AHM - 4364 - Open Hopper, 4-Bay Steel - Peabody Short Line - 6671

Model Information: Roco made 2 different 4-bay open hopper N Scale models in the late 1960s/early 1970s. This one is the rib-side version and the other one is an offset side. At first glance, it is fairly easy to confuse the two. The rib-side versions were made for AHM specifically and were stamped 'AHM Austria' on the bottom. They were later imported for a brief time by another company called JC Timmer in CP paint schemes. Walthers also imported these with Roco branded boxes. I have to assume that the stamping on the JC Timmer and Roco versions do NOT say 'AHM Austria' on the bottom.

Overall it is a pretty nice tooling for its time. The molded details are quite fine and even include rivet patterns on the interior. I have seen 3rd generation models with less detail inside the cargo area. The AHM versions have blackened metal wheels whereas the JC Timmer and Roco versions have nickel-silver plated wheels. The couplers are truck mounted (no surprise given the age of this tooling).

Prototype History: The 1960s brought about a growth in car size (and capacity). Railroads that transported coal moved away from the older 2-bay 55-ton USRA standard to newer 90- and 100-ton three bay hoppers. These cars were effective and long-lived. Many railroads swapped out the trucks on these cars to increase the capacity to 100 tons. Many companies produced these, including Pullman, Bethlehem, Evans, Greenville, Trinity and Ortner. The offset side variant of these hoppers carried a little more capacity than their rib-sided cousins.

Road Name History: The interurban line E. St. Louis & Suburban Railway was abandoned in 1932. One of its subsidiaries was the St. Louis & Belleville Electric Railway which survived and was dieselized in 1949. Peabody Coal Company acquired the StL&BE in 1956 from the Union Electric Company of St. Louis. It renamed it Peabody Short Line in December of 1958. The Illinois Central Railroad acquired stock control in 1960, and merged it in August of 1961. Most of the line, from the River King Mine #1 to a connection with the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis at E. St. Louis, duplicated the IC’s Du Quoin to E. St. Louis line. Consequently most of the original line was abandoned, except for a short piece near the mine. The rest has since been abandoned.

Brand/Importer Information: AHM is the initials for Associated Hobby Manufacturers, Inc. The company was founded in 1959 as a reseller of other companies' model railroad components. Initially an HO company, they entered into N Scale in the early 1970's as an importer of products made by Roco in Austria. For N Scale products, AHM apparently contracted to use the exact same molds as were used by Roco to produce early Atlas models. They also contracted with Rivarossi to make locomotives.

When AHM went out of business IHC picked up some of their line. Also, at least one body style was taken over by Eastern Seaboard models.

Manufacturer Information: The company was founded in 1960 by Ing. Heinz Rössler and started with a plastic Minitanks series of military vehicles. After export to the USA became successful, the model line was expanded with model trains in HO scale and the smaller N scale. TT scale was also subsequently added to the product line. The model rail product line covers many European countries including Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands, and also the USA.

On July 15, 2005 ROCO Modellspielwaren GmbH was declared bankrupt. From July 25 the company continues as Modelleisenbahn GmbH, but still uses the Roco brand and associated logo. On October 1, 2007, distribution of the 'Minitank' product series was assigned to the German model car manufacturer Herpa.

Since February 2008 Modelleisenbahn also owns Fleischmann, which like Roco had gone bankrupt. The two companies continue as separate brands under Modelleisenbahn GmbH, while benefiting from economies of scale through joined development projects, marketing and procurement.

From Wikipedia