Atlas - 50 001 488 - Boxcar, 40 Foot, USRA Double Sheathed Wood - Savannah & Atlanta - 8038

Model Information: This car was first produced by Atlas in 2006. It models a interwar double-sheathed wood boxcar as standardized by the USRA during the First World War. Features: 5-5-5 or 7-8 steel ends; Fishbelly or standard center sill; Vertical or end mounted brakes; AccuMate® couplers; Steel or wood doors.

Prototype History: Double-sheathed means the cars carried wood sheathing both inside and out. The structure that this sheathing is applied over steel framing. The USRA double-sheathed design boxcar had a steel underframe with a monster heavy deep-fishbelly steel center sill. The interior carried horizontal sheathing and the exterior carried vertical sheathing. These are described as steel UNDERFRAME. (but not usually called "steel framed").

Road Name History: The 142-mile Savannah & Atlanta Railway ran from a junction with the Georgia Railroad at Camak, Georgia, southeast to the port city of Savannah. The deep south pike was incorporated by the Imbrie Company on December 8, 1915 to build a rail connection between the Georgia and the Savannah & Northwestern Railway. Larger regional Central of Georgia bought the line in 1951, which later all became a part of the Southern Railway system, but by 1962 the central section of the mainline had been abandoned. Remaining portions, especially on the kaolin-rich western end, are today operated by the Norfolk Southern and others.

Brand/Importer Information: In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.