by Tony Cook/photos by the author except as noted
Is it a school? Is it a factory? Is it from Aurora, Tru-Scale, TYCO, or IHC? It’s all of the above. This well-known single-story structure has served multiple uses and multiple hobby companies over its long history (and may not be ready for retirement). Collecting model trains means literally that to many… locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, etc., and at times accessories and buildings can be overlooked, if not occasionally completely ignored by enthusiasts with a passion for yesterday’s offerings. I have a building kit to share that has an interesting journey through hobby history, and one that might give you reason to give more priority to collecting beyond locomotives and rolling stock.
Though this building is most associated with model railroading, its origin is with a company that made its name elsewhere in the hobby. The post-World War Two boom in the U.S. economy and growing popularity of leisure activities did much for hobby pursuits. Injection-molded plastic was a new approach at that time, and the combination of these events helped Aurora become a well-known name in the hobby in the 1950s.
ABOVE: Following this building’s first run in the hobby from Aurora as a school, Tru-Scale introduced this model as a factory in 1964 and added appropriate details.
Aurora Plastics Corporation began in New York in 1950, according to Thomas Graham’s Aurora Slot Cars (2003, Schiffer Publishing), and initially produced molded-plastic items on a contract basis for a variety of interests. Among the first releases from Aurora under its own name were plastic airplane kits in 1952. The big years for slot car sales were to come in the early 1960s, but Aurora began developing this hobby segment many years before slot cars became a hot fad and pulled in a variety of companies (including several model railroad manufacturers) around 1963.
Aurora’s efforts in its “Model Motoring” line were not exclusive to race cars speeding around tracks, but included stock automobiles and trucks for operating on slotted roadways. This is an intriguing variant of the traditional racing theme and it allowed for recreating more animated non-railroad features for model railroaders that remain largely uncommon to this day. While our trains are meant to operate with realism, folks generally don’t bat an eye at a delivery truck that sits at a dock and never delivers or a sedan that sits at a railroad crossing never going anywhere.
ABOVE: When this group of buildings came into TYCO’s line 50 years ago, the company was introducing its famous brown-box packaging. The early versions of this kits include excellent artwork depicting a realistic scene.
Aurora attempted to make operable roadways a reality and offered a range of items to support its goal. Among the eye-catching releases populating Aurora’s line that would not be mistaken for an Indy or NASCAR racer, a 1962 Ford Country Squire station wagon was available complete with wood sides, as was a police cruiser, and Mack dump truck. The company’s Model Motoring track pieces included a section with HO brass rails cutting through the black plastic slot car track (and ads ran in model train magazines showing a TYCO Santa Fe F-unit approaching the crossing with two vehicles nearby).
While Aurora did not wade deeply into HO scale model railroading waters, the company did dip its toes into our area of the hobby with a collection of structures. Structures that supported this regular, everyday environment were not grandstands and concession areas for racing spectators, or pit structures for racing vehicles. Introduced in the late 1950s, Aurora’s HO scale plastic building kits included a railroad station, church, diner, gas station, two residential dwellings, and a school. Marketed by Aurora in kit format releases, this group of buildings was promoted by the company as “plastic HO accessories that have an authentic railroad look” in ads.
ABOVE: In its 1972 catalog, TYCO added six Lighted Buildings to its line. These former Aurora/Tru-Scale offerings would serve TYCO’s catalog during the 1970s.
As mentioned previously, no line of Aurora HO scale locomotives and freight cars appeared when these kits were current. The Aurora name would be included on model train releases in both HO and N scale, but not until many years later.
From this collection of toolings, I want to single out Aurora’s School House kit and follow its path. This group of kits was a frequent topic of conversation and held a good bit of curiosity for me and Jim Sacco (the late founder of the City Classics brand of scale plastic structure kits). Jim shared examples of these kits with me (the school building shared here is one of the kits Jim gave me) and we pursued these models across their years in the hobby…
