# Availability of Various HO Brands in the 1950s-60s



## ShockControl (Feb 17, 2009)

This question is directed to the elders on this forum, as well as younger members who may have done the research. 

I grew up in the Northeast U.S. Nearly all the HO trains my older brother and I had as kids, purchased between the late 1950s and mid-1960s, were either from Athearn or Mantua/Tyco. The latter, even if they were sold under the Tyco brand, were the older, heavier, metal-chassis Mantua variety.

I think we had one or two Varney cars.

The track was by Atlas, but I don't think we had any Atlas cars.

We may have had a car that was made by Cox.

Does anyone have any insights into how common various brands were during this era? Within the U.S., did availability vary based on region? Were certain brands sold primarily in specialty hobby shops, while others were sold in the larger department/discount stores?


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## ggnlars (Aug 6, 2013)

Fifty's was the transition period from wood and metal to plastic. There was some imported brass models. The major players were Varney and Mantua. There were a number of others, but those generally were item specific, like passenger cars, etc. HO was just making inroads. The cream was Brass or imported, but there was very little of that available. The majority of US modelers were sill primarily into O gauge. Of the tinplate manufacturers that attempted HO, Marx was the only one to make most of their own stuff. Varney made product for everyone. Athearn, MDC and Globe were small players at this time.
The sixties was the large growth in HO. Mantua started their TYCO division. Bachmann got going in ernest along with Model Power and Life Like. AHM started importing more European brands, like Rivarossi. Athearn bought globe and got much more prominent.
A great place to find out more is on hoseekers site.. www.hoseeker.com. Lots of interesting info there.
Larry
www.llxlocomotives.com


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## morrjr (Dec 20, 2012)

I remember Cox, Revell, Mantua, Athearn, and Atlas rolling stock being on my first HO layout in the late fifties and early sixties. I may have had an American Flyer HO car or two, and I know I had a couple of Varney cars my father had assembled from kits. I distinctly remember having a metal Varney F unit and a Cox RS-11, and I seem to recall having a Mantua 0-4-0 switcher with slope back tender in a road name I can't recall (most likely Pennsylvania).


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## DCNMA (Nov 16, 2014)

We had Varney and Roundhouse rolling stock in New Jersey back in the 50s. The Roundhouse kits were all metal and came with trucks/coupler all in one. The couplers remind me of the Marklin couplers. My dad replaced them all with Kadee.

After many moves, I've located, in the attic, about 10 of these Roundhouse kits, unbuilt but don't know what happened to the completed rolling stock.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I'm still running HO Varney cars that I bought in the early 60s. Had
a complete set but the F3 or F7 loco cast metal frame truck support broke
off. Not a very good loco anyway. Power to the trucks via rubber
bands. It now sits on my layout's scrap yard track, lonely and
forlorn. Cars all now have Kadee couplers and metal wheels.

Don


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

Remember getting HO Varney plastic cars & maybe a F unit from cereal boxes back in early 50s. The only track available to me back then was from a Fleischman train set we got in Germany after WWII. Of course the couplers didn't match & didn't know boo beans about Kadee. So could run the German train but had to push the Varneys. LOL


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## DavefromMD (Jul 25, 2013)

What I remeber is that Tyco seemed to be the dominant brand in the 60s and seemed to have good - reliable locomotives with good pulling power. Cars that were heavy enough to stay on the track. 

Life-Like seemed to be "junk" - cars too light that easiler came off the track or uncoupled, locomotives that were too light. 

Mantua made very good cars, some that I still have and use. They also made some very good steam locomotives. Very heavy metal with excellent pulling power.

Athearn made very good and reliable locomotives and cars. I still have and use some of the cars and recently sold off my blue box locomotives (although I think those were later than the 60s.

I also had a Penn Line passenger train set. They seemed to be a minor player, but the heavyweight passenger cars were good and the locomotives powerful but very noisy - even for that time period. They made a loud whine.


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## ShockControl (Feb 17, 2009)

DavefromMD said:


> Life-Like seemed to be "junk" - cars too light that easiler came off the track or uncoupled, locomotives that were too light.


Every once in a while, you would get a heavier Life-Like car with more realistic detail. I wondered if these were remainder stock from another brand acquired by Life-Like.

It also seems that by the late 1960s or maybe early 70s, the divide between "models" and "toys" became more distinct. For example, I would have to go to a hobby shop to find Athearn, but Tyco and Lifelike were in toy stores and discount stores.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

lajrmdlr said:


> Remember getting HO Varney plastic cars & maybe a F unit from cereal boxes back in early 50s. The only track available to me back then was from a Fleischman train set we got in Germany after WWII. Of course the couplers didn't match & didn't know boo beans about Kadee. So could run the German train but had to push the Varneys. LOL


Fleischmann sets were available here in the US in the 50's and 60's, I believe.


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## Joefrumjersey (Apr 16, 2013)

tjcruiser said:


> Fleischmann sets were available here in the US in the 50's and 60's, I believe.


You are correct. I started in HO in 1961, by building several Athearn "Yellow Box" kits, the ones which you had to assemble the sprung trucks - what an experience - and a few "Roundhouse" kits, which I still run. I had a three car set of Fleischmann Metal Passenger cars, German Prototype, painted for UP. Everything came with either scale dummy couplers, or X2f couplers or Mantra couplers. Wooden "Craftsman" type kits and all metal kits were still common.


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

Lionel was in the HO scale market in the 50s with a train kit called "The Texas Special".
I can't find the nuclear payload flatcar that Lionel made. It was pretty cool.


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## Joefrumjersey (Apr 16, 2013)

D&J Railroad said:


> Lionel was in the HO scale market in the 50s with a train kit called "The Texas Special".
> I can't find the nuclear payload flatcar that Lionel made. It was pretty cool.


I remember that, it literally glowed in the dark. Come to think of it, the Texas Special came in several versions. Pretty much replicated the O-27 version.

I remember getting a Revell "starter" set, it contained an NH F7, a SAL Caboose, and two freight cars. They appeared larger than my other stuff, and it turns out they were actually OO.


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

Joefrumjersey said:


> I remember that, it literally glowed in the dark. Come to think of it, the Texas Special came in several versions. Pretty much replicated the O-27 version.
> 
> I remember getting a Revell "starter" set, it contained an NH F7, a SAL Caboose, and two freight cars. They appeared larger than my other stuff, and it turns out they were actually OO.


Actually there was a light bulb inside the nuke casing and the wheels had a partial metal contact on the rim to make the light flicker on and off.


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## Chet (Aug 15, 2014)

I don't have much left from the 50's and 60's. I had an HO layout when I was a kid and had some old Tyco cars back then. I went into the service in '64 and when I got out in 1970 I didn't return home right away and ended up building a small N scale layout because I was stuck an an apartment. When I moved home to Montana in the late 70's, I expanded my N scale layout to the point where I had over 11 scale miles of main line, but ended up tearing it out and going back to HO scale because the locomotives at the time were really garbage and the choice of road names was poor. I ended up building my freight car fleet with Athearn Blue Box kits, many undecorated that I custom painted for my freelance railroad. Today, Athearn BB kits can be looked down on by some, but at the time, they were one of the better car kits around. I converted everything to Kadee couplers and most has sprung Kadee trucks installed, but all had metal wheels installed. 

I did manage to find a lot of the old Silver Streak kits that I never put together. They even today are well detailed kits, even though a lot of time may be required to properly build them. After seeing the difference between the old Tyco cars and the Athearn BB kits, most of the old Tyco cars ended up in the trash. I did build up a sizable fleet of freight equipment during the construction of the layout and really have enough freight equipment. Some Intermountain and Tichy cars were added over the years and a few Kadee cars were also found at swap meets. 

Some of the newer companies that have gotten into the mix in recent years have really come out with some really nicely detailed freight equipment, but $40 to $50 per car is not what I am willing to pay. Some have great under body details, but when they are right side up on the track, you can't really see the detail. 

I am a lone operator and the only person I have to please is myself and what I now have makes me quite happy.


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

I found the nuke payload flat car by Lionel.


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## Joefrumjersey (Apr 16, 2013)

D&J Railroad said:


> I found the nuke payload flat car by Lionel.


That's absolutely cool.


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