Bowser - 38158 - Covered Hopper, 3-Bay, Cylindrical - Phillips 66 - 5501

Model Information: This model was developed by Delaware Valley Freight Car Corporation. The tooling was purchased by Bowser in 1998 and has been re-released several times since it was acquired. The body style has also been sold by Eastern Seaboard Models under the ESM branding. The model is available in both 3-Bay and 6-Bay variations.

Prototype History: ACF introduced their roundish cylindrical hoppers in the early 1960s. The cars differed greatly from the ribbed sided hoppers of the era. They have been made in 3-bay and 6-bay variations. These cylindrical hoppers were superseded on ACF’s production line by the Centerflow in 1964, a revolutionary design that influenced later covered hopper types. In the late 60s or early 70s Canada came out with 4-bay covered hoppers that appear to be derived from ACF’s pre-Centerflow cylindrical hoppers. These cars were used by CN, CP and various smaller Canadian shippers. There is some question as to why the Canadian builder based their design off the older cylindrical and not ACF’s newer Centerflow. It was likely a patent issue and copying it could have triggered legal action against the Canadian builders. There are also certain structural design differences between the cylindrical and centerflow cars and perhaps the decision to copy the cylindrical was based on the greater volume capacity of the cylindrical design.

Road Name History: Lee Eldas and Frank Phillips founded the Anchor Oil and Gas Company in 1904 with the assistance of John Gibson, Frank's father-in-law. . They obtained leases near Bartlesville in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory (present Washington County, Oklahoma), and opened a Bartlesville office in 1905. By 1917, Phillips Petroleum was incorporated, and the first Phillips station was opened in Wichita, Kan., in 1927. An important lawsuit that made its way to the Supreme court occurred in 1921 involving Anchor Oil, "Anchor Oil Co. v. Gray, 256 U.S. 519". The company’s research into the uses of natural gas received further impetus in 1926, when it won a patent infringement suit brought against it by Union Carbide over Phillips’s process for separating hydrocarbon compounds.

In 1930, Anchor Oil Co. began looking for a new name and logo – something that would include the Phillips name while reflecting a stronger connection with the automobile. They chose "Pillips 66"

Brand/Importer Information: On May 1, 1961, Bowser was purchased by Lewis and Shirlee English and moved from Redlands, CA to their basement in Muncy, PA. The original Bowser Manufacturing Co first advertised in the model railroad magazines in November 1948. At that time, the company had only one (HO Scale) engine, the Mountain, which had a cast brass boiler that is no longer available. It was sometime later that Bowser (Redlands) developed the NYC K-11 and the UP Challenger. The molds were made by K. Wenzlaff who introduced himself at the MRIA Show in Pasadena, CA in 1985 These two locomotives are still current production.

Bowser entered into N Scale in 1998 with their acquisition of the Delaware Valley Car Company, a manufacturer of N scale freight cars.