Tichy Train Group - 650410 - Maintenance of Way Equipment, North American, Transition Era - Chesapeake & Ohio

Model Information: These kits are molded in gray polystyrene. Trucks and Decals are not included.

Prototype History: The definition of "Maintenance of Way" is the upkeep and repair of a railroad's fixed property (as track and bridges). Railroads have always used specialized and modified rolling stock and motive power for this purpose. Types of equipment run the gamut from snow plows to ballast spreaders to cranes to dedicated passenger cars.

Some equipment is purpose built such as modern ballast spreaders, while other equipment can be modified from revenue generating equipment such as gondolas, boxcars and passenger cars. Usually the equipment is painted in distinctive patterns to clearly indicate that these cars and locomotives are not being used for revenue-generating service.

Road Name History: The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (reporting marks C&O, CO) was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond to the Ohio River by 1873, where the railroad town (and later city) of Huntington, West Virginia was named for him.

Tapping the coal reserves of West Virginia, the C&O's Peninsula Extension to new coal piers on the harbor of Hampton Roads resulted in the creation of the new City of Newport News. Coal revenues also led the forging of a rail link to the Midwest, eventually reaching Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo in Ohio and Chicago, Illinois.

By the early 1960s the C&O was headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. In 1972, under the leadership of Cyrus Eaton, it became part of the Chessie System, along with the Baltimore and Ohio and Western Maryland Railway. The Chessie System was later combined with the Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville and Nashville, both the primary components of the Family Lines System, to become a key portion of CSX Transportation (CSXT) in the 1980s. A substantial portion of Conrail was added in 1999.

C&O's passenger services ended in 1971 with the formation of Amtrak. Today Amtrak's tri-weekly Cardinal passenger train follows the historic and scenic route of the C&O through the New River Gorge in one of the more rugged sections of the Mountain State. The rails of the former C&O also continue to transport intermodal and freight traffic, as well as West Virginia bituminous coal east to Hampton Roads and west to the Great Lakes as part of CSXT, a Fortune 500 company which was one of seven Class I railroads operating in North America at the beginning of the 21st century.

At the end of 1970 C&O operated 5067 miles of road on 10219 miles of track, not including WM or B&O and its subsidiaries.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: We bring together the best of two worlds, combining the fun and reward of fine model building with the rapidly growing interest in prototype railroading, freight cars and structures, in particular. The preservation of prototype history in miniature. The key personnel at TICHY TRAIN GROUP are active model railroaders with over fifty-five years of collective experience in the hobby.

Advanced technology and old world craftsmanship combine to produce the finest plastic kits available. Since all aspects of the manufacturing procedure done in our own plant, we have complete control over the quality of out product. Our extensive research library helps us to ensure the accuracy of every detail. Our fully equipped toolroom enables us to translate the design into permanent metal tooling, using cutters ranging from three inches in diameter to as small as a human hair. Each kit may represent several thousand hours of design, engineering, template and model making, engraving and hand polishing. However, this painstaking attention to detail makes the final product speak for itself.

Our kits conform to all applicable NMRA standards and recommended practices. They accept Kadee® #5 or equivalent style couplers (not included) and we provide special molded washers to allow correct coupler height with other trucks.

Tichy is located in Alamance, North Carolina.