The Atlas O Reefers started shipping in May of 2000 and they have come out in waves ever since. They are coveted by many of us in the hobby for their attention to detail and their accurate representation of the original prototypes. They were first offered in the 40' variety, and then Atlas also offered up the older 36' cars. After that, they brought out Re-built 40' Reefers with the "re-built" meaning the wooden roof was replaced with a steel one. Finally, they released the longer 53'6" Express Reefers with passenger type trucks.

The original Billboard Reefers, as they are often called, were a great way for a company to advertise their products. Like moving bill boards, they were seen by thousands as the reefers transported their cargo. Begun in the late 1800's, the heyday of the billboard reefer began with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Beer companies utilized the billboard reefer to advertise the returning of their products.

Unfortunately, many organizations argued that the cost of their shipping was subsidizing the advertising for the billboard owner, and there were even situations where a reefer with one owners markings, say a brewery, was sent to ship a product from a chocolate company - or worse yet, a competitors product. As a result of many such complaints, they were outlawed by the Interstate Commerce Commission in July 1934 when they ruled that the lessee's name could be no more than 12" high. By law, all billboard reefers had to be removed from service by January 1937. Of course, many were repainted and continued to provide useful service into the 1960's. 

To date, there have been over 270 different unique paint schemes offered - and for most of the designs - the cars come in 2 numbers. There are a few cars that have been offered in 4, 6 or even 8 numbers. In our collection, as of October 2010, have over 340 Atlas O Reefers in total. The picture to the left shows one of our display shelves with a portion of our collection.

A few years ago, we had at least one of every paint scheme, but in a moment of insanity I sold all of them and with the proceeds paid for a year of college for each of the son muffins: Croissant, Crumb Cake and the Mini-Muffin. Since then, we have recollected all of the 36' Reefers and the majority of the 40' Reefers. Some are just impossible to find as they were originally manufactured in runs as small as 75 cars.

We also have quite a collection of the 53'6" Express Reefers - all eastern roads, of course.

Atlas O's 40' and 40' Rebuilt Reefers: 

Atlas O's 36' Reefers:

Atlas O's 53'6" Reefers:

Send mail to mrmuffinstrains@att.net with questions or comments about this web site.  

This website hosted by: OIU-WEBHOSTING

Last modified: 05/05/12