A Model Railroad magazine published in 1964 was filled with the lines “Built an AMBROID Lately” A production Ad campaign by the AMBROID Company to promote their HO craftsman kits boosting business in the risky trends of model railroading.
In 1910 from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, an invention of a new adhesive was created. It might be described best as an Amber colored celluloid dissolved in Acetone. Technically, this adhesive was a propylene with nitrocellulose blended in solvents, resins and plasticizers. When applied between two parts, it would form a strong rigid bond. Commonly packaged in an eye-catching tube of bright ORANGE with BLUE, this cement became a household name. Although, only after “Model Railroader” magazine February 1935 issue, writer Eric La Nal praises the excellence of Ambroid Cement for any model railroad project did Ambroid enter the hobby industry.
However, while Lee Blyler ( MRIA 2000 Hall Of Fame) not only developed Ambroid cement and other adhesives that continues today leading with several types of superior bonding cements. He also developed the extensive line of HO scale freight and passenger car kits. Primarily of wood know as craftsman kits due to the time and skill required to assemble these kits. O and S scale would have been the popular choice of the time, but for Lee. He created these superb kits in HO scale leading towards today’s popularity. He is most famous for the Ambroid “1 in 5000” line kits. Though, many kits would be made over the years and some in other scales in a limited production.
The first kit was release in October 1949. The K-1 stock number of the B&M Snow Plow. 1950 introduce the K-2 Stock Car in seven different road names. These were so well like, Ambroid release the K-3 Watermelon car by January. By year end, they produce the Open Platform Coach, combine, and 4 door baggage car. 2 different Express reefers would be added to
Brings back memories. I never actually built one, but I recall looking at the ads for the “1 in 5000” kits when I was a kid and thinking how neat they were.
Hi ED:
I always enjoy visiting your web page and past assistance. Do you recall the AMBROID AD with a guy wearing the railroad engineers hat ? I don’t recall when it first came out but it surely sold a lot of glue:
Also, I just love that posted quote of JOHN WAYNE: Check out some of these pictures: Like to hear what you think:
I have the Ambroid ACL Watermelon car in S scale. Interestingly, the directions say it was made by Northeastern and there is even a flyer inside for northeastern products.
When I was in the Air Force during the '60’s, I built the Ambroid open-platform cars, they came in a kit of three. Coach, combine and baggage. Each car took about 10 to 15 hours, I used Ambroid Cement (used it on all of my wooden car kits) furnished them with Central Valley trucks. They were my pride and joy. Unfortunately, being shipped home after my tour of duty, the box they were in fell apart, and I got the pieces in a mailsack. But I loved those three cars. The baggage was ‘sort’ of salvageable, and I used it–less trucks and couplers–as a yard office on my first layout. Unfortunately, it somehow got lost in the shuffle. I’d give my eyeteeth to have those cars back. And they weren’t THAT hard to build, just time consuming. But it was time well spent. BTW, that Ambroid Cement–I used it to build a lot of Silver Streak wooden cars. Still have the cars, and they’re solid as rocks. Wish I could say that about some of the newer plastic-compatable cements.
Tom
AMBROID along with Northeastern did create a few Kits in “S” scale as they often worked together in the 50’s and the 60’s. These kits would be release in HO as AMBROID and S scale by Northeastern. I have a list of these that they produced. Additionally, some model railroaders have used the direction that Quality Craft provided for Ambroid and made their kits by scratch to use with O and G scale just following the plans provided in the Ambroid kits…
Although, the passenger car set was released twice. First in 1951 as individual kits and again in 1963 as a 3 in 1 kit… However, the earlier K-5, K-6 and K-7 passenger set required much more work. The roof had to be carved: Quality Craft release a set with carved clerestory Roof making it easier to assemble. So Ambroid followed and release the set as the K-8 having the roof prefinished.
I can relate with TOM moving from one duty stations to another and having railroad items damaged. I can not find words allowed here to best explain the frustration. Worst is when they hand you back a bag of parts, “oops it got dropped”. I hope that has not stopped TOM from continuing to take time building other kits or scratch building. True we all love the buy something we can run home and place on the tracks. Nevertheless, even the ready to run require tweaking to meet coupler heights, replace couplers, change out cheap wheels, and often add weight to improve the roll that you do anyway when building from the ground up. All it took was time and following directions. As cement goes, AMBROID often broke even on the kits but made money marketing their glue they provided a tube in nearly every box. Todays market offers so many types but AMBROID seemed to work well. Just use enough to bond without over doing it. “What’s your AMBROID, Story.”
I enjoyed the history and have a number of these, most built, some not. I used to be a fan of Ambroid cement but am now finding many or the kits made 20-30 years ago are returning to kit form. The kits might be timeless but the adhesive is not.
The Ambroid article was very informative. I built an “S” guage winged snow plow as a young teen in 1958 and still have it in one piece at my office in Manhattan.
I had no idea it was a B&M model. I still have the plans.
As a matter of fact …built one last year ,that I bought off e-bay. A jumbo whale belly tank car, friggin huge car. Wooden kits are a pain ,didn’t like them to much, I have three old ambroid kits to repair.
Yep, sure have, i’m finishing up a S scale Ambroid wedge plow, hard to explain a B&M prototype on my SP themed layout, but it’s been so much enjoyment deciphering what passes for instructions!!
Going back to the dawn of S scale I have a jewel of a kit that builds into two outside braced reefer kits per box, heck, for seventy five cents new you’d think they could devote a nickle for an instruction sheet!! They are fantatic models when completed and I know of no other source, cept scratch for these cars in any scale.
I do have thirty or so Ye’ Old Huff & Puff reefers to assemble, if your familer with the HO scale Silver Streak line you’d appreciate these in S. I perfer the wood kits as they can be easily modified in the construction stage to more accurectly portray the era of 1926, details can always be updated to todays standards.
If you mean #12 in the first 1-of-5,000 series it’s a New York Central car. I f you search the “Fallen Flags” web site (http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc.html), you will probably find it in there somewhere.
The K-8 set was followed by a re-release of the individual kits K-5, K-6, and K-7 with the new roof. These kits came in a more glossy, blue box with gold print (the older had a blue box with white print, or yellow, or amber box). K-8 was first released as kit K-S (you can still find them on eBay at a hefty price).
In the '50 when I was a “teenager”, I built an HO scale Payroll car, possibly an Ambroid kit. It had a walkway under roof for half the length of the car on one side from one end to another entrance door in the middle of the car. I am looking for some pictures or drawings of that car to scratch-build and add to my current N scale layout. My old HO car got lost somewhere in the many moves while in the service.
If all else fails, I guess I could kit-bash a box car, and some doors and windows with bars and let it go at that, but I would like to be as close to prototype as possible.
If anyone has pix or drawings they could share, I’d appreciate it very much and thanks in advance for any tips or help provided.