JnJ - 9401-1 - Covered Hopper, 3-Bay, PS-2 2893 - Western Pacific - 11504

Prototype History: Pullman-Standard dominated the covered hopper car market beginning in the 1950s, thanks to the design success of their PS-2 series of covered hoppers. Designed to carry bulk commodities, such as grain, cement and plastic pellets, these cars roamed the rails of North America for decades, attesting to their utilitarian functionality. The 2893 c.f. model has a capacity of 70 tons and has a 4-3-4 post arrangement. The roof hatches are not spaced evenly. These cars featured side ladders at the right hand end whereas later PS models used grab irons.

Road Name History: The Western Pacific Railroad (reporting mark WP) was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route directly competed with SP's portion of the Overland Route for rail traffic between Salt Lake City/Ogden, Utah and Oakland, California for nearly 80 years. In 1983 the Western Pacific was acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad. The Western Pacific was one of the original operators of the California Zephyr.

The original Western Pacific Railroad was established in 1865 to build the westernmost portion of the Transcontinental Railroad between San Jose, California (later Oakland, California), and Sacramento, California. This company was absorbed into the Central Pacific Railroad in 1870.

The second company to use the name Western Pacific Railroad was founded in 1903. Under the direction of George Jay Gould I, the Western Pacific was founded to provide a standard gauge track connection to the Pacific Coast for his aspiring Gould transcontinental system. The construction was financed by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, a company in the Gould system, which lost access to California due to the attempted acquisition of the Southern Pacific Railroad by the Rio Grande's main rival, the Union Pacific Railroad. The Western Pacific Railroad acquired the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad and began construction on what would become the Feather River Route. In 1909 it became the last major railroad completed into California. It used 85-lb rail on untreated ties, with no tie plates except on curves over one degree; in 1935 more than half of the main line still had its original rail, most of it having carried 150 million gross tons.

The Western Pacific was acquired in 1983 by Union Pacific Corporation, which in 1996 would purchase its long-time rival, the Southern Pacific Railroad. In July 2005 Union Pacific unveiled a brand new EMD SD70ACe locomotive, Union Pacific 1983, painted as an homage to the Western Pacific.

Brand/Importer Information: JnJ Trains was started by Jon Cloyd in 1985 to fill the need for details in the growing N scale market. Over the years JnJ has grown from supplying just a few detail parts, to offering over 500 distinctive items. Including body shells, etched and metal details, and special run cars. JnJ can also save you 20% or more on items in the Walthers N&Z catalog (excluding JnJ products).

Manufacturer Information: 'Atlas Model Railroad' represents the New Jersey manufacturing facility for Atlas brand model railroad products. Atlas also imported European made models in their early years and those items will be noted as having manufacturers set appropriately. In the 1990s Atlas moved all their toolings to China.