Hello All, I recently came upon an old Varney HO Frisco 40' boxcar. It is white with blue lettering and herald. On the right side, it has an ad for Norge gas refrigerators. Does anyone know if this is anywhere near reality? I know the Frisco used different colored boxes for different services, but I'm not familiar with the billboard aspect. Thanks
I also have one of these boxcars. I'm not sure how accurate they are, but the Frisco did serve a Norge plant in Fort Smith, AR and my understanding is that they did have some boxcars with the Norge name on the side. John Chambers
I recall a short article on the Frisco "Norge" boxcars in, I think, one of the Frisco Museum's "All Aboard" issues. But, I have no idea which issue. I know I've seen an article on these cars somewhere! Ken
The Varney car was produced in white with both blue and red lettering. The Frisco did not have boxcars in either paint scheme. According to the book Frisco / Katy Color Guide to Freight Equipment, by Nicholas John Molo, Morning Sun Books, 2003, page 61, the Frisco did assign specially built boxcars to Whirlpool (ex-Norge Division of Borg-Warner) in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The cars were in number series SL-SF 16354-16393. The cars were rebuilt from cars originally in the SL-SF 17300-18549 series. The Pullman Standard (PS) built 40' 6" inside length, 55 ton, XL boxcars had a capacity of 3,903 cubic feet. The cars were rebuilt in 1970 and equipped with Evans DF-2 load restraining equipment consisting of belt rails for securing and preventing loads from shifting. These cars were specifically reinforced with special gussets at the door openings to handle forklifts for loading refrigerators and freezers. Photographic evidence indicates a typical paint scheme for these cars of freight car reddish brown with white lettering. The coonskin was the standard black back ground with white outline and lettering. "Ship it on the Frisco!" lettering included the "it" on a black back ground. Roofwalks were removed during the rebuilding and each side on the right included a yellow warning label with black outline and lettering on 2 lines to "Keep Off Roof No Running Board". A 3 line routing stencil indicated "When Empty Return To Frisco RR Fort Smith, Arkansas". At least car SLSF 16361 had this stencil in a somewhat unusual placement below the "Ship it on the Frisco!" logo. Typically these were located to the left of the door opening. The lower portion of the loading door included a white ball and bar symbol with "DF" logo. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
Thanks, Mark, for the information. Looks like Varney mixed a little fantasy and reality (the paint being the biggest part of the fantasy!). Kind of neat to know it's rooted in a real customer that used boxcars similar to that. I have to confess just buying one off Ebay for about $9. I know-no bargain-but it was just one of those "must-haves." It can go on display next to my still-packaged Life-Like Frisco flat car, which I'm sure is the wrong style and road # (although I need to verify). Chris
