AHM - 22321 - Open Hopper, 2-Bay, Rib Side, Arch End - Peabody Short Line - 6631

Specific Item Information: Car bottom shows only Made In Yugoslavia

Model Information: This model is a Mehano knockoff of the Atlas "First Generation" car (as made by Roco). It was first produced in the late 1960s and has since been imported by MRC, Model Power, AHM/IHC, and Life-Like. It models a PS-3 2-Bay open hopper with peaked ends.

Prototype History: 2-Bay ribside coal hoppers were in common use in the first half of the 20th century. The ribbed sides added stability so the loads would not bow out the side of the hoppers. Steel was in plentiful supply after the second world wars and these cars were pretty much everywhere coal was being produced or consumed.

The arched ends on certain of these steel ribside hoppers were presumable added to prevent coal from slopping forward or backwards between the cars when they were abruptly started or stopped. The arch end versions were far less common than their flat-ended sisters.

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: Mehano is a Slovenian toy manufacturer located in Izola, Slovenija. The company was founded as Mehanotehnika and was producing toys starting in June 1953. They first exhibited at the Nuerenberg Toy Fair in 1959. Mehano produced a number of different locomotives and rolling stock models for the North American market in the 1960s and 1970s. Companies such as Atlas and Life-Like imported a huge variety of their products. Generally they can easily be recognized as they are stamped "Yugosolavia" on the underframe. The company was formally renamed "Mehano" in 1990. Izola today is part of the country of Slovenia since the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Mehano filed for bankruptcy in 2008, but still continued to exist and operate. Since 2012, Mehano products are distributed by Lemke.