For some reason the A.C. Gilbert Company attracted more than its share of imitators.  Other companies had imitators too, and in some cases those imitations were made possible by the travels of their tooling between different companies in Asia.  It was rare, though, that the imitations bore the original manufacturer's product numbers, as they so often did on Gilbert imitations.  Also, many Gilbert imitations used different construction than the Gilbert models, yet still appeared "Gilbert-like."  This was due in large measure to the use of the Gilbert numbers on the imitations, but even where the numbers differed the graphics suggested Gilbert.

Some manufacturers imitated mostly the S gauge line and many were so far off that all they really presented were products featuring Gilbert names and color schemes.  There is a really good article in the Train Collectors Quarterly by the late Bruce Manson that presents some of these others.  Train Collector's Quarterly, October 1999, Vol. 45, No. 4, page 28.  It is available to TCA members in the TCQ Archive on the TCA members website.  Click here for a direct link to the article.

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Sakai

One of the most prolific imitators of Gilbert rolling stock was the Japanese manufacturer Sakai.  Sakai's models actually looked pretty good.   Some Sakai box cars and refrigerator cars are shown below.   Sakai also made hopper cars which appear to be made from Revell tooling, though they could easily be mistaken for Varney cars, such as those marketed by Gilbert in 1955 and 1956.  The Sakai caboose appears to be made from the same tooling as the Gilbert caboose, which was a New Haven product, but close examination reveals different rivet counts around the curved grab irons by the steps and on the cupola. 

Sakai HO Metal Cars

The cars shown below are made of stamped metal and while they bear Gilbert numbers, they are easily distinguishable from Gilbert cars because of different construction.  Interestingly the capacity and weights of the cars has been changed from that appearing on Gilbert cars and they have solid trucks, rather than sprung trucks.  Other metal cars were produced and sold in sets with these cars.  Some of these cars, while not bearing Gilbert numbers, bear a striking resemblance to Gilbert cars in both the HO and S gauge lines.  Two of these are also shown below. 

Sakai Caboose

There are many different HO versions of the Reading style caboose manufactured by Gilbert, Varney and its successors, and others.  Most of these have passenger car style steps.  The Gilbert caboose and this Sakai Caboose are the only ones I have seen with ladder type steps.  This caboose is so close in styling to the Gilbert Caboose, one might think it was made from the same tooling, but a careful examination of the rivet detail on this caboose and comparing it with the rivet detail on Gilbert and Varney models reveals that this caboose was made from its own unique tooling. 

Lionel by Rivarossi & Associated Hobby Manufacturers - AHM