Roundhouse - 8135 - Boxcar, 50 Foot, PS-1 - Ann Arbor - 5016

Model Information: This MDC Roundhouse body style models a 50 Foot Pullman Standard (PS) Boxcar with a single sliding door, Rib Sides, peaked ends, and no roofwalk. The molds were acquired by Athearn/Horizon Hobbies in 2004.

The 2021 release of this model included these features: See through metal roof walk, Scale profile brake wheel, Detailed under frame, Roller bearing or Bettendorf trucks, Fully-assembled and ready-to-run out of the box, Accurately painted and printed, Highly detailed, injection molded body, Machined metal wheels, Screw mounted trucks, McHenry knuckle couplers, Weighted for trouble free operation, Clear plastic jewel box for convenient storage, Operates on Code 55 and 80 rail, Minimum radius: 9 ¾”

Prototype History: The Pullman Standard or PS-1 design was one of the most popular and was widely used by North American railroads. These boxcars were built beginning in 1947 and share the same basic design, with certain elements such as door size, door style or roof type varying among the different railroads and production years. When production of these cars ceased in 1963, over 100,000 had been produced.

The original PS-1 measured 40 foot in length, but Pullman Standard also offered 50′ and later 60′ boxcars – also with the PS-1 designation.

Road Name History: Ann Arbor was formed in 1895 to reorganize the bankrupt Toledo Ann Arbor & North Michigan. It ran from Toledo, Ohio through Ann Arbor, Michigan northwest to the coast of Lake Michigan at Frankfort. There, railroad car ferries forwarded the traffic to four ports across the lake. The rail portion was almost exactly 300 miles. Detroit Toledo & Ironton had control of the company between 1905 and 1910. In 1925, the Wabash took control of the Ann Arbor. As diesels began to arrive (mostly Alco FA's and RS1s) they came in Wabash blue, gray and white but with Ann Arbor lettering and a "marine" version of the flag on the nose. This is where it gets a bit complicated. Wabash was controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad who, in the early 60s, was planning their merger with the New York Central. They knew they would not be permitted to control Wabash through the merger and began arranging marriages to limit any negative impacts. They arranged for Wabash (whom they controlled) to be leased by Norfolk & Western (whom they didn't control but had considerable influence over) as part of N&W’s consolidation with Nickel Plate, Akron Canton & Youngstown, and Pittsburgh & West Virginia. For some reason, Ann Arbor was to stay in the PRR sphere and not go with the Wabash. So prior to that merger, Wabash sold the Ann Arbor to the Detroit Toledo & Ironton (whom PRR also controlled.) That was in 1963. At that point, AA traded in their blue, gray and white for DT&I orange with Ann Arbor lettering. As the 60s pressed on, demand for cross-lake ferry rail service dwindled until only the two Wisconsin routes remained. By 1972, AA was down to 15 locomotives. A year later, they declared bankruptcy. The line operated in receivership until April 1, 1976 which was Conrail's first day of operation. After a short time, Conrail announced that it wasn't interested in operating any AA route north of Ann Arbor, but the state of Michigan wanted to keep the road together. So Michigan Interstate took over as the designated operator of the Ann Arbor Railroad. “Michigan Interstate Railway Company Operator” lettering was applied to the short hoods of many AA locomotives. In 1982, all ferry operations ended and the following year AA was split between the Michigan Interstate, the Michigan Northern and the Tuscola & Saginaw Bay (later the Great Lakes Central.) Then in 1988, a new company bought the section from Toledo to Ann Arbor. That is the current "Ann Arbor Railroad." Ann Arbor joined the Watco shortline group in 2013.

The Ann Arbor Railroad owned a subsidiary, the Manistique and Lake Superior Railroad (M&LS), from somewhere shortly after that line's origin in 1909 until it was abandoned in 1968.

Brand/Importer Information: MDC Roundhouse was founded in California in 1938 and relocated in 1993 to Carson City, Nevada due to statewide restrictions on painting. MDC Roundhouse was a producer of both RTR (Ready-to-Run) and kit versions of N Scale rolling stock as well as RTR locomotives. They entered the N scale market in 1979 with a Thrall Hi-Side Gondola and a Hi-Cube Single Door Box Car. MDC Roundhouse was purchased by Horizon Hobbies in June of 2004, when its owner since 1938 C. H. Menteer retired, and merged into their Athearn line.

Unlike many of their contemporaries which contracted with European firms to produce their products, MDC made their own toolings. They made several popular body styles and produced them for road names that many other vendors (even Micro-Trains) wouldn't touch. This made them popular with modelers. Also, their un-assembled "kits" permitted a lower price point so they were popular with "runners" as well as "modelers".

Of particular interest was the attention given to modern 50 foot steel boxcars. They made some attempt to accurately mold the differences into distinct models to represent each of the major prototype manufacturers products. They have distinct toolings not only for the different products from FMC, BFF and PS, but also multiple models for each of these manufacturers including "standard" vs "Youngstown" doors and "waffle" vs. "rib" sides. In total they produced 13 different versions of the 50 foot steel boxcar.