Micro-Trains - 800 00 140 - Boxcar, 30 Foot, Narrow Gauge - Austin & Northwestern - 7047

Model Information: Micro-Trains introduced a Nn3 narrow gauge range in 1988 that includes a 30' boxcar, a 30' gondola, a 30' flat car and a caboose. The models are re-run occasionally since then.

Prototype History: A class of 750 boxcars, 30ft long and with a capacity of 25 tons, has been delivered to the D&RG by the American Car & Foundry in 1904; they were numbered from 3000 to 3749. In 1926, these boxcars were extensively rebuilt, keeping only a few iron parts from the original boxcars, but the new cars retained the same numbers. A large part of these boxcars remained in revenue service until the end of freight operations on the Rio Grande narrow gauge in 1968. Many boxcars of this class have been preserved today, including 45 on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, about twenty in their original condititon on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (plus 22 other converted to passenger cars), 9 at the Georgetown Loop Railroad and another 4 at the Colorado Railroad Museum. All the Rio Grande boxcars were completely made of wood (body and frame), except for numbers 3000-3749 which received a steel roof during their 1926 rebuilding.

Road Name History: The Austin and Northwestern Railroad began construction on a rail line west of Austin, Texas, USA, toward Llano on April 20, 1881. The railroad was originally built as a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line with plans to connect to the Texas and Pacific Railway at Abilene. Construction reached Burnet, Texas, by 1882 and the line was later extended to Granite Mountain by 1885 - when the railroad was contracted to haul pink granite for the new Texas State Capitol building in Austin.
The line was converted to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge and by 1892 the railroad was extended to Llano. In 1901 the Texas legislature approved the merger of the Austin and Northwestern and the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. The Texas and New Orleans Railroad absorbed the line in 1934 and it was later absorbed into the Southern Pacific Company.
In 1986, Southern Pacific elected to abandon the entire 163-mile (262 km) Giddings to Llano line. It was acquired by Capital Metro-City of Austin who approached shortline group RailTex to operate freight service. RailTex established the Austin & Northwestern to do just that. That arrangement lasted until 1996 when Longhorn Railway became the operator.
From 2000 to 2007, the route was operated by Austin Area Terminal Railroad. As of 2008 the railroad was still owned by Capital Metro (Austin's transit authority) and freight service operated by the Austin Western Railroad.

Brand/Importer Information: Micro-Trains is the brand name used by both Kadee Quality Products and Micro-Trains Line. For a history of the relationship between the brand and the two companies, please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide.

Manufacturer Information: Micro-Trains Line split off from Kadee Quality Products in 1990. Kadee Quality Products originally got involved in N-Scale by producing a scaled-down version of their successful HO Magne-Matic knuckle coupler system. This coupler was superior to the ubiquitous 'Rapido' style coupler due to two primary factors: superior realistic appearance and the ability to automatically uncouple when stopped over a magnet embedded in a section of track. The success of these couplers in N-Scale quickly translated to the production of trucks, wheels and in 1972 a release of ready-to-run box cars.

Micro-Trains Line Co. split off from Kadee in 1990 to form a completely independent company. For this reason, products from this company can appear with labels from both enterprises. Due to the nature of production idiosyncrasies and various random factors, the rolling stock from Micro-Trains can have all sorts of interesting variations in both their packaging as well as the products themselves. When acquiring an MTL product it is very important to understand these important production variations that can greatly enhance (or decrease) the value of your purchase.

Please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide