MTH ELECTRIC TRAINS

May 21, 2024 - M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing the 2024 Premier O Scale Flat Car w/(2) PUP Trailers in FIVE different schemes this Fall. Each car will be available in two different car numbers and is expected to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in October 2024.

Check out each of the offerings in the list on the left.

CUSTOM RUN FLAT CAR W/(2) PUP TRAILERS OFFERINGS

In addition to the M.T.H. releases, you can find all the 2024 Custom Run models of the Premier O Scale Flat Car w/(2) PUP Trailers offerings that M.T.H. is producing for M.T.H. Authorized Retailers by going HERE.

PROTOTYPE HISTORY

The trailer-on-flat-car, or TOFC, concept actually predates the trucking industry. For a brief period in the 1800s, Long Island farmers could ship their loaded wagons to market on a local railroad. The modern use of railroads to ship loaded trailers began on the Chicago Great Western Railroad (the “Corn Belt Route”) in 1935 and became widespread in the 1950s under the leadership of a former GM executive named Eugene Ryan and early supporters that included the Pennsy, New Haven, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Burlington, and Southern Pacific railroads.

Originally a large number of trailers were railroad-owned, and loading and unloading was done “circus-style” by driving the trailers onto a string of flatcars from one end. A major advance came in the 1960s with the advent of the first side-lift cranes, dramatically speeding up loading and unloading. Today the combination of trailer and container shipments, known collectively as intermodal, constitutes the largest class of freight on American railroads.

Check out each of the offerings in the list on the left.