AMT-KMT-KUSAN PAPER – Cornucopia Of Toy Trains

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Brief History
AMT DEALER WINDOW STICKER
AMT CATALOG CIRCA 1950 WITH 2 PAGE SHEET
AUBURN MODEL TRAINS CATALOG CIRCA 1951
AUTOMATIC COUPLER INSTRUCTION SHEET
AMT – THE HEADLIGHT AUGUST 1952
AMT DEALER FLYER – STOCK CARS
AD – 1957
KUSAN CATALOG 1959
KMT CATALOG CIRCA 1959
MISCELLANEOUS KMT FLYERS CIRCA 1959
K SERIES FLYER 1959
KUSAN KIT CATALOG CIRCA 1960
RAILROADING WITH KUSAN CATALOG CIRCA 1961
KUSAN CATALOG CIRCA 1961
KUSAN KANNON BALL TRAIN OFFER
HOPPER CAR KIT INSTRUCTIONS
CABOOSE KIT INSTRUCTIONS
TANK CAR KIT INSTRUCTIONS
CANNON CAR INSTRUCTIONS
FA-2 DIESEL ENGINE KIT INSTRUCTIONS
RAILROADING WITH KUSAN INSTRUCTIONS
FOUR PAGE FLYER
TWO PAGE FLYER
ATOMIC TRAIN FLYER
KUSAN MEXICAN CATALOG
PAPER ACCESSORY CUT-OUTS

BRIEF HISTORY

Toolmaker Jack Ferris began his career in model railroading with Scale Model Railways a company producing 1/4 inch scale models, in 1929. That company changed hands in 1940, and Jack Ferris joined the rubber/plastics business until 1948 when he founded American Model Toys. The first offerings were sand-cast passenger cars in New York Central and Pennsylvania markings. After selling its products to other companies, Ferris decided to create his own company in 1948. The next year a set of these passenger cars was produced using extruded aluminum. American Model Toys was the fourth largest maker of toy trains in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s.

AMT beat Lionel to the market by two years with the aluminum cars. However, eventually Lionel caught up, releasing their first ‘O’ gauge #2500 series extruded aluminum streamlined passenger equipment in 1952 and displacing AMT extruded aluminum cars as the market leader in sales. AMT had almost a total monopoly of the ‘O’ gauge Streamline passenger car market from 1950 until the new Lionel models in 1953. In 1952, AMT started producing 40′ box cars, stock cars and reefers in colorful paint schemes they could find in use by real railroads, and made them to more realistic proportions than Lionel had. The next year, Lionel responded with the first of its famous 6464 series box cars. In 1952 AMT also made HO gauge streamlined passenger cars. The following year, AMT decided to produce an ‘O’ gauge model of an F-7 type diesel locomotive, in both powered and dummy unit versions, which also permitted them to sell complete ‘O’ gauge train sets for the first time. As American Model Toys, the firm brought out starter sets in 1953.

AMT reorganized as Auburn Model Trains, in 1954. Business was not good, and later that same year, Auburn Model Trains was sold to Bill McLain of Kusan a plastics and toy company in Nashville, Tennessee. Kusan produced model trains using the former AMT tools as well as new tooling of their own, but, with a declining market, Kusan ceased production of trains in 1960. Kusan were located at 2716 Franklin Road, and all Kusan diesel locomotive number boards display 2716. Kusan produced train sets from the AMT tooling, as well as from new designs of their own, largely with atomic and military themes. Kusan is also credited with making the first ‘O’ gauge trains that could run on both 2-rail and 3-rail track But the market had peaked in 1954, and Kusan, dissatisfied with its share in a declining market, ceased production in 1960.

The tooling was sold by Kusan to Andy Kriswaulis/Kriswalus of Endicott, New York. Andy produced rolling stock only, trading as Kris Model Trains (KMT), but production ceased on the death of Andy in September 1990, and most of the tooling went to Jerry Williams of Williams Electric Trains, a Maryland maker of reproduction tinplate trains, and employer of Mike Wolf. Williams decided to concentrate on plastic, using the earlier tooling, and sold the tinplate tooling to Mike Wolf, who later formed Mike’s Train House or MTH.

The original AMT/Kusan/KMT tooling was subsequently sold by Jerry Williams to Maury Kline of K-Line, in North Carolina, who also owned and used ex Marx tooling.

Frank Rash of Frank’s Roundhouse issued a series of models using ex Williams products. Bachmann continued to make and sell these box cars after the acquisition of Williams.

Part of the original tooling went to Ready Made Toys who sub contracted for Taylor Made Trucks, who issued a small diesel switcher on a flatbed truck. The switcher was subsequently issued by Ready Made Toys as the RMT Beep.

AMT DEALER WINDOW STICKER