Atlas - 50 004 334 - Covered Hopper, 5-Bay, Trinity 5660 Pressure Differential - Bombardier - 55082

Model Information: Introduced by BLMA in 2016, the first release became available for purchase in June of that year. Atlas acquired BLMA in late 2016, and began re-releasing this model in November of 2017.

These scale models feature injection-molded plastic bodies, etched metal roofwalks, wire cut levers, body-mounted knuckle couplers, trainline air hoses, metal wheels, Separately Applied Wire Cut Levers as well as crisply painted lettering.

Prototype History: TrinityRail’s extensive railcar product portfolio has a complete line of covered hopper cars including a 5,660 cubic foot pressure differential covered hopper car optimized for the transport of flour and other free flowing dry bulk commodities.

Road Name History: Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. The division is headquartered in Berlin, Germany and has many regional offices, production and development facilities worldwide.
The core of the Transportation division was formed with the purchase of Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) in 1975. In 2001 Bombardier Transportation acquired Adtranz from DaimlerChrysler, and became by many measurements the Western world's largest rail-equipment manufacturer. After the Adtranz acquisition in 2001, Bombardier Transportation moved its core manufacturing strategy for Europe with a few legacy plants in North America for the smaller North American market.

Bombardier supplies rail vehicles, systems and services to major transit and airport authorities across the world. Their installed fleet includes high-speed trains, commuter trains, locomotives, light-rail vehicles, subway vehicles, monorails, signaling systems, and fully automated transit systems.

Bombardier entered the U.S. rail transportation market in 1976 and won its first major U.S. contract for 825 subway cars in New York City in 1982. Today, Bombardier's rail business employs U.S. workers in locations across 12 states. This includes two manufacturing sites outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that build rail products for both domestic and export markets, and one in Plattsburgh, New York, that builds rail vehicles for U.S. customers.

Bombardier also operates a network of maintenance centers supporting commuter rail fleets in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Orlando, Miami, and San Diego. They provide operations and maintenance services for a light rail fleet in southern New Jersey as well. They manage operations and maintenance services for driverless transit systems in 14 U.S. cities, and have a vehicle and component refurbishment center in New York. Our U.S.-based parts distribution center for rail is in Plattsburgh, New York.

In January 2021, Alstom completed the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation.

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Brand/Importer Information: In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.