New Lionel N.P. X-31 - No Herald?

That N.P. boxcar fits in with the rest of the box cars in the scene.

It means that they will end up making more N.P. and PRR X31 boxcar paint scheme variations, which will end up costing you more money.

Andrew

Personally, I like the one without the logo!

 the NP car with the herald appears to be  a 50' car, the one without the herald a 40' car'.  Did NP 40' cars have the logo at one time ??  Note the beefier side sill on the 50' car.  Both NP cars appear to have full width round roofs  (like later production PRR X31 40' and X32 50' round roof box cars) vice the inset round roof design on the Lionel model.

I am sure once you weather that guy up it will look fine   BTW Steve never got to thank you for the sign  Alex gave it to me when we went to see his layout  So Thank you

Well that is a bummer.  I just emailed my dealer and told him I will now be passing on this car.  SIRT, I am sorry you are not satisfied, but thanks for posting, you saved me 50 bucks.

6-17738 NORTHERN PACIFIC X-31

Car is not as advertised in the catalog.

SIRT

That is true.  The decoration of the 6-17738 was changed to make it prototypically correct.

The ex-DT&I 40 foot round roof cars  were built by Greenville Steel Car in 1937 and leased to the NP by A.A. Morrison in the early 1960s.  These cars never received NP Monads.  They were numbered NP 39000-39335.

The NP also leased 50 foot round roof box cars.  NP 39500-39609 came from the DT&I and did not receive Monads.  NP 39610-39759 came from the N&W and were the only round roof box cars on the NP that did receive the Monad herald.  

As Ed noted the first photo you posted is of a 40 foot car.  It is an ex-DT&I car and does not have a Monad.  The Lionel car is correctly numbered and decorated for a  prototype car in this series.

When weathering this car take note of the upper left of the car in each of the pictures that you posted.  The 50 foot ex-N&W car has the Morrison ownership stencil.  The 40 foot ex-DT&I car was purchased by the NP after the expiration of the lease and the stenciled markings have been patched over.

For the price, it at least should have come with the interior box load.

For a loaded car coming off of the NP that wouldn't be very prototypical.  They were leased specifically for lumber service and typically assigned to the car pool out of the NPs Auburn yard.  It is unlikely that they would be diverted to general merchandise service with an eastbound load.  The NP had strong demand from lumber shippers for double door box cars in the early 60s to allow forklift loading.  These leased box cars were a quick and inexpensive way to meet that demand.

After the cars were purchased some were placed in green veneer service with the doors removed and stake pockets added to secure the opening.  These lasted in declining numbers into the BN era.

Just viewed the single door PRR round roof cars at my local hobby shop this morning. I thought it sort of odd that the PRR car, with the small round Keystone, had a BLT date of 1956, yet the reweigh date (?) was 1948. Pretty cool how the PRR reweighed the car prior to it being built! And, yes the color is wrong.

Also, I see Lionel still insists in putting "2012 Bilt by Lionel" in white lettering, just to the lower right of the door. I'm sure NOT spending $69.95 for THAT!

Yea, why does Lionel continue to do that on their scale cars?    I can understand stamping in on traditional sized cars, after all it is a tradition.  It quite honestly, is one of the reasons that there are very few Lionel freight cars on my layout.

Jim

<<Also, I see Lionel still insists in putting "2012 Bilt by Lionel" in white lettering, just to the lower right of the door>>

I for one am glad to see "Blt by Lionel".  That's one reason that keeps me buying them.

BLT by Lionel doesn’t bother me.

You can remove it in seconds using a MR. Clean magic eraser without altering the car.

I’m content with Ted & Bens answers.

Since I didn’t have an NP or 40’ DD round roof, I’ll probably keep the expensive 50.00 car.

With a pink shade mix of paint it can be made to look like the real photo#1 since that is how it really was. The red was very faded and oxidized on these old cars.

Lionel should follow up with a reply on it though. It was a disappointment when opening the box.

There are tons of NP decals available on ebay should someone want to make it look like the non black roof H.O. Bowser model.

Should have gone with my first choice, Seaboard.

As Hot Water points out for the single door PRR Round-Roof the car is dated as built sever-years after the last journal repacking date.  But the error here apparently happen some time during the "realization process."  If you look closely at page 30 Lionel Catalog 2011 Vol II you see that the build date in the catalog rendition is "6-36."  I will spot through the 5 to make it appear more like a 3.

This kind of problem is why I am so happy I play with the traditional sized non-scale and non-prototypical trains. Saves me the aggravation!  

Thanks to Ted for a very informative post about the history of this car.  I do enjoy the historical aspect of this hobby, and I respect those that have a strong desire to precisely replicate the prototype on their layouts.  I myself am not as concerned about an exact replica of the original.  I am more interested in scale proportions and that is why I buy O Scale and not Traditionally-sized items.  I don't mind built by Lionel on my scale cars.  I would have bought this car if it had the NP logo.  I saw the artist's rendition in the catalog, I thought it looked cool (with the logo) and I thought I would buy it.  Without the logo, it does not look as cool to me, and therefore I am not going to purchase it.  I have a ton of work to do on my layout and I don't have the time to label and dull coat this boxcar. 

BLT by Lionel doesn’t bother me.

You can remove it in seconds using a MR. Clean magic eraser without altering the car.

WOW, that will make my trip to the grocery store tonight worthwhile!  Great tip, thanks SIRT!

Interesting thread.