Hubert's - HN5007 - Gondola, Woodchip, Welded Sides - Willamette & Pacific - 74003

Model Information: E&C shops originally designed this tooling in the late 1960's. It was later acquired by LBF and then by Hubert's and as of recently by InterMountain. Cars come factory equipped with Micro-Trains® trucks/couplers and come with a loads. Examples can be found with E&C, LBF and Hubert's branding. InterMountain (as of 2/2020) has not yet produced a release though announced under its 'Value Line by InterMountain' range.

Prototype History: Wood chips are used to make paper, and particle board and sometimes even burned as fuel. The early woodship cars were built by adding high sides to gondolas, or can-opener-ing boxcars (cutting the roofs off and welding up the doors).
While this worked for a while (some of them are still in service), the 1960's saw the introduction of specialized gondolas and hoppers designed specifically for wood chips.
Large 60- to 65- foot gondolas became the preferred style. Most are around 6,000 to 6,800 cf capacity. FMC, NCS and Pacific Car & Foundry built a specific type with smooth sides and interior braces.

Road Name History: This line began as a 1993 spinoff from Southern Pacific, serving 225 miles of routes in Oregon. A couple of years later, they became part of the Genesee & Wyoming family of shortlines. The two longest segments ran from Albany to Toledo (75 miles) and Monroe to Corvallis and Newburg (85 miles.) WPRR also had 41 miles of trackage rights on SP between Albany and Eugene. When some adjoining lines were acquired, they were placed under a subsidiary called Portland & Western which was a paper railroad with WPRR actually doing the operating. By 2000, more acquisitions brought the WPRR into Oregon's population centers. At that point, parent Genesee & Wyoming decided Portland & Western would become the primary name of the operation and Willamette & Pacific would become the paper railroad.

Text courtesy of Bluford Shops

Brand/Importer Information: Hubert's Model Railroad Mfg Corp group was located in Roseburg, Oregon and then Cincinnati, Ohio. Frank Hubert purchased the toolings of the LBF company (a.k.a. USA Plastics), that itself succeeded to E&C Shops, both founded by Fred Becker. Hubert had been one of Becker's partners in LBF/USA Plastics. Later, when Hubert's operation folded by the end of 2007, the toolings were acquired by InterMountain.
Like its predecessors, Hubert's released every road name with 12 to 48 different road numbers, offering the cars in 6- or 12-packs.