Help with Insurance company for Southern Pacific RailRoad in 1967

[Bubbledoc]

Hi,

 

I am researching a book and a question came up.  Does anyone have any idea who would have been the insurance company of record for Southern Pacific?  Who would have paid out a claim related to a shipping accident back in 1967 for mechanical parts, automobiles, trailers etc. that got damaged during shipping?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Brian

[rcdrye]

I can't speak directly for SP, but many railroads (especially giants like SP) were self-insured, since claims were frequent enough that the cost of administering the claims directly was less than the cost of buying insurance coverage.  An Official Guide from the period should name the claims officer.

[Bubbledoc]

Thanks, but what do you mean by an Official Guide from the period?

 

Sincerly,

 

Brian

[ndbprr]

Most industrial insurance has a million dollar deductable
Marsh Mcclennan specializes in that type of insurance. I doubt that SP or the insurance company would comment to an outsider regarding any aspect of a claim.

[AgentKid]

The linked thread from the TRAINS Magazine forum has answers about insurance from both the present and how it was done in the past. SP's methods would be similar to what you will read there.

http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/p/247863/2765027.aspx#2765027

 

Bruce

 

[Deggesty]

Quoting Bubbledoc: "Thanks, but what do you mean by an Official Guide from the period?"

The Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United StatesPorto Rico Canada Mexico and Cuba contained not only timetables but also lists of various officials and representatves of the many railroads and other companies that existed. I am sure that it is still published, though with a much shortened title, though it is more than thirty years since I have had occasion to buy a new copy. Back then, it was a monthly publication, which could be bought by private individuals as well as by companies involved in transportation. Most of my older (pre-1962) issues were bought by railrorads and distributed to various employees who needed the information in them.

I happen to have a copy of the July, 1943 issue handy; I cannot find in the list of SP departments any mention of claims, though.  This may well have been included in the accoounting department.

Edited to correct spelling mistakes not noted before posting.

Please, oh please, get us a spel czecher!

[rcdrye]

In the 1960s SP still had plenty of open agency stations, even on freight only lines.  A damage claim would be filed with the local agent first, and then somebody up higher in the Freight Department (listed as the "Freight Claim Agent") would deal with it.  In the case of SP in 1960, that would be either Edmund Burke, General Freight Claim Agent, or G.J. Petersen, Freight Claim Agent, both found in Los Angeles 14, Cal.  in those pre-zip code days. (From Jan 1960 Official Guide)  By 1970 these gentlemen had moved on, replaced by W. B. Wiley, General Freight Claim Agent, San Francisco, Cal., and R.E. Hamilton, Freight Claim Agent, Los Angeles, Cal. (August 1970 Official Guide)

[Deggesty]

If I had carefully looked at what my daughter took out of boxes this morning and put on bookshelves, I would have seen my copy of the November, 1967, Guide. The SP representation in it has nothing more in it than was in the July, 1943, issue.

[Deggesty]

rcdrye

In the 1960s SP still had plenty of open agency stations, even on freight only lines.  A damage claim would be filed with the local agent first, and then somebody up higher in the Freight Department (listed as the "Freight Claim Agent") would deal with it.  In the case of SP in 1960, that would be either Edmund Burke, General Freight Claim Agent, or G.J. Petersen, Freight Claim Agent, both found in Los Angeles 14, Cal.  in those pre-zip code days. (From Jan 1960 Official Guide)  By 1970 these gentlemen had moved on, replaced by W. B. Wiley, General Freight Claim Agent, San Francisco, Cal., and R.E. Hamilton, Freight Claim Agent, Los Angeles, Cal. (August 1970 Official Guide)

 

Well, Rob, if I had looked down in the Traffic section of the listings, I would have found W.B. Wiley to be the General Freight Claim Agent in San Francisco, and D.J. Shea was the Freight Claim Agent in Los Angeles . That goes to show that you should never presume what department you really want when looking for someone.

Signed by Big Chief Mud-in-Face

[Bubbledoc]

Thank you all so much.  You are truly giving people with your time and information. This has been a very informative and fun excercise.  Like so many things in this world, it is always amazing to meet people who have a superior knowledge of a given subject.

 

 

Brian

[rcdrye]

I looked for it in accounting first, too.  It just caught my eye when I was wondering if I had remembered wrong.  FYI, the SP's main office was at One Market Street in San Francisco, with the Freight Traffic Bureau on the fourth floor, which is likely where Mr. Wiley's office was located.  (The Official Guide list the General Offices at 65 Market St.  which was the street address in 1960.  Phone number was DOuglas2-1212 (in today's terms 415-366-1212) SP's Los Angeles Traffic Office was Suite 680 Pacific Electric Building at 610 South Main St Los Angeles, telephone MAdison2-1169 (213-622-1169).  The nearest large SP freight facility to downtown (in 1967) was Taylor Yard, but the agency was downtown.  Most if not all of SP's offices at LA Union Station belonged to the Passenger Traffic Bureau.

I looked in the Cotton Belt listings for the SP's LA Office, since there was no listing in the SP pages.  The Pacific Electric listing got the building's street address.  Both the Pacific Electric Building and the Southern Pacific Building are on the National Register of Historic Places.

[rcdrye]

I looked at some other listings in the 1960 Guide and found that Freight Claim Agents could be found in Accounting departments, and in one case, in the Legal department.