Toy train operating and collecting

I am waiting for delivery of my Lionel 9475 "I love NY" boxcar. I have two questions...

#1 I think this boxcar is based on a realworld boxcar. Am I correct?

#2. Why does it have Delaware and Hudson markings on it? I know Delaware and Hudson is a railroad that operates in the NY area. But why would they have an I Love NY boxcar? Was it some kind of 9/11 tribute thing?

Thanks in advance,
Dep

The answers are HERE and HERE.

Rob 

These pre-date 911 by quite a bit.

Image is from North East Rail Fan site. 

Thanks a ton guys!!!! Wow!!! Thanks for that pic Chuck!!!! Very

I have the earlier I Love NY boxcar too (19949). I had to do some cannibalizing of another Lionel boxcar to make it useable. Note the Twin Towers on the side.

I am not sure if it is what the car is based off of, but long ago, I remember seeing a D&H boxcar with the signage on the side saying something along the lines of " D&H Loves NY" with the heart in for the "Loves".  I have never seen one for 911, but I have been out of the area for some time.

Dennis'

Chuck, that is the car I remember.  My server didn't display your photo when I had replied.  but you got it!

I looked on those NYS links, but didn't notice anything about the story behind these cars, so here it is Deputy:

In the early 1980's, the NYS Dept. of Transportation purchased, then overhauled and rebuilt a couple hundred box cars for the Delaware and Hudson Railway. They were then leased back to the D&H with the very memorable "I Love New York" paint scheme, as sort of a trade off. The cars were numbered 5000-50199. The "I Love New York" campaign was a promotion to encourage tourism in NYS and was heavily promoted in all media avenues.

I believe the story on the PC green Lehigh Valley box cars is somewhat similar. The Lehigh sold box cars to be refurbished and rebuilt, then leased them back. Only this time the scheme was a more railroad oriented scheme, with the PC green which resulted from the PRR (at the time this happened, now the PC) being a major shareholder of the LV. A few cabooses also showed up in PC green, which die-hard LV fans really disliked.

I'm sure there are other such stories about the real rail lines out there.

Deputy, I know you and I have disagreed a few times - but this time I hope I could help out.

Hi Brian: Thanks a ton for that info!!! I was on E-Bay and saw some HO scale boxcars with that D&H paint scheme and they mentioned the run of boxcars by the NYS DOT. I discovered that MTH made TWO of them in O-Scale with different original numbers on them but otherwise identical. I found both of them at The Amhearst Depot and ordered both of them. I also found a guy selling the complete Lionel I Love NY boxcar with the Twin Towers on it. The "Buy it Now" price is $51.00. Here's a pic of it. I got some replacement doors for mine but need to paint them the color of the roof and ends. Wish I knew what color it is!!! I'll probably have to do a trial and error mix to get it close. And for gosh sakes, I never held any grudges about our previous disagreements!!!

Dep