Atlas - 50 006 209 - Covered Hopper, 3-Bay, Trinity 3230 - Titan America - 133

Model Information: The Trinity 3230 Pressure Differential covered hopper is essentially a smaller version of TrinityRail's 5660 PD. The smaller version was developed from the base design introduced by Thrall Car in the late 1990s.
The smaller size enables the cars to be loaded with heavier ladings such as cement and various grades of fly ash. Most of the cars are operated by Railcar (Leasing) companies or Shippers. Atlas introduced January 2022.

Road Name History: Cement is Titan America’s core product, and it is produced as bulk and packaged cement at two cement plants - one in Roanoke, Virginia (Roanoke Cement) and the other in Medley, Florida (Titan's Pennsuco Plant). The Roanoke plant has undergone six major modernizations since it began production in 1951. The most recent – a five year endeavor which began in 1996 – increased production capacity to more than 1.3 million tons annually and made the Roanoke plant one of the most energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly plants in the world. The Pennsuco modernization was completed in June of 2004, increasing its production capacity from one million to 2.1 million tons annually.

Brand/Importer Information: In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.