Truly among the most curious of products to carry Athearn's name are the series of O-scale (1/48th) Old West themed kits. A companion series are the Big Top circus themed kits, see webpage on this site for information. These Athearn releases are thought to date to the late 1950s, perhaps 1958. To date, I've never located reference to this series or related circus kits in model railroad magazines contemporary to the products being available. Both "Greenberg's Guide to Athearn Trains" by Dallas Mallerich and Tim Blaisdell & Ed Urmston, Sr.'s "Standard Guide to Athearn Model Trains" touch upon these kits. Mallerich's 1987 book suggests the Old West series consisted of only a pair of kits sold in the early 1960s (Stage Coach and Medicine Wagon). You'll find six kits listed in 1998's "Standard Guide to Athearn Model Trains."

For the Athearn enthusiast, tracking down a sample of one of these kits is a must to include in a collection. Select kits include a full mural on the box lid cover with Athearn's name presented in the upper left; other kits have the familiar light blue band occupying the left third of the box lid with Athearn's name presented in a dark blue rectangle. The blue box versions are probably the most interesting to the model train collector, as these packages mirror train releases of the time.