Red Caboose - 15020-3 - Covered Hopper, 2-Bay, 3000 c.f. - Chicago & North Western - 169141

Model Information: Precision Masters first released this body style in kit form. Later on, they released the same body as a RTR (Ready-to-Run) model. In 2005, Red Caboose acquired this tooling from PM. Red Caboose released this model in RTR form. Fox Valley acquired the tooling from Red Caboose in 2015. As of 2017, Fox Valley has not yet re-released cars from this tooling, but if they do, likely it will be with body mount couplers and their famous metal wheels.

Prototype History: 3000 Cu.Ft. 2-Bay Hoppers like this one or similar to it have been made by Greenville Car Co., Pullman Standard and Trinity Industries Inc. The first 3000 Cu.Ft. Hopper design first appeared in service in the mid-60s, and can still be found in service by many railroads today. Commodities carried include, but are not limited to, cement, flour, drilling sand, sand, sugar and other 'heavy' commodities. The car can also be used for lighter commodities especially when smaller volumes are being transported and the cost of a larger capacity car is not justified. This design typically features rib sides and top hatches along the central axis with a roofwalk around perimeter of the top.

Road Name History: The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (reporting mark CNW) was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s.

Until 1972, when the company was sold to its employees, it was named the Chicago and North Western Railway. The C&NW became one of the longest railroads in the United States as a result of mergers with other railroads, such as the Chicago Great Western Railway, Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway and others.

By 1995, track sales and abandonment had reduced the total mileage back to about 5,000. The majority of the abandoned and sold lines were lightly trafficked branches in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Large line sales, such as those that resulted in the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad further helped reduce the railroad to a mainline core with several regional feeders and branches.

The company was purchased by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in April 1995 and ceased to exist.

Brand/Importer Information: Originally Red Caboose was a manufacturer of HO and N Scale model railroading items. It was located in Mead, Colorado, and was founded in 1990 by Leon Fairbanks. Red Caboose manufactured highly accurate, well detailed N, HO, and O Scale freight cars and locomotives.

Red Caboose closed its doors in January of 2015. Red Caboose N Scale has been sold to Fox Valley Models and HO was sold to InterMountain Railway. Many of the Red Caboose toolings have seen re-releases from Fox Valley since the acquisition. We just wish they would clean up the underframes. Red Caboose always went light on the details where they thought people wouldn't look.