InterMountain - 65902-36 - Boxcar, 50 Foot, AAR - Santa Fe - 7616

Specific Item Information: The prototype was built in August of 1942 and rebuilt in March of 1969.

Prototype History: The AAR standard 50-ton, 50'-6" boxcar was based on a design introduced in 1942. Although World War II slowed production of these cars, thousands of similar cars were built through the 1950s. Although the cars were constructed to basically the same design, several options were offered depending on the intended service. Since production of the basic design went on for so long several changes were made, so roof styles, ends, side sills, and doors varied over time and from railroad to railroad.

The standard design featured 16-panel (8/8, for eight panels on each side of the door opening) riveted sides with an eight-foot door opening for merchandise boxcars. The automobile car version of the car featured 5/8 riveted sides with a 15-foot door opening covered with a set of two doors. All told more than 9,000 cars were built for 16 railroads to this basic design between 1950 and 1960.

The majority of 50-foot AAR cars built in the 1940s and '50s featured R+¾ improved Dreadnaught ends.

Road Name History: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (reporting mark ATSF), often abbreviated as Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. Chartered in February 1859, the railroad reached the Kansas-Colorado border in 1873 and Pueblo, Colorado, in 1876. To create a demand for its services, the railroad set up real estate offices and sold farm land from the land grants that it was awarded by Congress. Despite the name, its main line never served Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the terrain was too difficult; the town ultimately was reached by a branch line from Lamy.

The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport, an enterprise that (at one time or another) included a tugboat fleet and an airline (the short-lived Santa Fe Skyway). Its bus line extended passenger transportation to areas not accessible by rail, and ferryboats on the San Francisco Bay allowed travelers to complete their westward journeys to the Pacific Ocean. The ATSF was the subject of a popular song, Harry Warren & Johnny Mercer's "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", written for the film, The Harvey Girls (1946).

The railroad officially ceased operations on December 31, 1996, when it merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: InterMountain was founded in 1985 by Fred Brummet. They got started in the model railroad business by producing O-Scale model kits. They got started in the N Scale business almost a decade later when in 1994 they introduced the 40-23 reefer car in kit form. Later, in 1998, they started producing RTR (Ready-to-Run) models. By the early 2000s, InterMountain phased out kit production in favor of the RTR models.

The InterMountain Railway company is located at 1224 Boston Ave in Longmont, CO. They are a manufacturer of HO, N and Z scale model trains. They have produced kits as well as RTR (Ready-To-Run) models. Their N Scale products include locomotives as well as rolling stock. Their rolling stock lineup includes Boxcars, Hoppers, Tank Cars, Reefers, Gondolas, Stock Cars and Flatcars.

Their locomotive releases have primarily been diesel units, with the one major exception being their series of AC-12 Cab Forward steam locos. Their diesel lineup includes F3's, F7's, F9's, SD40's, SD45's and FT units. They are known for quality and detail. They also release their rolling stock in larger varieties of road numbers than most of the other manufacturers.