Train Miniature

[Anonymous]

Who knows the background of the Train Miniature HO product line? I still have quite a few of their earliest releases, as well as some of Walthers more recently done products made from their tooling.

I have always been fond of these kits and think that they represent a significant chapter in HO plastic kit manufacturing, considering how advanced they were when introduced in the '60s, esp when measured against the other stuff available back then.

What happened to all their tooling? I know that Walthers has redone some of the former TM product line, but they seem to be phasing it out now too.

Did they ever do any passenger equipment or caboose models? I don't recall any. Thanks for any responses w/ info. . .

[dknelson]

The resident geezer will take up your question .....
Train Miniature started in California and the big new thing about them when they were new is that they had a more interesting and varied number of paint schemes available as well as tooling that evidently enabled them to offer a car with wood or steel type ends. The underframes were more detailed than Athearn. Pricing was competitive, maybe a bit higher than Athearn (but Athearn was dirt cheap at the time).

They offered the classic PRR X-29 in plastic which, as a PRR modeler at the time, made me very happy. Now I am a C&NW modeler but -- the Chicago Great Western used very similar cars. And yes that tooling is now in the Walthers line, together with other TM tooling both freight (and work) cars and the Alco freight engine. They also had an interesting flat car with removable bulkheads.

Many modelers liked the variety TM offered them as a change from the usual selection of quicky kits but did not like their trucks -- for whatever reason they had kind of a proprietary wheel/axle combo making replacement with metal wheels difficult and they did not roll well -- the wheel was cast slightly out of round it seemed. Actually the Train Miniature plastic wheels fit perfectly into the AHM trucks which was good since the AHM trucks had deep flanges and were only 30 inches rather than the prototype 33 inch. The guys at Walthers used to look at me funny when I would buy TM wheels in quantity to re-equp my many AHM cars -- I guess I was the only guy on earth buying their wheels!
It then became Train Miniature of Illinois -- and maybe around that time they switched to hard plastic boxes rather like Kadee uses now for their freight cars. The irritating thing was that once you assembled the car and put on couplers, it no longer fit in the darn box.
The problem that did them in I think -- this is just my opinion -- is that they emphasized equipment of the 1920s-30s at the very time when the new era of modelers was either modeling the transition era of the 1950s or the modern era of longer cars and 2nd generation EMDs. There was still a market for older cars, on the basis that the oldest cars you see are around 30 years old or so, but not as large a market as it had been when people modeled the 1920s primarily.
Also, and again this is just my opinion, at the time it seemed few dealers really carried the entire TM-Illinois line. Maybe it was the packaging, maybe it was the sheer number and variety of products. They just did not give it the shelf space it needed. I happen to think my older TM cars hold up pretty well compared to Athearn/ MDC and the like -- of course the wonderful Kadee and Atlas and P2K are a whole new era in detail and accuracy.
Dave Nelson

[CNJ831]

Indeed, Bill, the story of Train Miniatures is a most interesting one. They introduced essentially the first shake-the-box freight cars based on prototypes common between the two wars. This rolling stock was often physically smaller in height and construction than later cars. It was largely the former characteristic that limited TM's popularity. Circa 1970 modelers were not nearly so aware that pre-WWII rolling stock differed in dimension from the later period items produced by Athearn and others. The obvious difference in height between TM freight cars and those by Athearn, MDC, et al., gave most modelers to believe the TM equipment was not faithfully to 1:87 scale! TM apparently could never overcome this misunderstanding among modelers and so sales were not very outstanding.

I'd have to say it was this mistaken shortcoming, along with the cars' detailing being a little on the heavy-handed side, and slow sales, that finally led the line to be sold to Walthers (as so many were in that period - Wabash, Ulrich, et al,). Over the past decade Walthers has re-run fewer and fewer of the TM cars and they now seem relegated to minor portions of their cheapest product line.

As I recall, TM ran some collector series billboard cars that did do very well and there are a few additional specialty cars in the line that remain very collectible even today. But, overall, you can usually get older TM cars at train fleamarkets for an absolute song today.

With regard to TM ever making anything beyond freight cars, I certainly don't remember any ads for a caboose and I'm positive there was no passenger equipment.

CNJ831

[dharmon]

They also did some special run stuff....I have two TMI hoppers, one lettered for the Jim Hedger's Ohio Southern and one for the Allen McClelland's Virginian and Ohio. There were a few other big model railroads of the day in that series. But I know what you mean about the boxes. I tossed the plastic boxes years ago, because the car wouldn't fit once Kadees went on...

[Anonymous]

One interesting side note of Train Minatures was their name. Originally the company was going to use the name "Train Master" and even had boxes and other artwork printed for this. Then Lionel filed suit as they still held copyright to the name "Train Master". And so they became Train Maintures.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info! I remember when they switched to those awful plastic boxes. They didn't even stack well on a shelf and were fairly fragile, where a cardboard box can take a dent or two, the plastic would just break.

I collected just about everyone of their "collectible" beer, tobacco, meat packing and others, like Old Dutch Cleanser, Gerbers and other reefer and box cars in the '60s and '70s. Unfortunately my ex was responsible for me selling the lot in order to set her free,. if you comprehend. I've since picked up some at swap meets (TM freight cars, not ex wifes), and they still are amongst my favorite freight equipment because they are lower in height than the one-size-fits-all 'blue box' kits, and they are of seldom modeled prototypes seen today. Pictures taken in the '40s and '50s make it very obvious that not all boxcars and reefers were alike, and in fact, it must have been quite a challenge for a trainman to walk the roofs from one car to the next, due to the great differences in height from car to car. Toss in a tall 50' or 60' furniture or automobile box car and it really looks extreme. There was a diverse mix of wood-sheathed, outside-braced and various steel-sided cars, incl the X29 cars, that were prevalent during these years. Of course, most of the biilboard cars were probably not prototypical, and most billboard-type advertising on freight cars was, in fact, outlawed in the '30s. I recall that TM had arch-bar trucks under many of their wood sided cars, and they had to be replaced if the cars were to be used in interchange service in the '40s and beyond.

If I recall correctly, their extensive offering of MOW equipment was patterened after the much older wood construction "Silver Streak" HO kits. I still have two complete sets stashed away somewhere. I believe Walthers had offered those, as well as TM's 55 ton hoppers, incl some w/ raised sideboards. Again, thanks to everone for background info.

BILL

[dknelson]

Bill, those cheap plastic boxes are perfect storage for ex-wives, so I hear.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

For those that pay attention, any time Walthers purchases an existing line of model railroad equipment, buildings and/or highway vehicles, you do not have to wait very long for the line to pretty much disappear from the market. On occasion, Walthers will sell off a line they purchased, but mostly those Walthers controlled lines just vaporize for whatever reason.

I have a question along the same lines as Train-Miniature. I have some Gould cars on my layout. I have some Tichy cars on my layout (Gould under new ownership I believe). I lost track of the comings and goings. Are any of the Gould/Tichy offerings still out there in the market? Especially their water crane? Any help would be appreciated.

Steam works on hot dogs too.

Tom