Bachmann - 61098 - Streetcar, Electric, Brill Trolley - SEPTA - 36

Specific Item Information: 1997 Walthers N&Z Reference Book

Road Name History: SEPTA opened in 1964 to try to get a grip on the greater Philadelphia area’s transit issues. The following year they assumed responsibility for funneling subsidies to Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading for their commuter rail operations in the area. In 1968, they acquired the Philadelphia Transportation Company including their subway and elevated lines. Two years later they acquired Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company also known at the Red Arrow Lines. By 1976, Conrail had taken over operating the commuter rail operations under contract for SEPTA. As the decade closed, SEPTA began the slow process of taking over these operations themselves. This was completed on the first day of 1983. The electric streetcar lines are split between standard gauge and “Pennsylvania trolley gauge” of 5’ 2.5”. SEPTA's grey, blue and red paint scheme came in an unrespectable 9th place in the Worst Paint Schemes of North America as voted by the readers of Railroad of the Day.

Brand/Importer Information: Bachmann Industries (Bachmann Brothers, Inc.) is a Bermuda registered Chinese owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specializing in model railroading.

Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of its North American headquarters, Bachmann is today part of the Kader group, who model products are made at a Chinese Government joint-venture plant in Dongguan, China. Bachmann's brand is the largest seller, in terms of volume, of model trains in the world. Bachmann primarily specializes in entry level train sets, and premium offerings in many scales. The Spectrum line is the high quality, model railroad product line, offered in N, HO, Large Scale, On30, and Williams O gauge all aimed for the hobbyist market. Bachmann is the producer of the famous railroad village product line known as "Plasticville." The turnover for Bachmann model trains for the year ended 31 December 2006 was approximately $46.87 million, a slight increase of 3.36% as compared to 2005.