North American Railcar - 11-11006006-07 - Gondola, Coal, 4000 cf - Procor - 102580

Model Information: PWRS introduced this body style in 2008.

Prototype History: The 4000 cu ft. gondola was the preferred car style of CN for transporting coal from five Alberta mines to either the west coast ports for export or to ports on Lake Superior (Thunder Bay, Marmion Lake) for use by Ontario Hydro.

The first cars were built in 1970 for CN as CN 199000 series and the first eight in the series were built as double rotary cars with a rotating drawbar on each end. The cars had a capacity of 263,000 lbs and a light weight of about 58,000 lbs, giving them a load limit of approximately 205,000 lbs. Thus the cars could carry a cargo of 100 tons with a little room for overloads. When the maximum capacity was increased to 286, 000 lbs, all of the coal cars had the load limit increased by 23, 000 lbs. (The SULX cars kept their original load limit).

The cars also had a load-empty feature that increased the braking capacity of the cars when loaded, similar to a retainer. The purpose was to reduce the brake pressure when the cars were empty in order to reduce the number of skidded wheels while providing sufficient braking capacity when loaded.

From PWRS

Road Name History: Procor is a Canadian company producing railway shipping cars. It is Canada's largest private rail car rental fleet, with more than 21,000 conventional and special-purpose tank and freight cars. Linked to Sparling Tank Car of Toronto, Procor was founded in 1952 as Products Tank Line Limited and became an affiliate of US-based Union Tank Car Company. Within a few years they had become a major player in Canadian tank car operations through the acquisition of the Transit Co./Imperial Oil fleet in 1955, along with a number of smaller operators such as Canadian Industries Ltd. circa late 1956. The company, which shortened its name to Procor in 1962, is headquartered in Oakville, Ontario.

Brand/Importer Information: North American Railcar is a manufacturer of N Scale model rolling stock. NAR is a subsidiary of Pacific Western Rail Systems, a hobby shop based in Surrey, British Columbia, founded by owner Dan Huberman. PWRS has been working with Micro-Trains for decades producing special runs of MTL cars for sale exclusively through their store. In 2008, PWRS started production of their own body styles - which are also exclusively sold through the PWRS storefront under the brand name North American Railcar. As of 2016 they produce three body styles each with several variations to achieve prototypical accuracy. In 2017 they announced production of a fourth body style.