| Industry | Model railroad manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1947 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 1963 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | Boyertown, Pennsylvania , USA |
Penn Line Manufacturing was a United States manufacturer of model railroad equipment, produced in Boyertown, Pennsylvania.
The company was founded in 1947 by Albert M. Mercer, K. Linwood Stauffer and Robert Faust, hobbyists who believed that most of the model railroad equipment produced at that time lacked realism. Japan and Germany produced few due to the recently ended World War II, while the main United States train model brands at that time, Lionel Corp. and American Flyer, did not put as much authentic detail on their trains as their O and S gauges would have allowed.
Penn Line's early contribution to model railroading was the use of printer's lead to cast the locomotives. This allowed very fine detail in the castings, much greater detail than could be achieved from stampings. And while the larger O gauge and S gauge had the potential for more detail, Penn Line's founders chose to use the smaller HO gauge. Their thinking was that the potential for realism coming from more elaborate layouts made HO the best compromise. This was at a time when HO gauge was far from the standard it is today. Penn Line produced about a half dozen different locomotives based on prototypes from the Pennsylvania Railroad, hence the choice of the company name Penn Line.
In the early 1960s, Penn Line entered the emerging slot car market. They attempted to bring the same realism that they had used in model railroading to slot car racing. They produced a nicely detailed, but poorly powered Indianapolis-style set endorsed by A. J. Foyt. Problems with this product caused Penn Line to declare bankruptcy in the fall of 1963.
Most of the former Penn Line Pennsylvania Railroad die-cast steam locomotive kits were later produced by Bowser Manufacturing, and are still available in 2007.
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Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale.
A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object. Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes such as anatomical structures or subatomic particles. Models built to the same scale as the prototype are called mockups.
Lionel, LLC is an American designer and importer of toy trains and model railroads that is headquartered in Concord, North Carolina. Its roots lie in the 1969 purchase of the Lionel product line from the Lionel Corporation by cereal conglomerate General Mills and subsequent purchase in 1986 by businessman Richard P. Kughn forming Lionel Trains, Inc. in 1986. The Martin Davis Investment Group (Wellspring) bought Lionel Trains, Inc. in 1995 and renamed it Lionel, LLC.
O scale is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad scale in the United States and remained so until the early 1960s. In Europe, its popularity declined before World War II due to the introduction of smaller scales.
HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale. It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced 16.5 millimetres (0.650 in) apart for modelling 1,435 mm standard gauge tracks and trains in HO.
American Flyer is a brand of toy train and model railroad, originally manufactured in the United States.
A toy train is a toy that represents a train. It is distinguished from a model train by an emphasis on low cost and durability, rather than scale modeling. A toy train can be as simple as a toy that can run on a track, or it might be operated by electricity, clockwork or live steam. It is typically constructed from wood, plastic or metal. Many of today's steam trains might be considered as real ones as well, providing they are not strictly scale or not enough detailed ones in favor of a robustness appropriate for children or an inexpensive production.
Bachmann Industries is a Bermuda-registered, Chinese-owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specialising in model railroading.
MTH Electric Trains is an American toy train and model railroad designer, importer, and manufacturer. A privately held company based in Columbia, Maryland, MTH is known as Mike's Train House.
Lionel Corporation was an American toy manufacturer and holding company of retailers that was founded in 1900 and operated for more than 120 years. It started as an electrical novelties company. Lionel specialized in various products throughout its existence. Toy trains and model railroads were its main claim to fame. Lionel trains have been produced since 1900, and their trains were admired by model railroaders around the world for the solidity of their construction and the authenticity of their detail. During its peak years in the 1950s, the company sold $25 million worth of trains per year.
The Consolidation Line was a series of diesel-electric railway locomotive designs produced by Fairbanks-Morse and its Canadian licensee, the Canadian Locomotive Company. Railfans have dubbed these locomotives C-liners, however F-M referred to the models collectively as the C-Line. A combined total of 165 units were produced by F-M and the CLC between 1950 and 1955.
Tyco Toys was an American toy manufacturer. It was acquired by Mattel in 1997, becoming one of its brands.
Athearn is a United States manufacturer of model railroad equipment, produced and distributed by American hobby manufacturer Horizon Hobby, Inc. of Champaign, Illinois.
Wm. K. Walthers, Inc. is a manufacturer and distributor of model railroad supplies and tools.
The 1:64 scale is a traditional scale for models and miniatures, in which one unit on the model represents 64 units on the actual object. It is also known as the "three-sixteenths scale" since 3/16 of an inch represents one foot. An average human is approximately 1+1⁄16 inches (27 mm) tall when represented in 1:64 scale.
Bowser Manufacturing is a United States manufacturer of model railroad equipment, located in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1946 by Bill Bowser in Redlands, California, he used his skill as a machinist to design and produce one of the first lines of accurately scaled steam locomotive kits in HO scale. In 1955, his financial partner Donald Acheson forced Bowser out of the company by enforcing a buyout clause in their agreement. After Acheson sold the considerable backstock of kits and parts, he sold the company to Lewis English in 1961. The company has since grown and continues to produce its own line of injection molded plastic model kits and ready-to-run locomotives.
Varney Scale Models was founded in 1936 by Gordon Varney, an early pioneer in manufacturing HO scale model trains. The development of a reliable 6-volt motor made it possible to produce model locomotives capable of pulling long trains. The company relocated from Chicago, Illinois, to Miami, Florida, in 1955. Varney sold his company to Sol Kramer in 1960, which became the basis for launching his own line of Life-Like Trains in 1970. Varney models were above average in quality and detail and are still quite popular with collectors and model railroad enthusiasts.
The Mount Savage Locomotive Works was a railroad workshop established at Mount Savage, Maryland, US. The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive shops were established in Mt. Savage in 1866, under the direction of James Millholland. The original locomotive shop was constructed of stone and was 90 feet x 250 feet in size with a 33-foot-high roof. An adjoining car shop, built at about the same time, was also of stone and was later extended with a wooden structure. These buildings still stand in Mt. Savage.
On2 gauge is part of the hobby of rail transport modeling. The name is based on the common USA model railroad O scale of 1:48 and refers to the gauge between the rails and the fact that it is narrow gauge, thus 'On2'.
The GE 25-ton switcher is a model of diesel-electric switcher locomotive that was produced by GE Transportation at their Erie, Pennsylvania, facility between 1941 and 1974. Most examples were produced for industrial customers or the United States Armed Forces, although a number of examples were purchased by freight railroads as well. The majority of production was for customers in the United States and Canada, but export models were produced for buyers on five continents. Production totaled approximately 550 units over 33 years, making it one of the most widely produced switchers in American history.