Beam's Train Series
Series by Jim Beam
Whiskey Bottles Made to Be Collected
During the second half of the twentieth century, Jim Beam turned whiskey packaging into a collecting culture of its own. Hundreds of elaborate decanters were created in the shape of animals, landmarks, historical figures and vehicles. Among the most spectacular were the company's cars and trains — detailed ceramic models that were simultaneously display pieces and containers for Jim Beam Bourbon.
Jim Beam Train Decanters
Among the most ambitious of Jim Beam's novelty decanters were its model trains. Produced primarily between 1979 and 1990, the Train Series transformed individual elements of historic American railway trains into whiskey containers.
Rather than producing only individual locomotives, Jim Beam developed complete train sets. Locomotives could be accompanied by passenger, baggage, dining and observation cars, tenders and cabooses, allowing collectors to assemble remarkably elaborate display trains.
One of the best-known examples began with the 1872 Grant Locomotive, released as a Jim Beam decanter in 1979 and subsequently complemented by a series of matching railway cars. Later releases included the Casey Jones Train Set as well as additional freight cars, tenders and railway-related pieces.
The Train Decanters illustrate the extraordinary extent to which Jim Beam blurred the boundary between whiskey packaging and collectible object: an entire model railway could effectively be assembled from bottles of bourbon.