# Kar-Line models



## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

_*Heard of 'em, but never seen 'em*_

Got these (and a NYNH&H) in trade from a club member for five BB cars I didn't need.
Detail isn't great... I got them just for the road names.

I've heard of Kar-Line, but had never seen them until now. I'm guessing circa 1980's?
I'm suspecting they were picked up by Athearn, because of early RTR similarities, although they also come in a window-box similar to older Atlas.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Looking at the stirrups at the ends, and the doors and roofwalks, I would say they are Athearn cars packaged as Kar Line, probably due to “custom” paint and roadnames….similar to Bev-bel and others….

If the flat metal weight is sandwiched between the car floor and undercarriage, thats another way to tell if its an Athearn car…..


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The trucks are sprung, and on 2 of the three the doors slide open.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Kar-Line appears to date back to 1972…..








Says they come with Kadee couplers and Central Valley trucks…..

From the looks of the car diagrams, I would say the cars themselves are Athearn…..


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Old_Hobo said:


> Kar-Line appears to date back to 1972…..
> Says they come with Kadee couplers and Central Valley trucks….
> From the looks of the car diagrams, I would say the cars themselves are Athearn…..


Three things...
1.) "Please include 45 cents for postage"  
2.) These weren't kits, they're RTR.
3.) Not Kadees on these... more like McHenry's.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I’m only reporting what I found on that order form…..


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

1972? My LHS in the early 1980's was still selling Athearn "blue boxes" with horn-hook couplers.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

That coupler cover/hold down and weight tells me Athearn.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

GNfan said:


> 1972? My LHS in the early 1980's was still selling Athearn "blue boxes" with horn-hook couplers.


Yep, standard for Athearn….they produced Blue Box cars up to 2009…..


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## PoplarMan45 (Aug 19, 2018)

Kar-Line (like several others eg Bev-Bel) was a reseller / 're-boxer' of Athearn freight cars going back to the 1970s. Kar-Line replaced the trucks with Central Valley trucks and the couplers with Kadee couplers. Kar-Line substantially added to the available road names.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I figured as much…..


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

_*Kar Line CV sprung trucks*
Not a fan._


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I agree…..Accurail solid trucks are better than those…..sprung trucks are wasted on anything smaller than S scale anyway, just not enough weight in the car to matter…..


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## katiemollie2 (4 mo ago)

Kar-Line boxcars, mostly 40' and 50' cars have a place in the world of H.O. The paint job was done quite well but the decals against the glossy paint show their cut-lines. If you can look past that the cars are well down with a number of road names. Central Valley trucks and KD couplers were added to these cars and some of the black boxes I have show a written-on price of $6.98 . Oh to go back to those prices! I have about 20 of these cars mostly in C&NW, CGW, G.N. other "granger" railroads. I am curious to find out what happened to Kar-Line and how the company ran while it was operating. Finally the Kar-Line black and white boxes are rather iconic. Steve


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

katiemollie2 said:


> Kar-Line boxcars, mostly 40' and 50' cars have a place in the world of H.O. The paint job was done quite well but the decals against the glossy paint show their cut-lines. If you can look past that the cars are well down with a number of road names. Central Valley trucks and KD couplers were added to these cars and some of the black boxes I have show a written-on price of $6.98 . Oh to go back to those prices! I have about 20 of these cars mostly in C&NW, CGW, G.N. other "granger" railroads. I am curious to find out what happened to Kar-Line and how the company ran while it was operating. Finally the Kar-Line black and white boxes are rather iconic. Steve


Welcome to the forum, KatieMolly. Just a little hint on etiquette, it's generally bad form to post on a thread that is more than several weeks old, unless you have something really significant to add (or if it's your own thread).. You may notice a warning above the block where you enter your post.

Also, in this case, the person who started the thread, LateStarter, is currently _*persona non-grata*_ here for posting photos of other's work and claiming it to be his own; also for posting completely fabricated events as actual news, so I doubt anyone is going to take much notice.

Please share your experiences in our active threads, we'd love to hear more.


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## WJayM (2 mo ago)

I guess it's about time that I "ring in" on the Kar-Line thread.
I'll confirm what I know to be fact and admit that there is a lot that I don't know.
For starters, Jay Harold Madsen was the founder, and according to him "chief cook and bottle washer"; a little lame by today's standards but that was him then. In the last few years before he sold the business; his wife, Bernice, my mother,(oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I am Harold's son, William Jay) was doing all of the decaling. He sold the business sometime in the late 70's. I do not know to whom, or when, exactly, or for how much.
I will confirm that the cars were in fact Athearn. Athearn did not buy out Kar-Line. The trucks started out to be Central Valley, The couplers started out to be Kadee. He started using his own trucks when he found a way for the cars to roll with less "effort".
I'll keep that secret and a few others about the paint and the decals.
I suspect that the reason you don't see Kar-Line produced today is that the new owner figured out it was a very labor intensive business. Harold and Bernice loved it though. Nobody could match my father for "perfection", including or maybe especially me.
If you have any questions or comments you can reach me at [email protected].
Regards,
Jay


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