Con-Cor - 0001-00011N - Boxcar, 50 Foot, Steel - Merry Christmas - 2011

Series Information: In traditional festive legend, Santa Claus's reindeer pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve. The commonly cited names of the eight fictional reindeer are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen, although Donder is often called Donner. They are based on those used in the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (commonly called "The Night Before Christmas") by Clement Clarke Moore, arguably the basis of the reindeers' popularity.
From Wikipedia

Con-Cor released the 8 cars of series between 2010 and 2017, as part of their annual Christmas car program. A ninth car featuring Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer was released in 2018.

Model Information: This model was originally manufactured by Kato for Con-Cor. Manufacturing was later moved to Con-Cor's Chicago facility. The model sort-of resembles the PRR C41 prototype.

These models have issues, and I would advise most modelers and runners to stay away. First, they use a wonky clip-in truck that is not easy to swap out for MTL (or other knuckle-coupler equipped) trucks. For all of the samples of this model I have seen, the metal underframes, though nicely detailed, arrive out-of-the-box scuffed. The early Kato versions come with some very nice low-profile nickel-silver plated wheels, but the Con-Cor made version have some of the WORST wheelsets I have ever seen. They are plastic, low-profile jobs which have casting flaws that make them run horribly. Since you cannot swap the trucks easily, you simply cannot run this junk. Perhaps Con-Cor improved their wheelset quality in later runs, but the ones I looked at (VNOR 7739) are awful. Furthermore the Con-Cor releases have LOWER quality pad-printing than the earlier Kato releases. Unfortunately, the Kato releases used a high-gloss paint that looks terrible. So no matter which version you get, it will be disappointing.

Prototype History: While the 40-foot boxcar was a standard design, and it did come in different setups depending on the type of freight being transported, it was not large enough for efficient mass commodity transportation. The 50-foot boxcar made its first appearance in the 1930s and steadily grew in popularity over the years, which further improved redundancies by allowing for even more space within a given car. Today, the 50-footer remains the common boxcar size. After the second world war ended, and steel became once again readily available, steel became the go-to choice for construction of boxcars. Pullman Standard and ACF were some of the most prolific builders of these cars.

These cars came in many variations. For instance, double-doors became practical for large/wide loads, end-doors useful for very large lading such as automobiles, and interior tie-down equipment was helpful in keeping sensitive products from being damaged in-transit. In 1954 the Santa Fe developed its "Shock Control" (and later "Super Shock Control") technology for new boxcars with upgraded suspension systems to further improve the ride-quality and reduce the chance of damaging freight.

In the 1960s, the flush, "plug" style sliding door was introduced as an option that provides a larger door to ease loading and unloading of certain commodities. The tight-fitting doors are better insulated and allow a car's interior to be maintained at a more even temperature.

Road Name History: Well, it is not really a company, but there are a ton of model railroad cars which sport Christmas as the Railroad.

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed most commonly on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is prepared for by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night; in some traditions, Christmastide includes an Octave. The traditional Christmas narrative, the Nativity of Jesus, delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies; when Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then disseminated the message furthermore. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated religiously by the vast majority of Christians, as well as culturally by a number of non-Christian people, and is an integral part of the holiday season, while some Christian groups reject the celebration. In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family.

Brand/Importer Information: Con-Cor has been in business since 1962. Many things have changed over time as originally they were a complete manufacturing operation in the USA and at one time had upwards of 45 employees. They not only designed the models,but they also built their own molds, did injection molding, painting, printing and packaging on their models.

Currently, most of their manufacturing has been moved overseas and now they import 90% of their products as totally finished goods, or in finished components. They only do some incidental manufacturing today within the USA.

Important Note: The Con-Cor product numbering can be very confusing. Please see here in the article how to properly enter Con-Cor stock numbers in the TroveStar database.