Micro-Trains - 25380 - Boxcar, 50 Foot, FMC, 5077 - Bath & Hammondsport - 25101

Model Information: This model was first produced by Kadee in February of 1981. It is a model of a 50 Foot Steel Rib-Side Single Sliding Door Boxcar. Specifically, this Micro-Trains body style models the FMC 50' 5077 Single Sliding Door prototype. It is also used by Micro-Trains to model Pullman Standard 50' boxcars. Hence on some releases, this car is labeled as a Pullman Standard and in other cases it is labeled as an FMC boxcar, and it also is frequently labeled as a '50' Rib Side Box Car[sic]' with no mention of prototype whatsoever. It appears to be closest to the FMC 5077 boxcar prototype (from the 1970s) in any event. These models can appear with any one of multiple different sliding door types. The doors for this model are operating ones (cool!).

Prototype History: In the 1970's with the growth of the Per Diem business model, FMC produced a series of 50 foot box cars in different configurations. The single-sliding-door configuration is one of the best known and used widely by many different railroads. These cars were produced using the Gunderson metal works which FMC had acquired in 1965. In late 1975, FMC began producing a 5,077-cubic-foot Plate B box car for IPD and Railbox service. FMC's 5077s have seven panels to either side of the 10-foot door, an X-panel roof, and non-terminating ends that are slightly different from those used on FMC's earlier cars. Note how the sidesill is notched all the way back to the bolsters, a key feature of FMC's mature design.

The main difference between the 5077 cu. ft cars built by FMC vs the 5277-5347 cu. ft cars built by the same manufacturers is the overall height of the car, the smaller 5077 cars were Plate B while the larger 5277-5347 cars were Plate C. Over 4,300 cars were produced from 1975-1979 by FMC's Portland, Oregon plant. The cars were delivered in numerous colorful shortline paint schemes, as well as the nationwide car pool fleet of Railbox. Many secondhand cars were later seen in Class 1 railroads and large leasing company fleets under additional shortline reporting marks.

Road Name History: This line was built in 1872 to link Hammondsport to connections with the Erie and Delaware Lackawanna & Western in Bath, New York 9 miles away. Originally built as a 3’ gauge line, it was standard gauged in 1889. From 1903 until 1935 the B&H was controlled by the Erie but Erie applied to abandon it after the B&H suffered severe flood damage. A local group of investors stepped in, repaired the line and restored service. Freight traffic was primarily centered around the winery business and the B&H quickly picked up the nickname "The Champagne Trail." In-bound traffic included bottles and California wines for blending (in later decades, the latter was shipped by the tank car load!) Outbound traffic was primarily bottled wine. B&H also had a pair of TOFC ramps in Hammondsport. In 1976, Conrail spun off the connecting line at Bath to the County of Steuban and B&H became the designated operator. In 1996, the Livonia Avon & Lakeville took over the County owned route and the B&H. In 2001, they merged them with their Conhocton Valley Railroad subsidiary and renamed the whole thing B&H Rail. Today's B&H runs from Wayland to Painted Post, New York while the original line from Bath to Hammondsport is inactive.

Brand/Importer Information: Micro-Trains is the brand name used by both Kadee Quality Products and Micro-Trains Line. For a history of the relationship between the brand and the two companies, please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide.

Manufacturer Information: Kadee Quality Products originally got involved in N-Scale by producing a scaled-down version of their successful HO Magne-Matic knuckle coupler system. This coupler was superior to the ubiquitous 'Rapido' style coupler due to two primary factors: superior realistic appearance and the ability to automatically uncouple when stopped over a magnet embedded in a section of track. The success of these couplers in N-Scale quickly translated to the production of trucks, wheels and in 1972 a release of ready-to-run box cars.
In October 1990 Kadee separated in two companies, with the newly created Micro-Trains® Line Co. continuing the Z, Nn3, and N Scale product ranges, with Kadee retaining the HO range.