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Micro-Trains - 28020 - Boxcar, 40 Foot, Wood Sheathed, Outside Braced - Maryland & Pennsylvania - 1157

43  of these sold for an average price of: 12.5112.5143 of these sold for an average price of: 12.51
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Collectors value this item at an average of 11.5311.53Collectors value this item at an average of 11.53
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N Scale - Micro-Trains - 28020 - Boxcar, 40 Foot, Wood Sheathed, Outside Braced - Maryland & Pennsylvania - 1157 Image from TroveStar Classifieds
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Stock Number28020
Secondary Stock Number028 00 020
BrandMicro-Trains
ManufacturerMicro-Trains Line
Body StyleMicro-Trains 028 Boxcar 40 Foot Wood Braced
Image Provider's WebsiteLink
Prototype VehicleBoxcar, 40 Foot, Wood Sheathed, Outside Braced (Details)
Road or Company NameMaryland & Pennsylvania (Details)
Reporting MarksM&PA
Road or Reporting Number1157
Paint Color(s)Boxcar Red
Coupler TypeMT Magne-Matic Knuckle
Wheel TypeInjection Molded Plastic
Wheel ProfileStandard
Release Date1996-06-01
Item CategoryRolling Stock (Freight)
Model TypeBoxcar
Model Subtype40 Foot
Model VarietyWood Sheathed, Outside Braced
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era II: Late Steam (1901 - 1938)
Scale1/160
Track GaugeN standard



Model Information: Single Wood Sheath outside braced 40 foot boxcar with a single sliding door.
Prototype History:
The outside braced single sheathed box car proved to be a significant development in railway freight car technology in North America. Thousands of them saw use on North American railways beginning in the late 19th century through the 1960s. They carried bulk products such as grain and coal. They also carried packaged or bagged lading referred to as clean lading. While most of the outside braced cars were built for general service, some were built specifically to carry machinery and automobiles. For forty years freight trains on the prairies and indeed all across the country consisted of long lines of outside braced boxcars. They could commonly be found at elevators and loading platforms in communities small and large. They dominated railway yard scenes well into the 1940s.

The use of steel for the under frame (center and side sills), side and end frames initiated a new form of railway freight car building technology. Steel center sills and other under sill framing gave the cars the strength necessary to withstand the stress of longer and faster trains as well as the considerable stress involved in the contact necessary to activate closure of the knuckle coupler while being made up into trains in rail yards or from being picked up from local sidings along the line. The steel frame and the single wood side sheath minimized the weight of the car. This type of car design led to easy construction and repair. Its initial construction cost was low. The design provided secure joints between sides, ends and floors which prevented grain leakage.
Road Name History:
The Ma & Pa (as it was known) was the result of the 1901 merger of two lines together linking Baltimore, Maryland with York, Pennsylvania. Although these cities are just 45 miles apart, it took the Ma & Pa 77 miles of route to connect them. The predecessors had been originally constructed to 3’ gauge so tight curves, light bridges, and thin roadbed were the rule. Both were standard gauged before the Ma & Pa merger. At its peak in 1913, they had 573 employees! The largest steam locomotives were 2-8-0’s and they never owned an engine with a trailing truck. With all of the sharp curves (36% of the mileage was curved track) derailments were relatively common. Ma & Pa was one of very few shortlines to have its own derrick.

Think of the Ma & Pa as a Virginia & Truckee of the east. The steam locomotives were antiques, the freight cars were wooden, and the coaches had open platforms decades after other lines had modernized.

Traffic included furniture from Red Lion, slate from Delta, and milk from just about every town along the line. Passenger service was exceedingly slow with the daily York to Baltimore train taking 4 hours to cover the 77 track miles. Passenger service ended in 1953.

In 1958, the lines in Maryland were abandoned. The following year, Ma & Pa relaid track on the Peachbottom branch that had been abandoned and pulled up in 1903. A nuclear power plant was under construction at Peachbottom and the Ma & Pa moved construction material on the line for several years. In 1971, Eamons Industries bought the line as a means of entering the freight car leasing business. Over the next decade, the Ma & Pa freight car fleet swelled to over 2,000 cars (and not a wooden one in the lot.)

In 1976, Ma & Pa picked up the former Pennsylvania Railroad line from York to Walkersville, Maryland although that was cut back to Hanover, Pennsylvania just two years later. That year the original Ma & Pa mainline south of Red Lion was abandoned followed by the rest of original mainline in 1983. At that point, the Ma & Pa was operating exclusively on former PRR lines, whose construction standards were much more stout than Ma & Pa’s narrow gauge predecessors.

Late in 1999, Maryland & Pennsylvania merged with another area shortline called Yorkrail. The new railroad is called York Railway with 42 miles of line serving about 40 customers. They are now part of the Genesee & Wyoming shortline family. A short segment of the original Ma & Pa main has been preserved.
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:
Micro-Trains Line split off from Kadee Quality Products in 1990. 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.

Micro-Trains Line Co. split off from Kadee in 1990 to form a completely independent company. For this reason, products from this company can appear with labels from both enterprises. Due to the nature of production idiosyncrasies and various random factors, the rolling stock from Micro-Trains can have all sorts of interesting variations in both their packaging as well as the products themselves. When acquiring an MTL product it is very important to understand these important production variations that can greatly enhance (or decrease) the value of your purchase.

Please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide
Item created by: Lethe on 2015-05-31 17:46:30. Last edited by Lethe on 2020-05-18 10:17:41

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