Atlas - 50 000 041 - Boxcar, 53 Foot, Evans Double Plug Door - Keokuk Junction - 5254

Prototype History: This 53' boxcar was manufactured in the 1960s and '70s by Evans Company and was used primarily to haul produce, wood and paper products, and canned goods. This railcar is an insulated RBL (Railcar, Passenger Service, Insulated) featuring a 16 foot opening and double plug doors.

Road Name History: The Keokuk Junction (reporting marks: KJRY) launched in 1981 to take over operation of some former Rock Island terminal trackage in Keokuk, Iowa. In 1986, they bought 34 miles of former Toledo Peoria & Western line from Keokuk, over the Mississippi River, to LaHarpe, Illinois. Ten years later, KJRY’s parent company was purchased by the Pioneer Railcorp family of shortlines. In 2005, they tripled in size with the acquisition of 76 miles of line from LaHarpe to Peoria from the resurrected TP&W. There was a conflict with A&K Railroad Materials over who actually had control of the line. While court proceedings ensued, KJRY established the Peoria & Western Railway to operate the line. The conflict was resolved around 2011 and the PWRR was merged into the KJRY. In 2011, they added another 12 miles between LaHarpe and Lomax plus trackage rights to Fort Madison, Iowa. In total, KJRY operates 142 miles of line. The line has been home to Pioneer’s fleet of FP9’s for their last few years and they are used in regular freight service until their retirement in 2019. Disaster struck the KJRY in 2013 when their bridge over the Spoon River near Seville collapsed under a train. The locomotives made it across but six tank cars were dumped into the river. The bridge, which was built in 1890, has since been replaced.

Brand/Importer Information: In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.