Deluxe Innovations - 170711 - Gondola, Woodchip - Golden West Service

Specific Item Information: In WAL 2009 as 16071x

Model Information: This model comes in both "Smoothside" and "Shallow-Rib" variations.

Prototype History: Although they are one of the lightest loads carried by rail, they require one of the biggest cars! Wood chips are big business for today's saw mills and lumber operations. Once burned as scrap or fuel-on-site, these by-products of the lumber industry are purchased by paper companies and used to make paper.

Specially designed for the pulp and paper industry, these cars can hold up to 6,800 cubic feet of pulpwood chips. Open-top gondolas without doors, end doors or bottom gates are designed for top loading. Unloading can be performed by top, end or bottom, depending on car design.

Road Name History: Golden West was a financial invention -- SP wanted to get capital equipment off the books but the railroad needed the cars. So a corporation was invented that used borrowed money to "buy" the cars, refurbish them, and lease them back to the SP. In the long run this is basically a transfer of wealth from the railroad to the investors, but in the short run it helped the railroad by providing working capital. The UP ended the whole deal as soon as it could and that is why everything is reverting to original ownership.

Brand/Importer Information: DeLuxe Innovations is a "wholesale manufacturer" of model trains. We manufacture scale replica train models and sell them to hobby shops and distributors worldwide. 2013 marked the 20 year anniversary of DeLuxe Innovations brand trains. There are over 25 body styles in our product line and all of the cars in our single and multi-car packs have different road numbers. DeLuxe Innovations, Inc. is owned by Dave Ferrari, founder of Squeak N Products. We are located in Midland Park, New Jersey. When Dave purchased the business it was located in Burbank, California which would have been a bit of a long commute so the move to the East Coast was planned. Our first East Coast location was in Whippany, NJ along the Whippany River.

The business was started in 1993 by George Johnsen and Roberta Liebreich in Burbank, California. They had a philosophy that just wouldn't allow using a coal car as a "stand in" for a woodchip car, or printing any and all boxcar paint schemes on a PS-1. Starting with the release of the first ever etched metal parts for a ready to run car (1994's Twinstack's metal walkways) through the full dimension underframe and etched metal roofwalk (1996's 1944 AAR Boxcar) to the challenging RoadRailer system (2000), our products have been accurate to target the modeler or enthusiast.

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