WalthersProto
PROTO 2000 40' Mather Boxcar - Assembled

Manufacturers Railway #7532
Walthers Part # 920-54185
HO scale, $29.98, sold out at Walthers

 
* New Numbers
 
* Laser Quality Painting & Printing
 
* Scale Size Handrails & Grab Irons
 
* Correct Trucks
 
* Metal RP-25 Wheels
 
* Magnetic Knuckle Couplers
 
* Correct Weight for Optimum Operation
 
* Perfect for Steam and Transition-Era
 
From the 1920s through the 1950s, when freight car manufacturing and leasing were largely the province of big corporations like General American and American Car & Foundry, the Mather Company remained relatively small, privately owned and presided over by its namesake, Alonzo C. Mather. Using proven designs and off-the-shelf components, his company cranked out utilitarian cars using a minimum of specialized components or machine tools. The hand-built cars were cheap to build and maintain, so the company flourished because its cars could be leased at very competitive rates. Because railroads couldn't afford new cars from the major builders, the Mather Company's shops built or rebuilt many box cars for lease during the Depression.
 
These cars remained in service through World War II and, updated with AB air brakes and more modern trucks, many of them lasted through the 1950's and into the 1960's, by which time the Mather Company had been acquired by the North American Car Co. With their distinctive Mather construction and sheet metal Mather Patent roofs, they could be seen all across the North American railroad network.