Gruber Wagon Works Kit – N

The industrialized production of horse drawn wagons carriages began in the 1820’s and peaked around 1904 when there were over 5,500 active shops in the United States.  With introduction of motorized vehicles in the early 1900’s, most of these shops rapidly switched to the production of components for these vehicles by 1910.  Gruber Wagon Works was founded by Franklin H. Gruber in 1883 and, with help of his four sons, the business grew until the last major expansion in 1911.  Gruber Wagon Works, originally located in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, outlasted most of its competitors up until 1977 when it was relocated as a result of the Blue Marsh Lake Reservoir project.  Today it has been restored almost completely intact as a museum in Red Bridge Park, Berks County Pennsylvania.  To find out more about the Gruber Wagon Works Museum, please visit their website at: http://www.co.berks.pa.us.

This kit represents the Gruber Wagon Works as it was in 1904 at which point the power source for it’s internal pulley system was a Otto gasoline engine.  Though this Gruber Wagon Works kit does include a dock and ramps for loading wagons onto railcars, the prototype was never served by a railroad.  This kit includes an option for excluding this loading dock and includes longer ramps for lowering wagons from the second floor paint shop (the final stage of the production process) back down to ground level.  In case you were wondering… the paint shop is on the second floor because of the dust from the adjacent dirt road !  Should you wish to add buggies, wagons, carriages and other details to your completed model, please visit the Detail Parts and Shire Scenes sections of this web site to see dozens of detailing and vehicle items.  Finished model measures: 7¼”L x 6″W x 2¾”H.