Bowser - 37107 - Caboose, Cupola, Steel, N5/N5C - Amtrak - 14004

Prototype History: The PRR had a long tradition of designing its own distinctive "Cabin Cars"... as "P" Company men referred to their cabooses... much the same way the railroad designed and built its own locomotives. Many Pennsy cabin cars were built at its sprawling shops in Altoona, PA, or nearby Hollidaysburg. The Pennsylvania's first mass-produced steel cabin car was the "N5", a type first built in 1914 (later models would be identified with a letter suffix). The basic structure of the N5 of 1914 remained essentially unchanged over the years until 1942.

PRR's most distinctive caboose design was the N5c. This style of cabin was similar to its N5 cousin, but it incorporated streamlined elements that had become popular during the Great Depression.

Road Name History: The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak, is a passenger railroad service that provides medium- and long-distance intercity service in the contiguous United States. Founded in 1971 through the government-sponsored consolidation of most of the remaining U.S. passenger rail companies, it is partially government-funded yet operated and managed as a for-profit corporation.

Amtrak operates more than 300 trains each day on 21,300 miles (34,000 km) of track with select segments having civil operating speeds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and connecting more than 500 destinations in 46 states in addition to three Canadian provinces. In fiscal year 2015, Amtrak served 30.8 million passengers and had $2.185 billion in revenue, while employing more than 20,000 people. Nearly two-thirds of passengers come from the 10 largest metropolitan areas; 83% of passengers travel on routes shorter than 400 miles. Its headquarters is at Union Station in Washington, D.C.

The name "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "trak", the latter itself a sensational spelling of "track".

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: On May 1, 1961, Bowser was purchased by Lewis and Shirlee English and moved from Redlands, CA to their basement in Muncy, PA. The original Bowser Manufacturing Co first advertised in the model railroad magazines in November 1948. At that time, the company had only one (HO Scale) engine, the Mountain, which had a cast brass boiler that is no longer available. It was sometime later that Bowser (Redlands) developed the NYC K-11 and the UP Challenger. The molds were made by K. Wenzlaff who introduced himself at the MRIA Show in Pasadena, CA in 1985 These two locomotives are still current production.

Bowser entered into N Scale in 1998 with their acquisition of the Delaware Valley Car Company, a manufacturer of N scale freight cars.