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Sakai
One of the most prolific imitators of Gilbert rolling stock was the Japanese manufacturer Sakai. Sakai's models actually looked pretty good. Some Sakai box cars and refrigerator cars are shown below. Sakai also made hopper cars which appear to be made from Revell tooling, though they could easily be mistaken for Varney cars, such as those marketed by Gilbert in 1955 and 1956. The Sakai caboose appears to be made from the same tooling as the Gilbert caboose, which was a New Haven product, but close examination reveals different rivet counts around the curved grab irons by the steps and on the cupola.
Sakai HO Metal Cars
The cars shown below are made of stamped metal and while they may bear Gilbert numbers, they are easily distinguishable from Gilbert cars because of the different construction. Interestingly the capacity and weights on the cars have been changed from that appearing on Gilbert cars and they have solid trucks, rather than sprung trucks. Other metal cars were produced and sold in sets with these cars.
Some of these cars, while not bearing Gilbert numbers, bear a striking resemblance to Gilbert cars in both the HO and S gauge lines and are included below. The B&O Timesaver box car, in particular, has features that make it clear that it was patterned on the Gilbert HO car. The prototype B&O Timesaver had both a much larger herald and much smaller "Baltimore & Ohio" lettering. Most manufacturers were closer to the prototype in these two features than Gilbert, who made the herald smaller and the lettering larger. The similar treatment of these features on the Sakai car makes a strong case for it being an imitation Gilbert car, even though it does not bear the Gilbert catalog number.
For an excellent discussion of the B&O Timesaver paint scheme as done by various manufacturers, see an article by Tony Lucio in HO Collector Magazine, 4th Quarter, 2021 at page 14.
Ebay Photo
Ebay Photo
Ebay Photo
Ebay Photo
Ebay Photo
Sakai Caboose
There are many different HO versions of the Reading style caboose manufactured by Gilbert, Varney and its successors, and others. Most of these have passenger car style steps. The Gilbert caboose and this Sakai Caboose are the only ones I have seen with ladder type steps. This caboose is so close in styling to the Gilbert Caboose, one might think it was made from the same tooling, but a careful examination of the rivet detail on this caboose and comparing it with the rivet detail on Gilbert and Varney models reveals that this caboose was made from its own unique tooling.
Photo Courtesy of Frank Olear
Lionel by Rivarossi & Associated Hobby Manufacturers - AHM
| There appear to be two versions of this reproduction of a Gilbert 502 stock car, an early Rivarossi car dating from 1956, marketed as Lionel HO, and a later car, produced in 1963 and marketed by AHM, which featured a variety of products of different manufacturers. |
Lionel/Rivarossi 502 MKT-Katy
Stock Car
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| The earlier Lionel/Rivarossi car had screw mounted trucks and less detail on the underside than the later AHM car and also had some metal parts on the coupler pockets. The Lionel/Rivarossi car is marked "Como Italia." In the 1957 Lionel HO catalog, the car is shown with the Gilbert "502" number By 1958, the catalogs show it with a Lionel number of "0866-1, so Lionel must have discovered its error fairly soon and corrected the catalogs. There are still several examples of the car bearing the "502" number. I am not sure how many, if any, bore the later Lionel number. |
Associated Hobby Manufacturers - AHM 502 MKT-Katy Stock Car
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 The later plastic car is marked as being made in Yugoslavia, most likely by Mehanoteknika. A comparison with both the Varney and Gilbert Versions of this car reveal distinct differences in the tooling. It is even different from the later Gilbert stock car tooling used in the 1960's. It appears that this car is listed in the 1963 AHM catalog. The car was offered in a variety of road names, but the Katy 502 car was illustrated and listed as AHM No. 5400. Interestingly the illustration was labeled "prototype" and indeed that appears to be what the Gilbert car was, right down to the Gilbert number. The car was listed as late as 1967 with the Katy 502 car as the illustration in the catalog.
Illustration and Catalog Page Courtesy of
hoseeker.net - Click
on image to see full catalog page.
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 Dale Smith Collection - Ebay Photo |
| This appears to be a case in which both AHM and Rivarossi/Lionel decided to decorate their stock cars exactly like the historic Gilbert car, including the Gilbert number. It is quite possible that they thought the "502" was a prototype Katy car number as most HO rolling stock carries prototype numbers, rather than the model maker's catalog number. The slogan "Serves the Southwest Well" was taken from the Varney version of the 502. The Gilbert Version simply said "Serves the Southwest." |