Uncataloged Dep. Center Flat Car w/Transformer Load Announced

April 17, 2025 - M.T.H. Electric Trains has announced an exclusive and uncataloged RailKing O Gauge Depressed Center Flat Car with Transformer Load in unique Erie livery for exclusive distribution by M.T.H. Authorized Retailer Mr. Muffin's Trains in Atlanta, Indiana. The cars will be available in very limited quantities on a first-come, first-served basis, with an anticipated arrival date of July 2025.

Item No. 30-76947 Erie Dep. Center Flat Car w/Transformer Load
Car No. 7208
Early Order Price: $58.95
Click HERE to order from Mr. Muffins.

Item No. 30-76948 Erie Dep. Center Flat Car w/Transformer Load
Car No. 7210
Early Order Price: $58.95
Click HERE to order from Mr. Muffins.

ABOUT THE RAILKING DEP. CENTER FLAT CAR W/TRANSFORMER LOAD

For transporting large or heavy items over land, nothing beats a railroad flat car. No wonder that manufacturers use flat cars to ship products or sub-assemblies ranging from transformers to airliner fuselages to heavy construction and mining equipment.

But how big is too big? That is determined by a railroad’s loading gauge, which defines the maximum height and width of rolling stock and engines. Great Britain, the birthplace of railroading, has one of the smallest loading gauges because so much of its network has bridges and tunnels built in the mid-1800s, when trains were smaller. In the US, older, more urban eastern roads tend to have smaller loading gauges than western roads that traverse wide-open spaces. That’s why, for example, 1950s-era dome cars were common on western railroads but rare in the east.

Today the Association of American Railroads (AAR) defines loading gauges in terms of Plate designations from B to K, with the Plate C height of 15’6" being the most common. The tallest North American loading gauges are the Plate H requirement for double-stack container cars and the Plate K requirement for Autoracks, both 20’2".

Over the years, flatcar designers have devised various means of squeezing the most inside a loading gauge, with one of the most popular being the depressed center flat car. Dropping the car floor down, until it almost touches the rails between the car’s trucks, allows room for larger loads like the huge power transformer depicted by our model. An even more dramatic solution is the Schnabel car modeled in our Premier line, in which the load becomes part of the structure of the car, and can even be shifted side-to-side to clear lineside signals and structures. But where the Schnabel car requires its own dedicated slow-speed train, depressed center flat cars can travel as part of a normal freight consist.

Order directly from:

Mr. Muffin's Trains
165 E. Main St.
Atlanta, IN 46031
765-292-2022
Email: mrmuffin@mrmuffinstrains.com
www.mrmuffinstrains.com

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

These items are available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.

M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing the RailKing O Gauge 40' Box Car in SIX different liveries, including a special MTH 45th Anniversary scheme, this Fall. Each of these offerings is expected to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in October 2025.

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

These items are available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.

M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing the 2025 RailKing O Gauge Bump n Go Trolleys in four different livery configurations this Fall. In addition, three Holiday schemes are coming this Fall, each with body-clad LEDs. Each of these offerings is expected to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in September 2025.

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

These items are available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.