Sometime in about 2011, Joe Bender acquired the Marx Trains tooling and residual unsold materials like wheels, couplers etc. While not a train guy, Joe ran a busy machine shop and had all the presses etc needed to make use of the tooling. Then with the help of the Flynn's, he was able to procure all the uncut litho sheets from the litho house being held for nonpayment. Most of the litho sheets were for the advertised, but neve produced series four boxcars. Joe never sold them as a series set like had been done earlier, but as individual cars. I was excited to finally see them after assuming they were never going to be made. They were offered as boxcars, punched as stock cars, with T&S or auto couplers. There were a few other litho sheets he acquired, mostly the orange Western Pacific. Joe never created anything "new", using only the leftover litho sheets. He has since sold the tooling. Not sure if we will ever see any new products. Anyone out east heard anything new?
Health has caused me to drag this series out a lot longer than intended, but this is the end of the items I bought as individual pieces. Feeling much better so I will now begin work on the boxed sets that I own.
Series Four Boxcars
Series Four Stock Cars
Western Pacific cars punched out as stock cars, 4 different road numbes
Rio Grande, one stock car, one boxcar
Boxes carried the same basic artwork as Marx Trains and Ameritrains
One big improvement in the boxes was the inserts now had slots for the auto coupler ends and the roof walkway over hangs.
