Kato - 8013-2 - Tank Car, Single Dome, Taki 43000 - Pennsylvania - 71431

Specific Item Information: Japanese prototype with car number. Usual high quality Kato product.

Prototype History: JNR Taki 43000 (Kokutetsu Taki 43000) is a gasoline-only freight car (tank car) manufactured from 1967. It is a privately owned freight car owned by Japan Oil Terminal or Japan Oil Transportation, and has been incorporated into the Japan National Railway (JNR) initially, and after the privatization of JNR in 1987, it has been registered on the Japan Freight Railway (JR Freight).
This description also applies to the Taki 44000, a dedicated tanker for petroleum products, manufactured simultaneously with the same body structure.

Road Name History: The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR) was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy," the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The PRR was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U.S. for the first half of the twentieth century. Over the years, it acquired, merged with or owned part of at least 800 other rail lines and companies. At the end of 1925, it operated 10,515 miles of rail line; in the 1920s, it carried nearly three times the traffic as other railroads of comparable length, such as the Union Pacific or Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. Its only formidable rival was the New York Central (NYC), which carried around three-quarters of PRR's ton-miles.

At one time, the PRR was the largest publicly traded corporation in the world, with a budget larger than that of the U.S. government and a workforce of about 250,000 people. The corporation still holds the record for the longest continuous dividend history: it paid out annual dividends to shareholders for more than 100 years in a row.

In 1968, PRR merged with rival NYC to form the Penn Central Transportation Company, which filed for bankruptcy within two years. The viable parts were transferred in 1976 to Conrail, which was itself broken up in 1999, with 58 percent of the system going to the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), including nearly all of the former PRR. Amtrak received the electrified segment east of Harrisburg.

Brand/Importer Information: Kato Precision Railroad Models (関水金属株式会社 Sekisui Kinzoku Kabushikigaisha) is a Japanese manufacturer of model railroad equipment in N and HO scales. The Tokyo-based company manufactures models based on Japanese prototypes (such as the Shinkansen bullet train) for the Japanese market, North American prototypes for the North American market and European high-speed trains for European market.
The Kato (pronounced kah-toe) model railroad companies were founded by Yuji Kato, father of current president Hiroshi Kato, of the parent company Sekisui Kinzoku Co., Ltd.

The design and distribution of models for the North American market are handled by their U.S. subsidiary, Kato USA, located in Schaumburg, Illinois.
The design of special models for the European market is handled for some of them by their partner, Lemke, whereas the general distribution of Kato products in Europe is handled by NOCH; both companies are located in Germany.
As a result, some Kato European models are sold as Kato Lemke and others as Kato (alone).