In the early Sixties, Evans Products saw a need for specialized cars to transport coiled steel.
The existing cars at the time were often 70-ton specially equipped mill gondolas. The new commodity-specific coil-steel car were built with a 100-ton capacity using a trough frame and
body. The early designs were refined during the 1960s and eventually Evans adopted a 48-foot length as standard. Production lasted well into the 1970s.
The Atlas 48-foot coil steel car is based on the Evans design of 1967 as well as being a close
stand-in for the 1970s cars.