Weaver Models

What products are listed for this advertiser?

Made in America Model Train Brass Steam Engines, American Made Model Train Diesel Locomotives, Made in America Model Train Frieght Cars, Made in the USA Model Train Highway Trailers, Made in the USA Model Train Passenger Cars, and Made in America Model Trains.

Quality Craft Models was founded in 1965. What started as an operation producing Wooden Craftsman Kits consisting of buildings, rolling stock, etc., in gauges from N to O, has grown into a major manufacturer of ready-to-run plastic (and brass) O Gauge 2-Rail and 3-Rail models.

The first location for the business was an old, single story print shop located on Wheatley Avenue in Northumberland, PA. Joe Hayter, current Owner and President of the Company, started in 1969. In 1974, a newer, more modern facility was constructed near the old print shop.

The first plastic O gauge model produced was the 2-Bay Hopper in 1980.
Originally it was offered in 2-Rail only, but in the early to mid 1980's the hunger for 3-Rail models was answered by offering a choice of 2-Rail or 3-Rail.

With the expense involved to have the tooling completed for plastic injection
molding, it was decided to get the most out of one mold. Therefore, the 2-Bay Hopper tooling was made in such a way that the side and ends could be interchangeable allowing us to produce a 2-Bay Offset or 2-Bay Ribbed car with regular, peaked or rounded ends. The tooling and injection molding was completed by Train Miniature, located in Chicago. Thus, Weaver Models, a division of Quality Craft Models, was born!

Next to join the Weaver Ultra Line Family was our 40' and 50' Tank Cars.
Again, with careful planning and the removal / addition of sections to the mold, we could inject either size tank from the same mold. Train Miniature also produced this mold for Weaver. Keeping with the times, our tanks were
offered in 2-Rail and 3-Rail from the start.

The 50' Rail Box and 4-Bay Centerflows were soon to follow. Poly-X-Co., out of Philipsburg, NJ did the mold work on these two projects.

Soon after, Wilhold Company, located in Sunbury, (almost in our back yard)
contacted us for our tooling needs. They did a fine job on our next release, the PS-2 Covered Hopper.

Then a former Wilhold employee decided to go into business for himself. Being located only 1/2 mile North on the same road from our plant was just too convenient to pass up. Besides, he was very skilled at his trade. The 3-Bay Coal Car was his first project for Weaver. This formed a tooling relationship that still exists today.

The early to mid 80's also welcomed our first plastic O gauge diesel project - the Alco RS-3 Diesel Locomotive.

In 1990 the connections were made with Samhongsa to enter into the brass O Scale Market. Our first project was the PRR M1a 4-8-2. Approximately 800 to 900 of this model was produced, only about 50 being in 2-Rail. With the lack of other O gauge manufacturers, we immediately sold every one. From 1990 to 1993 numerous brass and plastic model projects were successfully marketed by this team.

The Samhongsa / Weaver Team also ventured into the plastic market. Numerous plastic diesels were produced: SD40-2, C628, C630, Baldwin Sharks and E8's. At that time, we were releasing 1,000 to 1,500 diesels per style. About 100 to 200 were offered in 2-Rail, the remainder in 3-Rail.

QSI Sound was introduced into the models in late '91 / early '92.

In the mid 1990's, Samhongsa made a strong connection with Mike's Train
House. From then on, they would no longer produce anything in O scale for anyone other than Mike's.

It was not until 1997 that we located a brass builder to fill the shoes of
Samhongsa, resulting in the February '98 release of our brass Union Pacific
49er 4-6-2. By this time, numerous other manufacturers jumped on the O
Gauge Band Wagon, resulting in a variety of choices for the discriminat-
ing modeler. Our lower production quantities of 300 3-Rail (225 with sound
and 75 without sound) and 50 2-Rail was evidence of this. From then on, we
have been releasing two to three brass releases each year.

It was later '92 / early '93 when we moved into our state of art facility located
along Route 11 approximately 1 mile North of Northumberland. That was
also the year Joe officially took the reins of Weaver Models by purchasing
the business.

1995 was also a significant landmark for Weaver as it was the first time we
officially published a Ultra Line catalog featuring our models produced in-house. Prior to that, the few catalogs released featured one or two brass, Gold Edition, imported models. What started out as a eight page catalog produced one time per year has grown into a 28+ page semi-annual release.



The following is a reply from Weaver Models to our question – "Are your products Made in America?"

How do you know the products you have listed are Made in the USA?
Before including products in our database we review the advertiser’s website and/or contact them to ascertain the origin of their products. Some advertisers sell both Made in USA products and foreign ones. Therefore we highly recommend you review FAQ 2.

We immediately investigate any complaints regarding deceptive Country of Origin claims. If we determine an advertiser's claim is not truthful we will immediately remove the product/s from our database and suspend our relationship with the Company making the claim.

To document your complaint, email us by using our Contact Us page. We can only respond to complaints that have been submitted in writing.

What does Made in USA mean?
There is no law requiring most products to be labeled Made In USA, or have any other disclosure about the amount of U.S. content. However, for job creation purposes (see our Big Secret tab), if you have a choice between an imported product and one with no country of origin on its label, choose the product without a country of origin over the imported one. This is true because the product without the country origin on its label has at least some American labor in its content and the imported one most likely does not.

Note: Imported products are required by law to country of origin on their label and products partially Made In USA do not. To answer this question completely reviewing our Labeling Tips 1, 2 & 3. These tips are accessible from scrolling to the bottom of our home page clicking Browse All Tips button.