Aztec - TS1106 - Boxcar, 36 Foot, Wood Truss - Various

Specific Item Information: A hard black anodized aluminum chassis holds one Cratex® roller. Cleaning mechanism is housed in a Roundhouse™ 36 foot wood boxcar. Comes complete with Roundhouse trucks and couplers. NOTE: Road names may vary depending on availability.

Model Information: This MDC tooling models a pre-1900 boxcar with a truss-rod underframe. The MDC Truss-Rod underframe 36' Reefer and 36' Boxcar are very similar models. They were introduced in 1997 for the former and 1998 for the latter. The easiest way to tell the difference is that the reefers have plug doors and the boxcars have sliding doors. Like all of MDC N-Scale molds, this one was also acquired by Athearn in 2004 when they acquired MDC. The MDC releases were supplied in both 'kit' and RTR (Ready-To-Run) versions.

The Athearn (post 2004) releases come fully assembled and feature:

• Fully assembled and ready to operate
• Separately applied brake wheel and roof walk
• Molded truss rods with turnbuckles
• Molded plastic underframe with brake cylinder
• Screw mounted trucks for accurate tracking
• Truck mounted magnetically operated knuckle couplers
• Plastic wheels.

Prototype History: Boxcars in the early 20th century frequently featured a "Truss-Rod" design. The purpose of truss rods was to prevent the railcars from sagging in the middle by the use of turnbuckles in the center of the truss rods for tightening. Due to the limitations of the materials available at the time, there was a tendency for the railcars body to sag in the middle, between the trucks. Truss rods were designed to prevent this. They have the same purpose as I beams or channel beams do in more modern equipment; or, the unitized body of automobiles do today. They give strength in the direction needed to support the load placed on the car.

Road Name History: This set of items is comprised of more than one name. Please look at the component items for details on the specific roadnames and/or manufacturers.

Brand/Importer Information: Aztec Manufacturing is an aftermarket decorator originally based in San Mateo, CA, now in Carson City, NV.
Historically, Aztec was known for their excellent quality aftermarket decorations of other manufacturers' rolling stock. Aztec repainted models by many different manufacturers including Life-Like, Atlas and others.
In the recent years, Aztec's focus is on track cleaning cars DCC-Ready frames for locomotives and high quality pad-printed freight cars.
Following retirement of its owner, Aztec closed its business in 2018.