Winther Refrigerator Week: Part I, Printed Sides
More than a year ago I received a treasure trove of great photos of early American OO models by OO Pioneer Howard Winther, sent by his family. Many of those 80 photos have now been posted in the site, but there is one group not yet addressed, his refrigerator cars — so up today first is a group of four cars with printed sides.
First, just to look at the general side of this, a lot of refrigerator car kits were produced in OO gauge, especially in the pre-war years. People loved the color of them I think, and they were ideal models for producing with printed sides. The sides of most cars was a different color than the roof and ends, so it was quite possible to build a sharp car, matching colors was no problem.
[And UPDATE: The below commentary was updated 2021, after finishing the OO book]
Which leads us to this first car. Actually this whole group, one reason I waited so long to post these is they are really hard to ID as to manufacturer, especially so from photos. Clearly the sides are pre-war commercial products. But produced by whom?
This first car appears to be Nason. It is built very well and equipped with his scratchbuilt trucks and couplers.
This second car is Nason. Again this model has those great scratchbuilt trucks and couplers seen on so many of these Winther cars.
This third seems to be something exotic and very worth a closer look. The printed lettering “WO 2-40” is clear near the center of the photo when I zoom in. Champion made similar sides, but these are definitely not those — unless this is a different version put out by Champion, which is my best guess. Note also the printed ends and the typical great build seen in these Winther photos.
Finally, we have this car, with Champion sides. Unlike the other cars in this article this reefer is riding on Nason trucks, and has metal ends that look to be pressed out of brass, similar to those seen on a couple of the boxcar photos. And of course loop couplers.
Note also that all of the cars in this group have added door details, grab irons, etc. This last car having the most extensive detailing, as it has hinges added. Great early models in great condition! This short series will continue with two more easily identified cars.