Lobaugh: Rollin ran a screw machine company in south San Francisco. When things slowed down, rather than laying off his employees, he put them to work making O Scale kits. His springboard was the 17/64 "Pratt" Harriman 0-6-0, and all subsequent steamers had generally the same construction.
Frames were cast "red art bronze", machined, drilled, and tapped if you paid extra. Drivers were cast iron, quartered with Woodruff keys, not unlike the real thing. Boilers were spun brass, and quite heavy compared to today's imports. The quality built in to these models was, in my opinion, easily comparable to the contemporary Lionel 700 series.
