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On its customer Web site, the Union Pacific Railroad characterizes a gondola as an "extremely sturdy open design" for carrying "rugged unfinished commodities"; its "large flat interior design with sidewalls" is described as "more flexible than a flatcar." These qualities make the modern gondola particularly popular with the steel industry, for transportation of loose materials like scrap metal, waste, coke, and slag as well as finished products like iron or steel plate, pipe, structural steel, and rails for railroad track. Our car replicates a 52’ mill gondola, so-called for its popularity with steel mills, and carries a removable load of scrap metal that might be recycled and used to stamp parts for autos, appliances, and a variety of other products.

Other commodities commonly shipped in gondolas include mineral ores, granite slabs, gravel, logs, lumber, railroad ties, and even prefabricated railroad track, also known as "panel track."

The name for these cars actually predates railroads. In the early 1800s, utilitarian flat-bottomed boats with low sides, used to transport coal down the Potomac River to the Washington D.C. area, were called gondolas as a spoof on the much fancier Venetian gondolas. Similarly shaped coal-carrying cars on early railroads earned the same moniker. As more specialized cars were invented for coal service, the gondola evolved into the general-purpose car it is today.

M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing several limited-edition releases of the RailKing SD70ACe Diesel/Caboose Sets in four different liveries later this Spring. These unique releases are part of a series of products representing the last M.T.H. production runs as the company concludes its 40-year history this year.

Check out the announcement by going HERE.


Cabin Fever Auctions will be conducting the sixth of a series of auctions of the official M.T.H. Archive Collection from M.T.H.'s 124,000 sq. ft. Maryland warehouse.

The sixth auction is February 27, 2021, and can be previewed online by visiting the auction preview listing.

www.CabinFeverAuctions.com

or call 800-789-5068 or 610-587-8139


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