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Roundhouse has been dedicated to providing model railroaders with trains and accessories of the highest excellence for nearly seventy years. And with its emphasis on exact detail and realism in its models, it comes as no surprise that Roundhouse has its origins in Hollywood.
It all began as a hobby store on Catalina Street in Hollywood called The Roundhouse, which was started in 1938 by a pair of musicians named Perry Botkin and Gerald Joyce, who were members of Bing Crosby's big band. Their day jobs kept them too busy to manage the store, and The Roundhouse eventually fell into the hands of two employees, C.H. Menteer and C.A. Voelckel, who launched the company's first kit in 1939. The original 0-6-0 Switcher offered a hand-poured cast lead alloy boiler, a brass plate cab and lathe-turned wheels.
At this time, The Roundhouse was not a financial success, but it did grow, at least until World War II forced the store to suspend operation while Menteer and Voelckel, experienced tool-and-die specialists, poured their efforts into war production. After the war, the two men added two more partners and extra capital, and re-entered the model railroad industry as Model Die Casting, Inc., retaining the trademarked Roundhouse name for their product line.
Model Die Casting (also known as MDC) became a success, spurring three successive moves into progressively larger facilities until Menteer and Voelckel found a perfect spot in Hawthorne, California, where MDC remained for almost forty years. In 1956, one year after moving to Hawthorne, Menteer became MDC's sole owner and continued to branch out, as plastic body shells replaced the old die-cast kits and more steam locomotives were produced. Progress continued through the 1970's with such kits as the highly detailed 2-Truck and 3-Truck Shays, a Roundhouse perennial.
In 1979, MDC introduced an all-new N-scale line with ready-to-run and kit versions of in-demand models like the Thrall Hi-Side Gondola and the Hi-Cube Single-Door Boxcar. The Roundhouse tradition of crafting trains with only the finest materials and care continued with such well-received items as the HO RS-3 diesel locomotive in 1985, the ready-to-run HO 2-Truck Shay in 2000 and the first N-scale steamer, a 2-8-0, in 2001.
After 38 years in Hawthorne, MDC moved to Carson City, Nevada in 1993. In 2004, Horizon Hobby, Inc. purchased Model Die Casting and put its stamp on the Roundhouse line, emphasizing the pre-World War II age of railroading, while continuing to offer modelers, collectors and train enthusiasts high-quality HO products at affordable values. Also in 2004, Roundhouse moved into a state-of-the-art new facility in Carson, California, where the company resides today.
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