Mehano - 2231 - Gondola, 40 Foot, Composite, Outside Braced - Norfolk & Western - 1700

Model Information: This is a knock-off of the Roco Gondola 40 Foot Outside Brace of the 1960s. It was sold under the Mehanotehnika brand, but maybe as well by Atlas (same models with same stock numbers). Difference might be seen under the car with the country marking, Austria for Roco, Yujoslavia for Mehano.

Prototype History: In US railroad terminology, a gondola is an open-topped rail vehicle used for transporting loose bulk materials. Because of their low side walls gondolas are also suitable for the carriage of such high-density cargos as steel plates or coils, or of bulky items such as prefabricated sections of rail track.

Composite gondolas date back to the early part of the 20th century. The USRA designed seven standard freight cars during World War I (only five of the designs were built during the years of USRA control). The USRA designers chose composite (wood and steel) construction to conserve as much sheet steel as possible for the war effort.

Next to the single-sheathed boxcar, the composite gondola was the most popular USRA-design car built with 20,000 cars delivered to 25 railroads. ... While all of these cars were built as composite cars with drop-bottom doors, many railroads later rebuilt these gons with steel sides

Road Name History: The Norfolk and Western Railway (reporting mark NW), was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its 150-year existence. Its motto was "Precision Transportation"; it had a variety of nicknames, including "King Coal" and "British Railway of America" even though the N&W had mostly articulated steam on its roster. During the Civil War, the N&W was the biggest railroad in the south and moved most of the products with their steam locomotives to help the South the best way they could.

NW was famous for manufacturing its own steam locomotives, which were produced at the Roanoke Shops, as well as its own hopper cars. Around 1960, NW became the last major American railroad to convert from steam locomotives to diesel motive power but didn't retire its last remaining Y class locomotives until 1964 and 1965. By 1965, steam on class I railroads was gone but steam wasn't gone on class II railroads until 1974 and class III and mining railroads retired their steam locomotives from their active roster until 1983. By 1983, steam in America on class I, II, III, and mining railroads had finally closed the chapter on America's 150 years of steam from 1830 - 1983.

In December 1959, NW merged with the Virginian Railway (reporting mark VGN), a longtime rival in the Pocahontas coal region. By 1970, other mergers with the Nickel Plate Road and Wabash formed a system that operated 7,595 miles (12,223 km) of road on 14,881 miles (23,949 km) of track from North Carolina to New York and from Virginia to Iowa.

In 1980, NW teamed up with the Southern Railway, another profitable carrier and created the Norfolk Southern Corporation holding company by merging its business operations with the business operations of the Southern Railway. The NW and the Southern Railway continued as separate railroads now under one holding company.

On December 31, 1990, the Southern Railway was renamed "Norfolk Southern Railway" to reflect the Norfolk Southern Corporation and on the same day, the renamed Norfolk Southern Railway gained full control of the Norfolk and Western Railway with the Norfolk and Western being transferred from the holding company to the renamed Norfolk Southern Railway, this began the final years of Norfolk and Western which was absorbed into the renamed Norfolk Southern Railway seven years later in 1997 (1990 to 1997 the Norfolk and Western continued operating by using paper operations).

In 1997 during the Conrail battle with CSX, Norfolk Southern Corporation's principal railroad, the renamed Norfolk Southern Railway, absorbed the Norfolk and Western Railway into their rail system, ending the existence of the Norfolk and Western Railway and having the renamed Norfolk Southern Railway becoming the only railroad in the entire Norfolk Southern system after that.

Brand/Importer Information: In 1952, the company Mehanotehnika was founded in Yugoslavia, which produced and sold metal and plastic products. The name comes from the name of the first puzzle toys the company made. In June 1953 production started in its own factory.
In 1959 production was moved to a new large production hall in Izola (now in Slovenia). In 1962 a new factory was opened in Materija. In 1971, the production of children's toys was moved to the factory in Materija. Besides under their own name, Mehano trains were often sold under the client's brand name such as Atlas, AHM, Life-Like, Tempo, Tibidabo and Model Power.
In 1990 the company changed its name to Mehano. In 2004 it was acquired by LIVE. In 2010 a new product line for children was launched under the name My First Train. Nevertheless, in 2012 Mehano became insolvent and was taken over by Lemke in Germany.

In the world of N Scale, Mehano products were produced under contract and imported by several other brand names for use in the US. However, a few models were imported with either "MT", "Mehano" or "Tempo" branding.

Manufacturer Information: Mehano is a Slovenian toy manufacturer located in Izola, Slovenija. The company was founded as Mehanotehnika and was producing toys starting in June 1953. They first exhibited at the Nuerenberg Toy Fair in 1959. Mehano produced a number of different locomotives and rolling stock models for the North American market in the 1960s and 1970s. Companies such as Atlas and Life-Like imported a huge variety of their products. Generally they can easily be recognized as they are stamped "Yugosolavia" on the underframe. The company was formally renamed "Mehano" in 1990. Izola today is part of the country of Slovenia since the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Mehano filed for bankruptcy in 2008, but still continued to exist and operate. Since 2012, Mehano products are distributed by Lemke.