Bowser - 37228 - Caboose, Cupola, Steel, N5/N5C - Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific - 76939

Specific Item Information: Happy Birthday U.S.A.

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 DW&P was the result of the 1909 reorganization of the Duluth Rainy Lake & Winnipeg Railway. Under the control of the Canadian Northern, the DW&P completed their 167 mile line from Duluth, Minnesota, northwest to Fort Frances, Ontario on the U.S.-Canada border in 1912. At Fort Frances they connected with CNor’s mainline between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. Canadian Northern became part of Canadian National in 1918 and control of DW&P passed to them at that time.

Their largest steam locomotive was a single 2-8-2. Most of the steam fleet consisted of 2-8-0s. The diesel fleet has run from a dozen to a dozen and a half units over the years. They have only had 4 models in the fleet – ever: RS-11’s (which were delivered with a long-hood-forward configuration like parent CN), SD40’s, GP38-2’s and a single NW2. Yes, DW&P was another railroad to have never bought a cab unit. The first diesel paint scheme was essentially the same as Canadian National’s from the same period, green and gold with black lettering. In 1960, CN turned to black with red ends and big white noodle logos. Although DW&P went with the paint color, apparently you just can’t boil a noodle long enough to spell “DW&P” so they went with simple gothic initials instead. Later, they adopted CN’s black and red with big diagonal white bands on the long hood. Later, DW&P went to solid Morency Orange with white frame stripe. Then DW&P ownership was transferred to CN’s US holding company Grand Trunk Corporation. At this point they began painting their engines blue with red ends such as that used on Grand Trunk Western..

The 1995 privitization of Canadian National brought the absorbtion of operations and the separate identities for GTW and DW&P (CV had been spun off.) Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific, known by locals as “The Peg”, is now a paper railroad and it is fairly common to see CN cars with DWP reporting marks.

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.