I am new to the hobby and would like to build a steam loco from a kit for ho.
I have seen one makers name mentioned but cannot locate them .
Round house
Round House was recently sold to Horizon Hobbies who has combined them with Athearn. They have promised to retain the name and continue the line, but it is not clear how much of it will be kept. It appears that there will be a gap in availablility, since the Roundhouse (also known as Model Die Casting) has been moved to California from Nevada. But it is reasonable to think that Horizon eill continue most if not all of the line else why buy it.
You might also want to consider Bowser - they make primarily kits for PRR locomotives, but also have some others.
Enjoy
Paul
As of right this second, Bowser is the only American company producing steam kits. Roundhouse was bought by Athearn, and they’re having a hard time inventorying everything. They’ve said that they will be re-releasing the Roundhouse steam kits (but not the rolling stock, which will be RTR only), but it might be years before we actually see the kits in stores. Bowser steam kits are first-rate, and their 20 different models cover MUCH more than the Pennsy. Their customer service and support is great.
They will release some MDC kits as Blue Box kits (unfortunately, they have released most as RTR). See Athearn’s 2005 Blue Box production schedule, the cars with item numbers in the 23000s appear to be former MDC cars.
http://www.athearn.com/Media/2005kits.pdf