Micro-Trains - 110 45 600 - Tank Car, Single Dome, 56 Foot - Trinity Industries - 280673

Model Information: Model Introduced: August, 2001. Era: 1970s to Present. It is a model of a DOT 111 A100 tank car.

Prototype History: Larger 50+ foot yank cars replaced their smaller predecessors in the late 1960s and 1970s. One example is the class DOT 111 A100. This car is rated for non-pressurized use with a safe maximum operating pressure of 100 psi. Developments in materials and manufacturing allowed this tanker to be constructed without an underframe. The bottom of the tank itself serves as the load bearing structure. The primary difference between the various types of DOT 111 A100 class tank cars is internal with varying types of insulation, lining and even weld material. Cars of this type haul a wide variety of commodities such as gasoline, vegetable oils, corn syrup, fruit juice and weed killers.

Road Name History: The company, first known as Trinity Steel, was founded by C. J. Bender in Dallas in 1933. W. Ray Wallace, an engineering graduate of Louisiana Tech, worked for Dallas's Austin Bridge Company in 1944 before joining the company in 1946 as its seventeenth employee. At the time Trinity Steel manufactured butane tanks in a Dallas County mule barn. In 1958 Trinity Steel merged with Dallas Tank Company, which was also founded in 1933, and Ray Wallace became the new firm's president and first chief executive officer. At the time Trinity had revenues reaching $2.5 million and employed 200 workers. While some employees of the firm in other states eventually unionized, Texas workers never formed a union. For a time the company profited by producing larger tanks that enabled it to enter the petroleum business and do steel fabrication for refineries. In addition, to free up capital, it established an investment company to buy trucks and lease them back to the firm. Nonetheless, by 1957 Trinity faced competition and declines in the petroleum industry. Dallas Tank, Trinity Steel, and Bender-Wallace Development Company merged in 1958 to form Trinity Industries, Incorporated, and went public.

The Trinity Industries Rail Group, TrinityRail, is a leading North American provider of railcar services and products providing a single source for comprehensive rail transportation solutions. TrinityRail offers extensive manufacturing resources and a complete product line of new railcars. Included is a full menu of state-of-the-art covered hoppers, flat cars, gondolas, open hoppers, box cars, automotive equipment and tank cars. In addition, TrinityRail offers one of the fastest growing railcar lease fleets in North America and a broad portfolio of comprehensive railcar services. Our wide-ranging railcar service offerings provide our customers with enhanced transportation efficiencies and optimized fleet utilization.

From Wikipedia

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