Micro-Trains - 23260 - Boxcar, 40 Foot, PS-1 - Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific - 582225

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: The DW&P was the result of the 1909 reorganization of the Duluth Rainy Lake & Winnipeg Railway. Under the control of the Canadian Northern, the DW&P completed their 167 mile line from Duluth, Minnesota, northwest to Fort Frances, Ontario on the U.S.-Canada border in 1912. At Fort Frances they connected with CNor’s mainline between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. Canadian Northern became part of Canadian National in 1918 and control of DW&P passed to them at that time.

Their largest steam locomotive was a single 2-8-2. Most of the steam fleet consisted of 2-8-0s. The diesel fleet has run from a dozen to a dozen and a half units over the years. They have only had 4 models in the fleet – ever: RS-11’s (which were delivered with a long-hood-forward configuration like parent CN), SD40’s, GP38-2’s and a single NW2. Yes, DW&P was another railroad to have never bought a cab unit. The first diesel paint scheme was essentially the same as Canadian National’s from the same period, green and gold with black lettering. In 1960, CN turned to black with red ends and big white noodle logos. Although DW&P went with the paint color, apparently you just can’t boil a noodle long enough to spell “DW&P” so they went with simple gothic initials instead. Later, they adopted CN’s black and red with big diagonal white bands on the long hood. Later, DW&P went to solid Morency Orange with white frame stripe. Then DW&P ownership was transferred to CN’s US holding company Grand Trunk Corporation. At this point they began painting their engines blue with red ends such as that used on Grand Trunk Western..

The 1995 privitization of Canadian National brought the absorbtion of operations and the separate identities for GTW and DW&P (CV had been spun off.) Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific, known by locals as “The Peg”, is now a paper railroad and it is fairly common to see CN cars with DWP reporting marks.

Brand/Importer Information: Micro-Trains is the brand name used by both Kadee Quality Products and Micro-Trains Line. For a history of the relationship between the brand and the two companies, please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide.

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