Micro-Trains - 994 01 060 - Flatcar, Bulkhead - Oregon Pacific & Eastern - 16001

Prototype History: Among the earliest types of freight cars, flatcars continue to serve as a valuable part of railroading. Flatcars are used to move a wide variety of loads which do not require protection from weather. These cars, are constructed with steel underframes, wood floors and stake pockets on the sides and ends for fastening tie-downs that keep loads from shifting.

Bulkhead flat cars are a specialized type of flatcar designed which includes reinforced end-walls (bulkheads) to prevent loads from shifting past the ends of the car.

Road Name History: OP&E was established in 1912 and in 1914 purchased the line of the Oregon & Southeastern between a connection with the Southern Pacific at Cottage Grove and Wildwood, Oregon 18 miles away. The Wildwood end was later cut back to Culp Creek. Traffic was primarily forest products. The railroad was owned by a succession of timber companies until 1970 when Georgia-Pacific sold it to Kyle Railways who then sold a half interest to Bohemia, Inc (a customer on the line.) During this period, OP&E operated excursion trains with former Northwestern Pacific RDC’s. Kyle’s 2-8-2 also pulled excursions on the line. The movies Emperor of the North Pole and Stand By Me were both filmed along the OP&E. In 1987, Kyle sold their half to Bohemia. The last train ran in 1994 and the line was abandoned.

Brand/Importer 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.