Wouldn't Bowers trains & rolling stock still be made in the USA?
I like their detail. They are the only ones I know of that sell a covered PS Hopper kit with see through walking grid.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Stix:
I remember those TM cars--I've got a whole slew of them on my layout. It would sure be nice if Walthers would re-issue them, for we Transition Era modelers, even if they only re-issued them RTR. Their shorter height really breaks up the silouette of a freight train and makes it a lot more interesting. Good kits.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
I remember those slips, pack-rat that I am I probably have a few laying around in a box somewhere. Walthers bought the Train-Miniature line of plastic freight cars (and a couple of engines as I recall) at some point in the early/mid eighties. They produced the TM steam era freight cars and added to the line so that you could get several different kinds of 1910's-20's 8.5' high - 40' long boxcars (wood double-sheathed, wood single sheathed with exterior bracing, single or double sheathed with steel roof and ends, etc.).
AFAIK they were produced by Walthers in Milwaukee using the old TM dies. About that time they did come out with a GM SW-1 diesel and their first version of the FM H-10-44 whose motors and drive train (and chassis?) was made by ROCO in Austria, but otherwise I think all the Walthers stuff was made in America.
Unfortunately, those cars are no longer in production anywhere (except I think the "Trainline" X-29 steel box and stock car) which is too bad for those folks interested in steam era modelling. As I recall, guys at the time did complain about the cost - the Walthers cars retailed for $5.39 or something like that, at a time with Athearn freight car kits were $3.00.
Walthers used to have domestic production of kits and parts here in their Milwaukee plant. That included metal as well -- cast metal, stamped passenger car sides, etc.
They also used to print their decals here. I can remember when visiting the Walthers outlet Terminal Hobby Shop would often feature factory seconds that did not come out just right. The place had a different odor back then too. Now that they import, they still sell damaged stuff, or damaged packaging, or boxes that were raided for parts to make good on a warranty etc. But it is not like it was.
To my knowledge Walthers makes nothing at their Milwaukee plant any longer -- I assume even Goo is just packaged for them by someone else. I suppose they might still print decals but I doubt it. As their big building is no longer used for manufacturing, it has enabled them to take on more and more lines for distribution.
Dave Nelson
I have heard the Intermountain kits are made in the USA. The ones I have bought had nothing about their origin.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
Kadee and Micro-Trains both produce plastic cars in the USA. There are several small manufacturers of excellent plastic kits still producing in the US - Rail Line (HOn3) comes to mind first. And of course, nearly all resin or wood car kits are produced domestically.
Plastic kits are slowly disappearing for a variety of reasons. IMHO, the narrowing of the price/cost difference between RTR and kits, and the drive for prototypical accuracy limiting the size of production runs are the 2 biggest factors in the disappearance of plastic kits. A generic 40ft box car sold by the many thousands doesn't cut it any more. But the (relative) low cost to set up resin or wood kit production, and the ability to produce small production runs of very specific prototypes at reasonable cost has led to wood and resin taking over car kit production.
just my thoughts and experiences
Fred W
As near as I know, Accurail are the only kits that are still made in the U.S. of A. Athearn no longer makes kits, and MDC is now owned by Athearn.
David,
Welcome to the Forum!
Your topic - and several variations - has been discussed (and cussed) many times in the past.
Those of us that have been in the hobby a long time (58 years for me) recall the Athearn and MDC kits and the Walthers and All-Nation and many others - all designed, manufactured, distributed and sold in the US.
Today, I don't know of any major car/loco mfgs. that originate here. It's all about costs and competition, and while none of us seem to like the situation, "that's the way it is".
This horse has been beated way too much - with never a viable solution (sad to say).
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I have some older Walthers train car kits HO scale.I got them in the mid 1980's,in the packs are little papers that say packed with pride by ..name.Were the kits once produced in the USA ?Where are they made now,China?If not made here it would be nice to see them and others made in the USA again.Thanks for any info.
Thanks,David