A Thought

During the war- WWII- Lionel made cardboard trains because the war effort required raw materials. Hobbiest imaginations still convinced them of the real trains. Then in the 50's card stock trains came out in Shredded Wheat boxes.
I'd like to suggest a company make a box car that has flat sides, so we can glue billboards on the sides. In these times of cut backs, this would avail the hobbiest a miriad of different cars and cost efectiveness. I have no idea the cost of pad printing a model- At the Lionel museum it showed the process and it took 12 evolutions to paint an F-7. That adds up! With the basic "plug" box car- detailed on the roof and ends- we could glue on the side decorations. I have over 50 artworks and made many of these cars in early Z. They would NOT pass the rivit test but they sure do the 2 foot rule. I loved the Father Nature old time billboards, but it seems to be a dream of the past.
Would these sell? We now accept car kits made of wood, with stick ons. This would give the entry level Z'ers a cost effective way to start. This in no way should decrease the demand for excellence in rolling stock but would increase the options. Like so many things in early Z- if you wanted it- you had to make it. It will take a while for us to see the cutbacks in Z- Many manufactures already have units in the Pipeline getting ready for release. But they may curtail additional research and production as times get harder in the out years.
We have Brass $$$$ Injected $$$ resin $$ and maybe printed sides $. I know it works.
I'd appreciate feedback.

Just to clear up my thoughts-- The plug car would be injected molded with all the roof and end detail- we already have the base and trucks-- the only difference -- the sides would be flat so the artwork could be glued on... the door could be an additional "Glue On" so there is relief. I believe there is a printing process that even would give "Texture" to the printout. This way there won't be an over capacity of UNWANTED cars laying on the shelves. Admitted this would only work for a certain series of box cars.
Fred

One more thought--- "Special runs" -- would be much more cost effective. Clubs could do thier own art work and printing, and hobbiest can have a string of "thier own" RR line.
That' all folks.
Let's hear it!
Fred

Maybe a picture will explain it better. These are a few - of many- I made. I did not have the time to look for the finished models in the Black Hole.
Fred

Home printable or custom printed cars were avilable from maerklin. This is one of the reasons why there are so many kinds of beer cars, because everybody could order custom ones. The custom printable ones were: boxcar, reefer, small tank, thunderbox (old time passanger), low side gondola and small container car. The cars officially printed by maerklin have a small maerklin logo on them, while home/club/company painted ones don't. The order and custom printable area info is still on their website.

Thanks for responding and speaking up- so many lookerers and so few
posters. It's time for an American counterpart.. Beer cars, Flat sided containers,
gondolas, etc would be prospects. And it might be a fun "kit" too with minimal effort.
Fred

And here I thought I invented the "wheel"
If it's good enough for Maerklin, and the German engineering and quality- it should be good enough for the North American market.
and it might spark a new "colectors" series.
Fred

Hello Fred. Just a thought, how about using decal paper to inscribe any logo one wanted. Also, if made from balsa, any ribbing decided could be easily added. I remember 50 years ago making cattle cars from flat cars. The biggest problem back then was putting the lettering on by hand.

Decals would be great- but we are having trouble getting decals made in Z-- The Alps printers and such are having trouble getting printing material. I figure a Company like Micro trains knows the ins and outs of copywritng so we won't get the lawyers- Baristers- charging thier exobatant hourly fees just to squash the little guy and gain pennies. Also they have most of the tooling done.
Fred

Fred, I like this idea. With appropriate chalk weathering who could tell the difference? Look at the printed paper from Paper Creek. I have it all over my layout and you can't tell. If it will pass on building then why not a railcar? Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Bingo!!

Fred:

Those are some nice looking cars. And they would be a good way for someone who's starting out to get a nice roster of cars available until they can work their way up to FR.

Jeremy

My beer train could include nominally-local beers Olympia, Rainier, and Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve. The import would be Harp Lager, of course. I like this idea. Sign me up!

Mike

I made a truck and RR car with the Clydsdales- Pretty!

Fred wrote:

I made a truck and RR car with the Clydsdales- Pretty!

Pictures please!!!

Awe! Now you've dun gone and done it... I just came out of the black hole! The cats won't recognize me and Miss Peggy will think I'm an intruder.. Maybe they are on the wall- I'll check.
Fred

Fred,

I think you are on to something. Maybe some of our lazer magicians can make textured sides that we could then paint and/or decal with downsized photos.

Thanks

Jerry

I like the idea of a more or less generic car that can be used for modifications. But you're still stuck with wheels and couplers or has anyone an idea for that?

Shouldn't this be under "scratch building"?

Depends--- My original thought was not building a kit, or scratchbuilding. It was for a basic plug car- Injected Moulded- with detailed roof and ends, with smooth sides so we can glue the artwork on the flatsides. The doors could also be glued on for relief. MTL has all we need except the sides being flat. The metal Baseplate, trucks, and couplers would be standard issiue and insures proper running. MTL also has a lot of the artwork and knows the ins and outs of lawyering. Individuals could make thier own designs on computer grafics, or use a copying machine. Just paint the car- slap on the sides and you are done.
Three reasons for the above.. It would open up a miriad of cars that would be simple to produce AND the modeler to make; lower the costs for the newbie trying to get into the scale and the dedicated hobbiest who wants a fleet of his special heralds; and there would be less "Waste"- cars that do not sell. With this system, MTL could release a lot of cars each month. Printing the sides on durable material must cost a lot less than pad printing, and the manufacturer has not commited an actual model, and hope it sells. Plus the limited runs would be less expensive and could be reopened by just making more sides.
I'm just learning all the whistles and gongs of the NEW ZCS. It might be true I should have used a different heading- But I feel lucky just getting it on site..

NOTE: I'm collecting the state series. They are beautiful and interesting. And I would NOT change this series to the above process. But one company, N scale collector, is coming out with the "Territories" to augment the series. They are both produced by Micro-trains- same body and basic paint sceme. MTL sells for $22.95 or $17.22 if you shop around, but NSC Special Runs sells for $37.50. I could buy two state cars for one special run! Does a "special Run" realy boost the price that much?
We could have the Pearl Harbor series- the beer series, the president series, the birthday- ug- series, the footbhall series-- OK- I'm really going off base here.
But think- Just say there is one car in a series that sells very well, But the other 8 cars are poor sellers. For every 10 cars you sell of the popular model in the series, you sell only 2 of the others-- that means you have a lot of unpopular cars sitting on the shelf. Maybe they can be recycled- don't know if that is cost effective- if not, they become a loss. but other product must pay for this loss or the company goes down.
Enough palaverating. I think I spelled it right--- Sure hope Joe sees this thread and makes comment.
Thanks for listening,
Fred
One last note- Clubs could have thier own cars- be it thier clubs logo or a protypical
real life Railroad. NMRA put out paper sided cars many years ago in Z. I have several that a dear friend gave to me. I guess they are collector items now.

These are some the car sides I'd like to see in Z. They are popular in other scales and makes for a beautiful and interesting train. Often the cars are not purchased for BEER theme by Joe 12 packs but by modelers who appreciate the art work.
I got mine-
Just for the baristers that are lurkering- I am in no way associated with USA Trains and on top of that I'm broke.
Fred