"FIRESTONE" RDC

Quite frequently I come across references to the New Haven's "FIRESTONE" RDC. Just why was an RDC named "Firestone"?

It was a salute to a Firestone rubber plant on the Fall River line that was an important shipper. The original "Firestone" was car 26; when that car was retired due to wreck damage the nameplate was transferred to car 42, which has been preserved in Fall River.

TomNelligan wrote:It was a salute to a Firestone rubber plant on the Fall River line that was an important shipper. The original "Firestone" was car 26; when that car was retired due to wreck damage the nameplate was transferred to car 42, which has been preserved in Fall River.

The nameplate was transferred off the 26 long before it was retired. We had that car in Waterbury for a long time during
1956, 1957 and 1958 period and it did not have the nameplate on it at the time. I do not know the reason for the transfer.
Noel Weaver

It is the only RDC that was given a name as reported in books. This obviously does not count the streamlined RDCs for NH.

There was another Firestone factory served by the New Haven, also. This one was on Mt. Vernon St. in Boston's Dorchester and it had a spur from the Old Colony Division which came off the line and crossed Mt. Vernon St. easterly at where the Bayside Exposition Center is now located. The plant was in operation for years up until @ the late 50's or early 60's. The area west of the Columbia Point Housing Project was largely undeveloped to Morrissey Blvd. on both sides of Mt. Vernon St. back then. When the Bayside Expo came in, the plant was razed.