Yes by about 1915 all new reefers (except those used in the meat industry) were 40' cars, normally with steel underframes.
BTW be aware that many "billboard" reefer models you see are actually carrying lettering dating back to the 1890's-1900's, which was probably really the peak of the "billboard" era. If modelling the steam era you have to do a little research to be sure which paint schemes were in use at the time you're modelling.
p.s. just to expand on something mentioned earlier...private owners could still put their name on their reefers, the ICC ruling mainly limited the size of the lettering and the artwork etc. they could use. It didn't allow them to use the huge 3'-4'+ lettering of the company name as had happened before on some cars. I think it had to be 15" or less, or something like that??
R. T. POTEET wrote:2. The 1920s and 1930s were the heyday of 36 foot reefers and I have always associate them with that length car;
36 ft reefers in the 1920's and 1930's were on there way out, the 36 ft car was a 1900-1920 era car. By WW1 40 ft cars were becoming the norm. A lot of the 36 ft cars were meat reefers and the 40 ft cars were produce cars.
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
BillD53A wrote:TSome companies didnt like the idea of putting their loads in a car painted for somebody else, so the 'billboard' cars were banned. The ban wasnt total, though. Cars can still be painted in a 'billboard' scheme, but they cannot carry any freight other than the owner/lessor's.
I always wondered why they were banned. It always seemed stupid to me. This reason at least makes some sense.
BillD53A wrote: I believe the 36 foot dimension is inside...between the ice bunkers, not the overall length of the car.
I believe the 36 foot dimension is inside...between the ice bunkers, not the overall length of the car.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
Poking around in a January 1939 ORER:
Looking at the reefers owned by Merchants Despatch and General American, cars with an overall length in the range of 40' to 41'5" had inside lengths of about 33'.
Cars with an overall length in the range of 36' to 37'5" had inside lengths of about 30'.
Ed
IRONROOSTER wrote: Here's a web site with some dates http://ldsig.org/wiki/index.php/Timeline-Freight_cars. It lists billboard cars banned in 1938.From the NMRA Scale Rails Oct 2006"July 1934: New and rebuilt refrigerator cars may no longer carry advertisements."EnjoyPaul
Here's a web site with some dates http://ldsig.org/wiki/index.php/Timeline-Freight_cars. It lists billboard cars banned in 1938.
From the NMRA Scale Rails Oct 2006
"July 1934: New and rebuilt refrigerator cars may no longer carry advertisements."
Enjoy
Paul