Pacific Western Rail Systems - 1107F - Boxcar, 40 Foot, PS-1 - Pacific Great Eastern - 4060

Specific Item Information: Road Numbers: PGE 4015, PGE 4058 & PGE 4060

Model Information: This is a model of a PS-1 boxcar with no roofwalk. Micro-Trains introduced this version of their popular steel boxcar in 1976. It features the same operating doors as the popular 20000 series boxcar with similar dimensions and details but this model is appropriate for hobbyists who model the post-roofwalk era.

Prototype History: The 40' Boxcar is widely known as one of the most popular freight cars used by railroads as they transitioned from steam to diesel. In particular the Pullman Standard or PS-1 design was one of the most popular and was widely used by North American railroads. These boxcars were built beginning in 1947 and share the same basic design, with certain elements such as door size, door style or roof type varying among the different railroads and production years. When production of these cars ceased in 1963, over 100,000 had been produced.

So just what is a PS-1? Well the simple answer is it is any boxcar built by Pullman Standard from 1947 on. The design changed over the years – sometimes subtly, sometimes for customer request, and sometimes in a larger way. In general, most PS-1’s built from 1947 to 1961 share the same dimensions and basic construction techniques. These cars all had a length of 40′, a height of 10’5″ or 10’6″, welded sides and ends and roof of Pullman’s own design. The greatest variation was in the size and style of doors used. Pullman Standard also offered 50′ and later 60′ boxcars – also with the PS-1 designation.

Road Name History: PGE launched in 1912 with a 12 mile line from North Vancouver, British Columbia to Horseshoe Bay where they picked up another 30 mile line reaching a point just north of Squamish. Six years later, the Province of British Columbia bought the railroad. By 1921, they had built north as far as Quesnel but that was it for the next 31 years. The south end of the line was abandoned in 1928.

In 1951, the Province pushed construction of the PGE north to Prince George in central B.C. and a connection with a Canadian National transcon line. This was the first physical connection with the North American rail network. Prior to that, interchange required car barges. In 1956, a rail link was finally completed to CN and CP in North Vancouver, finally closing the loop. In 1958, lines were built north from Prince George to Dawson Creek (and another CN connection.) In 1971, northward construction resumed to Fort St. John and finally Fort Nelson. This brought the mileage to 1,372 (putting it between Lehigh Valley and Iowa Chicago & Eastern in relative size.) The following year, 1972, the Pacific Great Eastern became the British Columbia Railway.

Brand/Importer Information: PWRS Retail strives to provide the highest level of customer service resulting in the highest level of customer satisfaction.
PWRS Retail Ltd. is a model railroad store, and we also do a lot of special runs.

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