N scale wood reefer comparison

[tom mann]

So the question comes up all the time: "Which impossible to get Schlitz reefer should I buy"?

Here are some photos to compare molding between the Atlas reefer and the MT reefer:

Atlas:


MT:


Atlas:


MT:


Atlas:


MT:


The Atlas wins out on hatch fidelity, but falls short on wood side scale.  MT hatches are crude, but I like the side boards.  The door latches on the Atlas model are also bulky.

[3rdrail]

I wish both didn't have wood sheathed roofs. Those are 1930's schemes and by that time reefers had steel sheathed roofs, like Murphy roofs. I've found one can put .008 wire in some grooves and and fill the rest with putty to do a steel roof.

The Atlas doors are a different prototype than the MTL doors, one's no better than the other.

What am I talking about, I've got too many #^&*!# billboard reefers already!!

[up1950s]

The question I have , is the lighter blue the correct blue , or the darker , or both depending on fade ? I tend to like the lighter because I can see the black lines , but should I

[Robbman]

So if I measure the width of the boards and count the number of boards on the wood reefer preserved near me... does that make me a splinter-counter?

[tokenbrit]

Here are some photos...

They're not weathered... ???

Or, should that read they're not weathered yet?

[Nato]

  Find the old Precission Masters Wood Side kit later briefly offered from Red Caboose. Strip off the PE paint and repaint usuing Clover House Dry Transferrs. Just my suggestion. Oh wait I think this kid uses steel ends,"Never Mind". Ntae Goodman (Nato).

[bbussey]

I tend to think the slats on the Atlas car sides are more accurate, even if the spacing between the slats are wider.  The roof detail on the Atlas car is more intricate and still includes operating hatches.  The Atlas car also stands closer to prototypical height than does the Micro-Trains car.

[Craig Martyn]

The basic premise that we are comparing two models to one another WITHOUT a prototype photo makes no sense.   Sure, one might be more bulky here, the other "finer" in spots, but it really has no grounds unless we're comparing each to a PROTOTYPE photo.

The point is, the model we might ultimately find as #2, could in fact be #1, but we'd never know without comparing both to the prototype.  Food for thought.

[Nato]

  The Book "Bill Board Refrigrerator Cars " by Richard H. Hendrickson and Edward S. Kaminski published by Signature Press, just might contain the answer. I don't have my copy handi or I would go thru and see if there were photos, most are B&W but there are a few colored tinted  ones.                                                                                                                                    Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake,Utah. "Not the home of Big Love" only "Bigger Love".

[3rdrail]

I looked in my copy, the car is on Page 133 in Black and white, and both cars are "close but no cigar". The Atlas is better with the black end braces, but the MTL door shape and deep center sill are closer. As Richard Hendrickson points out in reference to the Pluto Water car, the color scheme has been done in all scales, but never on the correct car! BTW, it looks to me like the Schlitz car has a metal roof.

[Chulvis]

BTW, it looks to me like the Schlitz car has a metal roof.

The plot thickens! 

[John]

tastes good .. less filling

[wazzou]

tastes good .. less filling

I think the word is great, "tastes great".  Besides, that's Miller Lite. :

[Mark5]

some of ya might get a kick out of this ...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=32777956