Life-Like Products LLC (now Life-Like Toy and Hobby division
of Wm. K. Walthers) is a manufacturer of model railroad products and
is based in Baltimore, Maryland.
It was founded in the 1950's by a company that pioneered extruded foam ice chests under the
Lifoam trademark. Because ice chests are a summer seasonal item, the company needed a way to keep
the factory operating year round. As model railroading was becoming popular in the post-war years,
they saw this as an opportunity and so manufactured extruded foam tunnels for model trains. Over the
years, Life-Like expanded into other scenery items, finally manufacturing rolling stock beginning
in the late 1960's.
In early 1970, Life-Like purchased
Varney Inc. and began to produce the former Varney line as its own. They
released a GG-1 in HO that was from original Varney molds in 1970. Another Varney survivor that did not
remain for long in the Life-Like line was an SW7 switcher. All Life-Like Streamlined Passenger cars were
graduates from the Varney train line.
During the early '70s, Life-Like also imported a
number of locos from Yugoslovia. The Alco center-cab Century 415 switcher and 628 diesel, as
well as an Alco RS-11 diesel were all
Yugoslovian-made examples. The RS-11 was another Varney carryover.
1970 also saw the release of a Teakettle 0-4-0 Steam Engine in
Baltimore & Ohio road name. The Life-Like 1970 catalog included a 4-6-0 Casey Jones Steam Engine
in both Denver & Rio Grande and Pennsylvania livery. It did not last long in the Life-Like line however.
In 1972 they came out with an A-3 Shunter 0-4-0 Steam Engine in New York Central,
Pennsylvania Railroad, and Southern Pacific livery, that was also produced in
Yugoslovia for Life-Like. In 1973 they released an HO gauge 'Little Joe' Dockside 0-4-0
Switcher Steam Engine in Baltimore & Ohio,
Pennsylvania Railroad, and Santa Fe RR livery that came from original Varney tooling.
At the 1973 Chicago Hobby Show Life-Like
unveiled a 4-6-2 Pacific steam loco & tender in Atlantic Coast Line road name. It was follwed up with
Baltimore & Ohio, Missouri Pacific, and Western Maryland versions. The 1970's also saw the release of an
F7-A diesel, that had a long life span in the product line, with over 24 different road names being produced.
An F-9A followed shortly thereafter. Life-Like's HO scale GP38-2 diesel arrived in 1976. Through
2005 it was produced in 18 different road names. It came in both high nose and low nose versions.
In the 1980's Life-Like released a 2-8-2 Mikado Steam Engine, a 2-6-0 steam engine,
an 0-4-0 Steam Engine with Tender, an FP45 locomotive made in Yugoslovia by Mehano, and an EMD F40PH Diesel.
They liked to pair and package both an engine and caboose, painted in a single road name, together in sets.
Life-Like was well known and highly regarded by hobbyists for its
Proto 1000 and Proto 2000 lines of HO trains. Life-Like locomotives and
freight cars were said to be the best detailed for their price class, and even older,
used examples are in high demand by hobbyists. Parts are readily available as the earlier drive
systems are clones of Athearn drives and later drives are Kato clones.
Some early Proto examples such as the EMD BL2, GP18, and GP20, and Alco FA-2 were
plagued with the
axle gears cracking, causing the unit to run erratically or with loud "crunching" sounds. The company
honored its lifetime warranty on these units; one needed only to contact the company to obtain free
replacements. With Walthers' purchase of the company, the warranty continues to be honored and as
before, contacting their Customer Service Department will yield free replacements.
Life-Like began marketing a number of N scale items in the early 1970's that were
made by Mehanotehnika.
This included an SD45 diesel, GP40 diesel, and 0-6-0T steam switcher. In the 1980's, Life-like offered an
Alco FA2 also made by Mehanotehnika. 1989 brought their GP38-2 (made in China). The F7A followed in 1990.
These two locomotives started Life-Like's new line of locomotives. A new line of freight cars was
also introduced.
Starting in 1996, Life-Like began releasing HO scale freight cars under the Proto 2000 banner.
These cars featured the same level of detailing as their locomotive counterparts. Complaints were
received from various modelers as the small detail parts were easily lost or broken, so Life-Like
offered the cars in kit or ready-to-run form.
The Proto 1000 line originally was created to compete with Athearn products at a lower price
point. The detailing was not as extensive as with the Proto 2000 line (as an example, details
like grab irons or uncoupling bars were not included) so as to provide a model that was more
resilient to handling by, and more attractive at lower price to, less-experienced modelers.
However, the line included the proven smooth Proto 2000 drive, and the models would run as
well as their better detailed, more expensive Proto 2000 cousins. Models released under
the Proto 1000 line include the Budd RDC-1, Alco RS2, and EMD F3 in A and B configuration.
The Canadian distributor for Life-Like products, Canadian Hobbycraft, saw a missing segment
in the HO scale market for Canadian model prototypes. Working with Life-Like, models like the
Fairbanks-Morse C-liner(CFA-16-4) and MLW RS-10 and RS-18 were made available. Oddly, these
models feature the fine detail of Proto 2000 models, but were badged under the Proto 1000 line.
With a few modifications these models were offered in the US market with US roadnames, and
in the case of the RS-10/RS-18, the tooling modified to produce the US version, the Alco RS11.
Life-Like took the tooling for three of their former train-set line freight cars and upgraded
the tracking capabilities to match Proto 2000 standards. Along with Kadee-compatible couplers and
upgraded paint schemes, these inexpensive cars are popular with model railroaders for their smooth
tracking and low price point.
Life-Like also produced an extensive line of hobby kits. In 2005, the company,
now known as Lifoam Industries, LLC, decided to concentrate on their
core products of extruded foam and sold their model railroad operations to Wm. K. Walthers.
