Notable model train products from the early 1960s

One of my favorite things to do while eating lunch is to pull out an old volume of Model Railroader magazine and page through it. Lately, I’ve been working my way through the decade of the 1960s, often posting things I’ve rediscovered to MR’s Facebook page under the heading of “Lunchtime Reading.” Editor Linn Westcott was prolific during this time period, introducing people to L-girder benchwork, zip texturing, and hardshell scenery for starters. And the old project railroads, often far more ambitious than anything we can do today, are a treat to explore. 

While there is a lot of formative hobby history packed into the 1960s, perhaps the most notable comes from the ads and product reviews. It’s here that some of the biggest changes in model railroading are apparent. 

Many things that model railroaders take for granted today were just being introduced to the hobby in the 1960s. Other things from that era were fads that either quickly disappeared or died long, lingering deaths. And a few of the tried-and-true hobby products from previous decades, such as Ambroid Cement, were in their final years as a going concern. The 1960s was as big a time of change for the model train industry as it was for the real railroads themselves.

Here are some of the notable products I found looking at 1960 to 1962. I invite you to look at my sampling and feel free to agree or disagree with my take on them in the comments section below. Although I wasn’t born until 1964, even in the early 70s when I got into model trains in a big way with my dad, we would own or build many of the products shown here. Despite coming out in the 1960s, some of them lasted decades on the shelves of our local hobby shop. I count that as having hands-on experience.

Varney upgraded Casey Jones and Old Lady steam locomotive kits

Price: $14.95 ($159.00 adjusted for inflation)

Varney was an early manufacturer of HO scale model trains and started by Gordon Varney in Chicago in 1936. The products were kits, and while the Casey Jones 4-6-0 and the Old Lady 2-8-0 steam locomotives were not new products to the line in 1960, these upgraded versions now in the firm’s “screwdriver series” included new features to make assembly easier. The most notable item on the list was the fully assembled valve gear. 

My dad and I built several Varney steam locomotive kits together (the dockside switcher still runs), and I can tell you that assembling the rods and valve gear were delicate, fiddly operations at best. If not done just right, you could ruin the running ability of a model quickly. Our Old Lady model would bind its drive rods from time to time, and we’d have to carefully bend them back into shape to get it running again. But having a preassembled valve gear was a big deal. This, along with promises of no drilling, no soldering, no riveting, and no tapping were innovative things for kit locomotives in the 60s, and part of the reason why it made my list of notable models.

Kadee Magne-Matic couplers in HO

Issue: Product review on page 10 of the May 1960 MR 

Price: $0.80 for two pair ($4.99 today’s market price)

MR reviewed Kadee’s new Magne-Matic HO scale couplers in the May 1960 issue of MR, and at the time stated, “These couplers appear to have almost all the desirable features of a model coupler.” 

The MK coupler, and many of its subsequent variations and near-scale siblings, have been a staple of the hobby ever since. When I was modeling in the 70s, it was my fondest wish that all of my rollingstock had Kadee Magne-Matic couplers. Alas, I couldn’t always afford them and so had several transition cars that had one Kadee and one X2F (see the end of this article for more) horn-hook coupler on it. 

Today, you can get just about any piece of rolling stock factory equipped with Kadee couplers or one of the many clones on the market. With its good looks, functionality, and rugged metal construction, the Kadee MK coupler definitely changed the hobby for the better.

Athearn heavyweight passenger cars in plastic

Issue: Ad on page 5 and product review on page 12 of the Nov. 1960 MR 

Price: $2.69 kit ($28.95 adjusted for inflation)

While there were a number of passenger car models on the market already, Athearn’s announcement in a full-page yellow and black ad for its new heavyweight HO scale models was sure to gain attention. Unlike the craftsman car kits of the previous decades that featured laminated wood or metal sides, the new Athearn cars had highly detailed plastic injection-molded shells. And while devoid of interior detail, you could install your own with readily available aftermarket parts. 

MR reviewed the cars in the same issue a few pages later, and although they called out a variety of prototype differences, the biggest of which included the cars being too short and missing a correct number of windows, the staff noted them for their detail and reasonable price point. 

The cars’ true value came from what you could do with them. This fact was quickly brought to light the very next month when modeler William Clouser showed how to take two of these inexpensive kits to make a single scale-length Pullman out of them. In the 1970s, I owned several of these affordable models decorated for New York Central, and I was glad to have them – although the press-fit window glazing would occasionally fall out.   

You can still get some of these cars today from Athearn, now in ready-to-run form with upgraded wheels and couplers.

Atlas HO scale plate girder bridge

Issue: Ad on page 9 of the Oct. 1960 MR 

Price: $1.29 ($13.95 today’s market price)

You might be scratching your head as to why I’d choose the Atlas HO scale plate girder bridge as a notable model from the 1960s, but this one has everything to do with longevity. Introduced by Atlas in an ad in the October 1960 issue, you can still buy this model today in both N and HO scales.

Similar to Athearn’s cars above, the Atlas bridge featured injection-molded styrene construction with excellent plate and rivet detail. The use of plastics in model trains was nothing new, but in the early 1960s it was coming into its own because it reproduced fine details well. The bridge itself could be used with Athearn’s pier system, but you could also add it to your layout on abutments of your own choosing. 

Its best feature is its longest lasting one – it is infinitely kitbashable by simply cutting the girders off of it and reusing them in other projects. I’ve done this many times with both the HO and N scale versions of the model. You can even use N scale bridges in HO by flipping them over and laying the track across the flat bottom of the bridge deck to form a smaller girder bridge. I owe thanks to MR author and photographer Lou Sassi for teaching me that trick on your New Haven project railroad from the December 1992 issue of MR! 

Aurora and Atlas HO scale slot car roadway systems

Issue: Ad on page 15 of the Nov. 1960 MR and product review in the Dec. 1962 MR.

Price: Aurora $10.95 – basic loop ($116.00 adjusted for inflation)

Atlas $19.95 – figure 8 ($212.50 adjusted for inflation)

It’s ironic that on page 25 of the October 1960 issue, the photo caption ponders: “Funny thing about highways. Hardly anyone (if any at all) ever builds a model highway layout.” Then a month later, Aurora introduced its Model Motoring system to the world with HO scale cars that could be driven like model trains, just much faster! Atlas followed suit in 1962 with its own HO slot car system, including the ability to back the cars up. 

Both were advertised in MR with the idea that you could add an operating model road system to your train layout. Slot cars weren’t new to the world in the early 1960s (Lionel introduced its first set in 1912), but the scale aspect and miniaturization to get the models close to HO scale proportions was revolutionary. In fact, you could build a whole town for your model car system using HO scale model train buildings, people, and scenery. 

Later in the 1960s, MR editor Linn Westcott was noted for stating that slot cars would likely replace model railroading. While slot cars are still around today (I race monthly, in fact), thankfully, things didn’t go the way Linn had predicted! 

Pacific Fast Mail brass locomotives

Issue: 06 Feb. 1961 PFM ad

Price: $49.95 two-truck Shay ($532.00 adjusted for inflation)

I’m always surprised at how quickly we’ve become used to plastic model locomotives with sound and accurately applied details for specific railroads. That, however, is a recent development in the hobby. In the late 60s, the only way to get models that were similar (sound would come later), was to go with brass imports. 

The pages of MR throughout the 1960s were full of ads from the likes of Akane, LMB, Suydam, and others. Even American Hobby Corp. imported small brass steam locomotive models in its lineup in the early 60s. Pacific Fast Mail was less than 10 years old when this ad ran in February 1961. It imported brass engines by Tenshodo and United from Japan, then later switched to Korea for manufacturing when the previous arrangements became too expensive. 

Both of my local hobby shops stocked a number of brass locomotives in the 1970s and early 80s, and I dreamed of owning a PFM Shay and running it with the firm’s tape-driven sound system. Alas, that dream never came to be, and probably a good thing, too, as at that age, I likely wouldn’t have been able to figure out how to disassemble the engine to paint it. In fact, I still won’t do it now and sold my last unpainted brass engine a year ago. Still, in my mind, 1960s brass steam models, with all of their piping and delicate detail, were considered the pinnacle of modeling in my book.

MRC T-1A and T-2B Train Packs

Issue: Ad on page 28, Dec. 1961 and featured in the Ma & Pa project railroad, April 1965 

Price: $6.50 T-1A and $7.95 T-2A Train Pack ($68.00 and $83.00 adjusted for inflation)

Model Rectifier Corporation has long been a staple in the hobby industry, providing control and model train products since 1947. MRC’s ad on page 28 of the December 1961 issue of MR caught my eye because of the two small “Train Packs” in the lower left of the pictured train throttles. I immediately recognized them as the train control system the Model Railroader staff had used on its HO scale Ma & Pa project railroad, starting in the December 1964 issue and running through most of 1965. 

While we take walkaround train control for granted these days using wireless throttles or smartphones, that definitely wasn’t the case in 1961. In fact, no manufacturer offered an off-the-shelf solution for walkaround control at that time. 

While MRC may not have intended its T-1A and T-2A small packs for that purpose, the MR team saw an advantage to the all-in-one power supply and throttle’s compact design. By April of 1965, the MR staff wrote, “We think walkaround control has a future in model railroading…” on page 59 of that issue. They then showed how to adapt an MRC 64 power pack (the newer version of the T-1A) for use as a tethered walkaround throttle on MR’s Ma & Pa layout.

In fact, MRC had anticipated a market for this type of control and had accordingly at some point between 1961 and 1965 introduced the model 44 Cab Control box. This was an unpowered throttle with speed and direction control that could be wired via a tethered cable to an existing DC train control pack. This avoided the need to carry the power supply and its cord with the cab. According to MR in the same April issue, it was the only one they knew of made just for this purpose. 

Because of this, I’d credit MRC with being the first manufacturer to offer a commercially available tethered walkaround control system for model railroaders. The concept took a while to catch on, but it was the start of the mobility and convenience we enjoy today in train control.

Tyco/Mantua GP20 HO scale locomotive

Issue: Jan 1962 Tyco inside cover ad and April 1962 page 12 product review 

Price: $12.95 GP20 decorated for C.B.&Q. ($135.00 adjusted for inflation)

Mantua was started by John Tyler and his family in the 1920s and began selling toy trains in the 1930s. After WWII, Mantua added the Tyco line of ready-to-run trains in 1952 to meet the growing demand for that aspect of the hobby. A full-page ad on the inside cover of the January 1962 issue of MR announced the firm’s latest new offering, the EMD GP20 HO locomotive. Even though the ad used a black and white image of the model, you could feel the excitement created by its promised vibrant Chinese Red Burlington paint scheme.

Model Railroader reviewed the model in the April issue of the same year. Of note were the exact details of louvers and hatches on the injection-molded styrene body shell. Also, the editorial staff pointed out the model’s truck-mounted motor, stating that Mantua-Tyco models with this arrangement have proven to be “dependable as any in the hobby.” The model was credited for its quiet running and control characteristics as well. And while the open pilots detracted from the overall appearance, they did permit the truck-mounted couplers to pivot sufficiently to negotiate 15” radius curves – something of a norm in train set track during the period. 

The Tyco’s GP20 deserves recognition as one of the early models to market offering a low short hood diesel – something completely modern at the time. Also, EMD produced GP20s from November 1959 through April of 1962. By the time this model came out, these engines were still considered very modern locomotives. And, as noted in MR’s review, the Tyco model was a faithful representation of the prototype, unlike many of the firm’s offerings in the 1970s after it had been sold to Consolidated Foods. 

Honorable mention: Rail Line Co. Magnetic X2F couplers

Issue: Oct. 1962 page 14 product review 

Price: $0.50 per pair ($5.22 adjusted for inflation)

The X2F coupler might be one of the most misunderstood aspects of HO scale model railroading. Up until the introduction of the X2F “horn-hook” universal coupler, there was no standard coupler in the industry. Models often came with plastic or metal castings for non-operable dummy knuckle couplers that required modelers to lift one car off the rails a bit to slot the couplers together – if you could get them to join at all, as there was no standard to even these. Walthers, Baker, Kadee, and others all made automatic coupling HO scale devices of various kinds, but none of them were interchangeable. 

However, in the late 1950s, several hobby manufacturers adopted a design put forward by the National Model Railroad Association for a universal coupler, known as the X2F. The irony is that despite the NMRA’s own members rejecting the X2F by a public vote, many manufacturers in the industry adopted it and began producing millions of them.

Did it look like a prototype knuckle coupler? Not really. 

However, the X2F had two things going for it. One was that it worked well. As long as manufacturers followed the design closely, for the first time in the hobby, HO models from different brands could couple together straight out of the box, increasing the fun for the common hobbyist. It was exactly why my Athearn, Bachmann, Tyco, and Model Die Casting cars could all run together in the early 70s. 

The other advantage is that the X2F could be molded as a single piece of plastic with no separate moving parts – a huge cost savings to the makers of model trains. Soon the X2F, sometimes called the NMRA coupler, was a common feature of advertising sales copy, and ready-to-run models and kits alike came equipped with them.

Early on, various manufacturers tried to improve the X2F, particularly in the early 60s when no model coupler had yet dominated the market. As a case in point, MR’s review of Rail Line Co.’s magnetic X2F in the October 1962 issue points out the merits of the coupler, now equipped with a metal tail that allowed it to use magnetic uncoupling ramps – a big step up in its usefulness for operating model railroads. The nearly full-page review is quoted as saying, “it is the best in the X2F family we’ve seen so far.” 

What amazes me is that while most modelers preferred operating knuckle-type couplers, such as those made by Kadee, the horn hook held out for so long. Even as late as the 2000s, MR would still receive new products equipped with X2F couplers or at least it included a small package of them in the box. No one seemed to want to let the X2F go. 

So love it or hate it, the X2F coupler made a lasting impression on model railroading for several generations of model railroaders.