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Athearn - 6773 - Boxcar, 50 Foot, Berwick - St. Lawrence and Raquette River - 101517

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N Scale - Athearn - 6773 - Boxcar, 50 Foot, Berwick - St. Lawrence and Raquette River - 101517 Image Courtesy of Horizon Hobby
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Stock Number6773
Original Retail Price$17.99
BrandAthearn
ManufacturerAthearn
Body StyleMDC Boxcar 50 Foot BFF Youngstown Door
Image Provider's WebsiteLink
Prototype VehicleBoxcar, 50 Foot, Berwick (Details)
Road or Company NameSt. Lawrence and Raquette River (Details)
Reporting MarksNSL
Road or Reporting Number101517
Paint Color(s)Lapis Blue and Aluminum Roof
Print Color(s)Red, White & Blue
Coupler TypeMcHenry Magnetic Knuckle
Wheel TypeInjection Molded Plastic
Wheel ProfileSmall Flange (Low Profile)
Release Date2017-07-01
Item CategoryRolling Stock (Freight)
Model TypeBoxcar
Model Subtype50 Foot
Model VarietyBFF Youngstown Door
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era IV: 2nd Gen Diesel (1958 - 1978)
Scale1/160
Track GaugeN standard



Model Information: Boxcar, 50 Foot, Youngstown Single Sliding Door, Rib Side, Without Roofwalk, modeled after a prototype produced by BFF (Berwick Forge and Fabricating). MDC has released this model both in 'kit' and RTR (Read-to-Run) packaging. None of the features on the model actually match the Berwick prototype. Athearn acquired this tooling from MDC in 2004, and has since re-released it more than once. Athearn markets BFF models with both door styles (Pickens and Youngstown) as 'Berwick Boxcars'. The Athearn models feature magnetically operated couplers and are always RTR.
Prototype History:
The US government came up with a scheme to create an artificial incentive for railroads to buy new boxcars. If a railroad increased its boxcar fleet it was allowed to charge other railroads (not the customer) more for their daily use. (That's Per Diem). As an example, if the Crab Orchard and Egyptian acquired a fleet of 500 boxcars (up from zero) , and got them loaded on the ICG, it could charge the ICG for their use at an "Incentive Per Piem" rate that more than paid the CO&G's cost of ownership. So new boxcars got pumped into the system while old boxcars sat idle.

To cater to this demand, Berwick introduced its 50-foot boxcar in 1972 and sold the exterior-post car to more than 35 railroads. Though Berwick stopped production in 1982, the boxcars are still commonly seen throughout North America.
Road Name History:
The St. Lawrence & Raquette River (Reporting Marks: SLRR & NSL) was a shortline railroad operating in upstate New York. It operated a freight service from Norfolk, New York south to Norwood where it connected with Conrail. The line then proceeded west to Ogdensburg for 31.2 miles. The line operated about 1,000 cars per year carrying salt, lumber, recyclables, paper, ore, kaolin, and lubricating oils.

The line from Norwood to Ogdensburg had its origins in the Norwood-Ogdensburg line which was built by the Northern Railroad in 1850. This line then became part of the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain and later the Rutland. In 1965, 3 years after the Rutland was abandoned, the Ogdensburg Bridge & Port Authority purchased a segment of the Rutland that stretched between Norwood & Ogdensburg. The OB&PA leased this segment first to the Ogdensburg & Norwood Railroad then later to the St. Lawrence Railroad until 1990. At this point the lease was taken over by the St. Lawrence & Raquette River Railroad.

The line from Norwood to Norfolk had its origins in the Norwood & St. Lawrence Railroad which had opened in January of 1909. The N&STL merged with the Raymondville & Waddington Railroad. The combined company was owned by the St. Regis Paper company which operated it until 1974, when it turned over the line to the Ogdensburg Bridge & Port Authority. The OB&PA later leased the line to the St. Lawrence & Raquette River.

The St. Lawrence & Raquette River was acquired by CSX Transportation which now operates it as a subdivision.
Brand/Importer Information:
Athearn's history began in 1938, when its founder-to-be, Irvin Athearn, started an elaborate O scale layout in his mother's house. After placing an ad selling the layout, and receiving much response to it, Irv decided that selling model railroads would be a good living. He sold train products out of his mother's house through most of the 1940s. After becoming a full-time retailer in 1946, Irv opened a separate facility in Hawthorne, California in 1948, and that same year he branched into HO scale models for the first time.

Athearn acquired the Globe Models product line and improved upon it, introducing a comprehensive array of locomotive, passenger and freight car models. Improvements included all-wheel drive and electrical contact. One innovation was the "Hi-Fi" drive mechanism, employing small rubber bands to transfer motion from the motor spindle to the axles. Another was the double-ended ring magnet motor, which permitted easy connection to all-wheel-drive assemblies. Athearn was also able to incorporate flywheels into double-ended drives.

The company produced a model of the Boston & Maine P4 class Pacific steam locomotive which incorporated a cast zinc alloy base and thermoplastic resin superstructure. It had a worm drive and all power pickup was through the bipolar trucks that carried the tender. This item was discontinued after the Wilson motor was no longer available, and was not redesigned for a more technologically advanced motor.

Athearn's car fleet included shorter-than-scale interpretations of passenger cars of Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad prototypes. The company also offered a variety of scale-length freight cars with sprung and equalized trucks. The cars could be obtained in simple kit form, or ready-to-run in windowed display boxes. The comprehensive scope of the product line contributed to the popularity of HO as a model railroad scale, due to the ready availability of items and their low cost.

Irv Athearn died in 1991. New owners took control in 1994, but continued to follow Athearn's commitment to high-quality products at reasonable prices. Athearn was bought in 2004 by Horizon Hobby. Athearn was then moved from its facility in Compton to a new facility in Carson, California. In mid-2009, all remaining US production was moved to China and warehousing moved to parent Horizon Hobby. Sales and product development was relocated to a smaller facility in Long Beach, California.

Read more on Wikipedia and Athearn website.
Item created by: CNW400 on 2019-01-30 14:59:06. Last edited by Lethe on 2020-06-01 00:00:00

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