Atlas - 50 003 345 - Boxcar, 40 Foot, USRA Steel Rebuilt - Chicago St.Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha - 1681

Model Information: This Atlas model was announced in June 2006 with an April, 2007 delivery date. It is one of the only Atlas models to feature opening doors. This model features: Opening Door; Andrews trucks; Ready-to-run; Accurate painting and printing; AccuMate® couplers; Brake detail; Highly detailed body; Simulated wood or steel door as per the prototype; Fishbelly or Standard underframe as per the prototype; Different rib ends (7-8 or 5-5-5) as per the prototype; Undecorated cars come with both simulated wood or steel door.

Prototype History: By the beginning of WWII, the majority of the classic USRA double-sheathed box cars and their clones were rebuilt with steel sides. More rebuilds followed in the late 1940s and early 1950s. By late 1948, close 14,000 of the original 24,500 USRA double-sheathed cars had been rebuilt with quite a degree of variation including the end, door and underframe. These steel side rebuilds were far more popular than their single-sheathed counterparts.

Road Name History: The CStPM&O was the result of the 1880 merger of the Chicago St. Paul & Minneapolis Railway and the North Wisconsin Railway. Two years after the merger, Chicago & North Western bought a controlling interest in the CStPM&O. The Chicago St. Paul Minneapolis & Omaha (known to locals as The Omaha Road) developed into a 1,700 mile system running from Elroy, Wisconsin (C&NW provided the connection from Elroy to Chicago) northwest to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The mainline then turned southwest to Sioux City, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska. In addition there were important branches to Duluth, Minnesota, Sioux Falls, South Dakota and several others. CMO was not a paper railroad but a largely independent operation from C&NW for the first 75 years. They had their own management, headquarters, locomotive and freight and passenger car fleets and sales force. There were some joint passenger routes with C&NW but that was also common on railroads that were not directly related. CStPM&O adopted some steam locomotive classes that C&NW did not and vice versa. Locomotive tenders were later adorned with the C&NW System logo but CStPM&O marks on the cab. Diesels received similar treatment. In 1957, C&NW officially leased the CStPM&O – finally turning it into a paper railroad. It was officially merged in 1972.

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.