Quality Craft Models was founded in 1965.  What started as an operation producing Wooden Craftsman Kits consisting of buildings, rolling stock, etc., in gauges from N to O, has grown into a major manufacturer of ready-to-run plastic (and brass) "O" Gauge 2-Rail and 3-Rail models.

The first location for the business was an old, single story print shop located on Wheatley Avenue in Northumberland, PA.  Joe Hayter, current Owner and President of the Company, started in 1969.  In 1974, a newer, more modern facility was constructed near the old print shop.

The first plastic "O" gauge model produced was the 2-Bay Hopper in 1980.
Originally it was offered in 2-Rail only, but in the early to mid 1980's the hunger for 3-Rail models was answered by offering a choice of 2-Rail or 3-Rail.

With the expense involved to have the tooling completed for plastic injection
molding, it was decided to get the most out of one mold.  Therefore, the 2-Bay Hopper tooling was made in such a way that the side and ends could be interchangeable allowing us to produce a 2-Bay Offset or 2-Bay Ribbed car with regular, peaked or rounded ends.   The tooling and injection molding was completed by Train Miniature, located in Chicago.  Thus, Weaver Models, a division of Quality Craft Models, was born!

Next to join the Weaver Ultra Line Family was our 40' and 50' Tank Cars.
Again, with careful planning and the removal / addition of sections to the mold, we could inject either size tank from the same mold.  Train Miniature also produced this mold for Weaver.  Keeping with the times, our tanks were
offered in 2-Rail and 3-Rail from the start.

The 50' Rail Box and 4-Bay Centerflows were soon to follow.  Poly-X-Co., out of Philipsburg, NJ did the mold work on these two projects.

Soon after, Wilhold Company, located in Sunbury, (almost in our back yard)
contacted us for our tooling needs.  They did a fine job on our next release, the PS-2 Covered Hopper. 

Then a former Wilhold employee decided to go into business for himself.  Being located only 1/2 mile North on the same road from our plant was just too convenient to pass up.  Besides, he was very skilled at his trade.  The 3-Bay Coal Car was his first project for Weaver.   This formed a tooling relationship that still exists today.

The early to mid 80's also welcomed our first plastic "O" gauge diesel project - the Alco RS-3 Diesel Locomotive. 

In 1990 the connections were made with Samhongsa to enter into the brass "O" Scale Market.  Our first project was the PRR M1a 4-8-2.  Approximately 800 to 900 of this model was produced, only about 50 being in 2-Rail.  With the lack of other "O" gauge manufacturers, we immediately sold every one.  From 1990 to 1993 numerous brass and plastic model projects were successfully marketed by this team.

The Samhongsa / Weaver Team also ventured into the plastic market.  Numerous plastic diesels were produced:   SD40-2, C628, C630, Baldwin Sharks and E8's.  At that time, we were releasing 1,000 to 1,500 diesels per style.  About 100 to 200 were offered in 2-Rail, the remainder in 3-Rail.

QSI Sound was introduced into the models in late '91 / early '92.

In the mid 1990's, Samhongsa made a strong connection with Mike's Train
House.  From then on, they would no longer produce anything in "O" scale for anyone other than Mike's.

It was not until 1997 that we located a brass builder to fill the shoes of
Samhongsa, resulting in the February '98 release of our brass Union Pacific
49er 4-6-2.  By this time, numerous other manufacturers jumped on the "O"
Gauge "Band Wagon", resulting in a variety of choices for the discriminat-
ing modeler.  Our lower production quantities of 300 3-Rail (225 with sound
and 75 without sound) and 50 2-Rail was evidence of this.  From then on, we
have been releasing two to three brass releases each year.

It was later '92 / early '93 when we moved into our state of art facility located
along Route 11 approximately 1 mile North of Northumberland.  That was
also the year Joe officially took the "reins" of Weaver Models by purchasing
the business.

1995 was also a significant landmark for Weaver as it was the first time we
officially published a "Ultra Line" catalog featuring our models produced in-house.  Prior to that, the few catalogs released featured one or two brass, Gold Edition, imported models.  What started out as a eight page catalog produced one time per year has grown into a 28+ page  semi-annual release.