ExactRail - EN-51113-5 - Gondola, 65 Foot, Mill - Norfolk Southern - 202474

Model Information: Designed, engineered, and tooled in the United States, these models have factory installed Micro-Trains Line stock number 1015 couplers, narrow-style, body mounted draft gear boxes, with shank wedges, striker casting and full nut and bolt detail, ExactRail's own Barber ASF 100 Ton Ride Control trucks, CNC machined 36" metal wheel-sets with steel axles, accurate lettering styles and logotypes, razor sharp printing, and true to life paint colors. This is a fairly basic model, although the molding is fine enough that it qualifies as a 3rd generation model. It lacks interior detail and doesn't have any separately applied detail other than the brake wheel. The paint detail on the trucks with the body mount couplers and nice quality wheels make it a very nice model (especially at this price), but you should likely add a load to it to make it look as good as it can.

One thing that puzzled me is that the website lists these as 'Thrall' Gondolas, whereas the individual packages denote them as the prototype being 'Trinity'. Apparently this is because the prototypes were originally made by Thrall, but Thrall is now (as of 2001) a subsidiary of Trinity Industries.

Prototype History: Generally used to haul scrap metal and loose bulk materials, gondola cars vary in length and side heights. Mill Gondola cars are more commonly used for high-density commodities and have a flat bottom while regular Gondola cars are most commonly used for coal or crushed aggregates and can have a flat or tub bottom configuration.

Steel-sided 65' mill gondolas date back to at least the 1940s, however specialized rib-sided "mill" gondolas are a relatively modern design. These cars are intended for use with the steel trade, and they are used to transport just about anything that can be loaded using an overheard crane. They date from the 1970s forward.

Road Name History: The Norfolk Southern Railway (reporting mark NS) is a Class I railroad in the United States; began in 1982 and 1990. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 36,200 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia, and has rights in Canada from Buffalo to Toronto and over the Albany to Montreal route. NS is responsible for maintaining 29,000 miles, with the remainder being operated under trackage rights from other parties responsible for maintenance. The common commodity hauled on the railroad is coal from mines in Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The railroad also offers the most intermodal network in eastern North America.

NS is a major transporter of domestic and export coal. The railroad's major sources of the mineral are located in: Pennsylvania's Cambria and Indiana counties, as well as the Monongahela Valley; West Virginia; and the Appalachia regions of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. In Pennsylvania, NS also receives coal through interchange with R.J. Corman Railroad/Pennsylvania Lines at Cresson, Pennsylvania, originating in the "Clearfield Cluster". NS's export of West Virginia bituminous coal, begins transport on portions of the well-engineered former Virginian Railway and the former N&W double-tracked line in Eastern Virginia to its Lambert's Point coal pier on Hampton Roads at Norfolk. Coal transported by NS is thus exported to steel mills and power plants around the world. The company is also a major transporter of auto parts and completed vehicles. It operates intermodal container and TOFC (trailer on flat car) trains, some in conjunction with other railroads. NS was the first railway to employ roadrailers, which are highway truck trailers with interchangeable wheel sets.

The Norfolk Southern Railway's parent Norfolk Southern Corporation is a Norfolk, Virginia-based parent company. Norfolk Southern Corporation was incorporated on July 23, 1980 in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbols NSC. The primary business function of Norfolk Southern Corporation is the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods across the Southeast, East, and Midwest United States. The corporation further facilitates transport to the remainder of the United States through interchange with other rail carriers while also serving overseas transport needs by serving several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. As of October 1, 2014 Norfolk Southern Corporation's total public stock value was slightly over $34.5 billion.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: Dedicated to creating replicas that continue to define standards for precision and authenticity, through its unique expertise in mold creation and product design, Provo, Utah based ExactRail has produced some of the industry's most acclaimed models; true benchmarks for quality over the last decade.

With the N-Scale Series, ExactRail offers precision micro-tooled replicas in 1:160 scale. Each model features fine-scale detail, expert hand-assembly and the finest finish-work in the industry. ExactRail's N-scale Series offers enthusiasts innovative small scale replicas with unprecedented quality and design.