Micro-Trains - 510 00 390 - Boxcar, 50 Foot, Steel - Bath & Hammondsport - 25105

Specific Item Information: This 50’ rib side box car with single door and no roofwalk is maroon with white door and lettering, and runs on Barber Roller Bearing trucks. Leased to the B&H Railroad by Intel Rail, the car sports the tipped-champagne glass logo, symbolically toasting the public as it passes by. Just a nine-mile shortline serving the vineyards and wineries of the Hammondsport, New York area, it is easy to see where the slogan “The Champagne Trail” originates.

Prototype History: While the 40-foot boxcar was a standard design, and it did come in different setups depending on the type of freight being transported, it was not large enough for efficient mass commodity transportation. The 50-foot boxcar made its first appearance in the 1930s and steadily grew in popularity over the years, which further improved redundancies by allowing for even more space within a given car. Today, the 50-footer remains the common boxcar size. After the second world war ended, and steel became once again readily available, steel became the go-to choice for construction of boxcars. Pullman Standard and ACF were some of the most prolific builders of these cars.

These cars came in many variations. For instance, double-doors became practical for large/wide loads, end-doors useful for very large lading such as automobiles, and interior tie-down equipment was helpful in keeping sensitive products from being damaged in-transit. In 1954 the Santa Fe developed its "Shock Control" (and later "Super Shock Control") technology for new boxcars with upgraded suspension systems to further improve the ride-quality and reduce the chance of damaging freight.

In the 1960s, the flush, "plug" style sliding door was introduced as an option that provides a larger door to ease loading and unloading of certain commodities. The tight-fitting doors are better insulated and allow a car's interior to be maintained at a more even temperature.

Road Name History: This line was built in 1872 to link Hammondsport to connections with the Erie and Delaware Lackawanna & Western in Bath, New York 9 miles away. Originally built as a 3’ gauge line, it was standard gauged in 1889. From 1903 until 1935 the B&H was controlled by the Erie but Erie applied to abandon it after the B&H suffered severe flood damage. A local group of investors stepped in, repaired the line and restored service. Freight traffic was primarily centered around the winery business and the B&H quickly picked up the nickname "The Champagne Trail." In-bound traffic included bottles and California wines for blending (in later decades, the latter was shipped by the tank car load!) Outbound traffic was primarily bottled wine. B&H also had a pair of TOFC ramps in Hammondsport. In 1976, Conrail spun off the connecting line at Bath to the County of Steuban and B&H became the designated operator. In 1996, the Livonia Avon & Lakeville took over the County owned route and the B&H. In 2001, they merged them with their Conhocton Valley Railroad subsidiary and renamed the whole thing B&H Rail. Today's B&H runs from Wayland to Painted Post, New York while the original line from Bath to Hammondsport is inactive.

Brand/Importer 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.