Overview

Since the early days of intermodal transport the railroads and freight car builders have been looking for more efficient methods of transporting trailers and containers. One of the greatest innovations in intermodal transportation came in the late 1970s with the development of the double stack container car by ACF Industries and Southern Pacific Railroad. From that point onward the container was king and the railroads and car builders searched for more efficient methods of transporting containers. In a revolutionary step from the early stack car designs, Gunderson introduced their Maxi-Stack 5-unit articulated well car in 1988. Evolved from their previous 5-unit Twin-Stack design, the Maxi-Stack (also called Maxi-Stack I or Maxi-I) boasted a lower tare weight (accomplished in part by the elimination of the bulkheads of the Twin-Stack), greater capacity, and greater versatility in regard to container lengths and widths that could be carried.

Initial production of these cars lasted from May of 1988 through May of 1990 with approximately 270 cars built for Southern Pacific, Chicago Heights Terminal & Transfer, Trailer Train, Maersk, and the Rail-Bridge Corporation. Despite their design advances these cars were quickly overshadowed by newer and even larger designs, and it appeared that the final chapter on the Maxi-Stack design had been written. However, due to ever-increasing international container traffic, moving in mostly rails.


Key Features:

• Fully assembled and ready for your layout
• Separately applied wire grab irons and etched walkways
• Separately applied brake piping and trainline hoses
• Fine ladder detail
• Delicate cross-bracing on the floor
• Weighted for optimum performance
• Razor sharp painting and printing
• Prototypically correct 33” and 38” solid nickel silver wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track
• Body mounted McHenry lower shelf operating scale knuckle couplers
• Window packaging for easy viewing plus interior plastic blister safely holds the model for convenient storage
• Replacement parts available
• Minimum radius: 18”