By Railroad Model Craftsman Staff
Jacksonville Terminal Company is releasing new N scale 53-foot intermodal containers, including two for current domestic carriers and three in schemes paying tribute to a trio of iconic model railroads.
The prototype releases are two new 53-foot corrugated domestic intermodal containers painted for Hub Group (HGIU) in salmon orange and Twin Logistics (TLGU) in medium green. Each model is created from tooling customized to each prototype. Each of these models features the appropriate number of side corrugations (8-55-8) and correct nose and rear door designs corresponding to prototype road numbers.
JTC has also announced what it’s calling the “Visionary Series” of products. The first release available in this line will be three containers painted in tribute to the Appalachian Lines, a trio of freelance model railroads created by Tony Koester (Allegheny Midland), Steve King (Virginia Midland) and Allen McClelland (Virginian & Ohio). In the 1970s, just as the real railroads in the region began to consolidate (Chessie System and Family Lines), the trio of friends decided to operate their railroads under a shared corporate umbrella known as the “Appalachian Lines,” albeit with different names and colors for each road. All three railroads were prominently featured in the model railroad press, including Railroad Model Craftsman, which was edited by Koester at the time. As a tribute to those trailblazing modelers, JTC will release containers for all three roads, first in N scale and later in HO scale. “This release imagines the Appalachian Lines still operating as an independent group in the ‘current’ era, hustling products in and out of Appalachia, connecting to the rest of the country through various agreements with other railroads,” the company wrote.
All JTC containers feature JTC’s open-source magnetic container connecting system and are also compatible with JTC’s retrofit underframe kits to stack Micro-Trains and ScaleTrains brand containers on top. These new 53’ corrugated 8-55-8 domestic containers from JTC are $33.95/pair available from your favorite dealer or direct. For more information visit www.jtcmodeltrains.com.