Milwaukee, Wis. - Walthers announces a new run of Life-Like PROTO 1000 USRA 50-Ton Drop-Bottom Composite Gondolas in HO Scale. For the first time, these popular steam-era models will be offered as single cars (#920-37050 series, $9.98 each) and in limited-run two-packs (#920-237051 series, $19.98 each), making available a total of three different roadnumbers for each roadname. All cars will arrive in December 2007.

In the early 20th century, many railroads still preferred composite construction for freight cars that were exposed to rough service, as wood parts were cheap to make and easy to replace. Many roads handling coal were especially partial to composite gondolas, as the wooden sides and floors were better able to withstand exposure to wet coal, which produced sulfuric acid. Coal was critical for war production during World War I, and to keep it moving, the United States Railway Administration designed a composite gondola with drop doors in the floor for fast and easy unloading. The design proved to be very popular, and over 20,000 of these cars were eventually assigned to over 25 railroads, where they continued to serve for many years in coal, mineral and aggregate service.

Perfect for modelers looking for workhorse steam-era cars or to upgrade starter sets, these PROTO 1000 models are affordably priced, come fully assembled and feature molded-on detail to stand up to regular handling. With magnetic knuckle couplers and blackened-metal RP-25 wheels, they're a great choice for use on operations-oriented layouts too. And for the first time, the cars will be offered with three different numbers, making it easy to model a large fleet. The latest run includes the following roadnames:

Single Cars, $9.98 Each:
920-37051 MILW #84959
920-37052 CB&Q #188850
920-37053 SLSF #85825
920-37054 ACL* #90024
920-37055 ATSF #175836
920-37056 IC #126341
920-37057 CNW† #24793
920-37058 GN #74206
920-37059 NYC* #349992
920-37060 UP† #64142
920-37061 Rock Island #82007
920-37062 C&O* #29662
920-37050 Undecorated

Limited-Run Two-Packs, $19.98:
920-237051 MILW #85312, #86147
920-237052 CB&Q #188598, #188731
920-237053 SLSF #85851, #85899
920-237054 ACL* #90003, #90049
920-237055 ATSF #175583, #175607
920-237056 IC #126001, #126211
920-237057 CNW† #24545, #24628
920-237058 GN #74342, #74487
920-237059 NYC* #349759, #349816
920-237060 UP† #64459, #64986
920-237061 Rock Island #82064, #82195
920-237062 C&O* #29698, #29814

The PROTO 1000 USRA 50-Ton Drop-Bottom Composite Gondolas will be arriving in December. For more information on PROTO 1000 freight cars and other Walthers HO Scale products, or to locate a dealer, visit Walthers on the Internet at www.walthers.com. Call 414-527-0770 or write Walthers, P.O. Box 3039, Milwaukee, WI 53201-3039.

*CSX proprietary marks used by permission of CSX Transportation, Inc.

†Union Pacific licensed product