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Athearn - 13837 - Trailer, Fruehauf Z-Van - Transamerica Transportation - 550011

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N Scale - Athearn - 13837 - Trailer, Fruehauf Z-Van - Transamerica Transportation - 550011 Image Courtesy of Athearn Trains
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Stock Number13837
Original Retail Price$31.99
BrandAthearn
ManufacturerAthearn
Body StyleAthearn Vehicle Trailer 45 Foot Fruehauf Z-Van
Prototype VehicleTrailer, Fruehauf Z-Van (Details)
Road or Company NameTransamerica Transportation (Details)
Reporting MarksTDSZ
Road or Reporting Number550011
Paint Color(s)White with Red & Blue Stripes
Print Color(s)Black & Red
Announcement Date2022-11-25
Release Date2024-01-01
Item CategoryVehicles
Model TypeTrailer
Model SubtypeBox Van
Model Variety45 Foot Fruehauf Z-Van
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era IV: 2nd Gen Diesel (1958 - 1978)
Scale1/160



Prototype History:
Fruehauf Trailer produced a variety of different semi box trailers. During the 1960s the 40 and 45 foot dry models were quite popular and many are still in service today.
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 2022-11-25 10:47:48

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