LBF Company - 5352 - Gondola, 65 Foot, Mill - Chicago & North Western - 4 Different Available

Model Information: E&C shops originally designed this tooling. 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 are available with a variety of different loads. Examples can be found with E&C, LBF and Hubert's branding. InterMountain (as of 4/2019) has not yet produced a release though they definitely now have possession of the molds.

Prototype History: Generally used to haul scrap metal and loose bulk materials, gondola cars vary in length and side heights. Mill Gondola cars are more commonly used for high-density commodities and have a flat bottom while regular Gondola cars are most commonly used for coal or crushed aggregates and can have a flat or tub bottom configuration.

Steel-sided 65' mill gondolas date back to at least the 1940s, however specialized rib-sided "mill" gondolas are a relatively modern design. These cars are intended for use with the steel trade, and they are used to transport just about anything that can be loaded using an overheard crane. They date from the 1970s forward.

Road Name History: The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (reporting mark CNW) was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s.

Until 1972, when the company was sold to its employees, it was named the Chicago and North Western Railway. The C&NW became one of the longest railroads in the United States as a result of mergers with other railroads, such as the Chicago Great Western Railway, Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway and others.

By 1995, track sales and abandonment had reduced the total mileage back to about 5,000. The majority of the abandoned and sold lines were lightly trafficked branches in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Large line sales, such as those that resulted in the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad further helped reduce the railroad to a mainline core with several regional feeders and branches.

The company was purchased by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in April 1995 and ceased to exist.

Brand/Importer Information: The LBF company was based in Roseburg Oregon founded by Fred Becker. LBF was the successor company to E&C Shops, also founded by Becker. LBF also did business under the name USA Plastics. USA Plastics/LBF opened for business in 1993. They produced N Scale models using toolings purchased from the E&C Company. Later, in 1998, LBF folded and the toolings were sold to Hubert's Model RR Manufacturing group which was also located in Roseburg. Hubert had been one of Becker's partners in LBF/USA Plastics. Later, when Hubert's operation folded, the toolings were acquired by InterMountain.