Life-Like - S787D - Boxcar, 40 Foot, PS-1 - Toledo Peoria & Western - 640

Model Information: This Model Power tooling is a Chinese knock off of the New Jersey made 1976 vintage Atlas PS-1 boxcar. It was also imported by Life-Like. We are not sure of this was a deal struck between Model Power and Life-Like (who were presumably competitors) or if the Chinese factory simply decided to sell to Life-Like as well as Model Power. The Life-Like models are identical to the Model Power models.

Model Power re-ran their previous Mehano-made models with this new tooling, using the same roadnames and numbers and the same stock number. The main difference between the Mehano and the Chinese molds can be observed on the door. The best way to distinguish them remains however the marking on the under-frame (Yugoslavia or Hong-Kong)

This model is of equivalent quality to the Atlas version (perhaps even sharper molding and lettering). It likely appeared in the late 1980s when Model Power contracted with Chinese manufacturers to replicate various successful toolings from Europe (Roco, Lima) and the US (Atlas). Like all of this group of models, these care feature Rapido couplers attached to trucks with injection-molded plastic wheels. Most of these models look fine on a modern layout and will run well once you swap the Chinese trucks for MTL Bettendorf truck/couplers.

Prototype History: The 40' Boxcar is widely known as one of the most popular freight cars used by railroads as they transitioned from steam to diesel. In particular the Pullman Standard or PS-1 design was one of the most popular and was widely used by North American railroads. These boxcars were built beginning in 1947 and share the same basic design, with certain elements such as door size, door style or roof type varying among the different railroads and production years. When production of these cars ceased in 1963, over 100,000 had been produced.

So just what is a PS-1? Well the simple answer is it is any boxcar built by Pullman Standard from 1947 on. The design changed over the years – sometimes subtly, sometimes for customer request, and sometimes in a larger way. In general, most PS-1’s built from 1947 to 1961 share the same dimensions and basic construction techniques. These cars all had a length of 40′, a height of 10’5″ or 10’6″, welded sides and ends and roof of Pullman’s own design. The greatest variation was in the size and style of doors used. Pullman Standard also offered 50′ and later 60′ boxcars – also with the PS-1 designation.

Road Name History: TP&W first appeared under that name in 1887. For most of its history, the TP&W ran east and west from Peoria, Illinois, to Keokuk, Iowa on the west bank of the Mississippi River on one end and Effner just on the other side of the Illinois-Indiana state line. There were a couple of short branches on the west end of the line.

TP&W first attracted national attention in 1887 when a passenger excursion train wrecked in Chatsworth, Illinois. The double headed train originated in Peoria and was packed with excursionists headed for Niagara Falls (via connections.) The train was running at speed when it approached a low trestle that had been weakened by a prairie fire. The trestle was only about 15’ high. The lead locomotive made it across and the second engine plunged through it, bringing the train of wooden coaches to an instant halt. At least one of the coaches was telescoped by another. 85 were killed and hundreds injured.

In 1941, TP&W backed out of national labor negotiations over a pay increase that was being considered. TP&W instead pushed for hourly wages and loosening of work rule restrictions. The unions struck and with the outbreak of war, operations were taken over by the Federal Government. After the war, the government handed the operation back to the owner George McNear and the labor strike resumed. In 1947 McNear was assassinated by a striker and that was that. The railroad was sold and operation resumed.

In addition to the local traffic they generated across central Illinois, TP&W served as a bridge route between the Santa Fe at Lomax, Illinois near the west end and the Pennsylvania at Effner, Indiana on the east end. Santa Fe and Pennsy’s only direct connection was in Chicago with all of Chicago’s inherent congestion. Many traffic managers preferred to route through Peoria. For Santa Fe and Pennsylvania, that meant routing over the TP&W.

In the steam era, the kings of the TP&W were a group of six 4-8-4 Northerns purchased in 1937. These Alco’s were the smallest 4-8-4’s on the continent. The diesel era was dominated by Alco and EMD road switchers with a splash of F’s and Lima-Hamilton switchers (these were later replaced by SW1500’s.)

In 1960, the Minneapolis & St. Louis attempted to gain control of the TP&W as well as Monon. M&St.L was also a funnel for the Peoria Gateway and thought the TP&W a good addition. However, when Santa Fe and Pennsy got wind of M&St.L’s stock purchases, the Santa Fe put out their own buy order and quickly grabbed control away from M&St.L. Santa Fe then sold a 50% stake in the TP&W to the Pennsylvania.

In 1970, TP&W suffered a wreck in Crescent City, Illinois. A string of propane tank cars was involved. One of the cars caught fire. As it burned, it boiled the propane in the adjacent car. Eventually the pressure of the boiling fuel exceeded the strength of the fire weakened shell of the tank and it exploded. The cycle started again with the next car. The fire department had successfully evacuated Crescent City but was powerless to fight the fire as burning propane rained down on the town. Crescent City was all but destroyed and the accident led the FRA to set standards on track quality with power to embargo traffic from lines that fell below certain maintenance levels.

The creation of Conrail in 1976 changed traffic patterns for the TP&W. Bridge traffic to the Santa Fe began to dry up. TP&W bought the ex-PRR line from Effner to Logansport, Indiana and a new connection to N&W was established. This brought the TP&W mileage to just over 300 making it about the size of Ann Arbor.

In 1979 the corporate successor of Penn Central sold their half of the TP&W to Santa Fe. At the end of 1983, TP&W was merged into the Santa Fe. In 1986, 33 miles of former TP&W line toward the west end were sold to Keokuk Junction Rwy. But the story didn’t end there.

In 1989, the TP&W lines were spun off by Santa Fe to a group of investors and the TP&W was reborn. The 1995 BNSF merger brought trackage rights for TP&W over the former CB&Q from Peoria northwest to Galesburg. A year later, TP&W was purchased by Delaware Otsego Corporation who also owned the New York Susquehanna & Western and a few shortlines in the New York – Pennsylvania – New Jersey area. During DO ownership, a typical day saw 165 cars move on the line. In 1999, the RailAmerica shortline group made an offer for the TP&W that DO couldn’t refuse and that September, the sale was closed. In 2004, the lines west of Peoria were sold to Keokuk Junction with TP&W continuing with the routes east. In 2012, all of the RailAmerica roads, TP&W included, joined the Genesee & Wyoming shortline group.

Brand/Importer Information: Life-Like Products LLC (now Life-Like Toy and Hobby division of Wm. K. Walthers) was a manufacturer of model railroad products and was based in Baltimore, Maryland.

It was founded in the 1950s by a company that pioneered extruded foam ice chests under the Lifoam trademark. Because ice chests are a summer seasonal item, the company needed a way to keep the factory operating year round. As model railroading was becoming popular in the post-war years, they saw this as an opportunity and so manufactured extruded foam tunnels for model trains. Over the years, Life-Like expanded into other scenery items, finally manufacturing rolling stock beginning in the late 1960s. At some point in the early 1970s, Life-Like purchased Varney Inc. and began to produce the former Varney line as its own.

The Canadian distributor for Life-Like products, Canadian Hobbycraft, saw a missing segment in market for Canadian model prototypes, and started producing a few Canadian models that were later, with a few modifications, offered in the US market with US roadnames.

In 2005, the company, now known as Lifoam Industries, LLC, decided to concentrate on their core products of extruded foam and sold their model railroad operations to Wm. K. Walthers.

In June 2018, Atlas and Walthers announced to have reached an agreement under which all Walthers N scale rolling stock tooling, including the former Life-Like tooling, will be purchased by Atlas.

Read more on Wikipedia and The Train Collectors Association.

Manufacturer Information: Kader Industrial Company Limited was founded in Hong Kong in 1948 by Ting Hsiung Chao. It was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1985 and presently trades under the name of "Kader Holdings Company Limited".

The company today is one of the world's largest manufacturers of toy and hobby railways, and also has wider manufacturing interests as well as substantial investments in property. The vision of Mr. Ting Hsiung Chao is shared by the Ting family, which continues to lead the Kader Group. Kader's initial focus product was to manufacture plastic flashlights, which at the time were a novelty.