Wm. K. Walthers

Background

Wm. K. Walthers, Inc., was officially founded in Milwaukee in 1932, though its roots trace to when seven-year-old William K. Walthers received a wind-up toy train for Christmas. He built an attic layout of scratch-built creations and wrote articles on train control and signaling systems. Requests from other modelers led him to manufacture those items, and his first ad in the May issue of The Model Maker offered a 24-page, 15¢ catalog listing rail, couplers, and electrical supplies. First-year sales exceeded US$500.00, and by 1935 the catalog had grown to over 80 pages.

Within five years, Walthers moved to larger quarters on Erie Street, where everything from milled wood parts to metal castings to decals was made in-house. In 1937, a new line in HO Scale appeared in the catalog. Bill brought operating layouts to the 1939 World's Fair, boosting the hobby.

After Bill retired in 1958, his son Bruce took over. In 1960, Walthers became a full-line distributor of other manufacturers' products while expanding its own lines. By the early 1970s, Bruce's son Phil had joined the company.

Under Phil, the company expanded and diversified, establishing the Walthers Importing Division and becoming exclusive North American distributor for several European brands. The manufacturing plant was modernized. Code 83 track was introduced in 1985, and the Cornerstone Series buildings debuted in 1990.

The Train Line Deluxe Sets and locomotives launched in 1994. In 2005, Walthers purchased Life-Like from Lifoam Industries, acquiring the Proto lines that became the backbone of its locomotive and rolling stock segments. The Proto 2000 line enabled full passenger train subscription sets made entirely in-house.