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Athearn - 12939 - Covered Hopper, 3-Bay, ACF 4600 - Chicago & Eastern Illinois - 718533

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N Scale - Athearn - 12939 - Covered Hopper, 3-Bay, ACF 4600 - Chicago & Eastern Illinois - 718533
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Production TypeAnnounced
Stock Number12939
Original Retail Price$33.98
BrandAthearn
ManufacturerAthearn
Body StyleAthearn Covered Hopper 3-Bay ACF 4600
PrototypeCovered Hopper, 3-Bay, ACF 4600
Road or Company NameChicago & Eastern Illinois (Details)
Reporting MarksCEI
Road or Reporting Number718533
Paint Color(s)White
Print Color(s)Black
Coupler TypeMcHenry Magnetic Knuckle
Coupler MountBody-Mount
Wheel TypeChemically Blackened Metal
Wheel ProfileStandard
Announcement Date2020-05-01
Release Date2021-08-01
Item CategoryRolling Stock (Freight)
Model TypeCovered Hopper
Model Subtype3-Bay
Model VarietyACF Centerflow 4600 Cubic Foot
Scale1/160



Road Name History:
The Chicago & Eastern Illinois was formed in 1877 as a result of the reorganization of the Chicago Danville & Vincennes. By 1902 the C&EI ran south out of Chicago and split into three routes south of Danville, Illinois.

The eastern fork followed the Indiana-Illinois border (on the Indiana side) south to Evansville near the Kentucky border. At Evansville, traffic was primarily handed off to Louisville & Nashville for points in the South. This route saw the lion’s share of C&EI’s passenger business. In fact, many Chicago to Florida passenger limiteds traveled the C&EI from Chicago to Evansville. The Dixie Flagler, for instance, was routed: C&EI, Louisville & Nashville, Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis, Atlanta Birmingham & Coast, Atlantic Coast Line, and Florida East Coast to get to Miami.

The center fork passed through Salem and Mount Vernon to the southern tip of Illinois, over the Thebes Bridge to Chaffee, Missouri and friendly connections with Cotton Belt, Frisco, and MoPac. This line generated considerable coal traffic in addition to through freight from Chicago to Louisiana and East Texas. Passenger service was provided by The Meadowlark. In later years this train used ACF Motorailers and later still, Budd RDC’s.

The western fork went to St. Louis. However the line from Pana, Illinois to St. Louis was actually on trackage rights with New York Central’s “Big Four” route. Passenger service on this line ended right after WWII due to unbeatable competition from GM&O, IC, and Wabash.

Total system mileage maxed out at about 950, putting C&EI between Lackawanna and Montana Rail Link in relative size. Prior to 1933, C&EI had been controlled by Frisco, then Chesapeake & Ohio (on behalf of the Van Sweringen Brothers.) That year brought another receivership but freed them from control by other lines for more than three decades.

In the 1960s, Louisville & Nashville, Illinois Central and Missouri Pacific dueled for control of the C&EI. In 1967, a compromise was reached. MoPac took control of the C&EI and sold the Evansville line and half interest in the line from Danville to Chicago to the L&N. L&N also received portions of the C&EI diesel and freight car fleets and most of the remaining passenger equipment. The sales to L&N were completed in 1969.

The remaining C&EI diesels were painted MoPac “Jenks Blue” and received buzzsaw logos with “C&EI” within. In 1976, the C&EI was merged into the Missouri Pacific.
Brand/Importer Information:
Athearn's history began in 1938, when its founder-to-be, Irvin Athearn, started an elaborate O scale layout in his mother's house. After placing an ad selling the layout, and receiving much response to it, Irv decided that selling model railroads would be a good living. He sold train products out of his mother's house through most of the 1940s. After becoming a full-time retailer in 1946, Irv opened a separate facility in Hawthorne, California in 1948, and that same year he branched into HO scale models for the first time.

Athearn acquired the Globe Models product line and improved upon it, introducing a comprehensive array of locomotive, passenger and freight car models. Improvements included all-wheel drive and electrical contact. One innovation was the "Hi-Fi" drive mechanism, employing small rubber bands to transfer motion from the motor spindle to the axles. Another was the double-ended ring magnet motor, which permitted easy connection to all-wheel-drive assemblies. Athearn was also able to incorporate flywheels into double-ended drives.

The company produced a model of the Boston & Maine P4 class Pacific steam locomotive which incorporated a cast zinc alloy base and thermoplastic resin superstructure. It had a worm drive and all power pickup was through the bipolar trucks that carried the tender. This item was discontinued after the Wilson motor was no longer available, and was not redesigned for a more technologically advanced motor.

Athearn's car fleet included shorter-than-scale interpretations of passenger cars of Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad prototypes. The company also offered a variety of scale-length freight cars with sprung and equalized trucks. The cars could be obtained in simple kit form, or ready-to-run in windowed display boxes. The comprehensive scope of the product line contributed to the popularity of HO as a model railroad scale, due to the ready availability of items and their low cost.

Irv Athearn died in 1991. New owners took control in 1994, but continued to follow Athearn's commitment to high-quality products at reasonable prices. Athearn was bought in 2004 by Horizon Hobby. Athearn was then moved from its facility in Compton to a new facility in Carson, California. In mid-2009, all remaining US production was moved to China and warehousing moved to parent Horizon Hobby. Sales and product development was relocated to a smaller facility in Long Beach, California.

Read more on Wikipedia and Athearn website.
Item created by: CNW400 on 2020-10-14 15:09:39. Last edited by CNW400 on 2020-10-14 15:09:40

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