Aztec - MB2047-18 - Boxcar, 50 Foot, Steel, Hi-Cube - Minnesota Brewing Company - 55103

Specific Item Information: .

Series Information: Aztec’s Micro Brew Cars. This very popular series of N scale billboard style freight cars features the colorful logos of authentic micro breweries from across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
A total of 43 cars have been released between 1996 and 2006, using body styles from various manufacturers: 2 Boxcars from Atlas, 1 Boxcar from Life-Like, 1 Boxcar from MDC Roundhouse and 1 Covered Hopper from Atlas.
These cars are obviously fictitious; however their road letters correspond to the initials of the brewery followed by X, denoting a non-railroad owner, and the road number is the ZIP code of the brewery for U.S. ones.

Model Information: This MDC Roundhouse body style models a 50 Foot Hi-Cube Boxcar with a single plug door, riveted sides and no roofwalk. the model is reasonably close in detail to a typical Plate-F prototype boxcar such as is made by Greenbrier. The molds were acquired by Athearn/Horizon Hobbies in 2006 and are being re-released with upgrades (body-mount couplers and metal wheelsets) as of late (2017).

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.

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.

The 50 foot hi-cube boxcar fleet is similar to a 50 foot standard car with an additional 2 feet of interior height. This is known as a "Plate F" boxcar. 50 foot Hi-Cube boxcars typically have a load capacity of 100 tons and are equipped with cushion underframes and plug doors. These cars are used primarily in rolled paper service as the extra height is needed to accommodate the larger rolls that are now commonplace. They can also be used for similar commodities handled in other 50’ or 60’ boxcars.

Road Name History: The Pig's Eye Brewing Company, established in 2002 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, brew the "Pig's Eye" brand of beers and the "Pit Bull" beer. The company was established when the former Minnesota Brewing Company, which had introduced the beer in 1992, folded due to financial troubles. The beer is named after Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, a probably French-Canadian man who became the first resident of Saint Paul and operated a tavern out of Fountain Cave near what is now downtown.

Brand/Importer Information: Aztec Manufacturing is an aftermarket decorator originally based in San Mateo, CA, now in Carson City, NV.
Historically, Aztec was known for their excellent quality aftermarket decorations of other manufacturers' rolling stock. Aztec repainted models by many different manufacturers including Life-Like, Atlas and others.
In the recent years, Aztec's focus is on track cleaning cars DCC-Ready frames for locomotives and high quality pad-printed freight cars.
Following retirement of its owner, Aztec closed its business in 2018.