Fox Valley - 19479-02 - Autorack, Enclosed, Bi-Level - Western Pacific - 913153

Specific Item Information: InterMountain Railway Company arranged with Fox Valley Models to produce sixteen paint schemes of what was formerly known as the Red Caboose Bi-Level Auto Rack.

Model Information: A few of these cars have operating end doors. They have truck-mounted MTL couplers. The tooling was originally created by Red Caboose, but was later sold to Fox Valley.

Prototype History: For many years, automobiles were carried in boxcars like other freight. The relative light weight of the cars for their size meant that these boxcars reached their volume capacity far faster than their weight limit. Loading cars through the side doors was also challenging and inefficient. End door boxcars helped with the loading, but could still only be loaded one at a time. Due to these limitations, modified flatcars, known as autoracks, began to appear in the 1960s. At first, these cars were open sided, with the cargo exposed, but later cars added the protection of aluminum sides to enclose the automobiles within.

Enclosed autoracks come in two basic configurations. Bi-level racks have a two decks: the floor of the flatcar itself, as well as one elevated deck. These cars can haul two rows of taller vehicles like vans and trucks. Tri-level racks have an extra deck and can carry three rows of conventional automobiles. Up until the 1990s, tri-level cars were far more common, but with the rise in popularity of the SUV, the number of bi-level cars has grown quickly over the past 20 years.

Road Name History: The Western Pacific Railroad (reporting mark WP) was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route directly competed with SP's portion of the Overland Route for rail traffic between Salt Lake City/Ogden, Utah and Oakland, California for nearly 80 years. In 1983 the Western Pacific was acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad. The Western Pacific was one of the original operators of the California Zephyr.

The original Western Pacific Railroad was established in 1865 to build the westernmost portion of the Transcontinental Railroad between San Jose, California (later Oakland, California), and Sacramento, California. This company was absorbed into the Central Pacific Railroad in 1870.

The second company to use the name Western Pacific Railroad was founded in 1903. Under the direction of George Jay Gould I, the Western Pacific was founded to provide a standard gauge track connection to the Pacific Coast for his aspiring Gould transcontinental system. The construction was financed by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, a company in the Gould system, which lost access to California due to the attempted acquisition of the Southern Pacific Railroad by the Rio Grande's main rival, the Union Pacific Railroad. The Western Pacific Railroad acquired the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad and began construction on what would become the Feather River Route. In 1909 it became the last major railroad completed into California. It used 85-lb rail on untreated ties, with no tie plates except on curves over one degree; in 1935 more than half of the main line still had its original rail, most of it having carried 150 million gross tons.

The Western Pacific was acquired in 1983 by Union Pacific Corporation, which in 1996 would purchase its long-time rival, the Southern Pacific Railroad. In July 2005 Union Pacific unveiled a brand new EMD SD70ACe locomotive, Union Pacific 1983, painted as an homage to the Western Pacific.

Brand/Importer Information: Fox Valley Models is a small supplier of model railroad and related products. FVM started by finding solutions to different challenges that model railroaders were faced with. Our first products resulted from a need to equip custom built passenger cars with tinted windows made of an ideal material; thin, flexible, easy to cut, simple to install, available in multiple colors and be affordable. We met those needs and even included a frosted version for the car's lavatory windows.

Other challenges inspired additional products including wooden grade crossings, trestles and different lineside structures. As our product line expands, input and requests from friends and customers help shape the product selection further.

Future products, under development, include more parts, structures, details and rolling stock. We strive to offer a good quality product at an affordable price.