Micro-Trains - 46300 - Gondola, 50 Foot, Steel - Pacific Great Eastern - 9401

Model Information: This model is one of Micro-Trains' earliest releases. It was first produced in 1975 with Dimensional Data, and the following year in several different paint schemes. It models a 50 foot steel gondola with a fishbelly and drop-ends. Note that many 3rd party loads designed for MTL's fix-end gondola will not fit in this model. What is cool is that the ends can actually be dropped! This feature makes this model unique among N Scale gondola toolings.
This model is equipped with National B-1 Trucks w. short extension (MTL 003 02 151 (1195)) and one end and w. medium extension on the other end.

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 cargoes as steel plates, steel coils, and bulky items such as prefabricated sections of rail track. For weather-sensitive loads, these gondolas are often equipped with covers.

All-steel gondolas date back to the early part of the 20th century. However, most of the early ones were shorter and used 40' designs. The ubiquitous 50' steel gondola we see modeled so often today are typical of railcars produced since the end of the second world war. In the late 1940s, steel became once again readily available and new, longer gondolas were produced to transport material for America's booming economy. Generally, these 50 foot cars have a capacity of 70 tons and were actually 52'6" long. The first models of this design were produced by the Erie Railroad and the Greenville Steel Car Co, but nearly identical cars were produced by Pullman, ACF and Bethlehem.

Road Name History: PGE launched in 1912 with a 12 mile line from North Vancouver, British Columbia to Horseshoe Bay where they picked up another 30 mile line reaching a point just north of Squamish. Six years later, the Province of British Columbia bought the railroad. By 1921, they had built north as far as Quesnel but that was it for the next 31 years. The south end of the line was abandoned in 1928.

In 1951, the Province pushed construction of the PGE north to Prince George in central B.C. and a connection with a Canadian National transcon line. This was the first physical connection with the North American rail network. Prior to that, interchange required car barges. In 1956, a rail link was finally completed to CN and CP in North Vancouver, finally closing the loop. In 1958, lines were built north from Prince George to Dawson Creek (and another CN connection.) In 1971, northward construction resumed to Fort St. John and finally Fort Nelson. This brought the mileage to 1,372 (putting it between Lehigh Valley and Iowa Chicago & Eastern in relative size.) The following year, 1972, the Pacific Great Eastern became the British Columbia Railway.

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.