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Well today, as we remember our armed forces members for their service today and in days past, I thought I might use a bit of pre-war Lionel to also look back and remember that  times today are also somewhat better than some years past.  In 1929 the stock market crashed and plunged the world into the Great Depression.  Very few families had the extra funds to purchase Lionel's normally quite expensive train sets as a toy for their youngsters.  Lionel (and many other manufacturers) faced bankruptcy.  Lionel needed a low priced line and using some of the assets of the Ives Corporation that it had just taken over, produced the "Winner" line of trains...the slogan being "A train for Little brother".  These were almost all lithographed, ran on light weight 0-27 track, and were pulled by former Ives clockwork locomotives.  In 1933 the name was changed to "Lionel - Ives" and finally just Lionel in 1934.

This boxcar, the #1514 was produced from 1931-1932 in the "Winner" catalog and then from 1933-1937 in the regular catalog.  We should be wary of criticizing Lionel for these inexpensive little trains as because of them thousands of children were introduced into the hobby which would have been impossible with the prices of the regular line at that time.

Here is the Lionel #1514 showing a red frame and the Baby Ruth candy logo, dating this example to the later part of the era, likely 1936-37.

Lionel 1514 Box car

Now since in pictures, everything seems about the same size, I wanted to show you how far off "scale" these little trains were.  Here is the 1514 on the track next to a near scale Lionel 6464 boxcar.  In length  the 1514 is but 5 1/2" long compared to the 6464 at 9 3/4" (both measured not including couplers) . In height, the little guy is but 2" to the 6464's 3 1/2" (both measured off the top of the rails)

Lionel 1514 vs 6464 boxcars

Well I hope you have a wonderful Holiday

Best Wishes

Don

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  • Lionel 1514 Box car
  • Lionel 1514 vs 6464 boxcars

Good Morning Everyone,

Here is my latest project that I just finished up.   These Atlas undecorated 40' boxcars had been languishing in an old local hobby shop basement for quite some time until Bob the owner made me an offer I couldn't refuse.   I now own 14 of them(well,  I used to but fellow club members got a few of them and a now couple are custom decorated).

These are my fantasy versions of what could have been Montour boxcars.   The boxcar body is Tamiya dull red,  the roof is Tamiya bare metal and everything is top coated with Tamiya semi-gloss clear after the lettering/numbering is applied.   The Montour lettering,  the MTR reporting marks and road numbers are Woodland Scenics Gothic font dry transfers individually applied.   The black and white Montour RR diamond logo decal was printed and made by me.   All the small boxcar data lettering/dimensions are decals also in Gothic font by K4 decals.   The trucks/couplers with lobster claws(apologies to all you 2 rail scale guys for my removing the scale wheelsets and Kadee couplers) are the MTH Weaver mount Bettendorf style.   Keep the photos coming-there are some great and unusual boxcars here.

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Well today, I am posting what I consider one of my "scarce" finds for Marx.  The Marx brown, GN, deluxe sliding door boxcar.  This 81/2" long car dates from about 1955 and was available through mid 1960's.  Although Marx never "officially" used the word deluxe, it was used in various marketing publications and typically referred (in box cars) to the somewhat longer (8 1/2" vs 7 3/4" ) than the regular 8 wheel cars marketed from the early 1950's.  These cars featured sliding doors, die cast wheels (for weight), and plastic detailed overlays on the trucks for more realism and detail. Marx made 2 versions of the shorter, fixed door, GN boxcar in dark and light green (normally called medium wt by collectors) but the deluxe GN boxcar only came in brown. It is relatively scarce - I normally don't use the term "rare" with Marx he made too many trains!- and is one of the cars that I have searched for over a considerable period of time.

So here is my "new" Marx GN deluxe, brown, boxcar:

Marx GN brown deluxe boxcar side Marx GN brown deluxe box lettering endMarx GN brown deluxe box logo end

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  • Marx GN brown deluxe boxcar side
  • Marx GN brown deluxe box lettering end
  • Marx GN brown deluxe box logo end

Nick,

You have done a very professional job with those Atlas box cars. I’m a big fan of those and have quite a number that I have modified for use on my New Haven Railroad; always appreciate seeing what others have done with them.

Don

Don,

Appreciate the compliment,   but I didn't sound very professional as I was swearing while trying to apply some of the dry transfers-LOL!   There is no shortage of talent on this thread,  including yourself.   It's also great to see the cars I've never seen before or ones that I never knew existed.

I painted these cars for my own use, but I ended up donating them to a fellow who runs an O scale layout in the Curriers depot, located on the Arcade and Attica Railroad. The A&A is a operating freight line with a busy passenger excursion business in Western New York.

The Curriers depot is the north end of the normal passenger turns, where the road power, steam or diesel, run around the old ex-DL&W Boonton Line coaches…

1BBE2E63-C6D9-4126-B758-D1A4BDD73BAD2B23E0F1-CFDA-4E71-A5F4-458755807E301D560893-05C3-4C0E-9B1D-FE4908B9326A

Tom

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@mike g. posted:

Hey Dave, nice weathering! Not to much and just the right amount! I know I haven't posted here in a very long time but here is my offering this fine Sunday!

MTH Amtrak baggage car!



Thanks Mike, it was too yellow, so I lightly distressed it. I've always liked the Lionel baggage cars with the wheel lock doors. I've always wondered if they were prototypical. Either way they have a cool unique look. Thanks for your contribution.

@Krieglok posted:

I painted these cars for my own use, but I ended up donating them to a fellow who runs an O scale layout in the Curriers depot, located on the Arcade and Attica Railroad. The A&A is a operating freight line with a busy passenger excursion business in Western New York.

The Curriers depot is the north end of the normal passenger turns, where the road power, steam or diesel, run around the old ex-DL&W Boonton Line coaches…

1BBE2E63-C6D9-4126-B758-D1A4BDD73BAD2B23E0F1-CFDA-4E71-A5F4-458755807E301D560893-05C3-4C0E-9B1D-FE4908B9326A

Tom

That’s very nice of you to do that, Tom!

Thanks Mark! The Arcade and Attica railroad was my old stomping ground some 40 years ago….

Here are my two new contributions for this week. They are both factory painted MTH 19th Century Boxcars. I added poling pockets, grab irons,  brake platforms, new brake wheels and stems as well as turnbuckles on the truss rods.

I matched the factory paints using Vallejo paints and touched up all the added details. Then I gave each car an appropriate wash to bring out the details and weather the cars. A bit of rust paint dry brushed on the trucks, a final shot of Dullcote to tie everything together…

CK&N Ry…

CCD683B4-795A-46F8-B82F-49A5A244AADB1CB032F3-9626-4618-B1FC-983D09D93CDC

Union Pacific…

C7FDAB09-7A3E-4578-B999-2686B77AEF8D2235446E-D064-44A0-9DFA-02D49DC5EC4C

Tom

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Well OK I admit it, its not a boxcar. However, it is Boxes IN a Car !!  From 1936, uncataloged but number 1129 iaw dealer listings, the Package or Container Car from American Flyer.  Came in both 4 wheel and 8 wheel configurations.

AF Container Car 1AF Container Car 2

OK I was a little pressed for time this week and took a picture out of my archives, I will try to be more conventional next Sunday.  Best Wishes all, hope you have a great week.

Don

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  • AF Container Car 1
  • AF Container Car 2

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