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Roundhouse - 8405 - Gondola, 52 Foot, Thrall 2743 - Missouri Pacific - 642109

3  of these sold for an average price of: 9.169.163 of these sold for an average price of: 9.16
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Collectors value this item at an average of 7.507.50Collectors value this item at an average of 7.50
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N Scale - Roundhouse - 8405 - Gondola, 52 Foot, Thrall 2743 - Missouri Pacific - 642109 Photo courtesy Mopjunkie
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Stock Number8405
BrandRoundhouse
ManufacturerMDC Roundhouse
Body StyleMDC Gondola 50/52 Foot Thrall/Mill
Prototype VehicleGondola, 52 Foot, Thrall 2743 (Details)
Road or Company NameMissouri Pacific (Details)
Reporting MarksMP
Road or Reporting Number642109
Paint Color(s)Red
Print Color(s)White
Coupler TypeRapido Hook
Wheel TypeChemically Blackened Metal
Wheel ProfileSmall Flange (Low Profile)
Ready-to-RunNo
Kit ComplexityEasy-Build
Release Date1979-01-01
Item CategoryRolling Stock (Freight)
Model TypeGondola
Model Subtype52 Foot
Model VarietyThrall/Mill
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era V: Modern Diesel (1979 - Present)
Scale1/160



Model Information: This car was introduced by MDC Roundhouse in the late 1970's and was later acquired by Athearn in June of 2004. They have been marketed by both companies under various designations including "50 Foot Modern Gondola", "52 Foot Thrall Gondola" and "52 Foot Mill Gondola" as well as several other similar sounding names.

The early versions were released with Rapido couplers and later Athearn releases using McHenry couplers. The later MDC releases *might* have been shipped with some other kind of knuckle coupler. In the mid-1980's, as was true with many MDC releases, these cars came in kit form. Some of the newer releases come with loads.
Prototype History:
Introduced by Thrall Car Manufacturing Co., in 1995, with its new interior height of 5' 6" (i.e., a 6" increase in height over the previous standard), the firm's contemporary design for a 52' 6" length 2743 cubic foot capacity gondola car took advantage of a (then) newly allowed increase in Gross Rail Loading (GRL) of 286,000 lbs, which was up from the previous limit of 263,000 lbs.

Acquired by Trinity Industries (now TrinityRail) in 2001, from 1995 to 1999, Thrall produced over 6,700 of the 2743 gondolas.

The manufacture of the 2743 design was resumed by Trinity in 2005.
Road Name History:
The Missouri Pacific Railroad (reporting mark MP), commonly abbreviated MoPac, with nickname of The Mop, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (SLIMS), Texas and Pacific Railway (TP), Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (C&EI), St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway (SLBM), Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway (KO&G), Midland Valley Railroad (MV), San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad (SAU&G), Gulf Coast Lines (GC), International-Great Northern Railroad (IGN), New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway (NOTM), Missouri-Illinois Railroad (MI), as well as the small Central Branch Railway (an early predecessor of MP in Kansas and south central Nebraska), and joint ventures such as the Alton and Southern Railroad (AS).

In 1967, the railroad operated 9,041 miles of road and 13,318 miles of track, not including DK&S, NO&LC, T&P and its subsidiaries, C&EI and Missouri-Illinois.

On January 8, 1980, the Union Pacific Railroad agreed to buy the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Lawsuits filed by competing railroads delayed approval of the merger until September 13, 1982. After the Supreme Court denied a trial to the Southern Pacific, the merger took effect on December 22, 1982. However, due to outstanding bonds of the Missouri Pacific, the merger with Union Pacific become official only on January 1, 1997.

Read more on 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.
Item created by: gdm on 2017-09-13 11:41:32. Last edited by Lethe on 2020-05-07 00:00:00

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