Con-Cor - 0001-008762 - Aerotrain - Pennsylvania

Specific Item Information: Pennsylvania 4-Unit Collector Set

Model Information: Con-Cor introduced this model in 2008. The models feature highly detailed bodies, with separate add on parts where appropriate. They have diaphragms between cars. They feature full interior details with LED interior car lighting. Each car has a circuit board for electrical pick-up with metal wheelsets. The mechanism features a dual flywheel drive with a 5 pole skewed armature motor. The model has functional reversing front headlights, and tail of observation back up lights. The Loco cab has a detailed interior. It comes in a Special Edition Collector's Box with reprints of articles from the 1955 Popular Mechanics, and 1976 Rail Classics Article on the original AeroTrain are included with Basic 4 car Sets.

DCC Information: Will come in DC mode, with 8 pin NMRA Socket set mounted inside lst coach car for adding any brand small N Function Decoder, or Sound Decoder (Decoder not included).

Road Name History: The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR) was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy," the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The PRR was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U.S. for the first half of the twentieth century. Over the years, it acquired, merged with or owned part of at least 800 other rail lines and companies. At the end of 1925, it operated 10,515 miles of rail line; in the 1920s, it carried nearly three times the traffic as other railroads of comparable length, such as the Union Pacific or Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. Its only formidable rival was the New York Central (NYC), which carried around three-quarters of PRR's ton-miles.

At one time, the PRR was the largest publicly traded corporation in the world, with a budget larger than that of the U.S. government and a workforce of about 250,000 people. The corporation still holds the record for the longest continuous dividend history: it paid out annual dividends to shareholders for more than 100 years in a row.

In 1968, PRR merged with rival NYC to form the Penn Central Transportation Company, which filed for bankruptcy within two years. The viable parts were transferred in 1976 to Conrail, which was itself broken up in 1999, with 58 percent of the system going to the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), including nearly all of the former PRR. Amtrak received the electrified segment east of Harrisburg.

Brand/Importer Information: Con-Cor has been in business since 1962. Many things have changed over time as originally they were a complete manufacturing operation in the USA and at one time had upwards of 45 employees. They not only designed the models,but they also built their own molds, did injection molding, painting, printing and packaging on their models.

Currently, most of their manufacturing has been moved overseas and now they import 90% of their products as totally finished goods, or in finished components. They only do some incidental manufacturing today within the USA.

Important Note: The Con-Cor product numbering can be very confusing. Please see here in the article how to properly enter Con-Cor stock numbers in the TroveStar database.