Lionel semi-scale 2957 caboose

[reverseletter56]

Quick question(I'm a PW guy) on the prewar 2957 caboose...Is the lettering on the car HS, RS? 

Thx!

[lionelsoni]

According to the TCA book, the 2957 is "same as 717 but with tinplate trucks and automatic-box couplers", and the 717 is described as being "RS".  In any case, there seems to be no definition of "HS" in the book, which suggests to me that heat-stamping did not exist before the war.

[CRAIG MACDONELL]

All the scale cars and semi-scale prewar cars I own are Heat Stamped as well as my Semi Scale B6 switcher at the cab. My 2957 are all heat stamped and you can see the tell tale indentations in the paint unlike rubber stamping. These cars were not introduced until about 1940 so they were "late" prewar.