Atlas Model Railroad Co. Product Review

The Model Rail interview with Atlas

Peter Marriott finds out a little of the history of the US company, its present product range and its plans for the future

Atlas is one of the largest privately owned model railway manufacturers in the USA. It has been producing model railways (or should that be model railroads!) for over 60 years. The company is actively engaged trying to find new recruits to the hobby. To see what lessons the company has for the UK’s model railway industry we spoke with representatives of the company at the 2007 Nuremberg Toy Fair and in subsequent email correspondence.

• So that we in the UK can get to know Atlas better how did the company first begin?

Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc. has the proud reputation of being a family-owned business. Stephan Schaffan Senior founded it in 1924 as the Atlas Tool Company as a general machine shop in a small garage in Newark, New Jersey. Stephan Schaffan Senior had immigrated from Czechoslovakia around the turn of the century. Stephan Schaffan Junior joined his father in the business at age 16.

Steve Junior built model airplanes and asked the local model shop owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money. The owner presented him with some model railway track and said, “Here, see if you can improve on this". Steve Junior created a kit for points that sold well and later he engineered the stapling of rail to fibre track, a practical rail joiner and pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. The hobby became more popular because of these products so Steve and his father decided to build a factory in Hillside, New Jersey in 1947. On September 30th, 1949, Atlas Tool Company Inc. was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

Steve went on to create a range of track products including Super-Flex® Track, Snap-Switches®, Custom-Line® Turnouts and more. In 1985, Steve was honoured posthumously for his landmark inventions by the Model Railroad Industry Association and was inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Hall of Fame in Baltimore, Maryland.

Over time Atlas has expanded their product lines to include much more than just track. There are now Atlas products available for almost every aspect of O, HO and N scale model railroads. For example in N scale Atlas has produced over 40 wagons in more than 550 paint schemes. Their ready-to-run HO range includes over 25 different wagons in more than 265 liveries. In addition to track and rolling stock the company retails a range of electrical components. To complement its model railway and track products the company retails a selection of track plan and instruction books.

The current day Atlas offices are located at 378 Florence Avenue in Hillside, New Jersey with Steve Schaffan's only child, Diane, as the company president and her husband, Tom Haedrich, as the CEO. Their eldest son, Jarrett, is the Marketing Coordinator and another son, Jesse, is at University.

• What products do you produce for the model railway hobby?

Atlas is actually 2 companies – Atlas Model Railroad Company, Inc for HO and N scale products and Atlas O, LLC.

In Atlas Model, we make HO and N scale locomotives, rolling stock, track, accessories & electrical components, all of which can be viewed on our website, www.atlasrr.com.

Atlas O products, which also include locos, wagons, track, accessories & electrical components, can be viewed at www.atlaso.com. Atlas O is constantly expanding. We acquired Industrial Rail™ last year & have improved and expanded that line.

Most notably, we’re now introducing sets both in HO & O Trainman and Industrial Rail.

• How many people do you employ in the US and how many in China?

Atlas currently has 40 employees. We do not “employ” people in China – we contract with manufacturers in China to produce our products. At one time, there were 100 people in the US producing our track and some other products, but little by little, all the manufacturing has gone overseas.

• What stages of production take place in the USA?

In Hillside, New Jersey, we have all our Research & Development staff, Customer Service, Distribution, Marketing & Advertising, & Administrative Personnel.

• From the initial decision to build a locomotive to a purchaser seeing it in his local Atlas store takes how long?

Generally, 12 to 18 months from conception to delivery. It’s important to note that Atlas personnel, especially R&D, personally oversee all aspects of production from conception and design to production in China. Several people here visit China at least four times yearly to inspect & advise on production. We are in constant contact with our contract manufacturers. Samples of the new models and test shots are sent here and we make sure everything is done to our exacting standards on each and every item. We have our own test tracks here in the USA as well.

• How many locomotives do you make each year?

On average, we produce two new locomotives in each scale and one re-run in each scale per month.

• How many wagons do you make each year?

Two or three newly tooled wagons in each scale per year in addition to monthly re-runs and reliveried versions of existing wagons in each scale.

• What is the percentage of your production split between N, HO and O scales?

HO represents 50%, N 25% and O 25%.

• Has your budget priced Trainman range proved to be a successful innovation for Atlas?

The Trainman® range has so far either met or exceeded our expectations. The question was, would our very discriminating customers accept it? Because the quality is so high and the products so detailed for the price range, they have been very well received, not only by our “regulars” but also by the new people we are constantly seeking to bring into the hobby who might not be able to afford our higher-priced items. For those who already are Atlas fans, Trainman® provides an opportunity to add items they tell us they feel are compatible and equal in quality. Given the current economic concerns in the US and elsewhere, Trainman proved to be just the right thing at just the right time.

• How are you trying to attract more children and younger folk into the hobby?

This is something we work on almost daily. Outreach is very important to us. We work with clubs all over the country and are constantly seeking new means of advertising and getting the word out. We produce many types of catalogues, brochures, flyers, etc. We’ve created a myspace page for Trainman – http://myspace.com/atlasrr and have put our Atlas Model catalogue on CD. We take advertisements in all major US model railroading magazines. We have recently expanded to promoting our products in Germany and the UK. We are hoping to further promote our products in Italy and France next.

Our staff attend model railroad shows across the country throughout the year, both large and small, at which we display our products at booths ranging from 10 feet to 40 feet. We also work with museums, historical societies, scout groups, etc., sending literature and more when we can’t attend in person. Sometimes it is difficult to answer all requests for personal appearances and donations, but we try to address as many as possible.

Of course, we’ve been utilizing our websites more and more and are lucky to have excellent technical people to help maximize that vehicle of reaching model railroaders worldwide. The Atlas RR Report is another aspect of these efforts – it’s a newsletter that we publish on our website.

• How much of your production is exported outside the US?

90% is domestic and 10% international. We are working on ways to expand our out-of-US markets.

• What developments have the company in the pipeline to keep Atlas competitive and at the forefront of the model railway hobby?

As you well know, model railroading is a very competitive field. We are fortunate to have many on our staff who are model railroaders themselves, some of whom belong to clubs and stay active in the hobby. They have their fingers on the pulse of the market and are able to use every means accessible to them to determine which products are most desirable among the largest number of serious model railroaders. We do tons of research.

Additionally, we try to be forward thinking and innovative to stay a step ahead of our competitors. In some ways we are “your father’s model railroad company”, but in many ways, we are not. We seek out the newest technology and every cutting-edge advancement we can in our efforts to continue to surprise our customers with things they don’t expect, and can’t get from anyone else. We often talk about, “The minds of Atlas” because it’s what’s in Tom’s mind, and the minds of most who work here, that make Atlas special. The added aspect of having a family-owned firm also works to our advantage. Pride, heritage and tradition come in every Atlas package, along with the very best products available in model railroading today.

Model Rail magazine would like to thank Tom Haedrich, Laura Kolnoski, Joe Kolnoski and Paul Graf of Atlas for their help during discussions for this feature.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For Atlas products in HO and N scale go to www.atlasrr.com

For Atlas products in O scale go to www.atlasO.com

For Atlas products on sale in the UK go to www.modeljunction.info