Printing the News
Did you know that “The New York Times” is printed in North Billerica, Massachusetts - or, at least, the New England edition? Do you realize that Guilford Rail serves both “The New York Times” and “The Boston Globe” by delivering newsprint by the carload to a large printing plant in North Billerica which is right behind the railroad’s headquarters building? Let’s take a look at this remarkable plant, from which come hundreds of thousands of copies of these two great newspapers each week.
After decades of private family ownership, “The Boston Globe” is now owned by The New York Times Company. The “Globe” has a weekday circulation some 475,000 copies and 730,000 copies of its Sunday edition are printed. Full color appears in all its editions. Copies are printed both in Boston, at the older printing plant, and at the North Billerica facility, which was constructed in 1983. Four high speed presses print the “Globe” in Boston and three more do the same in North Billerica, while one press in North Billerica is dedicated to the printing of “The New York Times”.
Approximately two carloads of newsprint are consumed daily at the presses of North Billerica, with the “Globe” requiring approximately four times as much paper during the week as the “Times”. Three sizes or widths of rolls are currently in use, including 54 inches (the “full” roll), 41-1/4 inches (the “three-quarter” roll) and 27 inches (the “short” roll). The size to be used depends on the size and layout of the finished product. The warehouse usually has a 30-day supply of paper on hand. The typical box car will contain 82 full rolls, and the contents of each car is assigned a “bay” in the warehouse, which has 84 bays available. From the bay, the rolls are placed individually on dollies, which are moved by a conveyer system. The roll headers are removed by an automatic knife and the roll then passes into the “laydown” area, where rolls are placed on their sides in rows according to width. From here they are loaded on dollies and moved to specific presses according to the needs of the individual pressman.
The layout of the “Globe” is designed in Boston and the information is computerized. As each press is assigned to a product, the design and supply information is brought together, and the pressman, other than monitoring the output and the machine, sees to the changeover to a new roll when one is used up, or reattaches a roll should it break. The automation is impressive, for it reaches into everything - printing, cutting, folding, collating, stacking - the observer begins to appreciate what a bargain is the daily newspaper after considering all that goes into the finished product.
The railroad’s part in the delivery of the “Globe” is pretty fundamental - the carload of newsprint must be delivered to the warehouse when needed, it must be properly loaded in order to permit efficient unloading, the car itself must be in good condition with working doors, and the load must be free of damage. Watching Ken Chisholm, a “Globe” veteran of more than 30 years, who whisks his clamp truck in and out of box cars handling rolls of paper with impressive skill to the warehouse bay or to the dolly, one can see pure efficiency made possible by good car condition, good roll condition and capable operator. When Ken climbs out of the truck to open and close car doors by hand, there is a sense this is a system that works well because there is mutual understanding between rail carrier and customer, that communication is vital to that understanding, and that everyone profits when everyone does his part. You may not see what it takes to put “The Boston Globe” in your hand each day, but it is a story of skill, technology, planning and personal intervention worth telling!
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