Bev-Bel - 4436 - Passenger Car, Heavyweight, Pullman, Paired Window Coach - Seaboard Air Line - Glen Elm

Specific Item Information: Standard Clerestory Roof Coach

Model Information: Lima introduced North American heavyweight passenger cars in their 1969-70 catalog, in 3 body styles: Coach, Combine and Observation.
It is inspired by the prototype of the PRR P70 coach car, with major differences though, starting with 3-axle trucks instead of 2 for the prototype.
First distributed in North America by AHM and PMI, it was later distributed by Model Power under their brand name. After Lima vanished in the mid 1990's, Model Power continued to produce a copy of these cars in a Chinese factory. All in all this model has been produced over 4 decades, with very few changes. The last versions released by Model Power in the late 2000's were fitted with dummy knuckle couplers instead of the original Rapido ones. Depending on year and origin of production, the wheels can be either nickel-silver plated metal or injection molded plastic.

Prototype History: Pullman was the leading producer of heavyweight coaches during the 1st half of the twentieth century. They were known for the quality and luxury of the passenger cars. The coaches were a common sight on heavyweight consists during 1920s and 1930s. Though less glamorous than Pullman’s many types of sleeper cars, 78-foot coaches like these were common on railroads across the country in the steam era.

Plan 2882-B was developed specifically for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. Thanks to steel rationing in World War II and the booming demand for passenger service after the war, many of these cars saw service long into the steam-to-diesel transition era. While some were relegated to branch lines or commuter service, others were modernized with smooth sides, closed vestibules, and streamlined roofs.

Road Name History: The Seaboard Air Line Railroad (reporting mark SAL), which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad whose corporate existence extended from April 14, 1900 until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. The company was headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, until 1958, when its main offices were relocated to Richmond, Virginia. The Seaboard Air Line Railway Building in Norfolk's historic Freemason District still stands and has been converted to luxury apartments.

At the end of 1925 SAL operated 3,929 miles of road, not including its flock of subsidiaries; at the end of 1960 it reported 4,135 miles. The main line ran from Richmond via Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida, a major interchange point for passenger trains bringing travelers to the Sunshine State. From Jacksonville, Seaboard rails continued to Tampa, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach and Miami.

Other important Seaboard routes included a line from Jacksonville via Tallahassee to a connection with the L&N at Chattahoochee, Florida, for through service to New Orleans; a line to Atlanta, Georgia, and Birmingham, Alabama, connecting with the main line at Hamlet, North Carolina; and a line from the main at Norlina, North Carolina, to Portsmouth, Virginia, the earliest route of what became the Seaboard.

In the first half of the 20th century Seaboard, along with its main competitors Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, Florida East Coast Railway and Southern Railway, contributed greatly to the economic development of the Southeastern United States, and particularly to that of Florida. Its brought vacationers to Florida from the Northeast and carried southern timber, minerals and produce, especially Florida citrus crops, to the northern states.

Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: Formerly located in Cresskill, New Jersey, the now defunct Bev-Bel Corp. was founded by the late Irvin and Beverly Belkin in 1956. A prolific "boutique" producer of after-market, limited production, special run rolling stock and locomotives (in road names and non-traditional commemorative and holiday themed paint schemes that were not typically offered by the major manufacturers), Bev-Bel' sourced its models from Atlas Tool Co., Inc., Atlas Model Railroad Co., Inc., Bachmann, and Life-Like Trains.

Manufacturer Information: Lima S.p.A (Lima Models) was a brand of railway models made in Vicenza, Italy, for almost 50 years, from the early 1950s until the company ceased trading in 2004. Lima was a popular, affordable brand of 00 gauge and N gauge model railway material in the UK, more detailed H0 and N gauge models in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States as well as South Africa, Scandinavia and Australia. Lima also produced a small range of 0 gauge models. Lima partnered with various distributors and manufacturers, selling under brands such as A.H.M., Model Power, Minitrain and PMI (Precision Models of Italy). Market pressures from superior Far Eastern produce in the mid-1990s led to Lima merging with Rivarossi, Arnold, and Jouef. Ultimately, these consolidations failed and operations ceased in 2004.

Hornby Railways offered €8 million to acquire Lima's assets (including tooling, inventory, and the various brand names) in March of the same year, the Italian bankruptcy court of Brescia (town near Milan, last headquarters of Lima) approving the offer later that year. In December 2004, Hornby Railways formally announced the acquisition along with the Rivarossi (H0 North American and Italian prototypes), Arnold (N scale European prototypes), Jouef (H0 scale French prototypes), and Pocher (die-cast metal automobile kits) ranges. As of mid-2006, a range of these products has been made available under the Hornby International brand, refitted with NEM couplings and sprung buffers and sockets for DCC (Digital Command Control) decoders.

From Wikipedia