Penn Line Manufacturing
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Penn Line Manufacturing was a
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
manufacturer of
model railroad Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are Model building, modelled at a reduced Scale (ratio), scale. The scale models include locomotives ...
equipment, produced in
Boyertown Boyertown (Pennsylvania Dutch: ) is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,264 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Boyertown has been in operation since 1828. The community was named for its ...
, Pennsylvania.


History

The company was founded in 1947 by Albert M. Mercer, K. Linwood Stauffer and Robert Faust, hobbyists who believed that most of the model railroad equipment produced at that time lacked realism. Japan and Germany produced few due to the recently ended
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, while the main United States train model brands at that time, Lionel Corp. and
American Flyer American Flyer is a brand of toy train and Rail transport modelling, model railroad, originally manufactured in the United States. The Chicago era, 1907–1938 Although best remembered for the S gauge trains of the 1950s that it made as a ...
, did not put as much authentic detail on their trains as their O and
S gauge S scale (or S gauge) is a model railroad scale modeled at 1:64 scale, S scale track gauge (space between the rails) is . S gauge trains are manufactured in both DC and AC powered varieties. S gauge is not to be confused with '' toy train standard ...
s would have allowed. Penn Line's early contribution to model railroading was the use of printer's lead to cast the locomotives. This allowed very fine detail in the castings, much greater detail than could be achieved from stampings. And while the larger O gauge and S gauge had the potential for more detail, Penn Line's founders chose to use the smaller
HO gauge HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale model, scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of Rail transport modelling, model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard ...
. Their thinking was that the potential for realism coming from more elaborate layouts made HO the best compromise. This was at a time when HO gauge was far from the standard it is today. Penn Line produced about a half dozen different locomotives based on prototypes from the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
, hence the choice of the company name Penn Line. In the early 1960s, Penn Line entered the emerging slot car market. They attempted to bring the same realism that they had used in model railroading to slot car racing. They produced a nicely detailed, but poorly powered Indianapolis-style set endorsed by
A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver who competed in numerous disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for his open wheel racing career, and for becoming the first four-time winner of the India ...
. Problems with this product caused Penn Line to declare bankruptcy in the fall of 1963. Most of the former Penn Line Pennsylvania Railroad die-cast steam locomotive kits were later produced by Bowser Manufacturing, and are still available in 2007.


External links


Penn Line History and Catalogs
Penn Line History and Catalogs

Penn Line Locomotive Assembly Instructions Toy train manufacturers Model railroad manufacturers Slot car manufacturers Toy companies established in 1947 1947 establishments in Pennsylvania Manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania Model manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1963 {{manufacturing-company-stub