InterMountain - 1048-3B - Covered Hopper, 2-Bay, ACF Centerflow - Burlington Northern Santa Fe - 405559,405572,405586

Prototype History: The 2-bay covered hopper first entered service in the 1950s. The cars handle loads such as cement, sand and similar denser bulk commodities. In the 1960s, American Car and Foundry introduced the Centerflow design. The Centerflow relies on the car's rounded body to provide structural strength without the added weight of bracing, as well as making gravity unloading easier. This 2-bay car came in a 2,970-cubic foot capacity.

The first ACF covered hoppers were rib-side cars, like many others of the time. In the 1960's ACF eliminated the supporting ribs and started building what they called the Center Flow(R) hopper with a smooth, rounded side. The cars were built at several ACF plants, but the Huntington, West Virginia plant built only Center Flow cars since their inception and was the primary builder.

Road Name History: The BNSF Railway (reporting mark BNSF) is one of the largest freight railroad networks in North America, second to the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) (its primary competitor for Western U.S. freight), and is one of seven North American Class I railroads. It has 48,000 employees, 32,500 miles (52,300 km) of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide high-speed links between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad.[2] The BNSF and UP have a duopoly on all transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western U.S. and share trackage rights over thousands of miles of track.

According to corporate press releases, the BNSF Railway is among the top transporters of intermodal freight in North America. It also hauls bulk cargo. For instance, the railroad hauls enough coal to generate roughly ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the railroad is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The creation of BNSF started with the formation of a holding company, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation on September 22, 1995. This new holding company then purchased the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (often called the "Santa Fe") and Burlington Northern Railroad, and formally merged the railways into the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway on December 31, 1996. On January 24, 2005, the railroad's name was officially changed to "BNSF Railway," using the initials of its original name.

In 1999, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and the Canadian National Railway announced their intention to merge and form a new corporation entitled North American Railways to be headquartered in Montreal, Canada. The United States' Surface Transportation Board (STB) placed a 15-month moratorium on all rail mergers, which ended this merger.

On November 3, 2009, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced it would acquire the remaining 77.4 percent of BNSF it did not already own for $100 per share in cash and stock - a deal valued at $44 billion. The company is investing an estimated $34 billion in BNSF and acquiring $10 billion in debt. On February 12, 2010, shareholders of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation voted in favor of the acquisition.

Brand/Importer Information: InterMountain was founded in 1985 by Fred Brummet. They got started in the model railroad business by producing O-Scale model kits. They got started in the N Scale business almost a decade later when in 1994 they introduced the 40-23 reefer car in kit form. Later, in 1998, they started producing RTR (Ready-to-Run) models. By the early 2000s, InterMountain phased out kit production in favor of the RTR models.

The InterMountain Railway company is located at 1224 Boston Ave in Longmont, CO. They are a manufacturer of HO, N and Z scale model trains. They have produced kits as well as RTR (Ready-To-Run) models. Their N Scale products include locomotives as well as rolling stock. Their rolling stock lineup includes Boxcars, Hoppers, Tank Cars, Reefers, Gondolas, Stock Cars and Flatcars.

Their locomotive releases have primarily been diesel units, with the one major exception being their series of AC-12 Cab Forward steam locos. Their diesel lineup includes F3's, F7's, F9's, SD40's, SD45's and FT units. They are known for quality and detail. They also release their rolling stock in larger varieties of road numbers than most of the other manufacturers.

Commissioner Information: Pacific Western Rail Systems (PWRS Retail Ltd.) is a model railroad store, and they also do a lot of special runs. They do most of their business by mail order. Please call ahead of time if you would like to visit in person.
Pacific Western Rail Systems is located south of Vancouver at 15515 24th Ave in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

Pacific Western Rail Systems (Co-Op), the club in Surrey, BC, created and developed PWRS Retailing, LTD. A lot of their original business was selling limited-run cars. PWRS Retailing, Ltd. is a business. It was formed because the club's relationship with suppliers grew from a few special run cars, to ordering some locomotives for members, to helping a few friends, to the point where it was a full-time job and a large investment. Volunteer labor was not sufficient. The main owners of the business are those individual members of the club who chose to invest their own money and time in the business. The club members each own a minority interest in the store, but the club and the store are separate entities. Some of the original goals, such as developing a showcase, interactive layout with a sales point for the public, remain works in progress, and the shareholders of PWRS plan other achievements for the future of model railroading as well.
PWRS is a company incorporated in the Province of British Columbia and is owned by over 130 individual model railroaders. Their shareholders live in Canada, USA, Switzerland, England, and Australia.