Unknown manufacture


willrobi

New Member
Hello This is my first posting. I live in Norway, Europe and model US railroads. I have a question about the makers of US freight cars.
I bought some freught cars from a lady whose husband had died and she was selling his railroad items. None of them had boxes but all were in good condition. I have looked them over but could not find the makers name on them, only one had Bachmann industry on the under side of the box car.
Here is a list of the cars, hope someone can help.
NP. Boxcar #40834 redish brown
GN Boxcar #19617 redish brown
GN Boxcar #3486 redish brown
C.St.PM&O Boxcar # 1682 green/yellow
D&RGW Boxcar #60952 grey/orange
BAR Reefer #6532 blue/white
GN Stockcar green
D&RGW Stockcar #3949
SP Boxcar # 97193 black
CB&Q Reefer # 67157 green with yellow band.
Santa Fe Boxcar #36071 Grand Canyon orange

Hope some one can help. Thank you.
Regards,
William C. Robinson
 
I can help with a few. Compare the bottoms of the others with those that I identified and see if they match.

D&RGW Boxcar #60952 grey/orange - Walther's
BAR Reefer #6532 blue/white - Life Like
D&RGW Stockcar #3949 - Mantua
CB&Q Reefer # 67157 green with yellow band. - Athearn
Santa Fe Boxcar #36071 Grand Canyon orange - Athearn
 
That has been my pet peeve for years or at least one of them. Manufacturers never put their name on their rolling stock and sometimes you can not tell what or who made them. It's like they don't want anyone to know who made the junk we have. You can bet that it's all made in China in the first place and sent over here to a distributor to sell with no name on it at all. Track is the same way although Atlas seems to do well with putting their name out there for everybody to see. Good products from Atlas too I might add. At least if something goes wrong I can see who to call to fix the problem or check it out online. Also it says right at the beginning of this thread that a picture is a "must" for this site. Good work by Sante Fe Willy trying to identify these pieces. Pete
 
That has been my pet peeve for years or at least one of them. Manufacturers never put their name on their rolling stock and sometimes you can not tell what or who made them. It's like they don't want anyone to know who made the junk we have. You can bet that it's all made in China in the first place and sent over here to a distributor to sell with no name on it at all. Track is the same way although Atlas seems to do well with putting their name out there for everybody to see. Good products from Atlas too I might add. At least if something goes wrong I can see who to call to fix the problem or check it out online. Also it says right at the beginning of this thread that a picture is a "must" for this site. Good work by Sante Fe Willy trying to identify these pieces. Pete
Yes, partly true. All Athearn "Blue Box" cars were made in America until Horizon bought them out. Almost all can be identified by the metal coupler box cover. It is no longer true after Horizon absorbed Roundhouse and some other small manufacturers and marketed their products as Athearn in the RTR line. Most other manufacturers were also made in America until the early 2000's as well. Now, the only ones that I know that are made in the US are Accurail and Kadee freight cars. Some others are assembled in the US with imported parts. For a while, Intermountain were made in America but the parts were sent to China for assembly. I don't know if that is still true.
Sorry that I digress from the original thread subject.
 
That has been my pet peeve for years or at least one of them. Manufacturers never put their name on their rolling stock and sometimes you can not tell what or who made them. It's like they don't want anyone to know who made the junk we have. You can bet that it's all made in China in the first place and sent over here to a distributor to sell with no name on it at all. Track is the same way although Atlas seems to do well with putting their name out there for everybody to see. Good products from Atlas too I might add. At least if something goes wrong I can see who to call to fix the problem or check it out online. Also it says right at the beginning of this thread that a picture is a "must" for this site. Good work by Sante Fe Willy trying to identify these pieces. Pete
Does it really matter who has made them if you already have them in your possession, especially if you are using them? Many freight cars and loco's seem to have a commonality of parts across the manufacturers so if repairs are needed then its relatively easy to track down the parts and fix

I have around 100 items of freight stock, maybe half are in their original boxes, the rest I have very little idea who made them, and I don't particularly care!
 
Welcome aboard! I've spent some time in Norway and it is a beautiful country. I was able at the time to limp along in Norsk to do what I needed to do. I'm a Narrow Gauge modeler and make almost all of my rolling stock via 3D printing so unfortunately can't help much. What you have done is a good way to get started and if you desire settle down on a certain rail line or niche, or not!

Best regards: Tom
 



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