Bowser - 37112 - Caboose, Cupola, Steel, N5/N5C - Detroit & Mackinac - 202

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: First of all, Mackinac is pronounced “MACKinaw.” The Mackinac region is where Lake Superior and Lake Huron meet. Some towns in the region spell it with a W but not the D&M.

The D&M was established in 1894 as part of the reorganization of the Detroit Bay City & Alpena Railroad. The D&M ran from Cheboygan to Bay City and La Rocque plus branches, all in Michigan’s lower peninsula. The total mileage was 348, making it nearly as big as cross-lake neighbor Duluth Missabe & Iron Range. D&M had picked up some former Penn Central lines excluded from Conrail but service ended in 1990 on those routes. Traffic was primarily forest products and aggregates. In addition to connections on the southern end of the D&M, they interchanged with the Duluth South Shore & Atlantic (later SOO) on the Upper Peninsula via car ferry from Bay City across the Straights of Mackinac.

D&M’s diesel roster (around 12 units) was almost entirely Alco. They also had about 1200 freight cars. Their logo had a cartoon of an engineer named Mackinac Mac holding a wrench. The Detroit & Mackinac flag fell in 1992 when the owners sold it to a new railroad, Lake State Railway.

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.