In the early 1970s, the Union Pacific's General Traffic Agent in Cincinnati was Farrell Beggs. Sharp dresser, his suits did not come off the rack. The railroads furnished off line agents with a list of missing cars. Those cars were either owned by the railroad, leased by the railroad or had a customer's freight on board. By nature of the market, the Union Pacific hauled a lot of PFE/UPFE/SPFE refrigerated cars with plug doors. Farrell was driving on the east side of Cincinnati area, possibly between Norwood and Madera, when he spotted a lone 'PFE' car on a siding normally used by coal hoppers. The car was on the 'missing' list. He stopped, ascertained the refrigeration unit was not running and the seals were in tact. He proceeded to the nearest grocery store and borrowed a few milk cases which would allow him to get high enough to break the seals and rotate the handle to open the plug door. Unbeknown to Farrell, the car had been loaded three months before with 90,000 pounds of cabbage. Now stop for a moment and imagine what 45 tons of cabbage would look like after three months of Summer. As soon as the plug door popped out, gallons and gallons of liquid poured out, ruining a very nice suit.
John in Lansing, ILL
