Blue D&H waffle boxcars?

[Benjamin Maggi]

One of the reasons I like the D&H was they tremendous variety of paint schemes during the 1960-1980s on their boxcars. I have seen red, orange, yellow, green, brown, and maroon. Add silver for their covered hoppers and blue for their MOW equipment and glass service hoppers and you really have a rainbow. That doesn't even count the "I love NY" cars.

However, while going through EBay recently I found listed a Walthers 3-pack of waffle-sided HO boxcars. They are Walthers item #932-9124 and though the auction has ended I am sure if you did an internet search you would find pictures of the EBay listing. Two are yellow as normal, but one was painted blue with yellow lettering and numbered D&H 24031.

I own the BLHS D&H Color Guide book and don't recall ever seeing a picture of a D&H blue boxcar. Nor could I find anything online to support this. Did Walthers just make this paint scheme up? Does anyone have any information on whether a prototype for these scheme existed?

Thanks.

[Steve Wagner]

Mr. Maggi, I just now saw and read your post.

I'll quote what I wrote about the Walthers blue D&H waffle-side boxcar with yellow graphics in a "Modeling Matters" column in the April 1996 issue of the Bridge Line Historical Society Bulletin, the monthly publication of an active group of Delaware & Hudson fans:

"The blue car is, I think, definitely a mistake. I've certainly neither seen or heard of a real one. I'm pretty sure that I did see a black and white photo of a D&H waffle boxcar published in a magazine (the old Modeling Railroading? RailModel Journal?) with a caption indicating that it had yellow lettering on blue; I meant to write in suggesting that was implausible, but I didn't, for which I feel like kicking myself. I sold my blue Walthers car as soon as I could."

I strongly suspect that the black and white photo of a D&H waffle box with light-colored graphics on a darker car side probably showed a bright red car with yellow graphics. The D&H certainly did repaint quite a few freight cars in those colors in the 1970's.

Steve Wagner

[Benjamin Maggi]

Thank you very much Steve!