Micro-Trains - 38130 - Boxcar, 50 Foot, Steel, Plug Door - Triangle Pacific - 5518

Prototype History: The 50-foot boxcar made its first appearance in the 1930s and steadily grew in popularity over the years, which further improved redundancies by allowing for even more space within a given car. Today, the 50-footer remains the common boxcar size. After the second world war ended, and steel became once again readily available, steel became the go-to choice for construction of boxcars. Pullman Standard and ACF were some of the most prolific builders of these cars.

In the 1960s, the flush, "plug" style sliding door was introduced as an option that provides a larger door to ease loading and unloading of certain commodities. The tight-fitting doors are better insulated and allow a car's interior to be maintained at a more even temperature.

Road Name History: Triangle Pacific Corp (TPC) was started in the 1970's, by the founder Abe Meltzer, and the father of the current CEO of Triangle Building Products, Bruce Meltzer. TPC went on to expand to 17 lumber yards on the east coast, 3 sawmills on the west coast, and became a manufacturer of kitchen cabinets and wood flooring. It was listed on the NYSE before being acquired by Armstrong World Industries.
Bruce wanted to re-establish a business on Long Island, and so in 1993 re-purchased the original Medford location and created Triangle Building Products Corp to cater to the construction needs of major developers in the Long Island and New York area. Triangle Building Products Corp has grown to become the only manufacturer of construction components on Long Island. We work with developers and contractors to provide custom manufactured wood floor trusses, wall panels and roof trusses. The company remains the only truss plant and pre-fabricated wall panel manufacturer in the metropolitan New York area.

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: 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.
In October 1990 Kadee separated in two companies, with the newly created Micro-Trains® Line Co. continuing the Z, Nn3, and N Scale product ranges, with Kadee retaining the HO range.