Still doesn’t answer what the inaugural on the 40’ car signifies.
Please see page 10 of the March 2004 issue of MR magazine.
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Model Power stock#7980
This model was made to commemorate the chain’s listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market, and “GTRN” is probably the abbreviation for that. The stock certificate (a sales site) was printed in 1994, so the listing was probably around that time. The previous owner said that the model was given to him by the president around 2000.
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The chain existed from 1985-2000. A three-page profile was published in the March 1992 issue of MR magazine. I was able to visit the Union Station store in Washington DC in 1993. The inside story of the business is in Railway Preservation News.
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Here’s the World’s Fair set I mentioned earlier:
Being a UT fan, my favorite car is the UT Orange “Go Vols” hopper.
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Elegant exterior, beautiful models, perfect condition and great photos!
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This Model Power model has a complicated structure. Changing the body mount coupler from a hornhook to a Kadee required some ingenuity.
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Life-Like stock#8584
This exhibition facility was featured on the cover and took up six pages in the September 1997 issue of MR magazine.
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The chain was founded in 1922 and at its peak had 1,300 stores across all 50 states, including Hawaii and Alaska, before going out of business in 2009.
This Bachmann model has had the entire floor replaced with Athearn parts, lowering the height by 0.080".
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According to my research, the distributor of their products in the US changed hands from IMP (TT-gauge) in 1964, to Nathan R. Preston (Illinois) in 1967, to FNR International (Massachusetts) in 1981, and to F&H Enterprises (California) in 1992. They may now be a direct wholesaler. It is unclear how they are handled in Canada.
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How about freelance cars? Chris Palmieri at HomeShops works with freelance model railroad owners and model manufacturers to make and sell factory runs of fictional roads, like my V&O and VM Boxcars that I have here from Atlas. I weathered the models and added the ACI Labels with Decals, but the rest of the graphics are straight from Atlas!
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I shouldn’t ask, but how expensive was it to have a production run of special cars?
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Not sure, you’d have to ask Chris Palmieri, but the cars I bought were only $5 or so more expensive than other N scale boxcars, so it must be cheap enough to be profitable as a business! LOL! probably a few hundred, since I think the minimum number for a run is like 150 or 200 pieces or something like that…
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Beautiful! Enjoy that Dash 7!
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Another gorgeous scene! Well done.
Rich
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