quote:What I ended up purchasing was an Atlas O Susquehanna Boxcar and a Lionel Merchant Dispatch steel-sided reefer.
Mario
Atlas makes a bunch of O scale box cars. Including all the Masterline (both steam era and modern) and Trainman box cars Atlas makes about 18 or 19 different box cars. If you are modeling the 1940s or 50s you will have plenty to chose from just from Atlas. All are well decorated and the master line cars are highly detailed.
The Lionel 40 foot steel sided ice reefer is also a highly detailed and well decorated car. I will second the comment above about the Standard O line freight cars introduced by Lionel since about 2002, they are all very nice.
And I will also second the comment above from hot water. MTH is making some of the best freight cars out there. Atlas, Lionel and MTH all make 40 foot steel sided reefers and double sheathed USRA box cars. I have at least one steel reefer from each manufacturer. Detail is close on all of them. Atlas is the heaviest and Lionel the lightest. MTH has the best price and I own the most of them. On USRA double sheathed box cars it isn't as close. MTH has the best model and the best price too.
The MTH freight cars introduced over the last decade including double and single sheathed USRA box cars, AAR box cars, steel sided reefers, hoppers, drop bottom gondolas and CA-1 caboose are among the best O scale late steam era freight cars out there. And some of the older steam era MTH freight cars like the flat cars, 52 foot gondola and the 50 foot automobile fox car have received detail upgrades.
We have three manufacturers that all offer some outstanding models. It has taken me a year or two of studying to begin to catch up on what is out there and I am hardly an expert. With dozens of basic models and hundreds of paint schemes collecting just the Atlas, Lionel or MTH scale box cars made in the last decade is a task that could overwhelm even the most fanatic 6464 box car aficionado. And then there are the reefers, tank cars, hoppers......
