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Back to the Future: Atlas' New Therm Ice Plug Door Boxcar

umtrr
 

The October 2010 pre-order announcements from Atlas contains one car that is, for us A1G fans, a trip "back to the future."

Catalog numbers 33011 and 33012 are forty foot plug door boxcars painted for "Therm Ice" dry ice. Therm Ice was one of the paint schemes on the A1G forty foot plug door boxcars (Catalog 2223). The artwork shown in the Atlas 4th Quarter 2010 Catalog is similar to that on the A1G release from so many years ago, but as you'd expect the printing will be more complete and much more finely executed. (For example, the "When Empty Return To..." box on the new model is just an outline box on the A1G car.)

The new cars will have reporting marks of TICX 8901 and 8907; the A1G car carried TICX 8903. The prototype series was numbered TICX 8900 to 8920 according to the Official Railway Equipment Register for January 1964. The cars were registered to National Car Company. They were less tall than the Atlas model (either one) with an extreme height of 13 feet 10 inches. I do recall seeing a prototype photo somewhere but I can't recall where at this writing.

The real Therm Ice dry cars occassionally showed up in the Harismus Cove yard of the Pennsylvania Railroad, not far from my boyhood home in Jersey City. That makes the release "back to the future" for more sentimental reasons than just being a throwback of sorts to A1G.

Cheers,
George
(Your list owner)
RobertParsons
 

George,
I have two Therm Ice cars. One has been painted over a National Dairy Despatch 2222 logo. I have no idea why this was done but you can clearly read the National Dairy lettering showing thru on the Therm Ice car. The two cars have the same silver body color.
Robert

--- In a1g@..., "umtrr" <gji@...> wrote:

The October 2010 pre-order announcements from Atlas contains one car that is, for us A1G fans, a trip "back to the future."

Catalog numbers 33011 and 33012 are forty foot plug door boxcars painted for "Therm Ice" dry ice. Therm Ice was one of the paint schemes on the A1G forty foot plug door boxcars (Catalog 2223). The artwork shown in the Atlas 4th Quarter 2010 Catalog is similar to that on the A1G release from so many years ago, but as you'd expect the printing will be more complete and much more finely executed. (For example, the "When Empty Return To..." box on the new model is just an outline box on the A1G car.)

The new cars will have reporting marks of TICX 8901 and 8907; the A1G car carried TICX 8903. The prototype series was numbered TICX 8900 to 8920 according to the Official Railway Equipment Register for January 1964. The cars were registered to National Car Company. They were less tall than the Atlas model (either one) with an extreme height of 13 feet 10 inches. I do recall seeing a prototype photo somewhere but I can't recall where at this writing.

The real Therm Ice dry cars occassionally showed up in the Harismus Cove yard of the Pennsylvania Railroad, not far from my boyhood home in Jersey City. That makes the release "back to the future" for more sentimental reasons than just being a throwback of sorts to A1G.

Cheers,
George
(Your list owner)
 

Thanks for the info, George.

Alas, my little Therm Ice "reefer" I've had since the early seventies has
three of its four corner steps missing.

There is paint over the spots where the steps would have been attached,
though, so it was molded that way.

I have seen quite a few RoCo cars with non-fill where the corner steps are
concerned. Just not many with THREE missing! I must not have looked at it
too closely when I bought it.

It has always been one of my favorite A1G cars.

Doug

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