Bachmann - 24011 - Passenger Train, Steam, North American, Old Time - Merry Christmas - Yuletide Special

Prototype History: Passenger train service has been around as long as the railroad itself. In general, early passenger trains, especially during the railroad industry's early years, were relatively dangerous. While steam allowed for faster, and a more efficient means of transportation, this did not necessarily translate into a safer way of travel. Our country’s first railroads like the B&O, Mohawk & Hudson, Albany & Schenectady, South Carolina Canal & Railroad, and others used mostly trial and error in learning what worked and what did not which, unfortunately, sometimes resulted in injuries or deaths. To make matters worse, shoddy construction practices and lack of government oversight, as railroads raced to build new rail lines and rapidly expand their networks, caused numerous deaths and injuries in the 19th century. For instance, early railroad roadbed practices involved using simple large stones to support the track structure, which quickly sank into the soil. This caused tracks to go out of alignment causing derailments. Also, the early rail designs of iron strap rails on wooden track caused deadly “snake heads” when they worked loose, disintegrating the wooden floors of passenger cars, sometimes killing the occupants inside.

Road Name History: Well, it is not really a company, but there are a ton of model railroad cars which sport Christmas as the Railroad.

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed most commonly on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is prepared for by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night; in some traditions, Christmastide includes an Octave. The traditional Christmas narrative, the Nativity of Jesus, delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies; when Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then disseminated the message furthermore. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated religiously by the vast majority of Christians, as well as culturally by a number of non-Christian people, and is an integral part of the holiday season, while some Christian groups reject the celebration. In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family.

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.