Athearn RTR 7486 – Thrall High Side Gondola W/Load Lake Erie, Franklin & Clarion (LEF) 4566, 4573, 4581 – HO Scale

MODEL FEATURES:

• Removable load
• Wire and plastic handrails, stirrup steps, ladders and underbody details
• Factory applied ladders, stirrup steps, and wire grab
• Highly-detailed, injection molded body
• 100-ton trucks with 36″ wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track
• McHenry^® scale knuckle spring couplers
• Highly-detailed, injection molded body
• Weighted for trouble-free operation
• Minimum radius: 18″

PROTOTYPE AND BACKGROUND INFO:

Thrall was a recognizable freight car manufacturing company in the 1960s to 1980s. Their designs still carry on today. The company focused on building specialized freight cars including high side gondolas, and rotary-dump gondolas for coal. In the 1980s, Thrall acquired five competing railcar manufacturers and became the largest such manufacturer of these cars in the United States.

In the 1960s, coal haulage shifted from open hopper cars to high-sided gondolas. Using a gondola, the railroads are able to haul a larger amount of coal per car since gondolas do not include the equipment needed for unloading. However, since these cars do not have hatches for unloading the products shipped in them, railroads must use rotary car dumpers (mechanisms that hold a car against a short section of track as the car and track are slowly rotated upside down to empty the car) or other means to empty them.