-insure.

Southern Pacific Railroad purchased and picked up the damaged cars on September 12, 1967 (from the derailment site?). 13 of the damaged cars were sold off through Santa Fe Freight Salvage in San Bernardino, California. All 13 are accounted for today, and many still wear hidden damage (scars) from the accident. It appears all were sold through Ford dealers, which may have been a legal requirement since the vehicles were new and still on MCO.

It is believed that the 13 cars were sold off by San Bernardino Auto Salvage before the end of the 1967 calendar year.

The 14th Shelby GT was #2365, a supercharged, Acapulco Blue, GT 350 4-speed. Based on interviews with former railway workers, it is believed that this car was so badly damaged (undriveable), that a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer, piloted by Thomas Burwell (RiP), was used to bury the car alongside the tracks where the derailment occurred. Perhaps this car fell off the upper deck and landed upside down, crushing the roof.

Why was "H.O.R." (Home Office Reserve) written on the replacement unit Production Orders? Why would Ford have been paid for the loss? If the SRG's theory about the ~4/27/67 Ford acquisition of SAI is accurate, this makes perfect sense. All the cars were completed after the 4/27/67 date when "Z" VINs started. We believe the Z stamp indicates a FoMoCo accountable inventory item. Ford would have received the payment from the Southern Pacific Railroad for the 14 damaged cars because Ford was the owner of these cars. This could also explain why there is no claim paperwork in the Shelby files for the cars -- it would have all been processed through Ford and might still be in Ford's archives.

The SRG has not seen a Railway Bill of Lading for any of the cars that were damaged by this derailment.

 
Reviewing the Data

A value of "Y2" in a cell in the [PO?] column indicates two (2) Production Orders. One would be for the car that was damaged, and the other would be for the replacement car. The replacement car POs are numbered from RR01 to RR14. They are also marked "H.O.R." (Home Office Reserve).

 
Acknowledgements

This topic was made possible by the years of research by Anthony Di Labio, Greek Zachariou, Rich Plescia, and others. Also, Dave Mathews for documenting these cars in his book and for providing us with the 14 RR#s written on the cars' Production Orders.
 

See Also

• Motor Trend article
• Discussion on the SAAC Forum