Atlas O 3001965 - Premier - 70' Streamlined Passenger Car Set "James E. Strates Shows" (2-Car)

• Road Name: James E. Strates Shows
• Road Number:
  • 70' Streamlined Sleeper - Gaithersburg Maryland (3)
  • 70' Streamlined Sleeper - Albany Georgia (4) 
• Product Line: Premier
• Scale: O Scale
• System: 3-Rail

Features:

• Intricately Detailed, Durable ABS Bodies
  
• Stamped Metal Floors
  
• Detailed Car Undercarriage
  
• Colorful, Attractive Paint Schemes
  
• Metal Wheels and Axles
  
• Die-Cast 4-Wheel Trucks
  
• Fast-Angle Wheel Sets
  
• Needle-Point Axles
  
• (2) Operating Die-Cast Metal Couplers
  
• O Scale Kadee-Compatible Coupler Mounting Pads
  
• Constant Voltage Overhead LED Interior Lighting
  
• End-of-Car Diaphragms
  
• Separate Metal Handrails
  
• Detailed Car Interiors
  
• Sliding Baggage Car Doors
  
• Detailed Brake Wheel
  
• 1:48 Scale Proportions
  
• Unit Measures: 19” x 2 7/16” x 3 1/2”
  
• Operates On O-42 Curves

Overview:

The James E. Strates Shows entered the new millennium as one of the largest traveling outdoor amusement companies in North America and the only carnival still operating its own dedicated train. From March to November, Strates Shows traveled proudly along the Eastern Seaboard with its distinctive 55-car train, easily identifiable by its vibrant coaches painted in white, orange, and teal. In the mid-2000s, according to Amusement Business, an industry trade magazine, the company ranked third in attendance among carnivals operating at the 50 largest fairs in North America. At its three largest fairs—the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, New York, and the New York State Fair in Syracuse—Strates Shows attracted nearly 2.7 million visitors to its midway. 

At that time, the Strates Shows train comprised 45 flat cars that transported around 50 amusement rides along with necessary support equipment. Additionally, nine passenger coaches, named after fairs on the route, provided housing for over 100 workers and senior staff. A stainless-steel fluted baggage car functioned as a generator car, supplying independent power to the passenger coaches. When rail lines were not adjacent to
fairgrounds, company-operated buses transported employees back and forth.

Many of the coaches utilized by the Strates train during this era were previously part of the Royal American Shows train and were acquired at auction in 1999.