1/48 US Borax Borax Twenty Mule Team and Wagon
Plastic Model Kit, Box Condition: VG+
I like to call this the 'deluxe' issue of this kit. Normally these models are found in a plain cardboard mailer box with red printing. This issue features a hardbox with a full color lithograph 'slick', a large Borax products fold out brochure, a coupon for a free 31 oz Borax and color instructions. The instructions feature a highly detailed narrative by 'The Old Ranger' on the Borax wagons, what it was like to drive them, the 'Skinner', the 'Swamper', swinging the team around and more. Very nicely detailed kit. Features Front Wagon with complete suspension, steering gear and brakes, Second Wagon with same, Water Wagon spigot, crew, 7 teams of two mules each, 'chain' and rigging instructions. Never started. Still in the factory sealed bags with instructions. The Borax company commissioned this kit as a tie-in to the TV series 'Death Valley Days'. Originally a radio program, 'Death Valley Days' had a long run on television and ended as one of the longest running westerns in entertainment history. Very nice kit of the famous borax wagons that would cross 162 miles of Death Valley with 20 mules in the days before the railroad. There was not a single house or other sign of habitation along the route. One leg was 60 miles with no water. The two wagons carried 25 tons of Borax and the mules covered 16 to 18 miles a day with a two man crew. The sturdy wagons were purpose built for the trip. Although they carried huge loads, there is no record of one every being stranded.
This item has been sold.
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