Micro-Trains - 993 01 515 - Mixed Freight Consist, North America, Early - Central Pacific - 5-Pack

Prototype History: A mixed freight train is a train that hauls a variety of different freight cars or wagons. A mixed freight depends on the locale and industries. The train will be carrying cars to be brought to a yard where a local will bring them to the various industries. The location determines the industries, and the industries determine the cars.

Which cars are in which trains is determined by the waybills they are assigned - which is close to a totally random process. For example, through freights simply run from up staging to down staging and back, stopping long enough to trade out 30 percent of their cars and change from steam to motor (catenary) or vice-versa. Thus freights will have a variety of cars, changing each time they pass through a switching yard.

Road Name History: The CP was established in 1861 by a group of California businessmen: Huntington, Hopkins, Crocker and Stanford. These men were given the collective name the Big Four (no relation to the Big Four route of the Cleveland Cincinnati Chicago & St. Louis Railroad.) CP was to build from Sacramento, California over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Virginia City, Nevada. The following year, Congress expanded the mission of the CP to continue building east and meet the Union Pacific that would be building west to form the first transcontinental railroad. Construction began in 1863. They reached the Nevada state line in 1867 and in May of 1869 met the Union Pacific in Utah.

With the golden spike driven, CP turned west. They established a subsidiary called Western Pacific (unrelated to the Western Pacific that would later build from the Bay Area to Utah) and acquire the California Pacific to reach the San Francisco Bay at Vallejo. In 1879, CP built from Port Costa to Oakland (trains were barged from Vallejo to Port Costa until Carquinez Strait was finally bridged in 1929.) By 1870, the Big Four had gained control of the Southern Pacific and other area lines. Construction to the south was divided with some segments belonging to Southern Pacific and others to Central Pacific. The CP got as far south as Goshen Junction, about 50 miles south of Fresno.

Also in 1870, the CP bought the California & Oregon Railroad that was building north from Marysville, California. This line was pushed north through the Siskiyou Mountains to a connection with the Oregon & California Railroad at Ashland, Oregon. The Southern Pacific then bought the O&C. By 1884, the operational boundaries between Central Pacific and Southern Pacific were blurred. That year, the companies were re-organized and Central Pacific’s railroad was leased to Southern Pacific. SP continued to add to the CP network. The last of the Big Four died in 1900 and control of the SP and CP was acquired by E.H. Harriman. The last additions to the CP system were the Natron Cutoff and the Modoc Line, both built in the 1920s. It was common during this period for CP equipment to be lettered Southern Pacific and even carry SP reporting marks but have either a small C.P. or even CENTRAL PACIFIC lettering (3” or smaller in a corner of the car side.) Following the breakup of the Harriman empire, Southern Pacific fought to hold on to the Central Pacific. The two were so entangled in their routes down the Central Valley and north into Oregon that splitting them would have been unworkable. Central Pacific remained a paper railroad under the Southern Pacific flag until finally merged out of existence in 1959.

Thanks to Craig Ross of Bluford Shops for this history.

Brand/Importer Information: Micro-Trains is the brand name used by both Kadee Quality Products and Micro-Trains Line. For a history of the relationship between the brand and the two companies, please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide.

Manufacturer Information: Micro-Trains Line split off from Kadee Quality Products in 1990. Kadee Quality Products originally got involved in N-Scale by producing a scaled-down version of their successful HO Magne-Matic knuckle coupler system. This coupler was superior to the ubiquitous 'Rapido' style coupler due to two primary factors: superior realistic appearance and the ability to automatically uncouple when stopped over a magnet embedded in a section of track. The success of these couplers in N-Scale quickly translated to the production of trucks, wheels and in 1972 a release of ready-to-run box cars.

Micro-Trains Line Co. split off from Kadee in 1990 to form a completely independent company. For this reason, products from this company can appear with labels from both enterprises. Due to the nature of production idiosyncrasies and various random factors, the rolling stock from Micro-Trains can have all sorts of interesting variations in both their packaging as well as the products themselves. When acquiring an MTL product it is very important to understand these important production variations that can greatly enhance (or decrease) the value of your purchase.

Please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide