Posts Tagged ‘American model trains’

Ahh Lionel Trains…who hasn’t heard of them?  Lionel model trains were masters of the model train world in this country until the 1950’s.  If you grew up in the postwar period and you saw a model train setup at a store, without fail it was a Lionel model train setup. Around Christmas the local hardware store would put one up and watch as it drew us all in like metal shavings to a magnet. Challengers like Bachmann and financial woes have long since undone Lionel’s supremacy, but the brand still carries a lot of its former cachet. Here’s the story why:

It’s every thing to do with the O gauge:  Part of the explanation why Lionel fell from power in the post World War II era can be explained by the scale of its trains. Lionel trains were usually in O gauge, but with the expansion of model training in the 50’s more and more middle class model train hobbyists began to purchase trains for smaller spaces.  Real world trains are only 48 times the size of O scale model trains.  This was simply too great of a space requirement, so fans turned to HO scale which only required a 4’ x 8’ space.  Lionel’s failure to stay in tune with changing times is what cost it and what makes its odd scale a real draw for enthusiasts these days.

Lionel calls up long lost recollections:  Because Lionel has survived for so long and was so popular in yesteryear it is one of the favorites of collectors. We cannot under estimate the nostalgia that Lionel inspires. These are, after all, the hobby trains they were raised on or would like to have grown up on. Lionel’s trains seem never to break and so they’ve survived its lean years time capsulled in craft and second hand stores.

You’ll find no lack of manuals and news items on Lionel:  Lionel’s got its own little subset of devoted enthusiasts including the rocker Neil Young. There are two types of books on Lionel.  First, there are books that are specifically focused on to getting you started with model training using Lionel O gauge trains.  Second, there are several books that focus on the many repackagings of Lionel trains from the early days to the present.

Finally, Lionel is popular because they just made good trains:  Ahh, the engineering of Lionel trains!  Larger than most other trains, they are ideal for detailing and decaling and weathering. The size of Lionel trains make it a favorite among people who love to paint and detail model trains. Hobbyists also love that the trains are so big and so bold.  You simply can’t miss a Lionel train.

For the reasons that I have mentioned above, it is unlikely that Lionel O gauge trains will fall out of favor any time soon. It’s hard to contemplate the model train world without Lionel. Lionel never disappoints.

Here is more information on Toy Model Trains. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.

Technorati Tags: American model trains, Lionel, Lionel electric trains, Lionel O guage Trains, model trains, toy model trains, toy trains

Boys and girls in this day and age are a lot more involved in updating their face book information than in actually sticking their faces into a book.    If it doesn’t connect to the power grid and add to the monthly electrical cost, lots of boys and girls are just not that into it.  Multi-tasking seems to be the flavor of the day, so long as none of the tasks involve anything remotely significant.  Even though they consider history to be what happened last week, it’s still important to find ways to get them involved with it.  It’s not enough to know that there were some guys named Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Benjamin who now have their faces on our money.  If we’re going to remain a successful democracy we really need to instill some of our vibrant history to them.  So how can we defuse their resistance to learning about the dead bones of the past? There are lots of ways, but one particularly good way is through model trains.  Yes.  Yeah, historic model trains carry a beautiful history with them but don’t burden us with feeling that we are being educated.  Here’s how to pass on our traditions with model locomotives:

Use locomotives as a subtle vehicle for the past:

Try to make your track plan time and place specific. Imagine a track design that is set during Reconstruction in the American Southwest.  You can feign ignorance and get your boys and girls to “help” you figure out what would make for correct scenic details to your setup.  Imagine stringing up a long row of telegraph poles next to your track to depict the communications system of the time.  Or they might create a vibrant town near the tracks to represent the boom cities that were the winners in the railroad speculation game.  Maybe even have a few washed out prospectors still panning for gold in the nearby stream.

Historic toy locomotives are also a good alternative to the usual diorama or scale model:  

You might also manage to talk your youngster’s history teacher into allowing him to bring in a historic toy locomotive lay out in place of the usual boring diorama.  A static diorama really can’t compete with the dynamic movement of a historic model locomotive layout.  Just imagine, for example, adding a model train display to your youngster’s essay on Jesse James.  As your period specific locomotive rounds the curve there are Jesse and his whole gang just waiting to attack and continue his wrong headed crusade.  It’s sure to be a success!

Visit Historic locomotive Locales:  

There are also a few toy train museums and other locomotive related historic sites where you can see historic toy locomotives and some real trains as well.  If your local historic locomotive site doesn’t have toy trains consider suggesting they incorporate some to the curator or manager of the site.  Some rolling exhibits may come around as well. Just keep your ears pricked and you are sure to come across one sooner or later.

Whatever you decide to do, you will find that toy trains are a door to the past even if you don’t explicitly use them as such.  Even if you just do model training without even considering the educational possibilities you will inevitably instill a greater sense of historical knowledge simply by handling these little mechanical doorways to the past.  

Here is more information on Model Steam Trains. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.

Technorati Tags: American model trains, historic model trains, model steam trains, model trains, school history projects

Pop quiz:  what are the three most widely recognized American toy trains manufacturers? I bet you’ll remember them when I tell you.  They are: “Lionel, American Flyer and Bachmann Trains”. Bachmann’s American also. And you might have thought that American Flyer was just a line of trains and not a train maker, but it used to be both.  Here’s other interesting facts about these American model train makers that you might find interesting:

Lionel Trains:  

Lionel was perhaps the gold standard of model train makers in your father’s day. Lionel’s great marketing allowed it to outrun the competition. One strategy Lionel deployed was intermixing model trains with Christmas traditions by putting out images of train tracks around Christmas trees.  Their O scale trains which were one 48^th the size of actual locomotives ruled the roast up until the 1950’s when HO scale trains started to take over the market. Starting in the 60’s Lionel went through several ups in downs but is still around. Lionel O gauge is back and as hot as ever. Their great trains are well loved by all.

American Flyer:  

We mostly recognize American Flyer trains as a line of trains now, but they were their own manufacturer until 1966 when they were bought out by Lionel. American Flyer was born in Chicago around 1900.  They were bought out by A C Gilbert who also popularized the famous “erector sets” of the early 20^thcentury. American Flyer was the most robust national competitor to Lionel and its trains are perhaps the most popular collectible trains to this day. After World War II the company slowly failed as its trains switched to S scale.  When Lionel bought American Flyer in 1966, they kept and refurbished much of the equipment.  Lionel’s newly produced American Flyer trains are a top seller since the turn of the millennium.

Bachmann Industries:  

This is actually the most venerable of the three model train makers, started way back in the 1830s but was the last of the three to enter the toy train business. Ancestors of the original founders of the company, the Carlisle’s and the Bachmann’s, are still on the company board, though the company is now based in China, not in Philadelphia. Bachmann rose up after WWII by marketing starter kits to a middle class audience.  Their success continues to this day and they are still one the leaders in HO model trains in the world.

We have never had more alternatives in model training.  The internet has really made the model training hobby into a buyer’s market. The internet makes it so you can now locate any gauge from almost any era of time.  The three American classics that I just mentioned can now be fully experienced for what they are: American jewels.

Here is more information on Toy Model Trains. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.

Technorati Tags: American Flyer, American Flyer model trains, American Flyer toy trains, American model trains, Bachmann Model Trains, Bachmann toy trains, history of American mo, history of model trains, Lionel, Lionel toy trains, Lionel trains, model train history, toy model trains