Athearn - 11638 - Reefer, 40 Foot, Pfaudler - Bellows Falls Creamery - 1857

Model Information: Features: Fully assembled and ready to operate; Separately applied brake wheel; Screw mounted trucks for accurate tracking; Truck mounted magnetically operated knuckle couplers; Plastic wheels.

This model is different than most other N Scale reefers in that it features high speed passenger trucks. This was so that the milk cars could be pulled in passenger consists and reach their destinations before their contents could spoil.

Prototype History: In the 1920's, the Pfaudler Company and General American Car Company manufactured hundreds of wood sheathed, insulated milk cars. Designed as bulk milk carriers, the cars were built around two 6,000 gallon glass lined tanks and a brine cooling system designed to keep the milk at a constant 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Riding on passenger car trucks, these unique cars were often painted Pullman green to match the passenger cars of the era. The special purpose Pfaudler Cars hauled bulk milk shipments well into the 1950's.

Road Name History: The Bellows Falls Co-operative Creamery Complex is a historic industrial property in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Developed over a period of about 40 years beginning c. 1906, the complex, with two surviving buildings, it represents one of Vermont's largest commercial enterprises of the period. The property, located on the eastern side of Bellows Falls Island, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

The former Bellows Falls Creamery is located on the eastern part of the island formed by the Connecticut River and the Bellows Falls Canal. It is located just south of the rail yard on the northern part of the island, and north of the Adams Gristmill Warehouse. It consists of one large multi-component building, three stories at its tallest, and an adjacent heating plant. The main building has openings to the rail yard to the north, and a drive accesses the complex from Bridge Street to the south at a higher elevation. Its main sections, three stories in height, are built of concrete with brick and other exterior finishes. Added sections give the building a U shape, with the opening to the south. Immediately southeast of the southeastern leg of the U stands the two-story brick heating plant.

The first creamery established in Bellows Falls was a two-story wood frame structure built by the Boston Dairy Company about 1906. The main building of the surviving creamery complex was built about 1918 by the Liberty Paper Company, and both buildings were acquired by the Bellows Falls Co-operative Creamery in 1921. This business, which processed milk from more than 200 member farmers, shipped milk products to market in Boston, Massachusetts by rail. In 1932 the plant was expanded, replacing the 1906 building with a larger modern structure, now part of the main building. The company remained successful, growing its plant over the following decades. In 1964, however, it lost its contract with Finast, a major regional grocery chain, and ceased operations in 1965. The buildings were used as storage and stood vacant for many years thereafter, suffering from neglect, vandalism, and fires that destroyed one wing and part of the main building. Despite that, the buildings represent a major reminder of an important element of Vermont's economy in the early 20th century.

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.