Rapido Trains - 562011A - Flatcar, 73 Foot, Centerbeam - Copper Basin

Prototype History: Centerbeam flatcars, centerbeams, center partition railcars or commonly referred to as lumber racks are specialty cars designed for carrying bundled building supplies such as dimensional lumber, wallboard, and fence posts. They are essentially bulkhead flatcars that have been reinforced by a longitudinal I-beam, often in the form of a Vierendeel truss, sometimes reinforced by diagonal members, but originally in the form of stressed panels perforated by panel-lightening "opera windows", often oval, egg-shaped or rectangular. They must be loaded symmetrically, with half of the payload on one side of the centerbeam and half on the other to avoid tipping over.

Road Name History: Operating 61 miles of former Southern Pacific route from Magma to Winkelman, Arizona (plus a branch,) the Copper Basin Railway began operations in 1986. The line had been in the hands of Kennecott Copper for some period between SP and Copper Basin ownership.

As you might expect from the name, traffic includes copper concentrates and ore, finished copper, and sulphuric acid. In addition, the CBRY moves lumber, coal, gypsum, and even military equipment. The diesel fleet is now 16 units (implying traffic is fairly heavy,) split between, GP9, GP18 (both with chopped noses,) GP40-2, GP39, and GP39-2 models. At one time they had SD39s as well but they have since moved on. They had over 700 cars as well shortly after startup but likely have more today.

Brand/Importer Information: Rapido Trains Inc. is a high-end manufacturer of model trains and accessories in HO, OO and N (North American 1:160 and British 1:148) scales. The firm's mission is to recreate the entire rail travel experience, from fully-detailed interiors and under-frames on models to fully-wired telephone poles for model railroads.

The name RAPIDO was introduced by Canadian National in 1965 to headline the railway's high-speed intercity passenger services. Until the mid-1980s, RAPIDO stood for fast schedules, frequent trains, and superb service.

Today, Rapido Trains continues the RAPIDO concept with state-of-the-art models and attention to fine detail. This company is not related to the venerable (and now defunct) German manufacturer Arnold Rapido, nor the present-day Arnold (which is owned by the United Kingdom's Hornby), Canadian based Rapido Trains was founded in 2003.