American Flyer S Scale #915 Flatcars
with Renwal Truck Loads
Accounts vary as to whether Renwal Manufacturing Company was founded in 1939 by Irving Rosenblum or Irving Lawner. What is indisputable is that Lawner spelled backward is Renwal. It seems to have begun as a maker of glass knives, soon replaced by plastic knives, which lead to making plastic toys which went on sale as early as August, 1945. It's initial line consisted of WW II airplanes and doll house furniture. Vehicles may have been produced as early as late 1946 or 1947. The earliest known Renwal catalog is from 1948. Renwal went out of business in the 1970's, and it's tooling was sold to Chein which in turn sold it to Revel. The earliest known year of production for the # 94 Gasoline Truck (Renwal's product # for the truck used on the 915 auto-unloading flatcar) is 1949. (This information is from Collecting Toy Cars and Trucks, Identification and Value Guide, by Richard O' Brien. Copyright 1994.  Jack Larson researched it and passed it on to me.)

Gilbert's later #915 Vehicle Unloading Car made in 1955-1957 came with a Renwal gasoline truck in one of several different colors.  Greenberg's 1980 edition listed five truck colors (red, light green, purple, turquoise, and blue) but there were more as you will see below.
Here's a bright, almost metallic, green.
(Photo courtesy of Jack Larson.)
A different chade of green.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
Light green.
(Photo courtesy of Jack Larson.)
They called this one sea green.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
Purple.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
A different shade of purple.
(Photo courtesy of Jack Larson.)
Red.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
Blue.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
Turquoise.
(Photo courtesy of Jack Larson.)
Yellow.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hasenzahl.)
Brown.  So you can see what the top looks like. 
(Photo courtesy of Jack Larson.)
An early #915 Vehicle Unloading Car with the later Renwal gasoline truck.
Did somebody swap loads, or was it made that way?
The general understanding is that the Renwal truck loads were introduced in 1955 with the later 915s.
But at Gilbert, general understandings don't always apply.
Your guess is as good as mine.

If you have a picture that you would like to share with the world of any of the cars not shown here, email them to me: theupstairstrain@yahoo.com

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