Atlas - 3004 - Truck, Ford F-Series - Morristown & Erie - 1997 Ford F-150 Super Cab

Prototype History: The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks and medium-duty trucks (Class 2-7) that have been marketed and manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1948. While most variants of the F-Series trucks are full-size pickup trucks, the F-Series also includes chassis cab trucks (flat bed) and commercial vehicles (box van). The Ford F-Series has been the best-selling vehicle in the United States since 1986 and the best-selling pickup since 1977.

In 1999, to bridge the gap between the pickup line and the medium-duty trucks, the F-250 and F-350 became the Ford Super Duty vehicles; considered an expansion of the F-Series, the Super Duty trucks are built on a distinct chassis with heavier-duty components. As of the 2017 model year, the F-Series includes the F-150, the Super Duty (F-250 through F-550), and F-650 and F-750 Super Duty medium-duty commercial trucks. The most popular version of the F-Series is the F-150, now in its thirteenth generation.

Through the use of rebadging, Ford has marketed the F-Series through all three Ford divisions in North America. From 1946 to 1968, Mercury sold the Mercury M-Series in Canada; during the 2000s, Lincoln sold the Lincoln Blackwood, replaced by the Lincoln Mark LT.

From Wikipedia

Road Name History: Morristown & Erie Railway (reporting mark ME) is a short-line railroad based in Morristown, New Jersey, chartered in 1895 as the Whippany River Railroad. It operates freight rail service in Morris County, New Jersey and surrounding areas on the original Whippany Line between Morristown and Roseland, as well as the Morris County-owned Dover & Rockaway Branch, Chester Branch, and High Bridge Branch. The M&E also operated the Maine Eastern Railroad from November 2003 to December 31, 2015.

Brand/Importer Information: In 1924 Stephan Schaffan, Sr. founded the Atlas Tool Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1933 his son, Stephan Schaffan, Jr., came to work for his father at the age of sixteen. Steve Jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop. Being an enterprising young man, he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. Tired of listening to his requests, the hobby-store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said, "Here, see if you can improve on this".

In those days, railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch. Steve Jr. created a "switch kit" which sold so well, that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night, while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day.

Subsequently, Steve Jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track, along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. All of these products, and more, helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass-market hobby. The budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation. Realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products, Steve and his father had the first factory built in Hillside, New Jersey at 413 Florence Avenue in 1947. On September 30, 1949, the Atlas Tool Company was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

In 1985, Steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, Steve was nominated and entered into the National Model Railroad Association Pioneers of Model Railroading in 1995.

In the early 1990s, the Atlas Tool Company changed its name to Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc.