Atlas - 42205 - Open Hopper, 2-Bay, Offset Peaked End - Montour - 18101

Model Information: The Peaked End version of Atlas 2-Bay offset-side hopper was announced in October of 2008 and first delivered around February of 2009. It is very similar to their "flat-end" hopper which was introduced the previous year, with the major exception of (your guessed it!) the ends are peaked...

Road Name History: The Montour was established in 1877 to connect a large coal mine in Imperial to a connection with the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie in Coraopolis, in southwestern Pennsylvania. As mining in the area increased, so did the railroad. During the Depression, Montour served 27 mines along its 50-something miles of line. In 1946, Montour was jointly purchased by Pittsburgh & Lake Erie and Pennsylvania Railroad. P&LE picked up full control in 1975. For much of its history, Montour used only the letter “M” as its official reporting mark. Later this was changed to MTR when the Association of American Railroads began to frown upon single letter reporting marks. In 1984, the last coal mine closed and the remaining 23 miles of the Montour Railroad was abandoned.

Brand/Importer Information: In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.