Model Train Journal

Hello all ..Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas ..best wishes for healthy, happy 2018 .

Two new old kits ....

Stock car all cast in brass ...weight would compare to a prototypical car filled with prize winning corn feed bulls heading to slaughter . Car is shown in Alexander's 1934 catalog ..but no mention of brass ... exploded view of box car shows similar construction ..and it appears I lack a cast running board for the roof ..

Who made this die-cast ? refer ...excellent detail ... one piece body ...someone spent some money on the mold ... operating doors and hatches all fit like a glove ....was there ever a big enough market to recoup the investment in the mold ?

Thank you .
Cheers Carey

I have a never seen an Alexander cast model that was not aluminum. You may have a prototype, or an early first run, or a run for a particular exhibition layout, or a one-off by whoever wound up with the patterns. Another possibility is that it is a second-generation casting, where somebody used a factory model as a pattern to make more copies (Allan Wehrle used to do this). The second generation is smaller due to shrinkage. If you measure the length of the roof and sides I can compare it to an aluminum version (Or of course you can if you have one).

As to the reefer, anytime I see a die-cast freight car I think "3-rail", as those were generally the only models that sold in enough volume to justify the cost of the tooling. Whether this one did or not I cannot say, in part because I don't recognize it but also I don't have any expertise in regards to those models or that market.

Jim

I believe that the brass castings don't have anything to do with Alexander. Note that the brass doors don't match the doors in the picture of the Alexander parts; and the ends don't match. But, note that the picture of the built up Alexander car does not match the picture of the Alexander parts. So now compare the picture of the built up car with the brass castings; it seems close, but even though it is hard to see the end of the built up car, it seems to have a ladder. I agree with Jim, I have never seen cast Alexander freight car parts that weren't aluminum.

I also agree that the die cast reefer may well be a 3 rail piece, but the separate small pieces seem to argue against this. Try measuring the length and width and see what it scales out to in 1/48, and consider whether that corresponds to any known reefer size. At the same time consider whether it is under sized for O scale and if so that is one more indication that it may be 3 rail. That would not mean that it is not useful in an O scale train; painted and lettered it would provide some additional variety in the train.

So now a question is, what company made the brass castings if they are full scale. It seems unlikely that they were not made by a company, unless they are knock offs.

Steve

I don't know about any of that, but I lust for a cast aluminum outside braced box.

I note that Allan sand-cast a poultry car for me using Steve's car sides. Turned out ok. Then he did some brass side frames, proving that if one has a backyard foundry and a match plate, brass and aluminum are interchangeable except for the heat required.

Hello all thank you for your interest in the kits

Both cars match size length x widthfor that of a normal scale car.
Stock car is exact same length of a Scalecraft cast stock car ...

Who ever was the mold maker for the refer was a master ... wood grain ... all parts are perfect finger push in tight fit , doors , ladders, hatches etc

These both came out of long term "storage " from a collector who had them "awhile" .. decades fly by ...

Last photo to satiate Bob's lust.

Thank you Cheers Carey

I've seen those Zamac reefers before but I can't recall the name...

Officially jealous of that auto car.