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Specific Item Information: This early version of the car is different than the later regular run of the same car by MTL. This version features a BLUE ROOF and as such is considered a different item than the OTHER ELS 9000 car produced by MTL.

Series Information: Manufactured exclusively for Brooklyn Locomotive Works. Using the same stock number as the Kadee's regular production model, this special run Kadee Micro-Trains car has a body colored roof, whereas the regular production car has a silver roof.
Seven (7) different of these colored roof 50' boxcars were produced, 50 each.

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: The E&LS was built in 1898 to link the harbor of Escanaba to a connection with the Milwaukee Road in Channing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The mileage during this first period was about 68.

The E&LS dieselized with an all Baldwin fleet and the road would remain all-Baldwin until the expansion in 1980. That year, Milwaukee Road was in the process of spinning off lines left and right so the Escanaba & Lake Superior leased routes from Channing northwest to Ontonogon near the Minnesota border, and from Channing south to Green Bay, Wisconsin giving the system map a lopsided T shape. At this point the mileage was up to 325 miles. Four years later, E&LS bought those lines from Milwaukee Road (which was being sold to Soo at the time.) Secondhand EMD’s were brought in to help the aging fleet of Baldwins. By 1991, half the fleet was EMD and the other half Baldwin. In the last few years, E&LS obtained trackage rights on Canadian National to shorten the route for traffic between Escanaba and Green Bay.

The Baldwin fleet included the two former Delaware & Hudson RF16A shark nose units that had been railfan favorites in the Northeast in the 70s. Both sharks are still on the property but are stored out of sight. In the last couple of decades, E&LS had trouble with people stealing parts such as bells and builder plates from their increasingly rare Baldwins. This has made E&LS hostile to railfans so if you find yourself in this neck of the woods, stay well clear of E&LS property.

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.

Commissioner Information: Brooklyn Locomotive Works is a hobby shop, specialized in N-scale, located in Manalapan, New Jersey, that also sells on-line. BLW regularly commissions special runs.
The company was founded by Pete Postel who announced that he would retired by end of 2018. His brother Paul should continue the business from his own shop Hogtrainz.com.

Brooklyn Locomotive Works (BLW) released special runs from various manufacturers under its own brand until approx. the mid-1980s. Thereafter the special runs where sold under the manufacturer's name and denoted as special runs for BLW. Hence in this database, we assign the BLW brand in the former case, and the original manufacturer's brand in the latter.