The Freight Yard - JEST Circus Set - Mixed Freight Consist - Strates Shows - 18-pack

Specific Item Information: Limited edition set, only 50 produced.
This set contains:
- 1 Atlas U25B locomotive (either blue or red ribbon)
- 1 Atlas Cupola Offset caboose
- 2 x Atlas 50' stock cars (only 1 listed on the box)
- 4 x Atlas 50' flat cars
- 2 x Atlas 50' double door boxcars (only 1 listed on the box)
- 2 x Roundhouse 50' modern tank car (only 1 listed on the box)
- 1 x Atlas Covered Hopper 4-Bay ACF 5250 (none listed on the box)
- 2 x Atlas 24' trailers
- 2 x Atlas 40' trailers (none listed on the box)
- 1 pole load
Note that the list above is what is shown on the photo. The contents described on the box is slightly shorter, so it could be that the set shown has been completed with additional items purchased individually (some were released in 1999).
There could be variation of road numbers from one set to the other.

Prototype History: A mixed freight train is a train that hauls a variety of different freight cars or wagons. A mixed freight depends on the locale and industries. The train will be carrying cars to be brought to a yard where a local will bring them to the various industries. The location determines the industries, and the industries determine the cars.

Which cars are in which trains is determined by the waybills they are assigned - which is close to a totally random process. For example, through freights simply run from up staging to down staging and back, stopping long enough to trade out 30 percent of their cars and change from steam to motor (catenary) or vice-versa. Thus freights will have a variety of cars, changing each time they pass through a switching yard.

Road Name History: Strates Shows, Inc. is a family operated traveling carnival midway company based in Orlando, Florida, founded by James E. Strates in 1923. It provides amusement rides, games and concessions for local, county and state fairs throughout the United States. Strates Shows is the only midway company in the country that transports their personnel and equipment by train during its annual seven-month season.

Brand/Importer Information: The Freight Yard was a hobby shop that did custom decoration and special runs of other manufacturers' N Scale products. It sold its custom products under several brands or collections: Premiere Editions, by The Freight Yard and Dreams Design.
It was located in Anaheim, California and then moved to 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Established in the late 1980s, it stopped business under this name by the end of the 2000s.
The Freight Yard was owned and operated by Darren J. Cohen. Darren is now operating North Valley Trains.
The Freight Yard / Premiere Editions runs are usually available in series of two to twelve different numbers (suffixed A to M, with I not used).
The first two digits of the stock number correspond to the release year (9x being 199x, and 2x being 200x).