Eastern Seaboard Models - 530601 - Open-Hopper, G38 Ore Jenny - Conrail - 500159

Prototype History: The PRR designed and built these cars to haul ore from docks in Philadelphia and Cleveland to steel mills in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.
The original class of ore jennies built by the PRR, these cars were designed to carry heavy grades of iron ore pellets. 1000 G38s were built in 1960 by the Sam Rea Shops. As time went on, ores had a lower iron content and were therefore lighter, which led to the development of the G39s. Despite their lower capacity, the G38s could still be found in service until the mid to late 1990s on some routes. The vast majority of the G38s were retrofitted with 77-ton trucks and re-classed G38Bs. (Source: The Conrail Historical Society)

Road Name History: The Consolidated Rail Corporation, commonly known as Conrail (reporting mark CR), was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeast U.S. between 1976 and 1999. Conrail is a portmanteau of "consolidated" and "rail" from the name of the company.

The U.S. federal government created Conrail to take over the potentially profitable lines of multiple bankrupt carriers, including the Penn Central Transportation Company and Erie Lackawanna Railway. With the benefit of industry-wide regulatory requirements being reduced (via the 4R Act and the Staggers Act), Conrail began to turn a profit in the 1980s and was turned over to private investors in 1987. The two remaining Class I railroads in the East, CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), agreed in 1997 to split the system approximately equally, returning rail freight competition to the Northeast by essentially undoing the 1968 merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad that created Penn Central. Following Surface Transportation Board approval, CSX and NS took control in August 1998, and on June 1, 1999, began operating their portions of Conrail.

Brand/Importer Information: Eastern Seaboard Models was founded in 1987. They are a manufacturer of N scale reproductions of North American eastern railroad prototypes. The have both decorated other manufacturers' models as well as designed body styles of their own. They are located at PO Box 301, Waldwick, New Jersey 07463-0301 U.S.A.

Their 2016 lineup includes ready-to-run gondolas, well cars, hoppers, tank cars and boxcars. They also produce craftsman quality kits in their "Made in America" series. ESM products may be purchased directly from their website.