About This Car

The flatcar included in every Stalin-era and Khrushchev-era train set produced by the Soviet Union in the 1950's and 1960's was an all-metal car with low sides. The body is brown with identification markings heat-stamped in gold. The car also has nickel bumpers and nickel truck journals plus cast wheels. Note that the coupler design was apparently copied from American Flyer!

The car is 2 3/4 inches wide by 2 inches high and the overall length (coupler to coupler) is 10 3/4 inches. The quarter and year of production were often stamped on the bottom of the car. This Soviet item was first produced in 1951 and continued to be made as late as 1969. The basic design remained unchanged throughout that entire 19-year period. Therefore variations will only result from different markings and different color combinations.

Photos of Soviet Flatcars
ABOVE: Early Flatcar with "MEP" marking
ABOVE: Flatcar from 1965 with "r MOCKBA" marking
ABOVE: Later Flatcar without "MEP" marking

Variations

--- Early Version with "MEP" (1951-1957?)

The early version of the Soviet flatcars had the initials "MEP" (in Cyrillic for the Ministry of Electrotechnical Industries) stamped on the lower right on each side of the body. While a boxcar has surfaced with that marking on the lower left, it is unknown if any flatcars came that way. The early version was produced as late as the first quarter of 1957 but it is unclear if it was produced after that.

The car bodies came in various shades of brown -- either dark brown (common), burgundy (scarce) or reddish-brown (rare). The color was either a glossy finish or a flat finish. The entire frame was painted black.

Photos of the Markings on Soviet Flatcars
Left: Painted Underframe ~ Center: Different Browns ~ Right: Unpainted Underframe
Left: Date on Early Flat ~~~ Center: Side Markings ~~~ Right: Date on Later Flat

--- Later Version without "MEP" (1958?-1969)

The later version of the Soviet flatcars came without the "MEP" markings but it is unclear as to when those initials were first omitted from the sides of the car bodies. In addition, one set from 1965 contained rolling stock without the "MEP" markings but with the "r MOCKBA" (City of Moscow) markings. It is not known if flatcars from other years were decorated that way. The later version flatcars were produced through 1969 and most of them came with chocolate brown sides with either a glossy finish or a flat finish. In addition, the bottom of the frame was left unpainted on some of the later flatcars.

This page is an information document only; nothing on this web page is being offered for sale. This page and all of the other pages from Our Soviet Archives were developed to assist you in understanding the components of the train sets produced in the Soviet Union during the 1950's and 1960's. These sets are known today as "Stalin-era" sets and "Khrushchev-era" sets. We have used pictures from our old files and personal collection to construct this area of our website. If you are interested in buying something, please view our inventory listings to see what we currently have for sale.

This web page was last updated on September 9, 2005. If you have suggestions for improving this page or if you see any errors, please contact us.