Around the time that I got my driver’s license in the late 1960s I started to visit a local train store in High Point, N.C. Not having a lot to spend, I was looking for bargains. Two freight cars caught my eye, a nice brown Pennsylvania boxcar (No. 202) and a black Wabash coal hopper (No. 601). I was quite used to Lionel by this time but these looked somewhat different and more realistic in some respects. What I had run across were two Kusan “K” Series cars. I had not previously encountered Kusan except for a Bexel Special set (to promote Bexel vitamins) that I had seen in a Mann’s drugstore in the same city. At that time I didn’t know who had made the set.
I was able to buy the two cars for $4.00 each. Thus began my attraction to collecting and operating Kusan freight cars. Later I bought a No. 710 Cities Service tank car and No. 761 Union Pacific boxcar at the same train store. My favorite two cars remain the ones I bought first, the PRR boxcar and the Wabash hopper.
Something that amazed me about these Kusan “K” Series cars was that they were all plastic except for the screws that held the trucks on (and some wire parts on tank cars). The molding of the Alco diesels, boxcars, and gondolas appears to have been copied from Lionel’s models. The boxcar, which looks like Lionel’s 6464 series, is only off a little bit dimensionally. Since the Alcos and the 4-wheel switchers that Kusan made are DC powered for two rail, I haven’t had a great interest in collecting them. I have, however, enjoyed the boxcars the most.
What I like best about Kusan is its realistic appearance and the fact that it’s been quite affordable. I even bought some new in the box boxcar kits once for 2.98 each. I have also liked to look into lesser known (or underdog) manufacturers to see how they made their products.
Kusan also made a more heavy-duty line of trains for three rail operation including F7 diesels, passenger cars, and more elaborate freight cars but I have not been a collector of these. These originated from AMT (American Model Toys/Auburn Model Trains).
I still see at least one or two of the “K” Series cars every time I attend a train show and they’re often priced around $10.00. The boxcars are pretty easy to spot because the door on one side is molded open while it’s molded shut on the other. Occasionally you can find a new kit in the box. Locomotives and cars continued to be made from the same dies by Williams, K-Line, and K-Line by Lionel.
For those who might be new to collecting Kusan, a book that I have depended on over the years is Greenberg’s Guide to Kusan Trains by John O. Bradshaw.
Learn more
Kusan No. 7275 refrigerator car
Kusan’s overlooked boxcars (p. 48)
