In 2005 the parent company, Lifoam Industries, LLC, chose to concentrate on their core products and sold their model railroad operations to hobby distributor Wm.

America's entry into World War II put a halt to their production as they could no longer get materials like balsa wood and rubber bands to produce their kits.

[2] Following World War II, the focus of the business shifted from manufacturing to distribution and Kramer Brothers Hobbies was created to sell items like model cars and fishing tackle.

[3] Realizing that hobbies had year-round appeal, versus toys that had seasonal sales spikes around the Christmas holiday, the Kramer brothers formed a silent partnership with Lou Glaser and his Revell injection-molded plastic model company in Venice, California.

The company's breakthrough came in 1953 when Revell offered a scale model kit of the USS Missouri, the battleship where the Japanese surrender that ended World War II was signed.

In 1973, Sol Kramer approached industrial engineer Wai Shing Ting to help produce a source of electric motors for his model trains.

At the same time, Life-Like upped its presence in N scale, moving away from down-market locomotives made for the firm by Mehano in Yugoslavia in the 1970s and beginning production at Sanda Kan with a higher quality line that also began with a BL2, followed by a GP38-2.

It wasn't until after Walther's purchase of Life-Like that the slot car and model railroad ranges were brought together in the High Iron and Burnin' Rubber Combination set.

[7] In 2005, the parent company Lifoam Industries, LLC, chose to concentrate on its core manufacturing business and sold the model railroad division to Walthers.