In 1946, the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad took delivery of 300 40’ double-door autocars with a 14’ door openings from the Pullman-Standard Car Co as Lot 5835 and assigned Series 154000-154299. The cars had an inside height of 10’-6” to accommodate the new Evens Autoloader racks (denoted by the white stipe on the door). They had the new Improved Dreadnaught 4/4 ends, US Gypsum running boards, Ajax hand brake assemblies, Royal F Brake adjustor and chain storage wells. The bottom side tab was strengthened with 3/4 rivets and ran the length of the car.
Beginning in 1949, the cars were renumbered into the 153000-1532999 Series and began to receive the larger ‘beaver’ medallion and the slogan “Ship it on the Frisco” applied to the right side. Both lettering schemes are accurately drawn and available from Protocraft Decals.
This model represents the last of the 40’ autocar series produced by Protocraft, with only 30 models of each version, and has been very accurately reproduced in brass by Boo Rim Precision of Korea following Pullman-Standard’s drawings supplied by the Pullman Museum in Illinois. Trucks are Barber S-2 solid bearing with the model running on ball bearings for easy rolling. Wheels are sintered 70% steel and 30% stainless steel rib-back making a very hard tire that allows the running surface to be polished very realistically.