Micro-Trains - 154 00 060 - Tank Car, Early, Wooden - Georgia - 77

Prototype History: The earliest version of tank cars, or the "oil car" as it was known then, began to appear in the early 1860s during the Civil War. Essentially, a standard flatcar was employed with two or three vertical vats placed on top. Unfortunately, the design had several flaws; the most obvious was that it could not hold much product due to height and width issues. Additionally, leaking was again an issue. By the late 1860s, following the war, the first true tank cars began to take shape. In this particular case the early vertical vat-on-flat-car design was changed to a horizontal iron tank, which was then mounted to a traditional flat car. The design was roughly similar to what is now commonly in service today, featuring a top dome (with safety valve) to load the product as well as a discharge valve at the bottom. It allowed for much more product to be shipped via one car and quickly found widespread use.

Road Name History: As with the Clinchfield, for most of its history the Georgia Railroad existed as a non-incorporated company operating the railroad property of the Georgia Railroad & Banking Company on behalf of Louisville & Nashville and Atlantic Coast Line. In turn, the Georgia controlled the two West Point Route railroads. The Georgia Railroad & Banking Company was established in 1833. The 329 mile line is Y shaped with Augusta on the east end, and Atlanta and Macon in the west, plus a trio of branches on the Atlanta leg. The Georgia had been built to 5’ gauge like most lines in the South. It was standard gauged in 1886.

The big power in the days of steam were Mikados and Pacifics. Some of the Mikes were picked up second hand from New York Central and Clinchfield. Motive power from the West Point Route roads was frequently seen on the Georgia and vice versa. The Georgia dieselized fairly early with EMD and Baldwin switchers, F units and geeps (set up to run short-hood-forward like their parents) in a nice blue with silver band paint scheme also used on the West Point Route. In the 60’s, they dropped the silver band and by the time their GP40s arrived they had switched to black with white lettering and frame stripes. The diesel fleet hovered around 30 units. The last locomotives delivered to Georgia were GP38-2’s in the late 70s and they arrived in Family Lines gray.

Passenger service on the Georgia had always been a modest affair and during the 60s had dwindled to just mixed trains. When Amtrak appeared, Georgia opted out, instead continuing to run the mixed trains until 1983. This was because in Georgia Railroad & Banking Company’s original charter in 1833 the line was exempted from state and local taxes with the exception of a modest tax on net profits. In return, the company was to supply passenger service on its routes in perpetuity. During the 1970s, the “super-mixed” trains often consisted of 3 diesels, 50 or so freight cars, a streamlined coach, and a caboose and they would switch industries and stop (the coach) at depots along the way.

In 1983, the Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville & Nashville merged to form Seaboard System. As such, there was no longer a reason to have their two unincorporated lines, Georgia and Clinchfield, as separate entities and they were merged into Seaboard System along with the West Point Route roads. The mixed train operation ended less than 4 months after the merger.

Brand/Importer Information: Micro-Trains is the brand name used by both Kadee Quality Products and Micro-Trains Line. For a history of the relationship between the brand and the two companies, please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide.

Manufacturer Information: Micro-Trains Line split off from Kadee Quality Products in 1990. Kadee Quality Products originally got involved in N-Scale by producing a scaled-down version of their successful HO Magne-Matic knuckle coupler system. This coupler was superior to the ubiquitous 'Rapido' style coupler due to two primary factors: superior realistic appearance and the ability to automatically uncouple when stopped over a magnet embedded in a section of track. The success of these couplers in N-Scale quickly translated to the production of trucks, wheels and in 1972 a release of ready-to-run box cars.

Micro-Trains Line Co. split off from Kadee in 1990 to form a completely independent company. For this reason, products from this company can appear with labels from both enterprises. Due to the nature of production idiosyncrasies and various random factors, the rolling stock from Micro-Trains can have all sorts of interesting variations in both their packaging as well as the products themselves. When acquiring an MTL product it is very important to understand these important production variations that can greatly enhance (or decrease) the value of your purchase.

Please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide