inc. makes scale models in n scale ho scale and o scale . the company is based in hillside new jersey united states . they produce a wide variety of locomotives rolling stock and vehicles . atlas is well known for their flex track and codes 55 80 83 and 100 track . atlas also makes compatible structures and bridges . history edit in 1924 stephan schaffan sr. founded the atlas tool company in newark new jersey . in 1933 his son stephan schaffan jr. came to work for his father at the age of sixteen . steve jr. built model airplanes as a hobby and frequented a local hobby shop . being an enterprising young man he would often ask the owner if there was anything he could do to earn some extra spending money . tired of listening to his requests the hobby store owner threw some model railroad track parts his way and said here see if you can improve on this . in those days railroad modelers had to assemble and build everything from scratch . steve jr. created a switch kit which sold so well that the entire family worked on them in the basement at night while doing business as usual in the machine shop during the day . subsequently steve jr. engineered the stapling of rail to fiber track along with inventing the first practical rail joiner and pre assembled turnouts and flexible track . all of these products and more helped to popularize model railroading and assisted in the creation of a mass market hobby . the budding entrepreneur quickly outgrew the limitations of a basement and small garage operation . realizing they could actually make a living selling track and related products steve and his father had the first factory built in hillside new jersey at 413 florence avenue in 1947 . on september 30 1949 the atlas tool company was officially incorporated as a new jersey company . in 1985 steve was honored posthumously for his inventions by the model railroad industry association and was inducted into the model railroad industry hall of fame in baltimore maryland . in addition steve was nominated and entered into the national model railroad association pioneers of model railroading in 1995 . in the early 1990s the atlas tool company changed its name to atlas model railroad company inc. in 1997 atlas o llc was established as a separate business entity dedicated to producing multiple lines of o scale model railroad products including track freight cars locomotives and accessories . atlas o llc became a wholly owned subsidiary of atlas model railroad co. inc. effective january 1st 2012 . csx 2112 an emd gp38 built by atlas awaits to switch a grain silo in a rural virginia town . an emd gp9 made by atlas on the south hampton roads ntrak . external links edit www.atlasrr.com atlas company site atlaso.com atlas o site atlas 1970s ho scale trains resource details the 1970s atlas ho scale model train offerings . coordinates 40 42 07 n 74 14 01 w 40.7020 n 74.2335 w 40.7020 ; 74.2335 this united states manufacturing company related article is a stub . you can help wikipedia by expanding it . v t e this model rail related article is a stub . you can help wikipedia by expanding it . v t e retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title atlas model railroad & oldid 707564091 categories model railroad manufacturerscompanies based in union county new jerseyamerican brandsunited states manufacturing company stubsmodel rail stubshidden categories coordinates not on wikidataall stub articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutschportugu s edit links this page was last modified on 29 february 2016 at 16 05 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view