Electric Model Train History

Cowen designed his first train the electric express not as a toy but as an eye catching display for toy stores.

Electric model train history. Electric trains are also made in s gauge and ho gauge. An electric locomotive uses electric motors to drive the wheels. Ebay carries a range of model trains to suit the specific interests of any train hobbyist including supplies for any scale you may be looking for z scale n. From the 1940s to the 1960s electric and diesel trains replaced steam power in many countries.

By the 1930s they had become very popular. But his talents as an engineer and salesman soon put lionel ahead of its competitors. One reason for such success was that lionel trains were more realistic than all the. As technology advanced model train kits became more realistic.

For 120 years lionel trains has captured the hearts and stirred the imaginations of young and old. Electric trains appeared around the start of the 20th century but these were crude likenesses. The company began by making small electric motors to power electric trains but shortly after world war i became the biggest name in model train making. Lionel s electric train sets come in various sizes and scales.

Plastic takes over as the primary material used to produce model trains. Model trains today are more realistic in addition to being much more technologically advanced. Lionel s electric trains are very detailed and come with a lot of unique features like detailed sounds smoke and lights. The earliest model railway s were the carpet railways in the 1840s.

There is a clear split between scale model railroading for adults and toy trains sold to children. Early 1900s by joshua lionel cohen produced the most legendary trains of all. Engineers developed the first electric locomotives in the late 19th century. Ever improving electric motor technology and manufacturing techniques lead to the introduction of n scale trains about half the size of ho trains.

The first mass market model train sets were invented by a german company called marklin in 1891 and by the early 1950s model trains were the number one most popular toy for boys in the united states. The history of model trains stretches back nearly 150 years almost as old as the railroad industry itself. The first models were not constructed to any one scale or standard as were more like toys without any way to have different trains working together. Our most popular brand is our ready to run sets also knows as o gauge.