Stonebridge Models - 8006 - Boxcar, 55 Foot, Thrall All-Door - Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern - 2012

Prototype History: Lumber has always been difficult to ship by rail. Box cars provide protection but are hard to load and unload. Flat cars eliminate those problems, but loads have to be tarped to protect them from the weather.

In 1967, Thrall took the best of both ideas and created a unique car that would solve these problems. The All-Door Box Car had no true sidewalls, but was equipped with four large doors which could be opened in pairs. This provided a 25' wide opening that made loading and unloading a breeze! And since it was a box car, the loads were completely enclosed for the entire trip. As the housing boom began in the 1970s, the cars became a common sight at lumber mills and yards across America.

Thrall Door boxcars arrived in Detroit in the early 70s. They were used to carry hardboard products to Ford plants in the Detroit area.

Road Name History: MN&S launched in 1918 to take over the former Dan Patch Lines that had fallen into bankruptcy two years before. MN&S inherited the Dan Patch nickname (named after a race horse.) The line was 87 miles long, running from Minneapolis south to Northfield, Minnesota. The new owners promoted the line as a bypass around the Twin City’s terminals. MN&S connected with the original Soo Line at Crystal, Minneapolis & St. Louis, and Great Northern at Glenwood, the Omaha Road at Savage, and Chicago Great Western, Milwaukee Road, and Rock Island at Northfield. Passenger service was provided with gas-electric cars into the 1940s. In addition to transferring blocks of cars between the Twin City’s various Class One railroads, the MN&S also had a significant number of on line customers.

The early diesel years brought Fairbanks Morse and Baldwin engines to the property. These included one each of H12-44, H10-44, VO1000 and a pair of VO660 switcher. To handle MN&S’s heavy transfer trains, they used Baldwin’s massive 6 axel center cab units, a single RT-624 and five DT6-6-2000’s. They also had a single Baldwin road switcher, a DRS6-6-1500. As the Baldwins wore out, they were replaced with six SW1200’s, two SW1500’s and a pair of SD39’s.

In 1982, Soo Line bought the MN&S. They were planning on acquiring the Milwaukee Road (which was in bankruptcy at the time) and needed the MN&S to connect their own line at Crystal with the MILW at Northfield. MN&S was operated separately until 1986 when it was merged into Soo Line.