"Railway Express Agency" Flatbed truck

[tstage]

I'm looking at replacing the plastic bed on this Classic Metal Works '41-'46 Chevy "Railway Express Agency" Flatbed truck with a scratch-built wooden one:

The individual boards that make up the bed on the one above appear to be 4 x 8 dimensional laid side-by-side.

I was wondering a few things about the prototype:

• Was there ever such a flatbed truck of this type used by the Railway Express Agency?  Or, were they all generally enclosed (solid sides & roof) or partially enclosed (2 x 4 sides but open roof)?

If there was an actual prototype:

• Was the vertical wall (located right behind the cab and attached to the front of the bed) originally made of metal?
• Would there have been a cutout or window in the vertical wall so that the driver could look out the back when the bed was either empty or not obstructed by a load?  (There is an extended side-view mirror that comes with the model.)

The reason for asking this is that I have yet to find a picture on the Internet of a flatbed Railway Express Agency truck other than the one offered by Classic Metal Works.  I was just wondering whether this was an actual prototype...or whether it was a "foobie" made by the manufacturer to sell product.  (There are a number of "variants" of this truck using this same frame, which can be seen on this page.)

Anyhow, I hope my battery of questions make sense.  Any incite you all might have is appreciated.  Thanks for the help.

Tom

[chutton01]

Doesn't exactly answer your question about REA flatbeds, but pehaps this article may give you some helpful info.

[tstage]

Thanks, chutton!  I just glanced through the article.  Should make for a good read.

Tom

[m horton]

GC Laser makes a kit for a stake body for the international CC trucks, check with them, I believe those flatbed bodys on all CC trucks are the same size, which to me seem to be too wide. A stake body would look better for a REA truck than an open flatbed. mh

[Train Modeler]

96" was max width of the beds, box, whatever(102" now).    The stake holes for the racks were just inside the iron rail and maybe a 1 x 4.    Wooden flat beds were  normally made of rough sawn oak 2 x 6 for the top.   Many different vendors of wooden flat beds and so differences occurred.    Some had small holes in the "bulk head/front racks" to look into the bed, some didn't and some had some sort web wire screen over the  hole.    You could put on different types of racks/sides/rear for different functions.

Richard

[yankee flyer]

m horton

GC Laser makes a kit for a stake body for the international CC trucks, check with them, I believe those flatbed bodys on all CC trucks are the same size, which to me seem to be too wide. A stake body would look better for a REA truck than an open flatbed. mh

HI

If the truck bed looks too wide, it maybe because the 1940s and early 50s trucks had a much more narrow cab than we see on more modern trucks.  Been there drove them.  

Lee

 

[dknelson]

Vic Roseman's 1992 book, Model Railroading's Guide to Railway Express does not show any open flatbed REA trucks.  Given the sorts of loads the REA carried -- cardboard boxes and such parcels -- the enclosed body truck was called for. 

He does show a 1940 Ford flatbed with stakes and what looks like an enclosed section nearest the cab, called a rack body

Dave Nelson