International Minerals and Chemicals

In the 1960’s, Irv Athearn had an idea that bordered on brilliance. Why not offer to paint a locomotive, car, set, etc in the color scheme of a customer, giving them an animated, tangible, “commercial’ that they could distribute to their VIPs, key suppliers, and the likes. A commercial that REALLY kept on giving! Plus, it kept the company fresh in the mind of the recipient.
This is sort of a “holy grail” among Athearn collectors, the International Minerals and Chemicals set, or at least some of the components. I’ve owned a complete set (one of about 50 known, still having the original boxes) another locomotive, and this loco/caboose combo, from another unboxed set. This locomotive is absolutely perfect, a very rare factor, indeed. The ones I already had were suffering from peeling paint, which was very common, with these, as well as having handrails installed, which causes scarring along the sides (always a point to consider, with models you intend to add to a true collection).