Micro-Trains - 43000 - Boxcar, 40 Foot, Double Wood Sheathed - Dimensional Data

Specific Item Information: This car was first released in February of 1975 with an MSRP of $3.50. It was later re-released with a price of 7.80. The re-release often (sometimes it appears on the side) has the price sticker on the box bottom rather than the usual side placement.

Model Information: Horizontal Brake Wheel is equivalent to Side-Mounted Brake Wheel. The wheel itself is vertical.

Prototype History: Double sheathed all-wood boxcars in 34', 36' or 40' length were built with trussrods into the 1900's. By about 1910-15 cars often were being built of wood but with steel underframes. BTW many early boxcars were only about 8-1/2' high, though taller 10' cars were beginning to be built by the WW1 era (like the USRA wood boxcar) but that didn't become the norm until the late 1930's.

Later in the 20's-30's, some cars were built with double or single sheathed woodsides but steel underframe, roof and ends. In the later 30's into the 40's some older cars built with wood except for the steel underframes were rebuilt with steel ends and roofs. Some of these cars with steel roof and ends (either new or rebuilt) lasted into the 1960's.

During WW2, steel was in short supply, so some new boxcars were built with steel roof and ends, but wood sides. These too sometimes lasted into the "diesel era", although many were rebuilt with steel sides after the war.

Road Name History: "Dimensional Data" here means painted models with printed body specifications and no road/reporting letters/marks or road Name/livery. The data typically consists of internal and external dimensions, capacities, weight information and specific characteristics of freight cars, trailers and containers.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) sets standards for the uniform marking of freight cars with regard to car ownership, weight, load capacity, dimensions, and maintenance. In addition, car owners choose to display data relating to various devices and equipment so the cars may be properly used and repaired.

CAPY (nominal capacity) is the intended load-carrying capacity of the car, to the nearest 1000 pounds. This is determined by the structural strength of the car's underframe and the size of the journal bearings of the car's trucks.

LD LMT (load limit) is the maximum weight of lading that can be carried by the car, to the nearest 100 pounds. This is determined by subtracting the weight of the car when empty from the total allowable gross weight given the size of the car's journal bearings. The load limit for a car is usually a bit greater than its capacity; the two figures can be equal, but capacity can never exceed load limit.

LT WT (light, or empty, weight) is the weight of the car when empty. Accompanying the light weight marking is a date indicating when the railroad or owner last verified the car's weight. The letters for this mark are not always reporting marks; sometimes a location code is used. NEW and a date indicates that the weight shown is the car's as-built weight, and that it hasn't been field-checked since.

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.