@William 1 - Well here is some news you might be able to use:
1. In 1927-1928 There was a refrigerator car labeled 514 (NO R) The only difference between it and the 514 R was the "R" on the name plate. In 1929 Lionel replaced the 514 Reefer with the 514R Reefer which allowed it to use the 514 number for a box car. This car came in 3 schemes (all available in 1927-1928 ) Dark Pearl / Peacock roof ; Pearl / Peacock roof ; and Cream / Flat green roof
2. In 1929 Lionel issued the 514R which through the years came in a surprising number of color variations, especially in the 1929-1934 era. It came in Light Pearl, Cream, Ivory or White body with Peacock, Peacock, Light Peacock, and Peacock roofs. Then in 1935 came perhaps the most common reefer, the White / Lt. Blue roof car which was available 1935 -1940, always with Ni trim.
3 Now to the 515 Tank Car...if you are interested in variations, my reference source states that there are 22 known variations of the 515 car, more than for any other 500 series car. The earliest is a terra - cotta car with no oil company decal available from 1927-1929. Then came a series of Ivory tank cars, some with "Sunoco" decals and some with no decals. Finally in about 1935 things settled down and we had the well known Silver Tank with Sunoco decal 1935-1940 and then your "rouge" tank car, the Orange Tank with Shell decal available 1936-1940. I have a terra-cotta one, do not have a silver one and most certainly do not have an orange one!!
4. The Shell tank car is indeed a considerable rarity. To give you an example, the David Doyle "Guide to Prewar Lionel Trains" gives a value in LN condition for the ivory or silver car as $225 with a rarity of 4 (out of 8) however for the orange tank car its $725 with a rarity of 6. Now I list these prices not because they are absolutely correct, but just to illustrate the difference in pricing / rarity.
So Good Hunting.
Don
