ISTR that Timken did actually have one or more box cars painted in the "Roller Freight" demonstrator scheme that has been such a favorite of model manufacturers over the years. I can't remember where I saw the photo, or if I just imagined it. Googling turns up models of every type and scale, and some Timken ads with artist depictions of whole strings of these cars, which I'm certain never existed - even a caboose!

I also find it ironic that most models of this car don't have roller bearing trucks.

Can anyone confirm or deny the existence of these car(s), or even better a link to a prototype photo?

Andy

The problem is that the Timken cars I've seen pictures of had INSIDE bearing
trucks.


Thanks!
--

Brian P. Ehni

From: Andy Harman <gsgondola@...>
Reply-To: STMFC List <STMFC@...>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:02:22 -0500
To: STMFC List <STMFC@...>
Subject: [STMFC] Timken Demo Box Car






ISTR that Timken did actually have one or more box cars painted in the
"Roller Freight" demonstrator scheme that has been such a favorite of model
manufacturers over the years. I can't remember where I saw the photo, or
if I just imagined it. Googling turns up models of every type and scale,
and some Timken ads with artist depictions of whole strings of these cars,
which I'm certain never existed - even a caboose!

I also find it ironic that most models of this car don't have roller
bearing trucks.

Can anyone confirm or deny the existence of these car(s), or even better a
link to a prototype photo?

Andy









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I should have been more specific: the TIMKEN box cars had inside bearings;
ACY's cars advertising Timken roller bearings were outside bearing.


Thanks!
--

Brian P. Ehni

From: Andy Harman <gsgondola@...>
Reply-To: STMFC List <STMFC@...>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:02:22 -0500
To: STMFC List <STMFC@...>
Subject: [STMFC] Timken Demo Box Car






ISTR that Timken did actually have one or more box cars painted in the
"Roller Freight" demonstrator scheme that has been such a favorite of model
manufacturers over the years. I can't remember where I saw the photo, or
if I just imagined it. Googling turns up models of every type and scale,
and some Timken ads with artist depictions of whole strings of these cars,
which I'm certain never existed - even a caboose!

I also find it ironic that most models of this car don't have roller
bearing trucks.

Can anyone confirm or deny the existence of these car(s), or even better a
link to a prototype photo?

Andy









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

At 03:09 PM 1/24/2012 -0600, you wrote:

I should have been more specific: the TIMKEN box cars had inside bearings;
ACY's cars advertising Timken roller bearings were outside bearing.

Found this pic from the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair:
http://breitlinks.com/paul_breitsprecher/images/trkn_bx_88_op.jpg

Definitely inside bearing trucks. And looks nothing like the ubiquitous models.

What did the ACY cars look like?

Andy

I'll send you the pics I have off-list.


Thanks!
--

Brian P. Ehni

From: Andy Harman <gsgondola@...>
Reply-To: STMFC List <STMFC@...>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:16:27 -0500
To: STMFC List <STMFC@...>
Subject: Re: [STMFC] Timken Demo Box Car






At 03:09 PM 1/24/2012 -0600, you wrote:

I should have been more specific: the TIMKEN box cars had inside bearings;
ACY's cars advertising Timken roller bearings were outside bearing.

Found this pic from the 1948 Chicago Railroad Fair:
http://breitlinks.com/paul_breitsprecher/images/trkn_bx_88_op.jpg

Definitely inside bearing trucks. And looks nothing like the ubiquitous
models.

What did the ACY cars look like?

Andy









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Andy,
Like you, I've searched the Internet and was never able to find prototype
photos of the Athearn yellow, red, and silver Timken demo car kits.
Awhile back, I sent a note to Athearn, asking where they got their prototype
car data, but I never got a reply. Methinks the prototype never existed.

I do have a source for decals for the red and yellow Timken cars. After
scanning Athearn red and yellow metal sides, John Hagen at OBS-CALS
cleaned up my scans and created artwork. (You can reach John at:
sprinthag@...).

Painting and white striping a car body is a heckuva lot easier than trying
to match the Athearn car side paint from the 40's and 50's.

Tom Houle

At 03:32 PM 1/24/2012 -0600, you wrote:

Painting and white striping a car body is a heckuva lot easier than trying
to match the Athearn car side paint from the 40's and 50's.

Prototypically, I doubt even if a handful of such cars existed, there would have been much chance of running across them on any given line in revenue service. The topic came up on another list discussing the many models, and it rang a bell that I thought I had seen an article or something that had photos of prototype car(s).

The oldest model I know of is the Athearn metal version, there have been Athearn plastic versions - either by Athearn or Bev Bel - and of course they've been done in other scales as well.

Andy

It's always been my understanding that the several Timken freight car paint schemes DID exist, but only on display cars at a railroad exhibition, and were not ever in revenue service. I have a vague recollection of a Railway Age article about that exhibition and the cars. Can anyone provide specifics?

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history

Andy,

The latest issue of the PRRT&HS Keystone has an extensive article on the 1948/49 Chicago Railroad Fair. There is a B&W picture from 1948 of one of these cars being pulled by 2 ladies. The car is partially obscured by a tree, but is clearly 2 light colors with the center band the lighter of the two. The roof and underframe are dark presumably black. So, that's at least 1 of these cars.

Dave Pfeiffer

At 10:33 AM 1/25/2012 -0500, you wrote:

The latest issue of the PRRT&HS Keystone has an extensive article on the
1948/49 Chicago Railroad Fair. There is a B&W picture from 1948 of one of
these cars being pulled by 2 ladies. The car is partially obscured by a
tree, but is clearly 2 light colors with the center band the lighter of the
two. The roof and underframe are dark presumably black. So, that's at
least 1 of these cars.

I've now come across photos of two different cars, TRBX 88 is a dark green color with brown or oxide roof and ends, and has the inside-bearing trucks and a "History of American Railroads" banner on the right side panel. The other car is AC&Y 600, which is a banded scheme but the logos are not the same as the models, nor does it say "Roller Freight" with the rolling axle. Also interesting, the color photo of the 600 shows a bright yellow car with a wide white horizontal band, and a black roof. But the black and white photo of the same car, the sides are clearly a darker color than the roof, which is obviously not black. Unless someone was really playing around with filters in the darkroom, it seems to indicate the car was in at least two different schemes.

Both cars have the same bizarre door-within-a-door with a matching end door as if the car was intended to be placed in a passenger train, which leads me to believe that TRBX and ACY 600 could be the same car, the latter with more convention trucks.

And still nothing that really looks like the ubiquitous models. The models seem to be based on Timken's printed ads like this one: http://tinyurl.com/74juzw6

Here is a B&W photo of TRBX 88:
http://www.atsfrr.com/resources/Williams/TimkenBoxCar88.jpg

The roof appears to be much lighter here, doesn't look like it could be oxide, and the map banner is different from the color photo. So this car could have gotten repainted multiple times as it toured around. Maybe one of them even looked like the models...
Interesting to find after all these years that there is a prototype, sort of, but that the model is still wrong :-)

Andy

Did you notice that the

http://www.atsfrr.com/resources/Williams/TimkenBoxCar88.jpg

had a sizeable Santa Fe logo on it. I wonder what the connection between
that box which does not have ATSF ID and the Santa Fe.



______________________________________________

J. Stephen (Steve) Sandifer

mailto:steve.sandifer@...

Home: 12027 Mulholland Drive, Meadows Place, TX 77477, 281-568-9918

Office: Southwest Central Church of Christ, 4011 W. Bellfort, Houston, TX
77025, 713-667-9417



From: STMFC@... [mailto:STMFC@...] On Behalf Of Dave
Pfeiffer
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 9:33 AM
To: STMFC@...
Subject: Re: [STMFC] Timken Demo Box Car





Andy,

The latest issue of the PRRT&HS Keystone has an extensive article on the
1948/49 Chicago Railroad Fair. There is a B&W picture from 1948 of one of
these cars being pulled by 2 ladies. The car is partially obscured by a
tree, but is clearly 2 light colors with the center band the lighter of the
two. The roof and underframe are dark presumably black. So, that's at
least 1 of these cars.

Dave Pfeiffer

At 12:51 PM 1/25/2012 -0600, you wrote:

http://www.atsfrr.com/resources/Williams/TimkenBoxCar88.jpg

had a sizeable Santa Fe logo on it. I wonder what the connection between
that box which does not have ATSF ID and the Santa Fe.

Other pics of the same car exist with a different billboard. Almost reminds me of a Lionel "Aquarium" car. I wonder if that panel was painted to go along with whatever railroad the car was demonstrating on at the time?

Andy

On Jan 25, 2012, at 10:49 AM, Andy Harman wrote:

Both cars have the same bizarre door-within-a-door with a matching end door
as if the car was intended to be placed in a passenger train, which leads
me to believe that TRBX and ACY 600 could be the same car, the latter with
more convention trucks.

An alternative explantation is that these doors may have been to allow the car to be used as an exhibit. That way you could see how the car looked on the inside with the doors closed and there was more room for displays.

Regards
Bruce

Bruce F. Smith
Auburn, AL
https://www5.vetmed.auburn.edu/~smithbf/

"Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield."
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