Micro-Trains - 451 00 351 - Trailer, 45 Foot, Box - Santa Fe - 0257766

Specific Item Information: Built by Freuhauf in the 1970s and 1980s, originally as a 40’ Z-Van, these trailers were later stretched to 45’ and belonged to the series 257519-257814. Founded in 1859, Santa Fe was one of the largest railroads in North America up until 1996, when it merged with Burlington Northern to form BNSF.

Model Information: The trailers come with two styles of landing gear. The short landing gear is in elevated position when being hauled by tractors or carried on a flat car (supplied as separate part in the box). The longer extended landing gear is used when the trailer is standing alone (installed by default).
Rolling wheels.
The model can be super-detailed by painting the inside of the wheels, brake and running lights, as well as the mud flats in order to bring out the Fruehauf name and star.

Prototype History: A box trailer is one of the most common trailers in the road transport industry. These trailers are used for transporting all kinds of cargo on the nation's highways.

A 45 foot trailer can typically haul more than 70,000 pounds of cargo and weighs (unladen) about 12,000 pounds. The volume allows for about60 retail sized (48" x 20") pallets. Alternatively, it can hail about 30 Military ISO containers at (35" x 45.5"). This sized trailer is often used for international shipping in North America (Canada and Mexico).

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: Micro-Trains is the brand name used by both Kadee Quality Products and Micro-Trains Line. For a history of the relationship between the brand and the two companies, please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide.

Manufacturer Information: Micro-Trains Line split off from Kadee Quality Products in 1990. Kadee Quality Products originally got involved in N-Scale by producing a scaled-down version of their successful HO Magne-Matic knuckle coupler system. This coupler was superior to the ubiquitous 'Rapido' style coupler due to two primary factors: superior realistic appearance and the ability to automatically uncouple when stopped over a magnet embedded in a section of track. The success of these couplers in N-Scale quickly translated to the production of trucks, wheels and in 1972 a release of ready-to-run box cars.

Micro-Trains Line Co. split off from Kadee in 1990 to form a completely independent company. For this reason, products from this company can appear with labels from both enterprises. Due to the nature of production idiosyncrasies and various random factors, the rolling stock from Micro-Trains can have all sorts of interesting variations in both their packaging as well as the products themselves. When acquiring an MTL product it is very important to understand these important production variations that can greatly enhance (or decrease) the value of your purchase.

Please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide