The State of Maine Potatoes Box Car now Done Correctly

NOT LionelLLCOGR Forum Member

NEVER BEFORE in the history of O gauge has the State of Maine box car been correctly offered … UNTIL NOW! In real life, the first State of Maine cars had “Bangor and Aroostook Railroad” spelled out in full, including the word “Railroad”. These cars also had the word “Potatoes” in the red stripe. Shortly after debuting on the BAR, the word “Potatoes” was replaced with “Products” and the lettering in the white stripe was shortened to eliminate the word “Railroad”. It’s this later version that has been modelled time and time again in O gauge. Now METCA offers the only accurately lettered 6464-275 State of Maine Potatoes Box Car, faithful to the original. This 100% Lionel made and decorated box car is molded, decorated, and assembled in the USA. The car (2001210) features a stamped metal frame, metal brake wheel and die-cast sprung trucks. Unique addition to any 6464 series of cars.

More info here.

Stu

2/8/204:26 PM

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RSJB18OGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Great looking car. One of the best paint scheme's of all time.

2/8/204:30 PM

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Chris LoneroOGR Forum Member

That is a good looking car.The full lettering does look much better!

2/8/204:35 PM

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Hudson J1eOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBERMEMORIAL SUPPORTER

Very nice! The lettering is superb!

2/8/204:43 PM

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jpnrcOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER

I just purchased a used version of this METCA car, and, unless I bought a knock-off, I would hardly say it was finally "Done Correctly." I searched the internet for pictures of the actual car produced and could find only one, which is in Bob Mintz's TCA article on Lionel 6464 boxcars found here: https://www.tcatrains.org/etra...n-updated-fall-2023/

Stu's picture in the original post above is from the METCA sale's ad for the car. Here are a few pictures of my actual car:

As my pictures show, the door has a very noticeable and odd blue hue, much different than the rest of the car. Also, only the "face" or front of any protrusions from the sides of the car (e.g., ladders, doors, door rails, slides for the doors) are painted red or white. The top and bottom of those protrusions are the unpainted blue plastic that the car was molded in. These oddities are less noticeable when looking directly at the car as this photo, and the one in Bob Mintz's article, show.