REA

[FJ and G]

Does anyone put REA in their passenger consist? These used to be popular in the golden age of passenger trains. Have any of you old timers ever used REA?

[Anonymous]

Dave,

A Car like that would be fantasy, in that scheme.

Chris

BTW- you get my last email?

[lionelsoni]

Yes and yes. In fact, I have the car in your picture, but numbered 45088, along with a couple of dozen other REX cars. The company was "American Railway Express" before it was "Railway Express Agency"; and you will see models with that name on them. The Lionel 5720 has an interesting error that I have never seen noted anywhere: "Express Railway Agency".

[Buckeye Riveter]

I have an REA box car behind the tender on my C&O passenger train. When I was a kid, forty plus years ago, it was common to see REA cars on trains. Most of them were green or boxcar red.

[Anonymous]

Am forced to agree with the Buckeye.

Don't know whether your car is "prototypical" but it's very handsome.

I frequently run a green one.

wolverine49

[FJ and G]

Buckeye, Wolverine,

They had green REA trucks as well:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1631/reavan.html

[Anonymous]

F J and G,

Yes, long before there was "Brown" there was "Green."

In the 50's they would come to our house in Bethesda (MD) and pick up the bulk of my worldly goods in a large foot-locker and haul them off to college via truck -- rail -- truck.

Google has a lot of interesting stuff about REA, including their eventual battle with UPS and several of their officers ending up in the slammer.

Bad show, but they never lost my foot-locker.

wolverine49

[Anonymous]

I have a couple of "official" Lionel REA trucks

A 1928 Mack and 1948 Diamond T. REA shipped my cruise box all over the country, in the 60's I think my last dealings with them may have been in 69.

Bob

[3railguy]

I have a postwar REA car and a modern era milk car. Both are nice.