A firm that made great printed sides for a 40’ steel boxcar before WWII was Scale-Rail Industries of Chicago, IL. These were produced in HO, OO, and O gauges. While reefer cars were also marketed in O and HO, only the boxcars were produced in OO. According to their advertisement in the May, 1941 issue of Model Railroader, these sides were

Manufactured from fine grades of Bristol board coated with semi-gloss enamels.

Lettering and heralds correctly styled in full rich colors. Rivets … are sharply raised…. No inks, cuts or type of any kinds are used in the manufacture of these sides.

They were reviewed in the same issue of MR. There they note that “The rivet detail on the box cars is reproduced without distorting the surrounding material…. Hearlds and lettering look like the real thing.” They really are quite good sides, perhaps the best of their type ever made in OO.

This car is one I put together years ago with these sides and a variety of parts on a Picard body. The only problem with using these sides is matching the paint. It is not easy at all to do. With a close match these sides build up into great cars.

Their advertisement in the June, 1941 issue of MR lists OO boxcar sides for UP, NP, Santa Fe, NKP, and C&EI. They sold for 25 cents a pair. In my collection I have all of these (two different versions of ATSF—map or no map), plus CB&Q, PRR, and SSW (Blue Streak).

UPDATED 2021, please see my book for more information.