Eastern Seaboard Models - 225802 - Boxcar, 40 Foot, XIH - Conrail - 350563

Specific Item Information: CONRAIL PATCHED PENN CENTRAL

Model Information: This model was introduced by ESM in 2010. The model is injection molded plastic with etched brass roofwalk and brake platform. These cars ride at the prototypically-correct height above the rails, on Micro-Trains® Bettendorf trucks fitted with low-profile wheelsets. Similar to designs in HO scale, the body-mounted coupler pockets are integrated into the underframe and body. The model is equipped with Micro-Trains® 1015 coupler knuckles. The models (at least the ones I have held) use Fox Valley metal wheels.

Prototype History: In 1950, Bangor & Aroostook commissioned Magor Car Company to build 300 insulated heated plug-door boxcars for potato service. An additional 150 cars were ordered from Pacific Car & Foundry in 1953. The cars were equipped with ventilators and charcoal heaters. New Haven piggybacked an order of 100 cars with the PC&F lot and factory-decorated its cars in the State of Maine scheme to save money on the purchase. The cars carried potatos in the winter and paper products in the summer.

Road Name History: The Consolidated Rail Corporation, commonly known as Conrail (reporting mark CR), was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeast U.S. between 1976 and 1999. Conrail is a portmanteau of "consolidated" and "rail" from the name of the company.

The U.S. federal government created Conrail to take over the potentially profitable lines of multiple bankrupt carriers, including the Penn Central Transportation Company and Erie Lackawanna Railway. With the benefit of industry-wide regulatory requirements being reduced (via the 4R Act and the Staggers Act), Conrail began to turn a profit in the 1980s and was turned over to private investors in 1987. The two remaining Class I railroads in the East, CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), agreed in 1997 to split the system approximately equally, returning rail freight competition to the Northeast by essentially undoing the 1968 merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad that created Penn Central. Following Surface Transportation Board approval, CSX and NS took control in August 1998, and on June 1, 1999, began operating their portions of Conrail.

Brand/Importer Information: Eastern Seaboard Models was founded in 1987. They are a manufacturer of N scale reproductions of North American eastern railroad prototypes. The have both decorated other manufacturers' models as well as designed body styles of their own. They are located at PO Box 301, Waldwick, New Jersey 07463-0301 U.S.A.

Their 2016 lineup includes ready-to-run gondolas, well cars, hoppers, tank cars and boxcars. They also produce craftsman quality kits in their "Made in America" series. ESM products may be purchased directly from their website.