Orchard Supply Hardware is a retail chain that deals in home gardening supplies. It operated mainly in California from 1931 to 2018. In the early 1960s, the second-generation president, Albert B. Smith, wanted to put up a large sign at the flagship store in San Jose, but the city hall refused permission. So he bought a box car from SP, painted green, and parked it on the siding behind the store. 50 years later, in 2013, the box car was donated to the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation and is on display at the Kelley Park Historic Area. Orchard Supply Hardware - Wikipedia
The history of the MDC model is unknown. It is estimated to have been released around 1976.
The chain is also known for using railroad-related paintings on its annual calendar. The cover of the 2017 edition featured the box car from the siding era by James Mann.
@GabeTehGameh, thanks for watching.
I don’t have any special route to acquire these models. Like everyone else, I get them from LHS, swap meets and the internet. I’ve been collecting them steadily for over 30 years. Surprisingly, 20% of them were acquired in Japan. I also received some from friends who know my tastes. These models are not popular, so they were inexpensive. And in the past few years, there have been extremely few listings for models I want. Moreover, with the weak yen, my eyes pop out when they are listed with shipping included.
The tobacco boxcars remind old Japanese modelers of Kikuchi Fumio (1914-1989). He was a scratch builder active in the early days of HO scale. He contributed to a magazine for beginners, and influenced countless people.
The first issue of the new railway model magazine “Train” in 1975 devoted nine pages to introducing his work. Among the pages, most of which were brass, one particularly shining page was a group of tobacco freight cars (see photos). This was the only page in color. They were made from US and Japanese cigarette wrappers in the early 1950s. Yes, this was 20 years before the Train-Miniature series was released.
Because I grew up looking at such things, I don’t feel strange about fantasy models, and I even think I like them. For me, the model exists first, and the real thing is merely a motif.
Mail Pouch is a brand name of chewing tobacco. From 1890 to 1992, the walls of farm barns were used as advertising media, resulting in the creation of “barn ads” (Wikipedia). The structures are sold in HO scale by Alpine Division Scale Models (photo from Walthers site).
One thing to note is that the model is equipped with roller bearing trucks. Are these ASF Ride Control Trucks? I don’t know how to tell them apart from Barber Stabilized Trucks.
I have considered such a project but haven’t done so. I may have too, seeing as they have a number of items that I want but in different paint schemes.
