HO ATH 36' Low Side Gondola w/ Drop Gates, CNJ #81045

ATHEARN 36' LOW SIDE DROP BOTTOM GONDOLA PROTOTYPE AND BACKGROUND INFO:

From the close of the Civil War through the late 1920s, existed railroads with vast fleets of equipment servicing trackside customers smal to large. Because of the regional segmented nature of these stretches of railroad, designs were often similar but rarely the same. Athearn has created several new models that will capture the essence of these freight cars, with separately applied details and sharp decorations that are ready out of the box to be run on any railroad setting these models apart from craftsman kits and the “toy train” models that have previously been offered.

Many railroads expanded on the design of the basic flat car to meet other needs. Wooden sideboards were added for extra carrying capacity. These early gondolas required teams of shovel-wielding workers to unload the contents in a laborious process. This standard gondola design was adapted with gates, or trap doors that allowed the bottom of the gondola to be open. A ratcheting crank located on the car sides would close these gates after being opened. Workers were still used to unload these cars, but now the contents could be shoveled to the open gates instead of lifted over the side of the car. The Athearn model shares the same feature as the flat car, but includes the low sides, ratchet detail, and gates of the drop-bottom gondola.