Roundhouse - 8456 - Tank Car, Single Dome, 50 Foot - Quaker State - 69254

Model Information: This is a fairly nice quality tank car from MDC Roundhouse. It likely first appeared in the late 1980s. It appears to model a general service tank car and the road names and paint schemes seem to suggest this is what MDC had in mind. The Roundhouse models were available in both kit and RTR packaging. It doesn't have a ton of detail. Most versions were released with Rapido Couplers so it therefore qualifies as a late 1st generation model. Nevertheless, once the couplers are swapped out, it will look just fine on even the most modern of layouts due to the high print quality and molding on this model. Like all other N Scale toolings made by MDC Roundhouse, this one was acquired by Athearn in 2006. Eastern Seaboard Models has also sold these in custom paint schemes.

Prototype History: Larger, 50' Tank cars replaced their smaller predecessors in the late 1960s and 1970s. The Richmond Tank Car Company was one of several manufacturers to produce these general purpose railcars. They generally had about 20,000 gallon capacity and were used to transport many different commodities.

Road Name History: Quaker State is an American brand of motor oil produced by SOPUS Products, a division of Royal Dutch Shell, and the successor of the Pennzoil-Quaker State Company. The Quaker State name is derived from the nickname for Pennsylvania, the state founded by William Penn, a man of the Quaker religion.

The company sponsored the IndyCar race, Quaker State 500 (now known as the ABC Supply 500) in 1988, and is a current sponsor of the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series race Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Quaker State was also the sponsor of Hendrick Motorsports from 1996 to 2013 (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne) and Paul Menard; the company was also formerly the sponsor of Morgan Shepherd. Quaker State was also official lubricants partner of Italo-American Ferrari-works team Risi Competizione in 2004 until 2008. Quaker State is currently sponsoring the Force India Formula One team for 2015 and Allen "Quaker" Ellis for the 2016 Taekwondo US National Olympic Team.

From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information: MDC Roundhouse was founded in California in 1938 and relocated in 1993 to Carson City, Nevada due to statewide restrictions on painting. MDC Roundhouse was a producer of both RTR (Ready-to-Run) and kit versions of N Scale rolling stock as well as RTR locomotives. They entered the N scale market in 1979 with a Thrall Hi-Side Gondola and a Hi-Cube Single Door Box Car. MDC Roundhouse was purchased by Horizon Hobbies in June of 2004, when its owner since 1938 C. H. Menteer retired, and merged into their Athearn line.

Unlike many of their contemporaries which contracted with European firms to produce their products, MDC made their own toolings. They made several popular body styles and produced them for road names that many other vendors (even Micro-Trains) wouldn't touch. This made them popular with modelers. Also, their un-assembled "kits" permitted a lower price point so they were popular with "runners" as well as "modelers".

Of particular interest was the attention given to modern 50 foot steel boxcars. They made some attempt to accurately mold the differences into distinct models to represent each of the major prototype manufacturers products. They have distinct toolings not only for the different products from FMC, BFF and PS, but also multiple models for each of these manufacturers including "standard" vs "Youngstown" doors and "waffle" vs. "rib" sides. In total they produced 13 different versions of the 50 foot steel boxcar.