Trainworx - 25281-05 - Gondola, 50 Foot, Thrall Hi-Side - Chicago South Shore & South Bend - 3862

Model Information: This is a very high quality model with all the features you would expect from a tooling made from 2010 on. It features: Die cast under frame for superior weight and tracking; Separate plastic under frame details; 100T trucks with Fox Valley metal wheels; Body mounted magnetic knuckle couplers; Detailed plastic body; Separate brake stand and brake wheel; and Etched metal grab irons, ladders, foot boards, stirrups, tow rings and retaining valve linkage.

Prototype History: Thrall was a recognizable freight car manufacturing company in the 1960s to 1980s. Their designs still carry on today. The company focused on building specialized freight cars including high side gondolas, and rotary-dump gondolas for coal. In the 1980s, Thrall acquired five competing railcar manufacturers and became the largest such manufacturer of these cars in the United States.

In the 1960s, coal haulage shifted from open hopper cars to high-sided gondolas. Using a gondola, the railroads are able to haul a larger amount of coal per car since gondolas do not include the equipment needed for unloading. However, since these cars do not have hatches for unloading the products shipped in them, railroads must use rotary car dumpers (mechanisms that hold a car against a short section of track as the car and track are slowly rotated upside down to empty the car) or other means to empty them.

Road Name History: The CSS&SB was born in 1925 when traction and utility magnate Samuel Insull acquired and reorganized the Chicago Lake Shore & South Bend. The CLS&S was a robustly built electric interurban line connecting South Bend, Indiana with Michigan City, Gary, East Chicago, Hammond and finally Illinois Central’s suburban line at Kensington, Illinois, just south of Chicago. The line was already blessed with broad curves and slight grades so it was not difficult for Insull to convert the line into a heavy electric in a style that would be familiar to fans of PRR, DL&W or Reading. Insull also secured trackage rights on the IC into Chicago. The overhead wire is a mix of catenary and trolley wire (the latter used on some of the low speed street trackage.)

Like many railroads, CSS&SB fell into bankruptcy in 1932 and Samuel Insull lost control. The Golden Age of Traction was over and the new management began to place more emphasis on freight service.

In addition to some boxcab electrics, the South Shore was one of two American roads to own “Little Joe” electrics. These had been built in the 1950s for the Soviet Union but Cold War tensions killed the deal. They were re-gauged (Russia is 5’ gauge) and sold to South Shore and Milwaukee Road instead. The “Little Joe” name was a reference to Joseph Stalin.

In 1967, Chesapeake & Ohio gained control of the South Shore and the occasional C&O diesel could be found switching the South Shore. In 1981, the Little Joe’s were retired and freight operations were dieselized with yellow and blue (like Chessie without the vermilion) GP38-2’s. Passenger operations remained electrified. Passenger losses were subsidized by the state of Indiana through this period. In 1982, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District paid for a fleet of new passenger cars that replaced the heavy steel cars that first went into service in the Insull era.

In 1989, the South Shore fell into bankruptcy, bringing an end to CSX (formerly C&O) control of the line. Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District took over operation of the money losing passenger operations. The following year, the Anacostia & Pacific short line group established a new Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad to provide freight service on the line. It was this group that brought back the orange and maroon paint scheme last used on the Little Joes. They currently operate 182 miles of line, much of it on trackage rights.

Traffic on the South Shore is primarily a pair of power stations that receive unit coal trains and mills that ship pig iron and finished steel. They also carry grain, manufactured goods, paper, and roofing materials.

Major customers include: Alexander Chemical, ArcelorMittal-Burns Harbor, Criterion Catylst & Technologies, GAF Corporation, Five Star Sheets, Foodliner, Maryland Pig Services, Northern Indiana Public Service, NAMASCO/Primary Steel, PSC Metals, Reserve Marine/Transfer Logistics, Rollcoater, Sims Metal Management, U.S. Steel - Midwest, USALCO, and Windy City Warehouse.

Brand/Importer Information: Trainworx was founded in 1999 by Pat Sanders and is located in Delta Colorado. Their first freight car was the Quad hopper and it was released in 2000. They have been making N scale products ever since. Their website can be found at www.train-worx.com. As of 2016, they have produced 8 different rolling stock body styles as well as a range of different highway vehicles in N Scale. Their limited edition runs have proven a huge success with collectors and modelers enjoy the accuracy of all their products.

Trainworx sells their products both through tradional retail channels as well as directly by phone order. When asked "What prompted you to found Trainworx?", Pat Sanders responded "There was a freight car that hadn't been done in N scale that I just had to have and it didn't look like anyone was ever going to make it."