# Kalamazoo Reefer



## dieseldude (Apr 21, 2009)

Looking to purchase an old Kalamazoo Reefer, however I'm not sure what scale they were (maybe 1/24????). Right now I run Aristo and USAT- all in 1/29 and I'd like to keep that scale somewhat consistent (I'd hate to have 1 extreme "oddball" looking car). I also know that there are sometimes 'liberties' that manufacturers take when designing/scaling their models, so perhaps the actual scale may not be 100% accurate anyway. My current reefers are all steel sided and the Kalamazoo is wooden, which is okay and might help to 'mask' some amount of scale issues. Does anyone use both Aristo (or USAT) and Kalamazoo reefers together? How do they look scale-wise? How are the details on the Kalamazoo models? Are their dimensions similar? Any thoughts (and photos) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Anything by Kalamazoo is going to be VERY crude by today's standards. (Heck, they crude by standards when they came out in the early 80s.) They're nominally 1:24, but so generic in construction that they could be ascribed to a number of different scales without difficulty. In terms of mixing them in with USA/Aristo stuff, they'll stick out like sore thumbs. I couldn't find a photo on line (Do you know how many refrigerator dealers there are in Kalamazoo, MI?), but if you go to Hartland Locomotive Works' web site http://www.h-l-w.com and look under "Products" then "Engines and Cars", their freight car line is made from some of the old Kalamazoo molds. Take a look at the Gondola for an idea for the level of non-detail. 

They have their place--anyone modeliing c. 1880s narrow gauge railroading, then the Kalamazoo cars can be detailed up fairly well, as equipment of that era could be rather simplistic. But if you're modeling mainline US railroading in the 20th century, then these cars would at best be lineside storage sheds. 

Later, 

K


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By dieseldude on 04 Mar 2010 08:02 AM 
Looking to purchase an old Kalamazoo Reefer, however I'm not sure what scale they were (maybe 1/24????). Right now I run Aristo and USAT- all in 1/29 and I'd like to keep that scale somewhat consistent (I'd hate to have 1 extreme "oddball" looking car). 

It unfortunately will be an extreme oddball when run with 1:29 equipment. It's 1:24 scale will not mesh very well with a 1:29 train. So I'd avoid anything Kalamazoo if I were you.


Although listed as 1:24, the USA woodside reefers sort of look alright in a 1:29 train. But the prototype is really more narrow gauge in flavor then standard gauge. I'm not sure if there are any true 1:29 wood reefers.


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