July, 2010 announcements

This particular group of Burlington Northern double door cars were built by Pullman Standard for Frisco in 1967. They joined the BN fleet when BN acquired the Frisco three decades ago. They joined a fleet of similar cars in the BN fleet inherited from CB&Q. This roadname will be available in 3 road numbers. 86381 single car; 86382 2-Pack.

Grand Trunk Western received these quad door cars from Pullman Standard in the Summer of 1967. This was prior to their adoption of “The Good Track Road” motto adopted in response to the deterioration of key competitor Penn Central. Initially, these cars were assigned for loading on the GTW in Flint, Michigan for delivery to GM assembly plants in other states via connections. This roadname will be available in 3 road numbers. 87151 single car; 87152 2-Pack.

Detroit Toledo & Ironton picked up 320 of these 14-Panel Rib Side hoppers from Greenville Steel Car between 1959 and 1960. DT&I linked Detroit with
the Ohio River at Ironton, Ohio. This put DT&I in
position to move coal from river barges to heavy
industry in northern Ohio and Michigan as well as other midwestern points via connections. This roadname will be available in 12 road numbers.
14121 single car; 14122 2-Pack; 14123 3-Pack; 14126 6-Pack.

The Erie served coal mines in Ohio and Pennsylvania. For many years they even owned both anthracite and bituminous coal mining operations in Pennsylvania. Within Erie ’s diverse hopper fleet were these 1,000 70-ton offset side cars. Erie held their own in the busy Chicago -New York corridor against arch competitors PRR, NYC and B&O. Much of the Erie mainline was even double tracked. The Erie merged with the Lackawanna in 1960. This roadname will be available in 6 road numbers. 73221 single car; 73222 2-Pack; 73223 3-Pack.

Illinois Central was the principle hauler of coal
from the massive Illinois Coal Basin. Coal made up
40% of Illinois Central’s gross tonnage and their
“Central” location and high yield made this coal
competitive in much of the country. Because of
this, IC hoppers could be found nearly anywhere in the lower 48. This particular batch was built in IC’s huge Centralia Car Shops (not too far from the Bluford Shops) in 1966. Despite being built 17 years after the C&O cars seen below, IC used friction bearing trucks on these cars. This roadname will be available in 12 road numbers. 73231 single car; 73232 2-Pack; 73233 3-Pack; 73236 6-pack.

SCL -Family Lines. Seaboard Coast Line inherited these cars from both Atlantic Coast Line (previously available from Bluford Shops) and Seaboard Air Line (see the June 2010 announcements) in their 1967
merger. In 1975, a portion of the combined fleet
received heavy service at SCL’s Tampa shops and emerged in The Family Lines paint scheme. The Family Lines encompassed SCL, Louisville & Nashville, Clinchfield, Georgia, Atlanta & West Point and Western Railway of Alabama. SCL had stock control of L&N. SCL and L&N jointly owned Clinchfield and jointly controlled Georgia Railroad. Georgia controlled A&WP and WoA. The latter two were together called “West Point Route.” All were folded into Seaboard System in 1983. This roadname will be available in 6 road numbers. 73241 single car; 73242 2-Pack; 73243 3-Pack.

Coal hauling giant Chesapeake & Ohio received 1,000 of these cars from General American in 1949. They were one of the earliest groups of cars to be
equipped with roller bearing trucks and received a prominant white band on the side to remind crews of this fact. In those days, cars with friction bearing trucks were frequently spotted and left without setting the handbrakes. Doing that with roller bearing equipped cars would be inviting disaster. This roadname will be available in 12 road numbers. 73251 single car; 73252 2-Pack; 73253 3-Pack. 73256 6-pack.