Maker record
American Model Toys
American Model Toys (AMT) was a United States model train maker active from 1948 to 1954. Its principal products included O gauge streamlined passenger cars with extruded aluminum bodies, detailed interiors and lighting, and O gauge freight cars in railroad liveries. AMT also made HO gauge aluminum passenger cars and, late in its run, F-7 type diesel locomotives and train sets. The company’s passenger cars were designed to run on Lionel O gauge track; its Liftamatic knuckle coupler and operating freight car details formed part of its product range.
- Founded
- 1948
- Final year
- 1954
- Countries
- USA
- Locations
- Auburn, Indiana, USA
- Founders
- Jack Ferris
The story of American Model Toys
Tool and die maker Jack Ferris formally established American Model Toys in 1948, after an earlier career in model railroading with Scale Model Railways. AMT first produced O gauge streamlined passenger cars in New York Central and Pennsylvania liveries. In 1949 it shifted to extruded aluminum bodies, combining fluted sides and smooth roofs with cast ends, lighting, detailed windows and knuckle couplers. Santa Fe cars and additional body styles and railroad liveries followed.
In 1952 AMT added O gauge freight cars, including boxcars, stock cars and reefers made from high impact styrene, with operating sliding doors and Liftamatic couplers. The company also made HO gauge streamlined passenger cars with extruded aluminum bodies. In 1953 it introduced an O gauge F-7 type diesel in powered and dummy versions and offered train sets. As the market weakened, AMT reorganized as Auburn Model Trains in 1954 and sold to Nashville-based Kusan later that year. Kusan continued making trains with AMT tooling alongside its own designs.