Micro-Trains - 142 53 400 - Passenger Car, Heavyweight, Pullman Sleeper 12-1 - Atlantic Coast Line - Poplar Terrace

Specific Item Information: Car Names/Numbers: Cape Fortunas, Cape Sable, Poplar Valley, Poplar Terrace, 1058

Prototype History: Pullman was the leading producer of heavyweight coaches during the 1st half of the twentieth century. They were known for the quality and luxury of the passenger cars. The observation car was a common sight on heavyweight consists during 1920s and 1930s.

Sleeping, parlor and lounge cars of riveted carbon steel body-frame construction were built, owned and operated by the Pullman Company. These cars were better known by the name "Heavyweight Cars." Between March 1907 and February 1931 there were 8011 cars built.

The first steel passenger cars were 12-1 sleepers, such as this Plan 2410, which are simply a steel adaptation of the "Varnish" Plan 1963 car - "gothic" arched windows and all. 12-1s of the Plan 2410 and 3410 are one of the relatively few steel designs in true mass production: being churned out in 100+ lots for a total over 4000 units: 40% of the entire Pullman steel fleet.

The spread of accommodations is interesting: the lowest level of Pullman space - the open section - together with the best - a drawingroom. Sleeper cars have a relatively low occupancy capacity, and Pullman has long held to the open sections for maximum payload. The drawingroom on 12-1s is actually intended for families: the High And Mighty prefer all-room cars.

Some typical features of these cars are the two large restrooms (the mens room - at left - is also the smoking lounge while the ladies have a vanity table in their restroom). The drawingroom has an arrangement similar to the sections, plus a sofa which makes up into a third berth. The drawingroom, of course, has its own facility. Externally we see that the traditional clerestory vents have been replaced with the new sheet metal ventilators. These use the forward motion of the car to create a draft through the fore-and-aft openings which, in turn, causes a venturi effect drawing fresh air into the car through the center openings.

Road Name History: ACL’s roots go back to the Petersburg Railroad in 1830. By the 1870s, their successors and some affiliated lines began using Atlantic Coast Line as a nickname and through a number of consolidations Atlantic Coast Line became the official name by 1900. Atlantic Coast Line funneled traffic from northern Virginia (and its connections to the northeastern trunk lines via the RF&P) down through the Carolinas, Georgia and into Florida as far as Naples on the Gulf Coast. Acquisitions after the war added routes from Columbia and Spartanburg, South Carolina to the coast and lines linking Atlanta, Birmingham and Montgomery to southern Georgia and Florida.

At that point, the Atlantic Coast Line boasted 5,743 miles of railroad, 629 locomotives, 361 passenger cars, and 31,284 freight cars. To put that into perspective for you western guys, that's four times the size of Western Pacific.

ACL was the premier route for New York to Florida passenger traffic. The ACL's "Champion" left New York on the Pennsy, was handed off to the RF&P from Washington to Richmond, ran on the ACL to Jacksonville, FL and was then handed off to Florida East Coast for the ride to Miami. The "West Coast Champion" skipped the FEC as ACL went all the way to Tampa on Florida's Gulf Coast on its own rails. ACL also forwarded some Chicago to Florida trains via connections. Much of the system was relatively flat, allowing ACL to use 4-6-2’s in fast freight service (one of the few railroads to do this.)

ACL is best known for its purple and silver diesels. This scheme was used on freight, passenger, and switcher power until 1957. By that time, it became clear that these colors were difficult to maintain, so the ACL switched to racing stallion black with yellow “tack.” The Atlantic Coast Line merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1967 to form the Seaboard Coast Line.

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