November 26, 2025 - M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing the 2026 Premier O Scale 40' Steel Reefer Car in SIX different schemes next Summer. Each car will be available in two unique car numbers, each in extremely limited quantities, and expected to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in July 2026.

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

These items are available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.

ABOUT THE PREMIER O SCALE 40' STEEL REEFER

The coming of the railroad changed the way America ate and drank. Before the iron horse connected every town of any importance to the outside world, most food was grown or produced locally. The arrival of cheap, fast, refrigerated transport — in the form of the woodsided reefer with ice bunkers at each end — enabled local brewers, dairies, meat processors, and other food businesses to become players on a national scale. Among other things, the reefer enabled Chicago to become "Hog Butcher for the World"; in pre-reefer days, livestock had been transported to local markets and butchered as close as possible to the final consumer.

In the 19th Century, ice for reefers was harvested from frozen ponds each winter and stored as well as possible in insulated icehouses. The advent of mechanical ice making around 1900 greatly increased the capacity of the reefer fleet, which at its height consumed over one million tons of ice annually. Since loaded cars needed to be re-iced about once per day, icing stations were erected around the country on shipping routes that could be as long as coast-to-coast.

Famed railroad historian John H. White referred to reefers as "the most conservative of all American freight cars," as reefers retained wood frames and sides long after other types of cars had converted to steel construction. Steel-sided reefers like this Premier model became common only after 1940, and many wood reefers ran well into the 1960s. Mechanical reefers, with self-powered refrigeration units in each car, became the norm in the second half of the 20th century, and the practice of stopping a train to re-ice during shipment gradually disappeared.

FEATURES

• Intricately Detailed Durable ABS Body
• Metal Wheels and Axles
• Die-Cast 4-Wheel Trucks
• Operating Die-Cast Metal Couplers
• Colorful, Attractive Paint Schemes
• Decorative Brake Wheels
• Separate Metal Handrails
• Fast-Angle Wheel Sets
• Needle-Point Axles
• 1:48 Scale Dimensions
• Opening Car Doors
• O Scale Kadee Compatible Coupler Moutning Pads
• Unit Measures: 11 3/4" x 2 9/16" x 3 1/2"
• Operates On O-31 Curves

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing a slew of limited-edition Christmas releases beginning this Fall. With 30 different offerings, these colorful locomotives, cars and accessories are a great way to add to your own holiday collection of past cars, sets and buildings. Each of these offerings is expected to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in October 2025.

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

These items are available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.

M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing the 2026 RailKing O Gauge Steel Caboose in SIX different schemes next Spring. Each caboose will be available in extremely limited quantities and is expected to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in April 2026.

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

These items are available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

These items are available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.