Laconia Car kits

[Matt and Kathryn Oliver]

Hi, Can anyone help me with how old these kits might be? They
are HO. Made by Laconia industries in Stockton California. They
are wooden billboard reefer car kits. There are no trucks in the
kits but I am not sure whether or not here should have been any
included. The boxes are orange and white. One is Bourk &
Donaldson & Taylor Inc. Vegetables and the other is a Tivoli Beer
car. Any ideas? Kathy

--
Matt, Kathy, Steven 14 & Sarah 11, ChessieBB9, NikeBM3 & Tabby
Oliver
Check out our Home Page at http://www.eaglequest.com/~pwrwgn

Remember, He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

[Charles F Seyferlich]

Matt and Kathryn Oliver wrote:
>
> Hi, Can anyone help me with how old these kits might be? They
> are HO. Made by Laconia industries in Stockton California. They
> are wooden billboard reefer car kits. There are no trucks in the
> kits but I am not sure whether or not here should have been any
> included. The boxes are orange and white. One is Bourk &
> Donaldson & Taylor Inc. Vegetables and the other is a Tivoli Beer
> car. Any ideas? Kathy
>
> --

I would figure these for mid fifties vintage. A AHC ad in march, 1956
RMC lists some Laconia kits, but Laconia itself did not have a ad in the
magazine.

It was common for kits of the fifties not to include trucks or couplers.

[KYager1126]

laconia cars are rrobably from the fifties maybe early sixties...karl

[Don Dellmann]

Matt and Kathryn Oliver <pwr...@eaglequest.com> wrote in message
news:38C9C41F...@eaglequest.com...

> Hi, Can anyone help me with how old these kits might be? They
> are HO. Made by Laconia industries in Stockton California. They
> are wooden billboard reefer car kits. There are no trucks in the
> kits but I am not sure whether or not here should have been any
> included. The boxes are orange and white. One is Bourk &
> Donaldson & Taylor Inc. Vegetables and the other is a Tivoli Beer
> car. Any ideas? Kathy

Most likely mid 1950's to very early 1960's. For the bulk of that time they
were affiliated somehow with "Binkley" models. I don't know if they were
ever reissued. The last reference I have is ca. 1961 / 62.

As far as trucks, they were sold (as were most "craftsmen" type kits in
those days) WITHOUT trucks or couplers, as most modellers had their own
preference as to which trucks and couplers to use.

Don

--
Don Dellmann
don.de...@prodigy.net
http://www.geocities.com/don_dellmann

[Gareth Quale]

I've got 6 Laconia cars in my collection. Two are in original boxes, a
"Bullfrog Beer" reefer in an orange box with a white car silhouette on top
as you describe, and a "Rutland" milk reefer in an earlier (I believe) black
box with a green car silhouette. Both boxes identify Stockton , CA as
Laconia's location. I acquired the Bullfrog kit new from Glider's Hobby
Shop in Chicago in 1964 for $2.50, although I believe it had been on the
shelf for a while. I also have a Laconia catalog sheet dating from the late
1950's. This sheet indicates Laconia was manufactured by Binkley Models of
Inglewood, CA. The sheet lists 10 different "old time billboard reefers" at
$2.50 each, including your Bourk-Donaldson-Taylor and Tivoli, and my
Bullfrog. The rest of their line was 9 other freight cars (a box car, 4
express/milk reefers, 3 hoppers, and a mill gon) all with the "trademark"
Laconia pressed aluminum foil sides, plus a die cast model of the Sierra RR
shorty combine (the same one later offered by Walthers), and a fruit
warehouse structure kit. The sheet indicates only the Sierra car was
available with trucks, and these were Binkley T-95's. As to current prices,
four of my Laconia cars were bought out of my local hobby shop dealer's junk
box a few years ago for $0.25 each - they came out on old estate and he felt
there was no market for them. I feel Laconia kits have neither the brand
name appeal (and thus demand) of early Varney, Athearn etc., nor do they
have the quality of Silver Streak, Central Valley, Main Line, etc. (which if
carefully constructed are still presentable on a layout mixed with today's
Intermountain, Red Caboose, and AccuRail). The pressed aluminum did not
take the detail well, and thus Laconia cars look (to me) more crude than
even printed cardstock sides. On the other hand, there is an old-HO
specialist who shows up at local flea markets who I believe had a Laconia
car priced somewhere in the high teens. I also had the impression he had
very few customers who shared his view of what was gold. Gary Q

Matt and Kathryn Oliver <pwr...@eaglequest.com> wrote in message
news:38C9C41F...@eaglequest.com...
> Hi, Can anyone help me with how old these kits might be? They
> are HO. Made by Laconia industries in Stockton California. They
> are wooden billboard reefer car kits. There are no trucks in the
> kits but I am not sure whether or not here should have been any
> included. The boxes are orange and white. One is Bourk &
> Donaldson & Taylor Inc. Vegetables and the other is a Tivoli Beer
> car. Any ideas? Kathy
>

[Garry]

KYager1126 wrote:
>
> laconia cars are rrobably from the fifties maybe early sixties...karl

Laconia kits date from the 1930s to about 1960. They were first made in
Laconia, NH by the Laconia Co. The line was sold to to Binkley sometime
in the 1950, late I think. Prewar the cars were more conventional: gon,
hopper, box, 12-1 passenger, milk cars, etc. After the war they still
had the milk cars and a few others, but they added the line of colorful
reefers. Bullfrog Beer and Tivoli Beer are just two of the newer names.
Garry Spear

[Aredeer]

I had some passenger car kits. They had embossed ( thin metal film over
cardboard) sides. Details such as car steps were pinkish plastic of some kind.
All in all not comparable to other brands.

[PaulS178]

> The pressed aluminum did not
>take the detail well, and thus Laconia cars look (to me) more crude than
>even printed cardstock sides.

If you would like to sell them, give me a E-mail.

Also, if you like these old kits, there is a SIG in the NMRA called HO Scale
Collectors and Historical Society. They publish a great news letter four times
a year. In every issue they talk about these old kits and locos. Check them
out at the NMRA site.

[BLowell632]

Matt and Kathryn Oliver write:

>Hi, Can anyone help me with how old these kits might be? They
>are HO. Made by Laconia industries in Stockton California.

Laconia was in business in the late 1940s through the 1950s. I have old model
RR mags from 1949 thru the 50s and their ads and product reviews show up
frequently. They must have gone out of business in the 60s. So it's a good bet
your kits are 45 to 50 years old.

Bud Lowell

[rave...@gmail.com]

Laconia kit for a sierra combine if anyone is interested. please contact me
I was partially assembled and it seems to be a really nice kit. I have been in MRRing for many years but this is the first I have ever came across this brand, I would really like it to have a home where it will be appreciated.

[John Haskey]

In article <74e6be45-c483-4cce...@googlegroups.com>,

Scale? Your location? Thanks.

--john.

[den...@gmail.com]

On Friday, March 10, 2000 at 2:00:00 AM UTC-6, Matt and Kathryn Oliver wrote:
> Hi, Can anyone help me with how old these kits might be? They

> are HO. Made by Laconia industries in Stockton California. They
> are wooden billboard reefer car kits. There are no trucks in the
> kits but I am not sure whether or not here should have been any
> included. The boxes are orange and white. One is Bourk &
> Donaldson & Taylor Inc. Vegetables and the other is a Tivoli Beer
> car. Any ideas? Kathy
>
> --
> Matt, Kathy, Steven 14 & Sarah 11, ChessieBB9, NikeBM3 & Tabby
> Oliver
> Check out our Home Page at http://www.eaglequest.com/~pwrwgn
>
> Remember, He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

Laconia began advertising in 1939 and were in business until they merged with Binkley Models in 1953. Binkley retained many of the Laconia designed railroad cars that can be found once in awhile on ebay. The Sierra Combine was introduced by Laconia, and Binkley continued to produce it until they were purchased by Red Ball, who continued to produce it. It is one of the most abundant early models availble and can be found at very reasonable prices on ebay under Laconia, Binkley (rarer) and Red Ball
I am a collector of early HO craftsman passenger coaches and combine cars and I have one each of the Sierra Combine coaches from the above mentioned producers of this popular coach.
I turust that this information is helpful.
den72ny

[Trenbidia]

On Thu, 24 Dec 2015 06:07:20 -0800, den72ny wrote:

> On Friday, March 10, 2000 at 2:00:00 AM UTC-6, Matt and Kathryn Oliver
> wrote:
>> Hi, Can anyone help me with how old these kits might be?
>

> Laconia began advertising in 1939 and were in business until they merged
> with Binkley Models in 1953.

Denny, you just responded to a 15 year old post :-).

Or the original posters system had/has a really screwed up date :-).





--
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[Christopher A. Lee]

Google does that to its users, sometimes.

[den...@gmail.com]

On Friday, March 10, 2000 at 2:00:00 AM UTC-6, Matt and Kathryn Oliver wrote:

> Hi, Can anyone help me with how old these kits might be? They
> are HO. Made by Laconia industries in Stockton California. They
> are wooden billboard reefer car kits. There are no trucks in the
> kits but I am not sure whether or not here should have been any
> included. The boxes are orange and white. One is Bourk &
> Donaldson & Taylor Inc. Vegetables and the other is a Tivoli Beer
> car. Any ideas? Kathy
>
> --
> Matt, Kathy, Steven 14 & Sarah 11, ChessieBB9, NikeBM3 & Tabby
> Oliver
> Check out our Home Page at http://www.eaglequest.com/~pwrwgn
>
> Remember, He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

I realized how old the post was. I wanted to post the information, that I did, for anyone who may have a considered intersest, whether then, now or in the furure.
Drnny

[den...@gmail.com]

On Friday, March 10, 2000 at 2:00:00 AM UTC-6, Matt and Kathryn Oliver wrote:
> Hi, Can anyone help me with how old these kits might be? They
> are HO. Made by Laconia industries in Stockton California. They
> are wooden billboard reefer car kits. There are no trucks in the
> kits but I am not sure whether or not here should have been any
> included. The boxes are orange and white. One is Bourk &
> Donaldson & Taylor Inc. Vegetables and the other is a Tivoli Beer
> car. Any ideas? Kathy
>
> --
> Matt, Kathy, Steven 14 & Sarah 11, ChessieBB9, NikeBM3 & Tabby
> Oliver
> Check out our Home Page at http://www.eaglequest.com/~pwrwgn
>
> Remember, He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

Some of you may have noticed the misspelled words in my last post. Thought I might explain that I am still teaching my keyboard how to spell and it hasn't quite got it right yet.
Denny