Posts Tagged ‘Lionel trains’

I know people collect lots of things.  Some hobbyists collect stamps, some hobbyists collect coins and some collect trading cards.  There’s something special about collecting classic toy trains though.  When you collect something that actually still does what it is supposed to in the world it is different than when you take that thing out of the world.  So it’s not like you are just staring at them in some book or on some wall.  You can get just as much satisfaction from them as when they were first bought.  Try doing that with your stamp collection!   

What are the hot collectible locomotives today?  Here’ the huge three:

Lionel trains:  

We have to begin with the huge tuna, Lionel locomotives.  Lionel train has been the longest lasting toy training obsession.  Lionel locomotives once dominated the model training community.  Baby boomers will remember the Lionel Holiday displays they saw as children. Lionel still has a quality that most toy locomotive manufacturers would kill for.  Famous folks like the rocker Neil Young and the actor Tom Hanks have been long time Lionel enthusiasts.  Lionel has a strong literature that helps support it.  Because Lionel was ruled in the 1950s and because the post War decade was the high point of model hobbying, it is no surprise that Lionel should be as prestigious as the brand is.. Lionel’s value is raised by the fact that it positioned itself out of range for most customers back in the 50’s, creating a scarcity that helps bouy its value even today.

American Flyers:  

The only model locomotive brand that can really give Lionel a run for its money is American Flyer.  Although Gilbert failed to usurp Lionel with his S gauge train in the 50’s, American Flyer trains are perhaps even more sought after today than Lionel’s historic locomotives.  Gilbert’s effort, however, made some of the most beloved locomotives around and collectors go absolutely ape doo doo over these vintage toy trains.  The fact that they are one of the few types of trains that run on S gauge, an in-between scale smaller than O but hugger than HO, only adds to the uniqueness of these locomotives.  They are so popular among collectors and fans that Lionel LLC, the current owner of the American Flyer patent, plans on releasing many of the most popular locomotives from this period.  Watch out for them.

Ives:  

If you actually want to get a locomotive that no one has try finding an old Ives train.  Ives was the third challenger in the Lionel versus American Flyer triumvirate.  An old Ives model train is a real find.  Most are in O scale just like Lionel but they are real collector’s items these days. 

Clock operated trains of the Victorian era:  

These toy trains from the very early period of toy training are really a discovery.  They don’t have the complicated detail that the Lionel and American Flyers would have after World War I.   These clock operated locomotives, however, really paint you a picture of how such trains were viewed before model training became so popular.  You can really make out the hand crafting on these simple wooden trains. They were clock operated because there was no electrical source yet.  And they were pricey back then.  They clearly had the children of the well off in mind.  These trains can really capture the imagination of another age.  In fact, you might say that model training came to us just like kindergarten.  Both were part of Germany’s obsessions with childrearing in the early 20^th century.

There is great joy in restoring one of these old model locomotives.  You could choose a far worse hobby.

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

Technorati Tags: American Flyer, American Flyers, collecting model trains, historic trains, Ives, Lionel, Lionel trains, model steam trains, vintage model railroads, vintage model trains

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

We love O model railroads and locomotives, there’s just no denying it? You can pick up the trains and really take a gander at them.  They’re not little trains; no one is going to carry one in his pocket.  You also can really make out the detail.  This is not one of those small little locomotives you need to go get your microscope for.  Don’t worry mom, your baby is not going to choke on any of the parts of this train.  Why do O trains just seem to come at us from some place deep in ourselves?  Here’s why:

Nostalgia: 

Baby boomers grew up with these trains and had their impressions ensconced into their minds even before they developed a notion of their own identities.  They’re the model trains from the holiday displays you remember as a boy.  They’re the o toy railroad that you wished you would wake up to on Christmas morning.  And they’re also likely to be the toy locomotives that you didn’t get because they were too expensive.  Because of this they are also the trains that remained forever in the realm of the wished for. Now that you have become a hobbyist again, they are the trains that are most likely to scratch that long festering itch.

Lionel:  

It was Lionel (now Lionel LLC) that popularized these trains.  Lionel is probably the representative model train making company in the United States.  They have survived more ups and downs than any other train maker and had more face lifts than Elizabeth Taylor’s had husbands. The reason why you associate toy trains with holiday is because of an advertising campaign invented by Lionel in the 1930’s.  It was these strategies that made them the kings of the model training world in the first half of the 1900’s.  It was mainly because Lionel started to corner themselves at the higher tier of the market that the prestigious train maker opened themselves up to usurpers.  By the Vietnam era when model training was at an all time low in terms of American participation, Lionel’s cheaper, littler sized fellow train makers drove it out of business. Now produced in China like most toy locomotive manufacturers, Lionel is ready to make a comeback.  The Lionel brand still retains a certain allure that other long standing train makers like Bachmann don’t.

Weathering and detailing are a breeze with O scale trains:  

Even though O gauge requires a lot more room than HO or N, its size also adds a great host of positives.  O scale model railroads are not as large as the German g scale that appeals to out-doorsy enthusiasts.  Real world trains are 48 times bigger than O gauge model locomotives.  It is a locomotive that is easy to pigment, decal and weather.  You don’t require incredibly fine motor skills so even the least coordinated of young people or most palsied of old folks can work with these locomotives.  Trust me, even when I’ve had one too many lattés and my mits are shaking like leaves in a storm I still have no problems with these locomotives.  Also, because of its dimensions, you can really take in the little aspects of these trains.  The O gauge human miniatures have discernable faces and the locomotives can be detailed to the point of making individual sleeper windows look open or closed. O gauges reputation is well deserved.

Hobbyists appreciate O gauge because of its full tradition:  

Mostly because of Lionel’s long history in American model training O scale is one of the favorite collector’s items.  Vintage Lionel locomotives of bygone eras consistently fetch good prices on e-bay and many toy locomotive enthusiasts like to collect Lionel locomotives from different decades so that they can have a sort of living history of the evolution of toy locomotives. 

But O scale is also a wonder in itself. It does take up more room than other smaller kinds of trains, but this drawback seems well worth it for most of us.  Lionel, because of its wonderful brand identification, is unlikely to fall to its debt troubles.  Even if all Lionel died, it is likely that someone would design a train of this scale.  Just ask the rocker Neal Young who loved O gauge locomotives so much that he was at one point part owner in Lionel and is still kept on an advisor to the company!

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

Technorati Tags: Lionel, Lionel trains, model train scale, O Model Railroad, o scale, O scale model railroad, o scale model trains