These cars came out some time during the 1990s and were originally sold by MDC/Roundhouse. They were variously available in kit form or ready to run. I'm told that the trucks and wheels used in the kits are terrible. Circa 2005, Athearn acquired all the old MDC/Roundhouse cars and re-released them in Athearn packaging.
I'm not sure which specific prototype this model might be based on, but at 36' it almost surely dates back to the turn of the century. 36' freight cars first started appearing around 1900 and remained in general service until World War II. During the 1930s, some wood-sided cars received steel underframes (as well as steel ends and roofs) and lasted into the 1960s.
Athearn Features -
- Fully assembled and ready to operate
- Seperately applied brake wheel and roof walk
- Molded truss rods with turnbuckles
- Molded plastic underframe with brake cylinder
- Screw mounted trucks for accurate tracking
- Truck mounted magnetically operated knuckle couplers
- Plastic wheels