model railroading in the 30's and 40's

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know a website were I can find information on how model railroads were during the 1930's and 40's? I mean what were the major manufacturers , the most popular scales, advances in photography, novelties, etc, etc.
or at least someone knows a place where I can find Model Railroader issues from that time?
thank you

[Anonymous]

I have every issue of MR from Jan. of 1934 to the present. I also have a few doubles from the 30's and 40's. Most manufactures were just starting out. Walthers, Mantua, Lionel, Ives, Marx....O ans S scale were the most popular but half O (HO) was the new kid on the block. N and Z were a pipe dream. Most people scratch built everything including track and rolling stock. Not a lot of parts were available then as the country was coming out of the depression. If you have more specific questions or would like to contact me drop an e-mail to [e-mail]

[dknelson]

Due to the relentless operation of actuarial tables (i.e., the older generation of modelers dies at a predictable rate) it seems to me that a rather large number of Model Railroader magazines from the 1940s are showing up at swap meets. For many years MR sold a reprint of the 1934 bound volume that is also reasonably plentiful.
I was not modeling until the 1960s but back then if you went to a sale of used stuff it typically dated from the early years.
Some of the modeling was pretty crude, especially since metal was used alot and very few people used airbrushes. But some modeling from then was really nice, especially structures. One observation about the early days -- if someone wanted, say, a Seaboard caboose they wanted a prototypical model. There was less of what we see today which is slapping all sorts of road names on one prototype road's equipment. Of course back then most modelers made up a name for their railroad
Dave Nelson

[CNJ831]

I very much doubt there are any websites that extensively address the 1930's-40's interval in the hobby. I certainly know of none. As a hobby historian myself, I'd suggest visiting one of the larger libraries to see if they might have early volumes of MR or RMC (or can access to them through the inter-library systems).

There certainly are significant differences between the hobby 60 years ago and today but even back then both O and HO scale had a wide range of companies offering anything from scratch-building materials, to kits, up to highly detailed finished models (except during the war years). Virtually all of these original companies have disappeared from the hobby scene today (Mantua was one of the very last to go).

In general, the hobby was quite expensive in its early days, with even kits for small locomotives going for what in today's dollars would be $200-$350. Custom built locomotives of the period far exceeded today's cost of brass. Rolling stock, on the other hand, was almost entirely in the form of inexpensive kits (virtually scratchbuilding projects). Many structure kits were based on paperboard of one form or another. Vehicles were generally dime-store toys. Model photography was quite primitive - Varney being the first to publish "realistic" looking images in their ads with any regularity.

Not until the 1950's did realism begin to show in the majority of layouts. Before that it was often a great accomplishment just to get the trains to run well and there were many "plywood pacifics". A particularly interesting aspect was that tin-plate/Hi-Rail was a widely accepted and respected portion of the hobby's main stream in those days.

An interesting note regarding layouts was that during the late 1930's and just after the war there were some really large, well done club layouts that appeared in MR which had a decidely interesting art deco appearance not seen since. The layouts at the NYC, Chicago, and Frisco "Fairs" aided greatly in popularizing the hobby. And, believe it or not, model railroading was considered the 2nd most popular hobby in America during the early 1950's!

Returning to sources, if a library search fails, and you are truly interested in the hobby's history, I'd strongly recommend purchasing appropriate volumes of MR off eBay. Except for the earliest editions these often go for very reasonable prices. To save money but still get the maximum amount of product info, buy just separate December issues of the magazine.

John

[Anonymous]

Hi.I agree with CNJ 831.Here are a few sources though.For the past few years Railroad Model Craftsman magazine has had a two page article about the history of the hobby,maybe buy some cheap back issues of RMC? A source of old hobby magazines is www.railpub.com,I have purchased copies of Railroad Magizine from them.Very few hobby products were made during the War years.Companies like Athearn helped make HO popular in 1950's.

[BR60103]

Many years ago, Model Railroader republished a bound volume of their first year (1934) as a subscription bonus. I got one at a railroad show.
If you live in a small town with a library that doesn't throw books away, you may find some old ones on model railroads.
David

[Anonymous]

I might have those magazines. They belonged to my Dad who passed away 5 years ago. My Sister and I are just now going through all his train stuff. If you can tell me what years you want I will see if we have them. We are talking about putting them on Ebay.

[Anonymous]

Gee! it has been quite a while since I posted that! as of now I'm collecting some of the old magazines (so far I've purchased all of 1939), and I also found some really beautiful (color) movies from the layouts of the New York World's Fair of 1940, and if all goes well, I might even purchase some actual 1940's equipment.

[Anonymous]

Gee! it has been quite a while since I posted that! as of now I'm collecting some of the old magazines (so far I've purchased all of 1939), and I also found some really beautiful (color) movies from the layouts of the New York World's Fair of 1940, and if all goes well, I might even purchase some actual 1940's equipment.
Judging from what I've seen, there were some really fine models built in those days, and I must say that The Model Railroader had plenty of goodies as well, in just one year they published a whole series on stcratchbuilding a steam switcher, a doodlebug, a caboose, a hopper car, a fully automatic signaling system, heck, I can build a layout with the info in those 12 issues! thanks for the help.

P.S
I'm currently looking for the years 1940-1945 (all of 'em!)

[Anonymous]

I wish I new more about what you are looking for. My Dad has all kinds of pictures and infomation he mailed off for years ago. He was real big into the Ho trains. Really any thing that looks like a train. He had a room full of his toys. If there is any magazines that you know of that you might want to buy I will see if I have them. You can email me if you wish. I hate to sale them but I just don't have room or a place for them

[Anonymous]

I will go though and pull out those years and get back to you. You want 1940 - 1945. Is model railroading the only magazine that you want?

[Anonymous]

Greetings. My family in NJ is searching for information on how we can find model railroading enthusiasts who are interested in the old HO kits for building cars from the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's.
My father passed away two years ago, and he had a substantial collection of cars and kits that he started during the Depression. He collected railroad cars for a lifetime, so we also have a lot of cars from the 1990's through 2001.<p>

Here are some of the names on the older kits: Varney; Ambroid;
Quality Kraft; Ye Old Huff-N-Puff; and Main Line.<p>

We also have a big magazine case my father built himself in his woodworking shop, and while we haven't gone through all of the magazines yet, according to his hand-printed list, somewhere down bottom, we have magazines going back to 1936 and 1937. The case has 18 compartments; each is 2 feet deep; and they're about 80% - 90% filled. I've gone through the books and I know that we have one book from 1935, and others that are dated 1940.<p>

My father liked to get his collectibles organized and listed on hand-printed lists. My brother has checked the lists against the boxes and typed one consolidated list, so we have a computerized inventory.<p>

The dealers in NJ are telling him that people are no longer interested in the old kits for building cars - that people don't have the time for that anymore.

So, I'm wondering if there's an organization or club for people who are interested in this stuff from the early days of model railroading, and if anyone can provide any leads on how to find the right people for these old kits.<p>

Thank you for whatever assistance you can provide. [e-mail] (We are in Woodbridge Township, NJ).