A few more 3D printed freight cars of prototypes built in the Teens and Twenties are now available.
Yuma Car & Foundry has a nice Merchants Despatch Refrigerator Line (MDT) wood sheathed reefer in their product line through 3D Central Trains. There were 5,100 of these built between September 1922 and late 1924. Decals for the kit are available separately through a link near the end of the Description text.
The above image was taken by the Reading company photographer at the Port Richmond yard in 1926. The above image was taken by the Reading company photographer at the Port Richmond yard in 1926. Quite a few MDT reefers are in the lower part of the image. MDT reefer models for the Twenties and Thirties have been sorely missing from the HO scale model selection. Years ago, Rutland Car Shops produced a resin kit that followed an earlier prototype. Those kits are hard to find now.
Here’s another Reading photographer photo from 1927. A few MDT cars exhibit varying amounts of weathering. The middle car, MDT 16739, is in one of the prototype number series that the model follows.
Lines West Products is now producing a few different Nickel Plate Road (NKP) automobile box cars that follow prototypes built in 1923.
The cars in the 19000-19999 series sported distinctive Hutchins metal ends. The broad corrugations on these were inset compared to other Hutchins ends with corrugations that extended outward. I examined one of the O scale prints at the recent St. Louis RPM event. The detail and print quality were exceptional. I was so awestruck that I forgot to snap a photo.
The above photo finds NKP 19547 captured on film in Potomac Yard with Hutchins ends and Hutchins roof hardware. The Nickel Plate had 14,939 box cars on their 1926 roster. Of that total, 3,277 were automobile box cars.
These Nickel Plate automobile box cars and the Merchants Despatch reefer are welcome freight car additions for modelers of the Twenties and Thirties. Many of those MDT reefers were in service into the 1950s.
Thank you for visiting my blog. You can share a comment in the section below. Follow the instructions so your comment can be posted. All comments are reviewed and approved before they appear. Please share the blog link with other model railroaders. To subscribe to this blog, add your email address to the function at the bottom of the right column on the main page.