Micro-Trains - 993 01 630 - Flatcar, 68 Foot, DODX Heavy-Duty - Department of Defense - 3-Pack

Specific Item Information: Road Numbers: 40059, 40093, 40096. These are the heavier capacity cars painted in different colors with 6-wheel trucks which carry just two M1 tanks.

These 68’DODX flat cars are painted in three different greens with white lettering and run on Buckeye 6-wheel DODX trucks. Built by Fruit Growers Express in 1981, these heavy-duty Department of Defense flat cars belong to series 40000-40100. They’re used by the US Army and USMC to transport M1 Abrams tanks and other heavy military vehicles across the United States between bases for training and deployment.

Model Information: Many times since Micro-Trains/Kadee first started producing cars in 1972, they have sold 'multipacks' of cars in shrink-wrapped bundles. These releases have bundles several different items with the same theme together in a single shrink-wrapped packaged. However, in April of 2007, due to demand for groups of cars with the same paint scheme yet with different road numbers, the "Runner Pack" was born.

Runner pack number one got a special presentation box instead of simple shrink wrap and contained four different Pennsy boxcars with identical paint schemes yet different road numbers. These releases were intended for people who like to "run" their cars yet like each car to have a different road number. The 4-car runner packs have been very successful and were joined later by 8-car packs as well as 3-packs of larger, more expensive cars. Over 100 different box sets in this series have been produced by MTL as of 2017.

Prototype History: The DODX Heavy-Duty flat cars are 68’ 150-ton flats, with two 3 axle "buckeye" trucks, built for the Department of Defense (DoD). These will hold two M1 Abrams or two M60.
There were four builders that produced this car:
- DODX 40000-40099 (FGE)
- DODX 40100-40299 (Thrall)
- DODX 40300-40549 (Ortner)
- DODX 40550-40599 (USRE)
Vehicles are secured to the flat with heavy duty tie-down chains.
Blocks of DODX cars usually move long distances mixed into regular manifest freight trains, however, unit trains of armor are not unusual. Armor is moved by rail between bases and practice ranges, or to ports of embarkation.

Brand/Importer Information: Micro-Trains is the brand name used by both Kadee Quality Products and Micro-Trains Line. For a history of the relationship between the brand and the two companies, please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide.

Manufacturer Information: Micro-Trains Line split off from Kadee Quality Products in 1990. Kadee Quality Products originally got involved in N-Scale by producing a scaled-down version of their successful HO Magne-Matic knuckle coupler system. This coupler was superior to the ubiquitous 'Rapido' style coupler due to two primary factors: superior realistic appearance and the ability to automatically uncouple when stopped over a magnet embedded in a section of track. The success of these couplers in N-Scale quickly translated to the production of trucks, wheels and in 1972 a release of ready-to-run box cars.

Micro-Trains Line Co. split off from Kadee in 1990 to form a completely independent company. For this reason, products from this company can appear with labels from both enterprises. Due to the nature of production idiosyncrasies and various random factors, the rolling stock from Micro-Trains can have all sorts of interesting variations in both their packaging as well as the products themselves. When acquiring an MTL product it is very important to understand these important production variations that can greatly enhance (or decrease) the value of your purchase.

Please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide