Rivarossi - 9541 - Passenger Car, Heavyweight, Pullman, Observation - Santa Fe - 35

Model Information: Introduced in 1967 as Atlas-Rivarossi. Underframe marked Atlas. Sold under the same stock number with Atlas or Rivarossi brand until 1975.
After 1976, sold only as Rivarossi, with new Rivarossi stock numbers and underframe marked Rivarossi. Some boxes from the transition time can have both Atlas and the new Rivarossi stock numbers affixed on it.
This body style was then used by Con-Cor after Atlas stopped selling it.
The model is based on an ATSF/Pullman obs-lounge.

Prototype History: Pullman was the leading producer of heavyweight coaches during the 1st half of the twentieth century. They were known for the quality and luxury of the passenger cars. The observation car was a common sight on heavyweight consists during 1920s and 1930s.

An observation car/carriage/coach (in US English, often abbreviated to simply observation or obs) is a type of railroad passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the last carriage, with windows on the rear of the car for passengers' viewing pleasure. The cars were nearly universally removed from service on American railroads beginning in the 1950s as a cost-cutting measure in order to eliminate the need to "turn" the trains when operating out of stub-end terminals.

Road Name History: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (reporting mark ATSF), often abbreviated as Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. Chartered in February 1859, the railroad reached the Kansas-Colorado border in 1873 and Pueblo, Colorado, in 1876. To create a demand for its services, the railroad set up real estate offices and sold farm land from the land grants that it was awarded by Congress. Despite the name, its main line never served Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the terrain was too difficult; the town ultimately was reached by a branch line from Lamy.

The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport, an enterprise that (at one time or another) included a tugboat fleet and an airline (the short-lived Santa Fe Skyway). Its bus line extended passenger transportation to areas not accessible by rail, and ferryboats on the San Francisco Bay allowed travelers to complete their westward journeys to the Pacific Ocean. The ATSF was the subject of a popular song, Harry Warren & Johnny Mercer's "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", written for the film, The Harvey Girls (1946).

The railroad officially ceased operations on December 31, 1996, when it merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Brand/Importer Information: Rivarossi was one of the world's most famous Italian manufacturers of model railways. Rivarossi was founded in 1945 by Alessandro Rossi with Antonio Riva. In the 1990s Rivarossi acquired Lima (1992), Arnold (1995) and Jouef (1996). In 2003, after several years of managerial and financial vicissitudes, Rivarossi ceased its activities.

In 2004 Hornby Railways plc acquired assets from Rivarossi, in particular the brands Arnold, Jouef, Rivarossi and Lima. Since 2006 products are sold again under these brand names, with product manufactured in China. For complete information, visit Rivarossi Memory (mostly in Italian with some sections available in English).