08-28-2012, 04:09 PM
Cheap Tycos are among my biggest search items when I go to swaps. Maybe I'll start a thread on swap meet treasures! But since you mention Varneys, here's a shot of one I found at a swap:
It was too far gone to do much with, and although the core is wood, the sides are printed cardboard, and they were pretty far gone, too. After I took the photo to document it, I tore everything off the core and will eventually just add weight and scribed wood and more or less start over. I have a couple of Varney cores that I intend to do this with. They had a Green Bay and Western reefer that actually had the unique GBW chassis, but again, the cardboard sides were too much to try to restore on the one I have. If I can find decals for the white GBW reefers, I'd start over again with that one, too. Given the costs and what people were willing to pay at the time, I have a lot of respect for pre-WWII HO. Actually, note that the yellow on this Varney car is correct for PFE in earlier years, too. If it had been in better shape, I'd have kept it the way it was.
One thing to keep in mind with PFE is that if you look at color shots of reefer blocks, pretty much no two cars are the same shade. There are at least some tunnels on most routes out of California, and that means the cars are covered with soot on nearly every trip. The recommended PFE orange I've seen and used most often is SP Daylight Orange. I've used both Scalecoat and Floquil.
One thing to keep in mind with PFE is that if you look at color shots of reefer blocks, pretty much no two cars are the same shade. There are at least some tunnels on most routes out of California, and that means the cars are covered with soot on nearly every trip. The recommended PFE orange I've seen and used most often is SP Daylight Orange. I've used both Scalecoat and Floquil.