In 1981 Model Power, a prolific U.S. model railroading importer based in Farmingdale, New York, introduced the first N-gauge ready-to-run model trolley. The operating 2-rail model, manufactured by Mehano of Yugoslavia, was based on a scale drawing in the June 1972 Model Railroader magazine of a wooden-bodied single truck streetcar design reportedly built by the J. G. Brill Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the Toronto, Ontario streetcar system. (Toronto is one of the paint schemes offered.) Model Power / Mehano made similar HO models. They also sold the N gauge trolleys in "Jolly L'l Trolley" sets with a loop of track and a power pack.
The models were sold as two-car motor/trailer pairs, even though the prototype would never have operated in multiple-unit fashion. The models came with a simple stamped metal wrench for the motor brushholder. The models are oversize in order to fit the cast metal powered chassis. That chassis' motor and drive mechanism, once surprising for their small size, are primitive by today's standards. For this reason, some modelers have re-powered these models with a more modern drive chassis. The powered chassis includes a grain of wheat light bulb, although there is no opening in the headlight. Many of these models were sold, and they still appear often in second-hand markets, generally overpriced for their real value. - R. D. Kerr
|
Product: | 7505 Third Avenue |
| Year Made: | 1981-about 1998 | |
| City/System: | Third Avenue Railway System (New York) | |
| Colors: | Red/yellow | |
| Vehicle No.: | 1651 / 1651 | |
| Writing: | Third Avenue Railway System | |
| Notes: | Not authentic to prototype. | |
|
Product: | 7506 Public Service |
| Year Made: | 1981-about 1998 | |
| City/System: | None | |
| Colors: | Orange/black | |
| Vehicle No.: | 70 / 70 | |
| Writing: | Public Service | |
| Notes: | No specific prototype; doors only on one side. | |
|
Product: | 7507 Downtown |
| Year Made: | 1981-about 1998 | |
| City/System: | None | |
| Colors: | Yellow/red/black | |
| Vehicle No.: | 14 / 14 | |
| Writing: | Downtown | |
| Notes: | No specific prototype; doors only on one side. | |
|
Product: | 7508 Toronto |
| Year Made: | 1981-about 1998 | |
| City/System: | Toronto Railway Co. | |
| Colors: | Red/white/gold | |
| Vehicle No.: | Illegible; 4 digits | |
| Writing: | Toronto | |
| Notes: | Doors only on one side. | |
