Bachmann - 15654 - Boxcar, 36 Foot, Wood Truss - Western & Atlantic - 249

Model Information: This Bachmann tooling models a CWE (Civil War Era) boxcar. It was available both as part of sets as well as being sold as individual cars.

Prototype History: Boxcars in the early 20th century frequently featured a "Truss-Rod" design. The purpose of truss rods was to prevent the railcars from sagging in the middle by the use of turnbuckles in the center of the truss rods for tightening. Due to the limitations of the materials available at the time, there was a tendency for the railcars body to sag in the middle, between the trucks. Truss rods were designed to prevent this. They have the same purpose as I beams or channel beams do in more modern equipment; or, the unitized body of automobiles do today. They give strength in the direction needed to support the load placed on the car.

Road Name History: The Western & Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia (W&A) is a historic, government-owned railroad which operates in the southeastern United States from Atlanta, Georgia to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

It was founded on December 21, 1836. The city of Atlanta was founded as the terminus of the W&A, with the terminus marked with the Atlanta Zero Mile Post. The line is still owned by the State of Georgia from Atlanta to CT Tower in Chattanooga; it is leased by CSX Transportation.

The W&A Subdivision is a railroad line leased by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Tennessee & Georgia. The line runs from Chattanooga, TN to Marietta, GA for a total of 119.1 miles. At its north end it continues south from the Chattanooga Subdivision of the Nashville Division and at its south end it continues south as the Atlanta Terminal Subdivision (Chart A).

This line, originally built to 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge, is famous because of the Andrews Raid (commonly referred to as the Great Locomotive Chase), which took place on the W&A during the American Civil War on the morning of April 12, 1862.

From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information: Bachmann Industries (Bachmann Brothers, Inc.) is a Bermuda registered Chinese owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specializing in model railroading.

Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of its North American headquarters, Bachmann is today part of the Kader group, who model products are made at a Chinese Government joint-venture plant in Dongguan, China. Bachmann's brand is the largest seller, in terms of volume, of model trains in the world. Bachmann primarily specializes in entry level train sets, and premium offerings in many scales. The Spectrum line is the high quality, model railroad product line, offered in N, HO, Large Scale, On30, and Williams O gauge all aimed for the hobbyist market. Bachmann is the producer of the famous railroad village product line known as "Plasticville." The turnover for Bachmann model trains for the year ended 31 December 2006 was approximately $46.87 million, a slight increase of 3.36% as compared to 2005.