|
|
 Posted - February 24 2009 : 01:46:22 AM
|
Saw this at a train show the other day, didn't buy it. A Japanese tin and plastic knockoff of an American reefer, complete with oversized trucks, as soon as someone mentions one of those odd brands I'll be able to remember the name.
I did happen to look at the bottom of it to see if it was a Japanese piece and it carried a Made In Japan sticker - but it also had a Penn Line sticker on the bottom of it. Slightly crooked but it was sized to fit the space on the bottom between frame crossmembers. I can't imagine why someone would have purposely put it there.
So the question is did Penn Line ever get involved in importing this stuff, or sell it as their own? Perhaps it was cheaper towards the end of their run to include these cars in their sets? I know some of their other products borrowed heavily from other manufacturers (diesels with Athearn shells, caboose with either Varney or a close copy of for the shell), but most of their line was their own stuff, the steam engines, die cast freight cars and passenger cars, and their GG1. Plus seems like they came up with a new plastic F7 (yet another clone of the Athearn shell) not long before going under, which Varney used to replace it's F3 and continued as a Life-Like item.
Or did someone just stick a sticker someplace to confuse people many years later.
|
Country:  USA ~
Posts: 956 ~
Member Since: January 27 2008 ~
Last Visit: May 27 2016
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - February 24 2009 : 08:36:19 AM
|
Most of this is releated to Penn Line and Varney sharing dies or maybe Varney supplying some passenger cars to Penn Line. In Passenger cars besides the Great Northern set all were the same. Penn Lines freight cars were Mantua cars using the old style cast floor with Penn Line cast into them instead of mantua. The Cresatory roof and streamlined passenger cars were identical to Vaney's and Hobbylines. I really don't know what these companies relationships were. Was everone just copying each others dies.
In diesels Penn Lines GP7 was identical to Globes. Their F3 was the same as Varney's. Their F7 as with Varney's F7 was the same as Globes. Globes die were aquired by Athearn. Original Penn Line GP7 and F7's had Penn Line drives in which only the rear truck was powered. The last F7's had cheep drives identical to the Varney F7 drives with the only difference being the bottom snap up retaining piece was of a gray plastic that had Penn Line cast into it. Everything else was identical.
frank
toptrain
" It's a Heck of a Day " !!!
Edited by - toptrain on February 24 2009 08:38:33 AM
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 7536 ~
Member Since: August 07 2008 ~
Last Visit: November 03 2025
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home
Forums
Events Calendar
Forum Admins & Mods
Register
