Model Engineering Works

MEW is Model Engineering Works. It was started by Dick Wheeler of Monrovia, CA. Dick was a scale modeler from early on and had an extensive line of HO parts. He started with OO in the early 40's. Later on he started collecting SG, but that wasn't quite good enough. He realized the need for wheels and other parts and began making them available. He was a pioneer trying to make SG "scale".... though not many people followed! He introduced a brass 7/16" scale model of a Colorado Midland 4-6-0 in the mid 60's. While the loco is beautiful, it didn't d much for the average tinplate collector. The trolley, like I said, was introduced in the mid 50's. It was imported from Japan (as was the 4-6-0) and is a good representation of the original. There are differences like the Jap style motor, the frame being held together with little screws as opposed to tab & slot construction like the Lionel. All in all, they are neat pieces.