Specific Item Information: Road Numbers: 269051, 279336, 269079
Model Information: This model appears in the 1979 JMC catalog but not the 1973. I suspect it was introduced around 1976, but I would love confirmation. It was produced in Con-Cor's NEW Jersey facility and features a die-cast underframe and a standard 1st-generation injection-molded body. The tooling was likely moved to China as at least one modern Christmas Car was produced with this tooling.
Prototype History: Grain-Loading boxcars were variations on standardized boxcars built with specialized doors. Grain doors were the term used for the wooden, or in later years cardboard inserts mounted inside the regular doors to keep the grain from spilling out when the main door was opened. These allowed any suitable car to be used in grain service.
These cars were typically rebuilt from older cars and modified such that the door was boarded up from the inside and the grain was blown in over the top of the boards. These cars were all made obsolete by the appearance of specialized covered hoppers in the 1980s. At this point some of these cars were adapted for MOW service.
These cars were typically rebuilt from older cars and modified such that the door was boarded up from the inside and the grain was blown in over the top of the boards. These cars were all made obsolete by the appearance of specialized covered hoppers in the 1980s. At this point some of these cars were adapted for MOW service.
Road Name History: The Consolidated Rail Corporation, commonly known as Conrail (reporting mark CR), was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeast U.S. between 1976 and 1999. Conrail is a portmanteau of "consolidated" and "rail" from the name of the company.
The U.S. federal government created Conrail to take over the potentially profitable lines of multiple bankrupt carriers, including the Penn Central Transportation Company and Erie Lackawanna Railway. With the benefit of industry-wide regulatory requirements being reduced (via the 4R Act and the Staggers Act), Conrail began to turn a profit in the 1980s and was turned over to private investors in 1987. The two remaining Class I railroads in the East, CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), agreed in 1997 to split the system approximately equally, returning rail freight competition to the Northeast by essentially undoing the 1968 merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad that created Penn Central. Following Surface Transportation Board approval, CSX and NS took control in August 1998, and on June 1, 1999, began operating their portions of Conrail.
The U.S. federal government created Conrail to take over the potentially profitable lines of multiple bankrupt carriers, including the Penn Central Transportation Company and Erie Lackawanna Railway. With the benefit of industry-wide regulatory requirements being reduced (via the 4R Act and the Staggers Act), Conrail began to turn a profit in the 1980s and was turned over to private investors in 1987. The two remaining Class I railroads in the East, CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), agreed in 1997 to split the system approximately equally, returning rail freight competition to the Northeast by essentially undoing the 1968 merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad that created Penn Central. Following Surface Transportation Board approval, CSX and NS took control in August 1998, and on June 1, 1999, began operating their portions of Conrail.
Brand/Importer Information: Con-Cor has been in business since 1962. Many things have changed over time as originally they were a complete manufacturing operation in the USA and at one time had upwards of 45 employees. They not only designed the models,but they also built their own molds, did injection molding, painting, printing and packaging on their models.
Currently, most of their manufacturing has been moved overseas and now they import 90% of their products as totally finished goods, or in finished components. They only do some incidental manufacturing today within the USA.
Important Note: The Con-Cor product numbering can be very confusing. Please see here in the article how to properly enter Con-Cor stock numbers in the TroveStar database.
Currently, most of their manufacturing has been moved overseas and now they import 90% of their products as totally finished goods, or in finished components. They only do some incidental manufacturing today within the USA.
Important Note: The Con-Cor product numbering can be very confusing. Please see here in the article how to properly enter Con-Cor stock numbers in the TroveStar database.
Item created by: jmentzer3 on 2020-04-29 13:45:06. Last edited by gdm on 2020-12-27 07:25:06
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