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Atlas - 50 000 426 - Boxcar, 53 Foot, Evans Double Plug Door - Modesto and Empire Traction - 13531

One  of these sold for an average price of: 11.7011.70One of these sold for an average price of: 11.70
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N Scale - Atlas - 50 000 426 - Boxcar, 53 Foot, Evans Double Plug Door - Modesto and Empire Traction - 13531
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Stock Number50 000 426
BrandAtlas
ManufacturerAtlas
Body StyleAtlas Boxcar 53 Foot Evans Dbl Plug Door
Prototype VehicleBoxcar, 53 Foot, Evans Double Plug Door (Details)
Road or Company NameModesto and Empire Traction (Details)
Reporting MarksMET
Road or Reporting Number13531
Paint Color(s)Brown/White
Release Date2010-05-01
Item CategoryRolling Stock (Freight)
Model TypeBoxcar
Model Subtype53 Foot
Model VarietyEvans Double Plug Door
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era IV: 2nd Gen Diesel (1958 - 1978)
Years Produced1970's
Scale1/160
Track GaugeN standard



Prototype History:
This 53' boxcar was manufactured in the 1960s and '70s by Evans Company and was used primarily to haul produce, wood and paper products, and canned goods. This railcar is an insulated RBL (Railcar, Passenger Service, Insulated) featuring a 16 foot opening and double plug doors.
Road Name History:
Modesto & Empire Traction launched in 1911 to take over a line between Modesto, California and a connection with the Santa Fe 5 miles to the east. The line gave Modesto citizens a choice between the Southern Pacific (and later Tidewater Southern) and the Santa Fe for their travels. This was accomplished with gas-powered motor cars. Don’t let the “Traction” in the name fool you. The M&ET was never electrified.

Within just a few years, freight greatly surpassed passenger operations with the latter ending in 1918. The line was dieselized in 1953 with GE 70 ton switchers.

The railroad has always been owned by the Beard Land & Investment Company. Beard developed the Beard Industrial park on their line with the railroad giving them access to three area line haul carriers. This industrial park is massive. Although the M&ET mainline is just 5 miles, there are 49 miles of track in the park. Modesto is in the heart of California’s food processing region and that shows in the M&ET’s customers: Americold, Beard’s Quality Nut, Bunge Food, Miller Beer, Canteen Vending, Central Valley Ag Grinding, Del Monte, Budweiser, E&J Brandy, Frito-Lay, Gallo Winery, Great Spring Waters of America, JS West Milling, Hilmar Cheese, Kraft General Foods, Major-Sysco Food Services, Nestle, Newly Weds Foods, Rizo-Lopez Foods, Seneca Foods, Stanislaus Food Products, plus 59 other customers in other fields. There are more companies in the Beard Industrial Park, these are just the one’s served by the M&ET.
Brand/Importer Information:
In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.
Item created by: Lethe on 2016-02-06 04:15:31. Last edited by CNW400 on 2020-06-02 13:45:56

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