Rapido Trains - 543012A - Covered Hopper, Barrel, Ore - North American Car

Specific Item Information: Single car - random car #

Model Information: This train plied the rails from two mines owned by Dofasco in Northern Ontario to their facility in Hamilton, Ontario. At first glance the cars look like a shrunken cylindrical hopper. The reason for the round shape and covered hatches was to keep the processed iron-ore pellets from becoming frozen or damp with moisture which would slow down the unloading process. The cars also came in two varieties over three orders: a 35’ length “Short” version (built in 1967); and a 42’ “Long” version (delivered in 1973 and 1975 in two groups). This was to reduce rail wear as the 35’ cars spanned the same length as the stick rail underneath. Also unique is the tire that sits over top of each of the roof hatches. At the loadout, the tires come into contact with a “scroll” that forces the hatches to open -- taking 60 seconds to fill each car and roughly an hour and twenty minutes for the entire unit train of 40 cars. More often than not one could see CN and ONR cars mixed in a consist.

Road Name History: The successful North American Car Company of Chicago, was incorporated in 1907. It grew and expanded, proving that the railcar leasing business could be quite profitable if well managed. North American was active in all the normal specialties of shipper lines, even including poultry. The company later became involved with the production of their own cars. They designed, produced and marketed tank cars, hoppers and boxcars. North American Car Corp. was based in Chicago, Illinois at 222 South Riverside Plaza.

In 1986 GE Railcar Services Corp. acquired the assets of North American Car Corp. GE acquired ~35000 railcars and 14 maintenance units in North America at a cost of $420 million. North American Car, a unit of Tiger International Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in Los Angeles in December, 1984. NACC had been Tiger International's only profitable unit.

Brand/Importer Information: Rapido Trains Inc. is a high-end manufacturer of model trains and accessories in HO, OO and N (North American 1:160 and British 1:148) scales. The firm's mission is to recreate the entire rail travel experience, from fully-detailed interiors and under-frames on models to fully-wired telephone poles for model railroads.

The name RAPIDO was introduced by Canadian National in 1965 to headline the railway's high-speed intercity passenger services. Until the mid-1980s, RAPIDO stood for fast schedules, frequent trains, and superb service.

Today, Rapido Trains continues the RAPIDO concept with state-of-the-art models and attention to fine detail. This company is not related to the venerable (and now defunct) German manufacturer Arnold Rapido, nor the present-day Arnold (which is owned by the United Kingdom's Hornby), Canadian based Rapido Trains was founded in 2003.