Postwar N5C question

Steamer:  Lionel molded cars in whatever happened to be left in the hopper - if there had been a run of green boxcars, the begining of the next run of cars would have come out green before the pellets ran out. I've got a 027 Mechandise Car in clear plastic beneath the paint job - probably from after a run of headlights or windows. 

thanks Art. I've read about that. I didn't remember there being any cars this color though.

Is the entire shell that color? Look on the inside and see if there are other colors. Marble was a process that was used by Lionel to use up all the remaining pellets in the machine what they know the car would be painted. So the pellets that made your green may have been mixed with something else to get the color they wanted.

I would suggest rivet counting and other close comparisons to your others. Could be a "test" color was used. Once painted it could easily mixed up and/or sold. Or maybe an MPC era "after hours" casting repainted? When did this color first appear in Lionel production? I do remember seeing swirls of it in PW whistle bodies, but not in cars till MPC.

Wait I think I know,... the "girls set"! Right year for a repaint over a non-seller?

definitely not marbled. what green is showing is solid.

Looks like the "Girls Set" color, but a couple years too early vs after. Maybe this was how they got the idea, or was how they tested the plastic colors before the Girls set was released. 

it's not blue like the girls caboose 

It's more like the P&LE green