Indentify needed!

[vilefileman]

I am sort of a purist. I came across some of my rolling stock that just doesnt look right. I am guessing they are "fake" trains. Any help would be appreciated.
Are any of the following pieces actually trains, or just done up reproductions to pacify the masses?

A Jell-o box car
A Ralston Purina Boxcar
A Baby Ruth Box Car
A Gerber Starined Vegetables Box Car
A Heinz 57 Variety's boxcar
An Old Dutch Cleaner Large yellow Sand Car
A Great Northern flat car with fake logs
A Big Pine Flat Car with fake logs

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Rick

 

[brakie]

Rick,The GN car could be prototypical as the GN did haul logs in the NorthWest..
There was Ralston Purina boxcars.To include 53' Evans double door Boxcars..
The rest of the cars seem to be foobies.

 

[vilefileman]

You are right, I found this:

http://www.mylargescale.com/articles/reviews/art-50001/

However, mine is the blue/white variety.

Rick

 

[brakie]

Rick,That blue/white *might* be a older scheme..I don't know..Atlas makes a correct 53' Evans double door Ralston Purina car if you are interested.

 

[MasonJar]

Rolling billboards were usually painted on the sides of reefers, and may well have included Babe Ruth candy bars, Old Dutch Cleaner, Gerber foods, and Heinz. On box cars, I am not so sure, but if not exact replicas, they are certainly believable for a 20s - 30s era layout.

Andrew

 

[wjstix]

All except the first and last (Jell-O and Big Pine) are probably based on real cars. PLD 1 - Walthers first decal diagram book from 1942 - had decals for Baby Ruth, Gerber, Heinz 57 (Heinz had many many different styles of 'billboard' reefers) and Old Dutch. GN had many flatcars too. Now without seeing pics I can't say how accurate the models are, but sounds like most are based on real ones.

 

[shaygetz]

I am sort of a purist. I forgive you.

I know I'm gonna get my hind parts handed to me by our resident historian, Ivan Rivitcountin

A Jell-o box car---No

A Ralston Purina Boxcar---Yes

A Baby Ruth Box Car---No

A Gerber Starined Vegetables Box Car---possibly but not likely

A Heinz 57 Variety's boxcar---Yes

An Old Dutch Cleaner Large yellow Sand Car---Yes.

A Great Northern flat car with fake logs---Yes, with prototypical reservations as to the type and builder of said flatcar :thumb:

A Big Pine Flat Car with fake logs---I recall Big Pine being the name of Cox's logging train set from the mid to late '70s

 

[vilefileman]

Ok, here are pics:

New pictures:

 

[shaygetz]

That Great Northern flat has the six wheel trucks and is based on Athearn's original mold for it's articulated heavy duty flat car. While it certainly could have carried logs, it was used more for very heavy machinery loads and large structural steel columns. Whether the GN had any needs more research.

Old Dutch Cleanser would not have been on a four bay hopper nor would Jello have been on a modern steel reefer. If they were on wooden sheathed reefers or box cars, whether prototypical or not, they would be more convincing as this is what they were found on 'til the ICC banned their use.

 

[Lighthorseman]

Old Dutch Cleanser...

Athearn did the Old Dutch scheme on a reefer. One of my favourites, although I have no idea if it was prototypical or not.

 

[kchronister]

I understand wanting to know if something has a prototypical justification or not... On the other hand, if you like 'em, run 'em... I have an entire train of beer reefers, some of which may be prototypical, at least one of which I KNOW is not... Still one of my favorite trains to run...

 

[grlakeslogger]

The cars you've got there represent quite a span of eras. The ICC banned billboard reefers in 1934. While I agree with "run what you like" as long as it looks plausible, those old reefers were repainted during the Depression. A batch of the old HO manufacturers produced similar cars and they generally based these on actual rolling stock that did once run. I do believe the Baby Ruth, the Heinz, the Purina, and the Old Dutch are correct. At least three mfgrs. did the Gerbers car in wood/metal in the 50's-60's. Varney, Red Ball, and Main Line and maybe Silver Streak did the Old Dutch as did numerous manufacturers of plastic cars. The cars themselves were sometimes leased, sometimes owned by the corporations whose advertising appeared on the sides. I had the same question once and got a lot of good answers from the decal section of the Walthers catalog, from Westerfield's website, and from the private owner section of the Microscale catalog. I do not know about your later era cars. Good luck with your search!
--Stu--

 

[Fred_M]

I too have several of the billboard cars and I run them in a train that's composed of nothing but them. Sure it's not prototype, but the visitors love them and so do I. All mine I picked off of the used tables at hobby shops for a buck or two. I buy them every chance I get. I have around 20, but the only ones I have that you do are the Purina and Baby Ruth. Some are based on real cars, some are not. I can 99.9% guarantee the Old Dutch hopper is freelanced. No one seems to have taken any pictures of rolling stock before 1950 or 60, so its hard to prove/disprove any of them. Fred