Recently I had an Email from a reader (who did some solid investigative work to find me) with a question about the Hobbytown HO RDC and the Schorr OO RDC. They had the HO model and were surprised to see that the OO model was the same.

Made by the same maker in Japan?

In the previous version of this website there used to be an article on this curious topic; that material went into my OO book, along with the comparison photos.

But the short version is that the same maker in Japan, Kyodo, made both models. The OO model was imported first, by Fred Schorr (more on Schorr here), and subsequently the HO version was done by Hobbytown. I own examples of both (the HO one purchased by mistake, but kept because the comparison is so interesting). Hobbytown explored the idea of importing brass models to use with their drive units, confirmed by advertising in the magazines when they brought out this model.

I also mentioned the Schorr version in a long series that ran in the old site, which followed OO history by the year. In the document where I saved that content, we read this:

Finally, in September of 1955 we get the big news of the year, the first advertisement for the Schorr RDC cars. This was covered more fully in the November issue of RMC in Dispatcher’s Report. The editor’s note that “…there is a constant parade of new products being made in all gauges. OO gauge fans are now receiving delivery of full-scale Budd rail cars.” And in December we see this item. “OO gauge has a flock of new kits, these being released by Fred E. Schorr, Jr. His Budd RDC-1 now has a companion RDC-2 and 3. These are all brass with clean and clear detail and power trucks are available. The kits are in the custom built class.”

The Hobbytown version appears to have been introduced in 1957. The first ad I found is in the January 1957 issue of RMC, seen below.

Two fine models!

As you can see in the comparison photo, they are basically the same model, made exactly the same way, just one is in OO and the other in HO. It is a full-size model in both scales, handsome in either scale. Certainly one to keep your eyes peeled for.