Byline: Benjamin N. Gedan
Oct. 9--NORTH KINGSTOWN -- The Galaxy Ace was in port, and the stevedores were busily unloading 1,800 new Audis and Volkswagens from Emden, a city in northwest Germany.
But last Tuesday morning at the Port of Davisville, the 650-foot ship was not turning heads. Instead, the executives from automobile importer North Atlantic Distribution were gathering nearby on a sea of fresh asphalt, their backs to the water as they observed a milestone: the company's first rail delivery.
Previously, NORAD had received cars by ship only. The railroad tracks in the Quonset Business Park were too worn for transporting cars. And outside the state-owned ...