Atlas - 50 002 754 - Boxcar, 40 Foot, Single Wood Sheath - Duluth Missabe & Northern - 3336

Specific Item Information: 7-8 Rib End

Road Name History: The DM&N was built in 1891 and 1892 to move iron ore from Minnesota’s Missabe Range to the lake port at Alllouez in Superior, Wisconsin. Note that Missabe has a number of different spellings so we’ll go with the railroad’s version. The latter was reached via trackage rights on the Duluth & Winnipeg but it wasn’t long before the DM&N built their own line to their own docks at Duluth. In the wake of the panic of 1893, John D. Rockefeller assumed control of the railroad and the mines it served. The Missabe Range turned out to be far richer than the neighboring Vermilion Range (whose earlier railroads had the opportunity but no interest in building into the Missabe.) DM&N’s docks in Duluth had to be tripled in size. In 1901, Rockefeller sold his stake in DM&N to U.S. Steel who also purchased the Duluth & Iron Range Rail Road. The two continued to operate separately although gradually certain management functions were combined. In 1930, DM&N leased the D&IR and operations were combined. By 1937, DM&N had 540 miles of line connecting iron mining operations in Coloraine, Hibbing and Virginia, Minnesota with the ports of Duluth and Superior. They had 131 locomotives including a dozen 2-8-8-2’s and sixteen 2-10-2’s. They even had a quartet of 0-10-0 heavy switchers. In 1937, the Spirit Lake Transfer Railway merged with DM&N to form Duluth Missabe & Iron Range. The Duluth & Iron Range, which was still under lease, was absorbed the following year.

Brand/Importer Information: In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.