Ertl offered a corn head for a combine, that looks identical to the one that Life-Like (Walthers) used to offer in its Scene Masters line of freight car loads (it has just been discontinued.) This suggests that at least some of the Ertl tooling was bought by Life-Like, not Bachmann.
I got several of the freight cars at low prices when Ertl dumped its unsold HO on the market. The gon and flat were distinctive prototypes not easily available from other sources, if at all. I think I paid between $6 and $9 which is not bad for RTR and rare prototypes, esp the low-side gon.
I don't mind the pre-weathering as much as some of the above-posters seem to. The rolling quality of the trucks is decidedly subpar. The wheels seem to interfere with some details or the bolster or the floor.
The original prices were high and it seems Ertl was thinking more of its standard market of collectors rather than operators, much less folks who might strip the paint and details off the model and start over. (That might explain the LHS owner who went a bit ballistic when a box was opened -- for some collectors that ruins everything!). They were hardly the first successful model company who never quite understood the scale model railroading hobby. Aurora's brief experiment with N comes to mind. One could argue Lionel never really grasped the HO market well enough to make a go of it.
Dave Nelson
Forty Niner Iowa to be exact, they've been located there for many years, I forget the name of the town...............Dyersville??? Just a guess, I used to know but with age my memory banks are filling up. Mark
Iowa to be exact, they've been located there for many years, I forget the name of the town...............Dyersville??? Just a guess, I used to know but with age my memory banks are filling up.
Mark
Dyersville, IA is in the northeast corner of the state just straight west of the Missippi River town of Dubuque. The Ertl Toy company has long been associated with Dyersville, and has been making diecast toy farm machinery since forever. As you can tell by this thread, the company has the odd habit of occasionally stepping out into some other branch of the hobby/model industry, flounder around for a few years, and then abandon the whole thing to return to their core business.
But then who am I to criticize? My employer lost bundles trying to break into the snowmobile market a few decades back. (Nothing flounders like a deer in deep snow.)
And yes, Dyersville is also the home of the "Field of Dreams" made famous by the Hollywood film of the same name.
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
I think that RDA did originate the line .At some point they were involved with ERTL,I don`t know if there was an agreement , sale or a joint thing. Some time after ERTL dropped the building line RDA of Monson Ma. was back on the scene producing the kits.This where they are today.When I have bought on EBAY it seems that the prices are good and includes free shipping.They are the same buildings just not weathered.
Way back RDA did a kit of the NH buzzards Bay tower in resin I guess that is how they started .At some point they came out with plastic buildings ,Iam not sure if that was directly from them or when ERTL came on the scene.
Now did RDA always own the design or did they buy it from ertl, kinda like to know their history, not on their site.
This line of buildings is now back with RDA they are selling through their web site and also on EBAY.Most are all plastic very nice buildings. Type RDA in HO on EBAY or here is their web site.
http://www.railwaydesign.com
don7 I have a couple of their railroad structure kits. The kits are marked as "Craftsman" and the box inidicates that the model is made in the U.S.A.
I have a couple of their railroad structure kits. The kits are marked as "Craftsman" and the box inidicates that the model is made in the U.S.A.
Most of Ertl's former line of pre-finished, or craftsman kit, structures originated with today's RDA craftsman kit manufacturer and many are still currently available from the latter in kit form (now almost exclusively made from plastic, rather than resin). They are indeed designed for the craftsman hobbyist and are far from being the slap-together structures so many prefer today. Typically, the kit's parts need significant filing, filling, custom alteration and adjustment to make them fit snuggly together as intended.
As others have indicated, the Ertl rollingstock was their own, but their approach to "weathering" could, at best, be classified as rather amateurish. Even a newbie with an airbrush could have produced similar results with just a pass, or two, using a medium setting on the tip of the airbrush and some Floquil Rail Brown.
As I pointed out in another recent thread, these pre-weathered RTR cars were a concept well ahead of their time, introduced in an era when the hobby was still about "modeling" and not the approach of buy-it-RTR-now so much in favor today. Together with the high prices (for the time) Ertl attempted to sell the cars for, that pretty much doomed the line from the start and Ertl dropped the entire program of HO rollingstock and structures about two years following their introduction. At the end the remaining stock was "dumped" on the market in such numbers that to this day examples are readily available on eBay. These often sell for around 15%-20% of their "original" store price, or half that percentage relative to when they were actually new!
CNJ831
The last I heard, Ertl were located in Dyersville, Iowa. Their catalog has included some HO cars - I have three SAL low sided gons. I like them and don't mind the way they are weathered. I'm pretty heavy handed anyway.
My experience in buying Ertl products is that they seem to offer some very interesting models - mainly diecast. Around ten to fifteen years ago they offered a range of road tractors in 1/43 that were an excellent choice for scratch building a range of different body styles behind the cab. However, my experience with Ertl models also tells me that they don't seem to keep a new product range in stock for long and seldom add to a range once it's been released. So if you want something from them you need to buy quickly before they are deleted from their catalogue.
Bruce
Milepost 266.2The Ertl barn was a decent enough building for being a solid piece of resin, but the farmhouse left a bit to be desired, especially around the porch and windows. The cars were nice to look at, but had terrible trucks and were feather light. The loads were sort of interesting, but most were too modern for the cars. The entire line was sold off at blow out prices when Ertl gave up. I think one local dealer was selling them at over 60% off the original price. His distributor must have paid him to take the stuff.
Yes, the boxcars weighed about 2oz. The doors do open, so it's no problem to put more weight inside. I installed Rebox wheelsets that were made for them also. As I remember they were a few dollars less than the Kadee cars at the time. At the end they were selling for $6.00...Wish I bought more of them even tho I have MANY more than I need.
I don't know about the Rolling Stock but I've picked up a couple of their Resin Structures and they're made in China.
Ray
The un built-ups were nice buildings, never saw their prebuilts. When the cars went on clearance you could pick them up for around $7.00, did the same for the Proto's. Love bottom feeding but got more cars than I will ever run!
Just as an FYI they were made in...................................you guessed it!
CHINA
ERTL has been making die cast farm toys for many years now in different sizes including 1/87th.
I collected a few of them in the 80's until the first time I went to a toy tractor show and was awakened to a whole other world. Just like any hobby, those can get very expensive as well.
I don't know if they made their own molds or not but they were very nice cars. They picked a couple unusual cars like the low gon. I have 6 of the cars and they are very nice additions.
When they were available they were very pricey cars being in the $30+ area. Even weathered that was high for the time. I have never seen any Ertl cars that weren't pre-weathered. They did a fairly nice job of it.
Roger Huber
Now that you mention it I did see those pre-weather building by ERTL in the same rip off LHS where I got my cars from. I opened the box to look at the building and the guy almost had a conniption fit right on the spot. I told him I wasn't shelling out any money for anything without looking at it when he had signs posted no returns only store credit. The structure I think it was either a barn or a mill looked like one of those solid cast resin things you get in the Christmas tree store when your wife wants to set up the village around the tree. Horrible doesn't begin to describe it. maybe the kit buildings are or were better.
I don't know who actually made them, but they were nicely done, although the weathering was a little heavy for my tastes. As I recall, they were fairly pricey when new. I picked up the one below for a couple of bucks off the "used" table at my LHS and while it's correct for my late '30s layout, the Seaboard Air Line lettering was the '50s version. I removed the lettering, then added metal steps and grabs and re-painted and re-lettered it for the CNR. While it's not an exact model of a CN car, it's a decent stand-in for a car typical of the era.
Wayne
stebbycentralIn the 70's, 80's & 90's they aquired the line of AMT plastic model kits. AMT was a manufacturer of Star Trek spaceship models, as well as American Classic Car kits. According to Wikkipedia that relationship ended in 2007.
I always preferred AMT's plastic models over the other brands (I like building cars sometimes. My last one was a Revell '48 Ford Convertible). They go together well and remain pretty sturdy. Revell's kits, on the other hand, take some extra work just to make the parts fit, and some big parts are even warped heavily. And after a while, they still fall apart at the lightest touch.
OK, I'm done being .
_________________________________________________________________
They produced 3 cars, all RTR in 10 road-names,8 loads, 3 rtr buildings and a bunch of kit buildings. Most of the kit buildings are available from another company now, the cars seem to have been picked up by Bachmann and some are just making it to the market now. They were the most detailed RTR plastic at the time. They say that they were all weathered but I know an ad at the time said you could get them both ways, never bought an unweathered one though and I have dozens as they fit my era, pre WW2.
jerryl I really don't think they made their own. I know they bought up structure kits to put together & weather also. I know this because I was looking for an Easton Mill kit & was told by dealers that they were all bought up by Ertl. I also believe they were more into the diecast end of the hobby.....but could be wrong.
I really don't think they made their own. I know they bought up structure kits to put together & weather also. I know this because I was looking for an Easton Mill kit & was told by dealers that they were all bought up by Ertl. I also believe they were more into the diecast end of the hobby.....but could be wrong.
Ertl is today primarily a die-cast vehicle vendor. In the 70's, 80's & 90's they aquired the line of AMT plastic model kits. AMT was a manufacturer of Star Trek spaceship models, as well as American Classic Car kits. According to Wikkipedia that relationship ended in 2007. I am not aware that they ever produced structure models with the exception of the line of 1/64 scale farm buildings that they sell as a complement to their diecast 1/64 scale farm equipment.
Ertl has been in the model business for years I suspect they made their own. I have a few of them as well not bad but that is if they fit your era. A little too heavy on the weathering for my taste.
Does anyone know who produced the Ertl HO scale rolling stock? They came weathered & had very good detail. Some parts are identical to the Tichy Kits. but not all. I picked mine up when for some reason, they were all on closeout. Nice model, just have to add some weight....