Trainworx - 40270-03 - Trailer, 40 Foot, Box - Chicago Great Western - 504272

Prototype History: 40-foot trailers are still widely used as inter-rail containers. 40 foot is a good length to fit on a 50 foot TOFC flatcar as they provide some room on both ends for safety and sloppy loading. They generally come with a 96" width and are rated for 55,000 pounds. They were never as popular as 48 foot trailers because of the more limited load size. Even 48 foot trailers gave way to 53' models when the laws governing highway transportation changed.

Box vans are known as such for their rectilinear proportions. Their simple design makes them easy to manufacture and maintain.

Road Name History: Chicago Great Western was the result of the 1892 reorganization of the Chicago St. Paul & Kansas City. By 1903, the CGW had grown to its maximum size. The CGW had a vaguely cross-shaped system map. The east-west leg started in Chicago and linked Dubuque, Fort Dodge (both in Iowa) and finally Omaha, Nebraska. The north-south line started in St. Paul, Minnesota and linked Waterloo and Des Moines, Iowa then St. Joseph and Kansas City, Missouri. Each axis consisted of a big arc which put CGW at a distance disadvantage to most other railroads servicing the same region – and there were a lot of railroads in the area.

Passenger service was never a major priority and many trains consisted of doodlebugs and trailers even before World War One. In the 1920s CGW did team up with Santa Fe to run through sleepers from the Twin Cities to Los Angeles.

Big mainline power in the 30s and 40s consisted of a fleet of 3 dozen 2-10-4s. In 1936, CGW launched piggyback service – one of the first in the nation. One piggyback customer was a truck line specializing in hauling steel. Since CGW charged by the trailer, the truck line would take the contents of 3 trailers which had maxed out on highway weight and reload all the steel into a single catastrophically heavy trailer that would ride the flat car. They didn’t tell CGW though. No one was the wiser until the landing gear on a trailer punched through the deck of the flat car and derailed a train at speed!

By 1950, CGW had completely dieselized with a mix of Alco, Baldwin and EMD switchers, Alco and EMD road switchers (the former running long hood forward and the latter equipped with dual controls,) and a sizable fleet of EMD F units. By this time, the Deramus family (who already controlled the Kansas City Southern) had gained control of the CGW. Over the years, they cut costs and services. CGW began holding trains until they reached maximum tonnage. Trains between 150 and 250 cars were a daily occurrance behind A-B-B-B-B-A sets of F units. What’s more, these monsters would stop and switch along the way!

Around 1951, they dropped “The Corn Belt Route” logo in favor of the Lucky Strike style logo. The first generation of diesels were delivered in ornate maroon, and red with yellow striping. This was replaced with a simplified solid maroon and then red with black roof (which was essentially the same as neighbor and fellow Deramus controlled Kansas City Southern.) The second generation of diesels consisted entirely of GP30’s and SD40’s.

Despite the iffy service and tremendous competition in the area, and thanks to the cost cutting and a dearth of money losing passenger operations that plagued their neighbors, CGW steadily made money through the 50s and 60s. But, in the age of mergers, it was clear they couldn’t make it on their own. CGW discussed merger with every possible connection but ultimately merged into Chicago & North Western in 1968. In their last full year, the CGW was a 1,411 mile line with 139 locomotives (for comparison, they were about the same size as Western Pacific.)

Brand/Importer Information: Trainworx was founded in 1999 by Pat Sanders and is located in Delta Colorado. Their first freight car was the Quad hopper and it was released in 2000. They have been making N scale products ever since. Their website can be found at www.train-worx.com. As of 2016, they have produced 8 different rolling stock body styles as well as a range of different highway vehicles in N Scale. Their limited edition runs have proven a huge success with collectors and modelers enjoy the accuracy of all their products.

Trainworx sells their products both through tradional retail channels as well as directly by phone order. When asked "What prompted you to found Trainworx?", Pat Sanders responded "There was a freight car that hadn't been done in N scale that I just had to have and it didn't look like anyone was ever going to make it."