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Body Style Information: Features: 70-ton roller-bearing trucks;
Blackened metal wheels;
Two-piece underframe;
Separate brake cylinder;
Air reservoir;
End platforms;
AccuMate® couplers.
Prototype Information: 
This 53' boxcar was manufactured in the 1960s and '70s by Evans Company and was used primarily to haul produce, wood and paper products, and canned goods. This railcar is an insulated RBL (Railcar, Passenger Service, Insulated) featuring a 16 foot opening and double plug doors.
Road/Company Information: 
The Illinois Terminal has one of the most complicated histories for a railroad its size that I’ve ever seen. So without going into too much detail, the IT was established in 1890 when future US President William McKinley bought a streetcar line in the Champaign-Urbana, Illinois area. Within 20 years, he had an electrified interurban passenger and freight system linking Peoria, Bloomington, Danville, Champaign-Urbana, Decatur and Springfield with St. Louis. At its zenith, there was nearly 500 miles of line which included bypasses to keep the freight trains out of the city streets.
In 1904, McKinley went off to Congress and the Illinois Terminal became the Illinois Traction Company until the name reverted in 1937. The interurban passenger operations were significant and outlasted most other Midwestern lines. They were one of only 3 interurban lines in the country to operate sleepers. The principle sleeper route was between Peoria and St. Louis, which had no competition from the local steam roads. At the dawn of the Depression, IT had 124 interurban passenger cars, 22 steam locomotives, and 51 electric freight locomotives.
After the war, passenger service began to wane. By ’56, the intercity passenger service was gone and the last St. Louis area suburban service disappeared two years later. Diesels had begun to arrive in 1950, and by 1955, they had replaced steam and electrics in freight service. The earliest diesels were delivered in black with white trim which was later replaced with variations of bright green and yellow with silver trucks for the remainder of the line’s history.
Now just a hint of IT’s strange corporate machinations: in 1954, the Illinois-Missouri Terminal Railway was incorporated by B&O, C&EI, CB&Q, GM&O, Litchfield & Madison (later C&NW), IC, NKP, Frisco, and Wabash. The I-MT bought the IT 2 years later. The IT was then renamed “Liquidating Terminal” and the I-MT was renamed “Illinois Terminal.” NYC and RI would also buy slices of this IT. This was all for the purpose of providing neutral switching access in the St. Louis - Alton industrial belt for all of the city’s Class 1 carriers. Ironically, a decade before, the IT had been officially named “Liquidating Railway” and “Purchaser Railroad” for the brief period it took to transfer ownership at that time.
By 1980, IT had swapped nearly two thirds of their original mainline trackage for trackage rights on parallel Class 1’s rather than trying to upgrade their own. The freight was handled with 46 diesels with half a dozen SD39’s taking on the heaviest jobs. They also had over 2,600 freight cars. In 1981, the Illinois Terminal was purchased by Norfolk & Western and merged out of existence in 1982.
In 1904, McKinley went off to Congress and the Illinois Terminal became the Illinois Traction Company until the name reverted in 1937. The interurban passenger operations were significant and outlasted most other Midwestern lines. They were one of only 3 interurban lines in the country to operate sleepers. The principle sleeper route was between Peoria and St. Louis, which had no competition from the local steam roads. At the dawn of the Depression, IT had 124 interurban passenger cars, 22 steam locomotives, and 51 electric freight locomotives.
After the war, passenger service began to wane. By ’56, the intercity passenger service was gone and the last St. Louis area suburban service disappeared two years later. Diesels had begun to arrive in 1950, and by 1955, they had replaced steam and electrics in freight service. The earliest diesels were delivered in black with white trim which was later replaced with variations of bright green and yellow with silver trucks for the remainder of the line’s history.
Now just a hint of IT’s strange corporate machinations: in 1954, the Illinois-Missouri Terminal Railway was incorporated by B&O, C&EI, CB&Q, GM&O, Litchfield & Madison (later C&NW), IC, NKP, Frisco, and Wabash. The I-MT bought the IT 2 years later. The IT was then renamed “Liquidating Terminal” and the I-MT was renamed “Illinois Terminal.” NYC and RI would also buy slices of this IT. This was all for the purpose of providing neutral switching access in the St. Louis - Alton industrial belt for all of the city’s Class 1 carriers. Ironically, a decade before, the IT had been officially named “Liquidating Railway” and “Purchaser Railroad” for the brief period it took to transfer ownership at that time.
By 1980, IT had swapped nearly two thirds of their original mainline trackage for trackage rights on parallel Class 1’s rather than trying to upgrade their own. The freight was handled with 46 diesels with half a dozen SD39’s taking on the heaviest jobs. They also had over 2,600 freight cars. In 1981, the Illinois Terminal was purchased by Norfolk & Western and merged out of existence in 1982.
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".
Atlas has made a ton of wonderful products throughout the years and we often get questions one whether we have run a certain road name on a particular model. It should be noted that Atlas locomotives and rolling stock are greatly appreciated for their superior operating and running characteristics. Atlas products are also well known for their outstanding collectability not only due to their superior prototypical workmanship, details and decoration, but because there are relatively so few of them made. Each and every production run has been carefully built to market demand, meaning almost every piece in any given run is sold out by Atlas on arrival or shortly thereafter, thus creating a built in collectors market.
Atlas has made a ton of wonderful products throughout the years and we often get questions one whether we have run a certain road name on a particular model. It should be noted that Atlas locomotives and rolling stock are greatly appreciated for their superior operating and running characteristics. Atlas products are also well known for their outstanding collectability not only due to their superior prototypical workmanship, details and decoration, but because there are relatively so few of them made. Each and every production run has been carefully built to market demand, meaning almost every piece in any given run is sold out by Atlas on arrival or shortly thereafter, thus creating a built in collectors market.
Item created by: devsummers428 on 2020-02-07 16:05:53. Last edited by devsummers428 on 2020-05-07 00:00:00
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