Athearn - 2828 - Gondola, Bathtub, Berwick - Sultran - 5-Pack

Specific Item Information: Road Numbers: SULX # 1505 / 1507 / 1525 / 1537 / 1578

Road Name History: In the early 70's sulphur was a very abundant yet low-value commodity and there were few markets for the product in Canada. Logistics for handling and transporting the element were chaotic, costly and unreliable. Sulphur producers were frustrated by the inability to dependably and efficiently access growing world markets.

As sulphur showed signs of escalating in demand and value, it became apparent that improved methods of transporting and handling the commodity were required. These new methods had to be cost efficient, environmentally sound and offer reliability and dependability to the sulphur industry and its customers.

In September of 1974, Petrofina, Shell Canada Resources and Hudson Bay Oil & Gas became key members of an eight-member industry task force. They developed a mandate for a producer-owned, independently managed, sulphur logistics service company, incorporating the business and offering shares to all interested producers. On December 16, 1975 Sultran Ltd. was incorporated as a private company with twenty-three shareholders holding 905,000 shares.

Much of the progress Sultran has made is the direct result of the investment of capital in system improvements. From the acquisition, renovating and building of facilities and the establishment of related companies, to the continuing purchasing and upgrading of equipment allowing operations to run smoothly, Sultran and its subsidiary company, Pacific Coast Terminals have been able to achieve significant results in their industry and have positive impacts on their surrounding communities and environments.

Brand/Importer Information: Athearn's history began in 1938, when its founder-to-be, Irvin Athearn, started an elaborate O scale layout in his mother's house. After placing an ad selling the layout, and receiving much response to it, Irv decided that selling model railroads would be a good living. He sold train products out of his mother's house through most of the 1940s. After becoming a full-time retailer in 1946, Irv opened a separate facility in Hawthorne, California in 1948, and that same year he branched into HO scale models for the first time.

Athearn acquired the Globe Models product line and improved upon it, introducing a comprehensive array of locomotive, passenger and freight car models. Improvements included all-wheel drive and electrical contact. One innovation was the "Hi-Fi" drive mechanism, employing small rubber bands to transfer motion from the motor spindle to the axles. Another was the double-ended ring magnet motor, which permitted easy connection to all-wheel-drive assemblies. Athearn was also able to incorporate flywheels into double-ended drives.

The company produced a model of the Boston & Maine P4 class Pacific steam locomotive which incorporated a cast zinc alloy base and thermoplastic resin superstructure. It had a worm drive and all power pickup was through the bipolar trucks that carried the tender. This item was discontinued after the Wilson motor was no longer available, and was not redesigned for a more technologically advanced motor.

Athearn's car fleet included shorter-than-scale interpretations of passenger cars of Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad prototypes. The company also offered a variety of scale-length freight cars with sprung and equalized trucks. The cars could be obtained in simple kit form, or ready-to-run in windowed display boxes. The comprehensive scope of the product line contributed to the popularity of HO as a model railroad scale, due to the ready availability of items and their low cost.

Irv Athearn died in 1991. New owners took control in 1994, but continued to follow Athearn's commitment to high-quality products at reasonable prices. Athearn was bought in 2004 by Horizon Hobby. Athearn was then moved from its facility in Compton to a new facility in Carson, California. In mid-2009, all remaining US production was moved to China and warehousing moved to parent Horizon Hobby. Sales and product development was relocated to a smaller facility in Long Beach, California.

Read more on Wikipedia and Athearn website.