Does anyone manufacture an HO scale modern mail truck -- the small ones used by mail carriers for the Postal Service?
Modern Mail Truck in HO Scale I found this: Amazon.com: Model Power HO Scale 18 Games maybe that would help. Not the usual thing you see around town, more of a highway cruiser. -Art
How fancy do you want to get? I live in a fairly rural town, and our mail truck is a right-side operated otherwise generic cherry-red car with a yellow blinky on top and an orange flag. And "US Mail" pn the back abnd sides.
Thanks Artieiii. That's a great start. I just need to find out who carries it. It's out of stock at Amazon. And Flashwave, fairly simple. Our mail trucks are somewhat dulls, basically white with postal logos.
alocsin - I think this is the truck you are looking for: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_LLV I remember 89ft flatcars full of these going across Wisconsin in the late 80's, early 90's. I don't know of any models of these in HO; there is a diecast version 1:32, but that doesn't do you any good.
BNBob, Now that's what i think of when I hear mail truck. One stops by my office everyday. I never saw one in HO scale though. If I saw one, I would probably buy it. -Art
I found these 2 also: Athearn 1/87 HO US Postal Ford C Box Van Delivery Truck on eBay! MATTEL MATCHBOX POSTAL SERVICE DELIVERY TRUCK #97 *MOC* | eBay The second one says HO scale in the description but I think matchbox cars are 1:75 or 1:64 not 1:87 scale. -Art
The Matchbox version looked good, Artie. But alas after investigating it, I saw it on Amazon and it's 1/64: Amazon.com: MATCHBOX SF-C # 97 POSTAL SERVICE DELIVERY TRUCK 1:64 Scale: Toys Games But the Athearn one looks good.
Quite surprising that there are no models of the modern day area USPS delivery truck; I didn't even find any step vans USPS. Well I hope the manufacturers read this Thread and produce one soon.
Norscot do make a UPS van in HO, but I,ve not seen a mail truck yet. Ron http://cgi.ebay.com/NORSCOT-UPS-P80...07735?pt=Diecast_Vehicles&hash=item335b40d597
Like Flashwave, I also live in a rural area (what part of West Virginia isn't rural, right?) And our mail carrier is usually a unmarked blue Ford Escape with a tiny US MAIL sticker in the back window and a cheap yellow strobe light.
Yes UPS finally is getting things out. Athearn will cover the trailers this fall. I have two of those trucks in the picture. I guess there is hope since UPS tricks finally came out. The USPS will follow here in awhile. Maybe now that they are in such financial ruin they will see it as some added revenue:tb-wink:
You could try one of these Matchbox vans. http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a168/jtl46/catalog/2010/2010 1-100/60MB787ExpressDeliveryTruck.jpg With a fresh set of wheels and a repaint, it might be more suited to your needs. Ron
The fleet mail truck that most post offices have is the Grumman LLV (long lasting vehicle). They have been around since 1987, They are approaching the end of their lives with the postal service, larger bases are using fleet mini-vans now or are having the carriers use their personal vehicles to transport mail. Out here we have a guy in a jeep grand charokee with a magnetic US MAIL sticker on the side of the car. You might want to try that route.
That UPS truck is cool. I've seen the generic looking FedEx truck, but never the UPS. Neat. I've also not seen a mail van. I think of the classic Mail Jeep when I think mail delivery, but in my area the rural carriers use personal vehicles. Most are standard vehicles with a generic looking mail banner across the back. I think it would be fun to kitbash one of those for the rural section of the layout sometime.
Duh! I completely forgot about this little gem by matchbox: Quick! Somone get one and stand an HO peep next to it and we'll see if it looks right!
Building your own mail jeep out of a military model seems like a workable solution. That looks like it would work fairly well. The loaded interior seems to be a bit trickier but if you were putting it near the edge it might be worth doing.
