These kit cars date back to the 1970s. And I guess they weren't particular popular since they seem to be quite scarce nowadays. ANB's kits are chemically milled from .020" brass and highly detailed. The only non-brass parts are the diecast brake gear assemblies and the wooden interior frames. Trucks and couplers not included.
Live poultry cars were invented in 1884 for the safe transporation of chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, and all manner of live fowl. Because of their unique cargo, these "cackle cars" often moved in fast freights bound for major cities. An attendant was sent along with each poultry shipment to care for the birds en route. He lived in an eight-foot wide “stateroom” at the center of the car (complete with a bunk, stove and sink). The birds were watered from a rectangular tank at the top of the car. The attendant walked along a walkway at the center of the car, feeding the birds from a 50 bushel bin of grain that was located below the floor in the stateroom.
The Live Poultry Transit Company of Chicago, Illinois was the primary operator of poultry cars in the United States. However, based on the decals supplied with the ANB kit, this model appears to be based on on a PPKX prototype. The Palace Poultry Car Company was formed in 1924 and was the only real competition for the Live Poultry Transit Company. Their cars were similar in function, but rode higher on the rails. Both companies would eventually become part of the North American Car Company, with a fleet of more than 3,000 poultry cars roaming the nation.
North American continued to operate its live poultry car fleet through World War II. However, the advent of improved highway systems pretty much sounded the death knell for shipments of live poultry by rail. In 1944, North American spun off its poultry car fleet to a new concern called the Poultry Transit Company, and by 1950 the company only had 15 poultry cars in its fleet (making its last rail shipments of live birds in 1956). Today, poultry is still transported via rail, just in frozen form.
