For whatever reason, one of my earliest memories is of seeing a “Mr. Yuk” sticker. Why, I can’t say.
That’s a nice hopper, though. I would like one like that!
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National Model and Hobby Show 2000
MDC/Roundhouse 1760 series 50’ flat top hi-cube boxcar, single plug door
This year’s show took place from October 19th to 22nd, and the main products announced there were introduced on pages 52-53 of the January 2001 issue of MR magazine.
What does the “SAMPLE” written on the box mean?
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Likely something similar to the American packaging note “Not labeled for retail sale” – it’s a custom run for a particular show, so they didn’t waste money making up a stamp for the box label but used a generic one.
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Unfortunately, I don’t understand what you mean by “Not labeled for retail sale.” Could you please explain its purpose in simple terms?
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In the United States, it is common for food items like popsicles or pastries to have indivisible wrappers on them, but be sold only as in groups in a larger bag or box. Only that bag or box has a UPC bar code that makes an item ‘legal for sale’.
In what I always thought was a means of preventing profiteering by small stores, the individual items – which may be most colorfully and expensively wrapped – do not have a separate bar code or price printed on them, so they are technically ‘illegal’ to sell individually. You’ll commonly see ‘not legal for individual sale’ or some similar wording. You’ll also commonly see the ‘individual items’ in freezers or merchandisers anyway, either sold for cash or with signs giving the price… this happens all the time at country clubs or sporting events where there are snack bars.
In this case, those particular commemorative cars (or at least that particular one you have) were never intended to be sold outside the convention, and certainly were not intended as ‘stock’ items for hobby store shelves. Therefore the box does not have specific car information, but only a generic stamp.
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Thank you for your detailed explanation, @Woke_Hoagland. It seems that retail sales practices and laws are different from those in our country. I hope you will continue to teach me various things.
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One of my earliest memories like that is of a tornado safety brochure with a red cartoon tornado with evil eyes on a yellow background and thinking about it still scares the crap out of me 
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Sometimes it’s the most random things that we remember…
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Tracks Ahead
Walthers Trainline Ready-to-Run Freight Car X29 box car w/wood ends
“Tracks Ahead” is a television series about railroads and model railroads around the world. It was produced by Milwaukee PBS and distributed to WMVS in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as to its affiliates and overseas stations. There were nine seasons from 1990 to 2015 (Wikipedia). DVDs were released under the title “Trains of the World, Travel and Models” and were broadcast on cable networks in Japan. Some episodes are also available on YouTube.
Kalmbach Publishing supported the show’s production from the beginning, publishing information in MR and Trains magazines.
This is a merchandise sales advertisement from the December 1997 issue of MR magazine. Walthers and Brio Toys, both of which are written on the model, are said to be sponsors “Underwriters.”
The real boxcar with the logo is the Minnesota Commercial Railway’s 50-foot box car “MNNR 647” (photo taken from TrainWeb.com).
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World’s Greatest Hobby
Accurail PS-1 40’ box car (3400 series)
The World’s Greatest Hobby (official site) is a hobby awareness campaign led by Model Railroader magazine. Editor-in-chief Andy Sperandeo announced the kickoff on page 6 of the October 2001 issue of the magazine. This model was sent out in 2004 when the announcement was made to the media, and the October issue of the same year reports on the situation. The next photo shows the assembly. It took the group of people three hours to assemble 200 units. In addition, 800 units as kits were sold for $6 excluding shipping.
Page 138 of the Oct. 2004 issue of MR magazine
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I’m not a lifelong model railroader – I just started after retirement several years ago. I guess I had no idea there were this many commemorative or fantasy models out there. I really find it amazing. Thanks for posting all the photos – it’s very interesting!
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@York1, I’m glad you’re enjoying this thread. I’ll continue a little further.
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Wow, this is a never-ending thread. 
Rich
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Hahaha, @richhotrain, please be patient for a little while longer.
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Please, keep them coming. It’s fascinating.
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The Harvey Houses
Athearn/Fred Harvey Historical Museum 50’ wood express reefer
See the MR Forum thread from February 2019.
Page 59 of the April 2000 of MR magazine
Addendum: Judging from the spartan label, it’s possible that Athearn was responsible for the decoration. June 21, 2025
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