Boxcar Sunday, Let's see your boxcars.

The empty box offers a free ride south, as the unaware foreman checks the tally slip on a straight load of 8 x 8 creosote ties for the replacement project...

Another "pretend" car from a real "Fallen Flag".

Happy Boxcar Sunday !!

Just arrived today. My son served 16 years before being medically discharged.

@Krieglok posted:

Here are some 19th century cars made by MTH. I have been working on adding more scale brake stems, platforms and brake wheels. I also have been adding turnbuckles to the truss rods…

Some factory painted cars with the details added…

And a preview for next week…

Tom

Tom you do some really nice work well done. Mark

@TimMacPA posted:

Just arrived today. My son served 16 years before being medically discharged.

Thanks for your son service. God Speed! Sgt. NATE MCAULEY

Have a Great Sunday all, Buy a Vet a cold Beer!

@Krieglok- Great work Tom, those early box cars are neat.  Now all you need is an early steam engine to pull them! @Dave Ripp., @trestleking, @Rob Leese - Great new boxcars, thanks for posting. @Carpetrainman- neat scene, those boys hopping that boxcar look to get a free ride!

Today I have something that is perhaps a bit unusual.  Some "toy train" history is in order.  Louis Marx and Sammy Bergman were close friends for many years. Sammy directed Unique Art a NJ toy company. He and Louis Marx often exchanged parts, dies, and even marketed each other's toys.  Then in 1948, as a complete surprise, Unique Art brought out a line of lithographed 0 gauge trains to compete directly with Marx.  A complete surprise, Marx scrambled to get something to compete and subsequently brought out the 7" line in the 1949 Christmas season.  Neither line was all that successful and both were gone by the late 50's (Marx lasting somewhat longer).

But in that marvelous Christmas of 1948, here is the Unique Art boxcar.  Note the very artistic lithography especially how the use of a black shadow behind the grab irons, door and bulkhead end elements,  and ladder give a 3D appearance to a flat sheet.

Unique Art did not make many trains, this freight set and a sheet metal steam locomotive are most of the conventional items.  They did however make a fabulous Circus Train, where in the most famous car the animals are lithographed to appear as if they have managed to get their heads outside of the slats and are having a wonderful time in the breeze as they move along.  These cars are so rare that they almost never come up for sale.

Best wishes everyone, hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@Krieglok- Great work Tom, those early box cars are neat.  Now all you need is an early steam engine to pull them! @Dave Ripp., @trestleking, @Rob Leese - Great new boxcars, thanks for posting. @Carpetrainman- neat scene, those boys hopping that boxcar look to get a free ride!

Today I have something that is perhaps a bit unusual.  Some "toy train" history is in order.  Louis Marx and Sammy Bergman were close friends for many years. Sammy directed Unique Art a NJ toy company. He and Louis Marx often exchanged parts, dies, and even marketed each other's toys.  Then in 1948, as a complete surprise, Unique Art brought out a line of lithographed 0 gauge trains to compete directly with Marx.  A complete surprise, Marx scrambled to get something to compete and subsequently brought out the 7" line in the 1949 Christmas season.  Neither line was all that successful and both were gone by the late 50's (Marx lasting somewhat longer).

But in that marvelous Christmas of 1948, here is the Unique Art boxcar.  Note the very artistic lithography especially how the use of a black shadow behind the grab irons, door and bulkhead end elements,  and ladder give a 3D appearance to a flat sheet.

Unique Art did not make many trains, this freight set and a sheet metal steam locomotive are most of the conventional items.  They did however make a fabulous Circus Train, where in the most famous car the animals are lithographed to appear as if they have managed to get their heads outside of the slats and are having a wonderful time in the breeze as they move along.  These cars are so rare that they almost never come up for sale.

Best wishes everyone, hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving

Don

Seventy plus years old, what a great looking car. Thanks for the history, Don it's always neat to see & learn here on the OGR.

Boxcar for this fine Sunday!  A Weaver N&W that I weathered.  

• Thank you Don, @don.mcerlean, for the kind words!
• Your contribution to this thread is always interesting! The Marx-Unique Art trains connection is interesting. Unique Arts was located in Newark NJ, along with a number of other toy manufacturers. Just across the river, in Harrison, another famous toy company, Chein, existed there for years. The old factory building is still there.

Actually my work on 19th century boxcars was sparked when I bought this…

This era always held a fascination for me. I also have an Erie “Angus” and a Erie “Triplex” that would be suitable too…

Tom

Great stuff everyone!

Dave Ripp , Dave, your nice assortment of cars looks great. I really like the PC car with the return instructions.

TrestleKing , I really like that N&W car. That’s one I need to look for!

Rob Leese, beautiful detail and perfect weathering on your cars. Great paint scheme too.

TimMacPA , that’s a nice car with a meaning. Always great to see our veterans honored!

Sitka …Mark, cool layout! You have an impressive collection!

Trumptrain, Nice weathering! Looks like a well used piece of rollingstock!

Capetrainman , nice scene! Hobos were always part of railroad lore, not often depicted…

Tom

We need to have a boxcar Sunday with theme of our favorite meals.... Who can argue with beer and hot dogs?

Wow, there’s definitely a unique variety of box cars pictured today, from old, tinplate variety, new, modern, and then a car I’m showing that was actually a copy of the real thing. Earlier this year, on a trip to North Carolina, we visited the North Carolina Railway Transportation Museum, it’s a must see place to go if your ever near Salisbury, NC. This Southern box car was inside the museum. So, at a train meet in Evansville Indiana yesterday,  I bought a MTH version of this car, which is a nice addition to my fleet. Also, on one of the tables was an old wind up tinplate train, for @Don McErleans review, Unique Lines, Wow… Happy Railroading Everyone

@Capetrainman posted:

The empty box offers a free ride south, as the unaware foreman checks the tally slip on a straight load of 8 x 8 creosote ties for the replacement project...

Dispatcher must have been sippin' a cuppa' Mocha when he set up this consist! Mmmmm, my favorite, too

@Dave Ripp. posted:

For this week 3 new ones on this train, MSL made by MTH, Penn Central by Atlas & CB&Q Way of the Zepher by Weaver.

Looking great, Dave!  Boxcar Sunday!  55 pages dating back to 2017!  Why haven’t I seen this until you brought it to my attention???  🤷‍♂️  I’ll have to get some good photographs for next week.

Wow friends, what a great Sunday input.  @leapinlarry - Larry thanks for the comments and the picture of the Unique Arts train.  Its the same train that I have except I have the box car instead of the gondola.  I really like the fact that in the locomotive and in the caboose, UA always lithographed people in the windows.  @Dave Ripp.- thank you for your compliment on my UA boxcar, I thought folks might like that one just for fun @Krieglok - Tom thanks for your complement and your Long Island loco looks perfect for those early boxcars.  Wow - an Erie Triplex-what a beast that thing was!!  OBTW your comment about Chien being in Harrison, NJ floored me!  My family lived and worked in Harrison for decades (from Mom and Dad's birth before WWI up until about 1967) ,we never knew about the Chien plant.  By the way, in the 60's, Mom, Dad AND I all worked for Worthington Pump and Machinery Corp in Harrison.  It was my first engineering job after I got my degree and before I went on active duty with the Air Force.

So I guess we may have more in common than we thought

Best Wishes, Happy Thanksgiving

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

Wow friends, what a great Sunday input.  @leapinlarry - Larry thanks for the comments and the picture of the Unique Arts train.  Its the same train that I have except I have the box car instead of the gondola.  I really like the fact that in the locomotive and in the caboose, UA always lithographed people in the windows.  @Dave Ripp.- thank you for your compliment on my UA boxcar, I thought folks might like that one just for fun @Krieglok - Tom thanks for your complement and your Long Island loco looks perfect for those early boxcars.  Wow - an Erie Triplex-what a beast that thing was!!  OBTW your comment about Chien being in Harrison, NJ floored me!  My family lived and worked in Harrison for decades (from Mom and Dad's birth before WWI up until about 1967) ,we never knew about the Chien plant.  By the way, in the 60's, Mom, Dad AND I all worked for Worthington Pump and Machinery Corp in Harrison.  It was my first engineering job after I got my degree and before I went on active duty with the Air Force.

So I guess we may have more in common than we thought

Best Wishes, Happy Thanksgiving

Don

Don, my father in law was a big Chein collector. He had a book about the history of Chein and it had a photo of the factory when it was in operation. Turns out, on my Hoboken runs on the old DL&W through Harrison and Newark, the old factory was plainly visible as we crossed the Passaic river. I think it is condominiums now.

So many old factories around there, once served by the Erie and the DL&W. Most, if not all of Worthington Pump is gone now. The steam engines for WW2 Liberty ships were built there…

My grandparents both worked for Westinghouse Meter and Gauge division in Newark, right at the Lackawanna station, for about 45 years. All gone now…

Tom

@leapinlarry posted:

Also, on one of the tables was an old wind up tinplate train, for @Don McErleans review, Unique Lines, Wow… Happy Railroading Everyone

Boy Larry , this is certainly something I'm not used to seeing in your photos .   Nice.

And you had better watch out for Don McErleans' review of this smart looking tinplate........he's got a keen eye when it comes to these items.

For this week I'll feature Penn Central and a few others along for the ride. Atlas Western Maryland & BM, MTH Susquehanna, Atlas Penn Central, Lionel DT&I, Atlas Penn Central, Weaver NYC & Penn Central.

For this Sunday - a Marx menagerie

another run of boxcars

Some new works…painted by me…

Tom

@Dave Ripp. posted:

For this week I'll feature Penn Central and a few others along for the ride. Atlas Western Maryland & BM, MTH Susquehanna, Atlas Penn Central, Lionel DT&I, Atlas Penn Central, Weaver NYC & Penn Central.

Really another great group of boxcars Dave .    Thanks for sharing.

Cotton Belt boxcar needing a belt with cotton overload! Have a good Sunday!

Here are a few of mine. A caboose and tanker snuck into the picture, but I guess you get the idea that I like the UP:

Bangor & Aroostook #5417 & 5420.

Hitchin' a ride south while enjoying the scent of coffee beans...

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great Holiday week.  I don't have any new "official" box cars this week so I thought I might substitute some refrigerator cars - hey they look something like boxcars anyway.

First, from the early to middle 50's a Pionerexpressen (Denmark) "Kole Vogn" or Cold Wagon

Next the Marx 555 Colorado & Southern (C&S) "Man in the Door" refer.  This car dates from 1940-42 and the lithography of the picture of the workman inside the car is the unique feature.  The door by the way is also lithographed and does not slide.

Here is the opposite side of the 555 Refer and note that the lithographed picture of the workman inside the car is NOT the same as it is on the first side.  This would have required a completely unique design and ink masks from the first side.  Two different sides is a very unusual expense for such a simple toy.  This is a somewhat scarce car for Marx, having a Heitshaw Scarcity value of S3.

Well Happy Sunday everyone, hope you have a great week

Don

time to load the letters..

time to load the cards..

packages & presents

arriving at the yard..

Don't forget to mail early!

@Sitka posted:

Cotton Belt boxcar needing a belt with cotton overload! Have a good Sunday!

@Sitka posted:

Cotton Belt boxcar needing a belt with cotton overload! Have a good Sunday!

Ha ha!!  I get it, Mark!! 

These may be the nicest boxcars I own.  Both Atlas O.  Can anyone tell me what ‘C. T.’ After the car number stands for?

@Mark Boyce posted:

These may be the nicest boxcars I own.  Both Atlas O.  Can anyone tell me what ‘C. T.’ After the car number stands for?

Spent a good 30min. trying to find something about C.T., post if you figure it out. Mark

@Sitka posted:

Spent a good 30min. trying to find something about C.T., post if you figure it out. Mark

@Dave Ripp. posted:

I also failed. If you post it in real trains someone will know. I had a similar question 2 weeks ago and had numerous replies, in minutes. Lots of smart folks on this forum. Thanks for posting on Boxcar Sunday.

Thank you both!  That’s a good idea Dave.

Mark - take a look at this listing for AAR Markings. CT appears to stand for Columbia Terminal. I tried relating B&O and CT together with no hits. The CT is a short line in Missouri. Probably a case of the blind leading the blind.   

Jeff

aar railroad reporting marks

Jeff, thank you for looking into it.  I haven’t posted a topic request on Real Trains like Dave suggested, but I will.

A Google search resulted in this for an HO scale Westerfield Frisco boxcar kit.

Jerry Williams, Thank you!!  I recall Westerfield cars from my HO days.  Very top notch cars and accurate lettering!  

I think I’ll post that information on a Real Trains post and see what answers come up, if you don’t mind.

For this week Postwar Lionel Baby Ruth Boxcars and 3 K-Line versions.