Boxcar Sunday, Let's see your boxcars.

@pennsyfan posted:

Tom,

I’m always impressed with your lettering. Do you outsource that or create it yourself?

Bob, thank you for the kind words!

On these boxcars, I used K4 decal sets. Commercially made. They are nice decals to work with, just a bit thicker than Microscale decals, but their selection is amazing.

Here is a car I painted for Melgar. I used letter sets and all the letters and numbers are individual decals, except for the dimensional data and car builder trademark…also K4 decals with a few Microscale mixed in…

Tom

@Apples55 posted:

These two boxcars just arrived from the good folks at the TCA. Another great offering. I don’t know if these are fantasy or prototypical, but they certainly have eye catching paint schemes. I am slowly but surely amassing a nice Reading & Northern train which runs up here in NE Pennsylvania.

A Red Head SD50 would look good with them!

@pennsyfan posted:

A Red Head SD50 would look good with them!

Had a similar thought, Bob… How about an all red GP30???

https://ogrforum.com/...2#184297498293771532

Some Postwar Scout-type/O-27 boxcars on the inner loop. The one at the end of the train is the Van Camp car, in case you can’t see it.

@Apples55 posted:

These two boxcars just arrived from the good folks at the TCA. Another great offering. I don’t know if these are fantasy or prototypical, but they certainly have eye catching paint schemes. I am slowly but surely amassing a nice Reading & Northern train which runs up here in NE Pennsylvania.

Prototypical or not, those are two great-looking Reading & Northern boxcars, Paul!!

@Apples55 posted:

These two boxcars just arrived from the good folks at the TCA. Another great offering. I don’t know if these are fantasy or prototypical, but they certainly have eye catching paint schemes. I am slowly but surely amassing a nice Reading & Northern train which runs up here in NE Pennsylvania.

The cream, red and black livery was introduced in August of 2020 for locomotives, at least, so there is reason to believe that rolling stock was similarly liveried:

https://railfan.com/reading-no...es-new-paint-scheme/

The article doesn't mention the cream black and red livery of your second car, but it sure looks related.

@pennsyfan posted:

Tucker automobile boxcar

Great minds think alike, Bob! Here's mine:

I need to get a couple of 1:43 models to load inside. I also really need to see the film!

@Bill Swatos posted:

Great minds think alike, Bob! Here's mine:

I need to get a couple of 1:43 models to load inside. I also really need to see the film!

In the words of Yoggi Bearer, “this is Deja Vu all over again “

@pennsyfan posted:

A Red Head SD50 would look good with them!

You are definitely a bad influence, Bob… just ordered one. You METCA guys!!!

@Bill Swatos posted:

The cream, red and black livery was introduced in August of 2020 for locomotives, at least, so there is reason to believe that rolling stock was similarly liveried:

https://railfan.com/reading-no...es-new-paint-scheme/

The article doesn't mention the cream black and red livery of your second car, but it sure looks related.

Thanks for the link, Bill. @pennsyfan pointed out that METCA was producing a version of that 5018, so I felt this overwhelming compulsion to order one. Another slip on the slippery slope

@CNJ #1601 posted:

Prototypical or not, those are two great-looking Reading & Northern boxcars, Paul!!

Thanks, Joe. One of the things that attracted me to them was the similarity to one of my favorite paint schemes - the NYC lightning stripe!!!

@Apples55 posted:

You are definitely a bad influence, Bob… just ordered one. You METCA guys!!!

😜

My now sold collection of mostly Pittsburgh rolling stock.  Big mistake in selling it off.  MTH was making some really beautiful stuff back then.

walt

Walt, MTH certainly did make a large variety of Pittsburgh area themed cars.  You had a nice collection of them.  Sometimes, a modeler/collector needs to sell off some cars and/or engines, but it is sad to do.  I know from experience.

ATLAS (Austria) MAINE CENTRAL Steel Boxcar.

@carnerd3000-  Hey really neat display of some of the Lionel 027 type box cars (sometimes referred to by collectors as "plug door" box cars- which is inaccurate but the name has stuck)  I love them as well and have collected them for many years.  I can tell you that despite their being relatively inexpensive (with some exceptions) and originally considered the low end some of the variations can be devilishly hard to find (most likely because of their original low numbers made).  Here are some of mine.

Best wishes and good hunting!

Don

Don, that’s a nice collection of plug door boxcars and a nice set of display shelves.

Can I join this “plugdoor” boxcar party? I apologize in advance; my cars are on the top two shelves and I was using a selfie stick. Probably the hardest car to obtain was the WIX.

It may look redundant with the BabyRuth; but there are several variations, e..g. trucks, couplers.

@Mark Boyce- Thank you Mark, compliments from fellow forum members like yourself mean a lot !

@pennsyfan- Bob, great display.  One of the neat things about the forum is that I discover that there are other folks out in "internet space" as crazy as I am     In the original Lionel era, Bob has it right the WIX car is very hard to find and has eluded me for many years.  In the more modern era, the ones that get hardest to find are those made for small special sets for particular sponsors.  This one, the #7931,  was packed with a set sold by the Townhouse TV and Appliances store in 1986.

As you can see, in a "promotional" train set of this type the rest of the set is normal production items.  In this one, just the 7931 box car is unique.  This is from 1986.

Best Wishes

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@Mark Boyce- Thank you Mark, compliments from fellow forum members like yourself mean a lot !

@pennsyfan- Bob, great display.  One of the neat things about the forum is that I discover that there are other folks out in "internet space" as crazy as I am     In the original Lionel era, Bob has it right the WIX car is very hard to find and has eluded me for many years.  In the more modern era, the ones that get hardest to find are those made for small special sets for particular sponsors.  This one, the #7931,  was packed with a set sold by the Townhouse TV and Appliances store in 1986.

As you can see, in a "promotional" train set of this type the rest of the set is normal production items.  In this one, just the 7931 box car is unique.  This is from 1986.

Best Wishes

Don

Neat set, Don. Kind of like the "Service Station Specials." I'm going to look for one of those boxcars now. Our first color set when I was a kid was a Zenith. I'll never forget their slogan at the time: "Zenith. The quality goes in before the name goes on."

@Apples55

@Don McErlean

“Whatever goes around comes around”

Paul, says that I tempted him and he bought an engine.
Don tempted me with an obscure “plugdoor” boxcar, and I HAD to buy the promo set to get it!
Hide your wallet Don, it’s coming!

@Bill Swatos - Hey our first TV (1948 I think) was a Zenith and we had it until about 1960 or so, still working.

@ pennsyfan -Good hunting Mate, I am still looking for your WIX car

Hey fellows maybe we should start an O-27 (plugdoor) boxcar thread or lets just agree to post them on this one at least once in awhile.

Don

Hey 0-27 boxcar fans I forgot I wanted to add something.  Looking at pennsyfan's great display, I noticed the blue Airex fishing tackle car.  Did you know that this car came in THREE different basic body colors.  There is the most common blue, a second most common, that Lionel called TEAL and a third that had a purple hew.  I just found the TEAL one about 6 months ago and I have never seen the purple one but I have seen it advertised for ridiculous prices (at least for me).  Here is a comparison shot of the blue and teal cars:

Don

Don, nice Airex cars.  As I was reading, I didn’t realize the (what I would call Olive) is the teal car. 🤷‍♂️  I  agree, neither of yours are purple, and can believe it is rare.  I’m only commenting that I get thrown off sometimes by the manufacturer’s or collector community’s documentation.  😄  Thank you for posting the photograph and explanation!!

@Don McErlean posted:

@Bill Swatos - Hey our first TV (1948 I think) was a Zenith and we had it until about 1960 or so, still working.

@ pennsyfan -Good hunting Mate, I am still looking for your WIX car

Hey fellows maybe we should start an O-27 (plugdoor) boxcar thread or lets just agree to post them on this one at least once in awhile.

Don

Indeed, Don. I have a few starting with the first offerings from the MPC era. I need to get some PW examples. My only PW cars are three 6462 NYC gondolas & one 6424 auto flat that I've posted before carrying my '56 T-birds.

@Don McErlean, do you know what 2-4-0 locomotive comes with the Town House set? It looks like "8802" in your photo but I'm not really familiar with it. I've just found a set NIB and am trying to "calibrate" an offer. I think Town House TV is where we actually bought that Zenith set I mention above.

@Mark Boyce - Thanks for the compliment Mark.  I agree that left to my own devices, I might call the car olive or khaki but I used the word that Lionel used (at least as quoted in my reference material) and that was TEAL.  Colors can be difficult for sure especially after so many years and a photograph in a book is not a perfect reference.  Anyway thank you for the comment.

@Bill Swatos- In the O-27 boxcar world even in PW you have the common and the rare.  The most common are those that lionel put in their regular line like the orange Baby Ruth or the Bosco cars (red, white, orange) which are normally inexpensive.  On the other hand I looked for years for the Chung King foods boxcar which (like the Townhouse car) was only packed in one promotional set in 1956, the X-150, which was uncatalogued.  So you have to look hard for those.  For regular PW rolling stock, the hoppers , gondolas, and flats seem to be the most available.  SOME of the early boxcars (6454 etc)  and even some of the famous 6464 cars are relatively available (and modest in price) but the 6464 series is replete with very rare variations that go for very high sums.  Cabooses, since one came with every freight train in a set are a fun and relatively modest cost to collect and they have some neat variations both in livery and basic design (SP cupola style, Work, Bay-window etc.)  If I am giving you old news or stuff you fully know, sorry sometimes I just mentally run off ! 

Best Wishes

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@Bill Swatos- In the O-27 boxcar world even in PW you have the common and the rare.  The most common are those that lionel put in their regular line like the orange Baby Ruth or the Bosco cars (red, white, orange) which are normally inexpensive.  On the other hand I looked for years for the Chung King foods boxcar which (like the Townhouse car) was only packed in one promotional set in 1956, the X-150, which was uncatalogued.  So you have to look hard for those.  For regular PW rolling stock, the hoppers , gondolas, and flats seem to be the most available.  SOME of the early boxcars (6454 etc)  and even some of the famous 6464 cars are relatively available (and modest in price) but the 6464 series is replete with very rare variations that go for very high sums.  Cabooses, since one came with every freight train in a set are a fun and relatively modest cost to collect and they have some neat variations both in livery and basic design (SP cupola style, Work, Bay-window etc.)  If I am giving you old news or stuff you fully know, sorry sometimes I just mentally run off ! 

Best Wishes

Don

No, Don, information from "Professor McErlean" is always helpful. For example, I was unaware that the PW boxcars are rarer, in general, than other PW freight cars. So, keep the lessons coming!

I also just found out that the "8802" is actually 8902 and that the locomotive runs only on DC which is supplied by the transformer in the Town House set.

  The engine is an 8902 ACL as is the 9341 caboose.  Their values in Excellent condition are $17 for the engine and $6 for the caboose. The box car (Townhouse) in Excellent condition shows as $39.  Obviously as a complete set with set box etc there would be a premium.  My reference (Greenberg's Guide to Lionel Trains 1970-1988) makes a comment that this engine and caboose have been used many times in promotional sets and it mentions the Townhouse set as an example.

Best of Luck

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

  The engine is an 8902 ACL as is the 9341 caboose.  Their values in Excellent condition are $17 for the engine and $6 for the caboose. The box car (Townhouse) in Excellent condition shows as $39.  Obviously as a complete set with set box etc there would be a premium.  My reference (Greenberg's Guide to Lionel Trains 1970-1988) makes a comment that this engine and caboose have been used many times in promotional sets and it mentions the Townhouse set as an example.

Best of Luck

Don

Well, Don, I'm a proud owner of the set now. The seller actually worked at Townhouse, so the set is directly from the store.

Special Edition of Boxcar Sunday!

I just heard on XM that today is National Animal Crackers Day.
Let’s see your Animal Cracker boxcars!

Very nice collections of O27 boxcars! I wonder if anyone has the Nestle car with the stickers still intact.

@Don McErlean posted:

Hey 0-27 boxcar fans I forgot I wanted to add something.  Looking at pennsyfan's great display, I noticed the blue Airex fishing tackle car.  Did you know that this car came in THREE different basic body colors.  There is the most common blue, a second most common, that Lionel called TEAL and a third that had a purple hew.  I just found the TEAL one about 6 months ago and I have never seen the purple one but I have seen it advertised for ridiculous prices (at least for me).  Here is a comparison shot of the blue and teal cars:

Don

Don,

As TM noted in their PW collectors guide; the cars came in different colors and numbers. Sometimes the numbers overlapped brands, e.g., Airex and Bosco. Airex came in 2 numbers the common 6014 and also 6044. They further stated that it was impossible to say how many of each color were produced.
Here is a boxed red 6014-100 Airex that I picked up in the Blue Hall yesterday.

@pennsyfan...OH NO!  Now I have to find the "red" one as well!!  Great find Bob, thanks for the input.

Don

Happy Boxcar Sunday. It's been a busy week with updates and comments so thanks to all of you for the participation. This week I'm going with a Carnation Milk made by AHM.

Nice Dave, I have one of them that I’ll be putting on the for sale  board.
Here’s my collection of boxcars for this Beautiful Boxcar Sunday.
A mint Lionel BAR

A KMT MR

An AMT B&O Sentinel

An AMT GN

An AMT M&STL

Lionel - kind of an oddball appearance, to me, as it lacks any apparent road number under New York Central, where I’d expect to see it. The minuscule 9700 over the Lionel date stamp doesn’t get it done.

Firmly across the border now and directly from the pages of the Atlas Obscura comes this boxcar:

Weaver with decals from a late 90’s Alabama LOTS Convention that I found languishing in my late father’s lettering sets.  The decal set being old, I sprayed it with glosscote prior to cutting and dipping.  The instructions consisted of a hand drawn diagram for placement.  I found two sets and made two cars each with different road numbers.  I’m willing to wager they’re the only two in existence.  

Cheers,

Price

Photos and video show a short train with New York Central boxcar #92102 and Connecticut Railroad boxcar #06611 pulled by NYC SW8 diesel switcher #9620 on my 10’-by-5’ layout. The Connecticut car was painted and lettered by Forum member @Krieglok.

MELGAR

New Haven Mountain No. 3301 pulls a load of boxcars out of Cedar Hill Yard in New Haven headed forMaybrook and Scranton.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sWGQZrHJVR6AWTse8