Micro-Trains - 39220 - Boxcar, 40 Foot, Double Wood Sheathed - Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo - 4761

Prototype History: Double sheathed all-wood boxcars in 34', 36' or 40' length were built with trussrods into the 1900's. By about 1910-15 cars often were being built of wood but with steel underframes. BTW many early boxcars were only about 8-1/2' high, though taller 10' cars were beginning to be built by the WW1 era (like the USRA wood boxcar) but that didn't become the norm until the late 1930's.

Later in the 20's-30's, some cars were built with double or single sheathed woodsides but steel underframe, roof and ends. In the later 30's into the 40's some older cars built with wood except for the steel underframes were rebuilt with steel ends and roofs. Some of these cars with steel roof and ends (either new or rebuilt) lasted into the 1960's.

During WW2, steel was in short supply, so some new boxcars were built with steel roof and ends, but wood sides. These too sometimes lasted into the "diesel era", although many were rebuilt with steel sides after the war.

Road Name History: The TH&B was chartered in 1884 to connect Hamilton, Ontario to Fort Erie, just across the border from Buffalo, New York. However, once construction commenced, the goals changed. Ultimately, the TH&B would run from Waterford east to Hamilton and Welland, Ontario. Two branches ran south from this line to reach the lake port cities of Port Cleburn and Port Maitland (both on Lake Erie.) Until 1932, TH&B ran a car ferry operation between Port Maitland and Ashtabula, Ohio. In total, the TH&B was 111 miles long, making it slightly shorter that Richmond Fredricksburg & Potomac. In 1895 ownership was split between Canadian Pacific and three of the New York Central Lines: Michigan Central, Canada Southern and New York Central. TH&B was an important carrier for heavy industries in the Hamilton, Ontario area.

The most modern steam power on the TH&B was a pair of 2-8-4 Berkshires (the only Berkshires on a Canadian railroad) and a pair of 4-6-4 Hudsons. Strangely, none of TH&B’s steamers were equipped with all-weather cabs which were so common in Canada. This may have been due to the influence of NYC’s mechanical department.

TH&B had completely dieselized by 1954: NW2: 4, SW9: 4, GP7: 7, GP9: 3. The three GP9’s were built with boilers for passenger service and with their air tanks mounted on the roof. The GP9’s were also built to run long-hood-forward unlike the GP7’s. This often led to consists that appeared to have the locomotives “elephant walking” when in fact they were running back to back. One of the GP7’s was destroyed in a wreck in 1980. The roster then remained the same until the end. They also never really changed their paint scheme (except for adding the logo to the cab side around 1970.)

New York Central’s share of TH&B passed to Penn Central in that merger. After the collapse of PC and the creation of Conrail, CP Rail picked up PC’s share of the TH&B in 1977. However, TH&B remained a separate railroad for another 10 years until being merged into CPR.

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