Micro-Trains - 146 00 330 - Passenger Car, Heavyweight, Pullman Diner - Southern - 3162

Specific Item Information: This 80’ heavyweight diner car is pullman green with gold lettering and runs on 6-wheel passenger trucks. Built in 1925 for Southern, this dining car was used in Florida service and on extra trains not adhering to the regularly published schedule. Containing 12 dining tables and a full kitchen, these cars were fully outfitted for luxury dining.

Prototype History: In 1868. the Pullman Co. unveiled the Delmonico, a plush dining car named for the famous New York City restaurant. The age of dining on the rails was born. The 1940s and 1950s were the golden age of train travel and also the pinnacle of railroad dining car operations. For many passengers, the ambiance of the dining car was the reason they rode the train. Each railroad had its own fleet of dining cars where travelers were made to feel like royalty as they gazed over menu offerings that included roast leg of lamb with mint sauce, oven-roasted chicken, or pan-fried trout. Freshly baked desserts and fine wines often accompanied dinner. Food was prepared by specially trained chefs and served by attentive uniformed waiters.

Pullman was the leading manufacturer of the heavyweight passenger car in the 1st half of the 20th century. These cars were made of concrete and steel and were VERY heavy.

Road Name History: The Southern Railway (reporting mark SOU) (also known as Southern Railway Company) was a US class 1 railroad that was based in the Southern United States. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894.

At the end of 1970 Southern operated 6,026 miles (9,698 km) of railroad, not including its Class I subsidiaries AGS (528 miles or 850 km) CofG (1729 miles) S&A (167 miles) CNOTP (415 miles) GS&F (454 miles) and twelve Class II subsidiaries. That year Southern itself reported 26111 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 110 million passenger-miles; AGS reported 3854 and 11, CofG 3595 and 17, S&A 140 and 0, CNO&TP 4906 and 0.3, and GS&F 1431 and 0.3

The railroad joined forces with the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) in 1982 to form the Norfolk Southern Corporation. The Norfolk Southern Corporation was created in response to the creation of the CSX Corporation (its rail system was later transformed to CSX Transportation in 1986). The Southern Railway was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway in 1990 and continued under that name ever since. Seven years later in 1997 the railroad absorbed the Norfolk and Western Railway, ending the Norfolk and Western's existence as an independent railroad.

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