Northeast: Gateway For A Nation (1966)

[Applause] [Music] [Music] MS Republicador 9:57 a.m. in heavy seas and [Music] fog. Arrival delayed. Jim, here's bad news. Arrival still delayed. And she's 2 days late as it is. What's your deadline for those transformers? Friday. Okay, we'll keep you posted. Uh, just a minute. Bella, have you seen the papers covering the copper ingot shipment? Oh, never mind. Got them. Hey, the papers are here. The only problem is when does the ship get in? Okay, you bet. We'll keep you posted. The MS Republic of Ecuador, a freighter registered under the Colombian flag. Her last port of call, Baltimore. Before that, Lima, Lisbon, Naples. And now, delayed by fog at sea, she is headed for the busiest port in the world, the port of New York. For many days now, the cargo the Ecuador will carry away from America has been converging from many states. Phosphates from a chemical plant in Maryland bound for Italy. Steel from the mills of Chicago on its way to Portugal. Cars assembled in Detroit, consigned to dealers in Spain. For many days and nights, too, plans have been made to unload the Ecuador's cargo and move it to its destinations throughout America. Giant cargo planes converge on the airports of the region. Kennedy Tower, American Flight 122 turning final. American 122, Kennedy tower clear to land runway 32 right wind 310 degrees at 20. Altime 2 niner niner 5. Truck drivers with hours of hard driving behind them. Hurry to beat the traffic and the weather. Hey Chuck, come on. I want to beat the dark before the snow hits. Okay, I'm coming. So is Christmas, [Music] buddy. In railroad yards. Strings of empty freight cars are put together, ready to be loaded. [Music] Tug 36, dispatch control. Come in, please. This is dispatch control 36. Finished unloaded. We hawk and what's it for tomorrow? Snow. That's what's up for tomorrow, Captain. Snow. You're not getting a little snow by the are you? Me? Hey, you're the one that's got to be out in it. So, stand by first thing for orders. You're um scheduled to pick up copper ringit, but you're not in yet. Been delayed at seat. We'll have to play it by ear. Okay, f. I'll be standing by. [Music] Wally here. Oh, Jim. I was just going to call you. Here's the good news. She's coming in. What? Now you got to have those transformers tomorrow. Look, you can't do this to me. And so America's goods are moved by ship, train, truck, and by air. Mostly everything we use, everything we eat and wear. Everything that goes into the building and furnishing of our houses comes from someplace else, from other regions of America or from foreign countries, and much of it passes through the great ports of the eastern seabboard. for the Northeast is the key center, a transportation gateway for the nation. Its great ports, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and its vast network of shipping lanes, railroads, highways, and airlines serve the nation and the world. Its vast population, its great concentration of people makes it the biggest single market for goods from all over. What happens when things stop moving? [Applause] Blizzards, strikes, breakdowns, all can cause delays. Delays that are costly in money and time. Doug 36, come in, please. It's a dispatch control 36. Come in, please. Captain Wall is here. What's up, Bill? A change of plans, Captain. It'll save us time. I got another call from the foundry. They need those copper ingots like fast. Pick up a lighter and get out right away. Huh? Roger, Phil. We'll do. Handling freight. You got to be flexible or you don't get the job done. Captain Walter's lighter will be loaded with the copper ingots at the ship. He'll tow it back across the bay to the railroad connection. Here the ingots will be transferred to freight cars for their trip to upper New York State. Well, you see, we don't have rail connections at every pier. So, we transport the railway cars out to the ship or bring the cargo back by lighter as we did in this operation to our rail terminal. There's more than one way to skin a cat. At the marshalling yard, the train is made up. Now, the carload of copper ingots is only part of a train bound for different upstate [Music] designations. Take a look at these cars and see where they come from, and you'll get the idea. Practically everything moves through the Northeast from anywhere and everywhere. [Music] And the copper ingots from Peru on their way at last with clear tracks ahead. A shipment of copper ingots on its way. Transformers for shortwave radios manufactured in Milan, Italy needed urgently in Chicago, Illinois. What's your deadline for those transformers? Friday. That's right, Wally. We don't have those transformers. By 5:00 p.m. today, our assembly line stops. Okay. There's only one way to get them there. I'll do my best. George, here. Stop what you're doing and write up a new way bill and get me American Airlines cargo on the phone. Now, do that first. And so, we began a race against time. As luck would have it, American had a cargo flight to Chicago at 1:30 p.m. and they had space. We checked Chicago airport. The field was being cleared. Should be ready for landing by 2 p.m. Now I needed a truck to pick up the transformers at the pier and the steadoring company to put its men to work unloading them. Uncle Sam was the next problem, represented by a US customs agent. Customs is the government agency that checks everything that comes into the country from oddvox to zebras and that includes transformers. At 1:00, our stuff arrives at the airfield. By 2:00, Kennedy Tower, American flight 221, IFR to Chicago, request clearance to taxi out. American 221 Kennedy Tower IFR clear for takeoff runway 32 right wind 280 degrees at 15 altimeter 2 niner niner 5 time 14 [Music] 0 2 hours later American Flight 221 touched down in Chicago and by 5:00 they had arrived at the factory [Applause] It was hectic. All right. But all in a day's work.