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I was rumminging through stuff in my basement today and came across a carton of built up O scale box car and reefer kits that I acquired in the late 1980s and had packed away.  The cars were in a collection I bought from the estate of a man who began modeling during the 1930s ( in both outside 3rd rail and 2 rail, 1/48 and 17/64).  The box cars have painted sides (various RRs), ends and roofs that appear to be made of metal,  but I suspect the metal is only a veneer applied to a wooden frame.  The reefers have wood sides.  Applied metal parts (brake wheels, connecting rods, coupler boxes, etc are metal, trucks are of variable manufacture, mostly sprung,  Couplers are cast, scale dimension, but not operating.  My initial guess is that they are either All Nation or Athern, but I'm far from sure.  In fact, the cars could have purchased by the hobbyist at any time from the 1930s to the 1980s so there may well be from kit manufacturers I've never heard of.   I's appreciate any suggestions about how to identify the cars.   

 

Thanks

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  "I'd appreciate any suggestions about how to identify the cars."

 

    I can probably identify some of them if you can post photos. Athearn metal boxcars are very common, they have thin tin sides,roof, and ends over a wooden core. Athearn made lots of metal side reefers too but wooden sided reefers are likely to be Walthers, Scale craft or maybe Westbrook. You could browse ebay listings and might see some examples of your models listed there. There's quite a bit of old O stuff floating around considering it's relatively high cost when it was made....DaveB

I've posted this before, but once again:

 

How to tell whether a 40' steel sided boxcar (with metal roof, metal ends, and metal underframe) is an Athearn car or an All-Nation car:

 

1) If you measure the length of the car from the underside, from the inside of one metal end to the inside of the other metal end, an All-Nation car will measure 10", whereas an Athearn car will measure 10-1/8".  This is the same dimension as the car sides.

 

2) If you open the doors, an Athearn car will have a wood or composition inner wall, whereas an All-Nation car will not.

 

3) Just below the right end of the lower door slide, the scalloped edge along the bottom of the car side, an All-Nation car will be cut vertically, whereas an Athearn car will be cut at an angle, just like all of the other scalloped edges on both cars.  Obviously, a modeler could trim an All-Nation car to look like an Athearn, but an Athearn car would never be made to look like an All-Nation.

 

4) Along the bottom edge of the roof overhang, along the side of the car, most Athearn cars will have a row of rivets, whereas an All-Nation car will not.  Do not confuse this row of rivets with the row of rivets along the top edge of the car side, which both cars have.

 

There are other more subtle differences between the two, but the above differences will enable you to determine which it is. 

 

How to tell whether other car types are Athearn or All-Nation:

 

Athearn had a 50' steel sided boxcar (with metal roof, metal ends, and metal underframe).  All-Nation did not.

 

Athearn had a 40' steel sided reefer (with metal roof, metal ends, and metal underframe).  All-Nation did not.

 

All-Nation had a 36', 40', and 50' wood sided reefer (with wood roof, wood ends, and wood underframe).  Athearn did not.

 

All-Nation had a 40' wood sided reefer (with metal roof, metal ends, and metal underframe).  Athearn did not.

 

All-Nation had a 40' outside braced boxcar (with wood roof, metal ends, and metal underframe).  Athearn did not.

 

Both All-Nation and Athearn had a 40' wood sided boxcar (with metal roof, metal ends, and metal underframe).  However, the above 1st and 4th rules still apply.

 

Athearn also had a few one-of-a-kind cars that do not follow all of the rules of their other 40' steel sided boxcars. The Rock Island 20060 aluminum boxcar is one of those exceptions. There was also a GN 2500 aluminum boxcar, a GN 44424 orange sided boxcar, and a GN 47872 wood sided boxcar.

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Ste 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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