We've updated our chronology as of 2004. Thanks to Rod Cornell's work we think we have a better understanding of which cars were made and when. We've divided the litho Princess cars in 5 distinct series based on their frames.  Always remember with IVES that the date of the frame may not be related to the date of the body, but it is important to note that any car can never be earlier than it's latest part.

• 1st Series - Red/Black steps - frame hatching close together and always slants to left (on either side) - long loop couplers, single stripe red vent on roof.

• 2nd Series - Red/Black steps - frame hatching close together and always slants to left (on either side) - hook couplers, double stripe red vent on roof..

• 3rd Series - Red/Black steps - frame has no hatching on sides or on floor.

• 4th Series - Solid black steps - frame has 'wide' hatching on sides and on floor. Hatching slants right on one side and left on the other. Any frame with hatching that slants right is a 4th series car.

• 5th Series - Plane frame no hatching, no springs.

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Circa 1903 - this is the earlies lithographed baggage we've been able to find, it has the type II frame, single strip red vents on roof and the early long loop coupler. Below is a picture of the bottom of the car showing the loop coupler, this and the Princess car it came with are the only two cars from this series we've seen with long loop couplers and tin wheels.

Circa 1904-1906 - probably not the earliest variation of this 4 wheel litho baggage. This car has what we believe to be an earlier frame with 'smaller cross-hatching (2nd Series). Also note that it has only two color to the litho.

Unusual this car has a 2nd series frame, but the springs and steps are lithographed in white, early roof with single red stripe vent, but hook coupler..

Circa 1906-1908 - 4th series baggage, even though the cross hatching goes right to left in this picture, you know it will be just the opposite on the other side as this frame has plain black steps. Below is the same car with a red door

Circa 1906 to1908 - A 4th series baggage in red with a black door. The black door indicates that the one or two other cars in this set were probably black, Ives sold a lot of passenger sets in their early period in mixed colors usually the baggage came in the odd color, but with the princess cars they lithographed the door to match the other cars in the set. This car has the 3 color lithography and full cross-hatched frame with plain steps.

A 3rd series red baggage this one has 3 color lithography, it has no cross hatching on the frame and the steps are red and black.

A Yellow 3rd series baggage. This has all the same characteristics as the red example above. This one has a red door indicating that it came with red cars. Ives also made a white or cream variation of this car that also had red and gold details.

Here's a black one from the same 3rd Series, this one is somewhat unusual in that it has a caboose door instead of the normal baggage door. Just to make things come out even IVES sometimes used the baggage door on a caboose, below is a black one with a cream door and 3rd series frame.

Circa 1908-1909 - The unusual thing about this car is the hand painted green vents and edge stripes. All the other cars we've seen used red paint. This baggage clearly shows the characteristics of the 4th series with plain steps, cross-hatching to the right on one side and criss-cross hatching on the floor.

Circa 1909 (4th series frame) - Note this example is dark blue, plain non lithographed frame, steps and that the roof is painted one solid color.

White tri-color baggage with black door and roof, 3rd series frame.

Circa 1904, Very early baggage with unusual butterscotch lithographed roof. We've never seen a lithographed baggage on a type I frame - this one is type II.

Circa 1909 to 1910 (5th series frame) -The same car as above but note that the lithography has changed to two colors only - cream and red and that the door is one solid color - Circa 1909.  This particular example has a green frame which is unusual. The example below is similar only with a black frame.

Circa 1910-11 - We know this car was made after 1910 - it has the floor train number (160). Note it also has a black frame and roof.  The example below is similar except it has a white door, gray roof and green frame.

Here's a No. 60 baggage circa 1905 still in its original box.

Circa 1902-03 this is probably the earliest of the lithographed cars, it is BLUE with gold trim. It  has the full lithographed 1st series frame. The wheels are cast iron and the frame has the  early long loop couplers. Note also that the roof on this example is also blue with white clerestory and single stripe for vents. Below is a picture of a similar car in red, note the early loop coupler which would indicate that this probably came with either a hand painted tender or a litho tender that had only a pin for the coupler to attach.

The bottom of the above red car shows the long loop coupler and the cast iron wheels.

Circa 1903 - this car has all of the early features except it came with tin wheels, it matches the early baggage car shown at the top of this page.

Another very early example this one is black with gold trim.  Black roof,  early cast iron wheels, long loop couplers and black/red steps.

Circa 1904-05 Type 2 frame, beigh with brown lettering, black roof with white striping.

2nd series frame (1904-05) - all black roof with white painted vents.

Circa 1906 to1908 -A 4th series frame under a  dark blue Empress car this one has a black roof with tin wheels. Below is a lighter blue with a painted dark blue roof.

Circa 1906 to1908 -A 4th series  Empress car in yellow with red and black trim. Note that even though the hatching is slanting left on this picture you can see the floor hatching which means the hatching on the other side of the car slants right.

Circa 1906 to1908 -The red variation of the 4th series Empress car - note 3 color litho, full litho frame and black roof with silver clerestory trimmed in red. For comparison below is a late red empress with the two color lithograph.

Circa 1905-1908 - Bright blue Empress. Note - no cross hatching on frame, red/black steps, 3rd series frame.

Circa 1909-10 - this red variation of the Empress car has only two colors to the lithograph, a black 5th series frame and a one color roof.

 We've seen this car several times in the floor train version, but this is the only one we've seen with a princess frame and track wheels. It's also in a very pretty translucent green with blue details.

Click here for Frame Chronology

Three color litho, 4th series frame, clerestory roof, beautiful in red. Circa 1906-1908.

Circa 1906 to1908 -The blue and the black variations always have only 2 colors to their lithograph. For comparison the black one is above the blue is below, both cars have a 4th series frame.

The same color above and below, but the one below is on a floor train base.

Circa 1906 to1908 - The yellow or cream Princess cars come in different shades, the lighter cream below and the darker yellow above. Note that the lavatory windows and the scallops around the main windows are a different color on the 3 color lithographed cars above than the two color lithographed cars below.

Circa 1909 to 1910 - Two color litho with black painted frame and a solid green painted roof.

Almost orange in color this color does show up on occasion, it's been suggested that it's just a faded cream, but the lettering is black and black detail instead of red.

Above is the lighter blue, 3rd series. Below is the green litho car with a 5th series frame.

The green variation is late (type V frame) and scarce. The one below has a repainted roof.

A cream Princess car with lithographed (4th series) frame and a late green painted roof.

Here's the Princess car that came with the striped roof baggage above. Note that even though this car has the cross hatching on the frame, there is none on the floor of the car (2nd series frame). This car  probably dates to around 1904-1905. Below is another example of a similar car but Note that this one has a red vent background.