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Trains were big, oweful, and noisy. All characteristics which attracted the interest of boys. Most of the children interested in model railroads were boys. Lionel in the United States became famous for building electric toy trains. I think
this became a popular passtime for boys (of all ages) during the 1920s. I remember being fascinated by the mosel train set by my father and brother. They had a wonderful set. I was a little to young to work on it myself. One of the problems with model railroading is that it requires a good bit of permanent space. So beyond the cost of the trains and track, you had to hve a house that was big enough to set aside a space for the train set ups. British boys were keen on "train spotting"--identifying individual locomotives. Toy trains were also very popular in Germany. We are less sure about France and Italy.
Trains were big, oweful, and noisy. All characteristics which attracted the interest of boys. Most of the children interested in model railroads were boys.
Lionel in the United States became famous for building electric toy trains. A British reader tells us that the train set in the Englisg picture was manutactured by the Tri-ang company (figure 1). He can tell from looking at the molded raiway track. This company started making train sets in the early 1950s in Hertfordshire. They used plastic to mold the carriage and engine bodies. They also had two tracks to carry the electricity. The track was grey molded plastic but later they manufactured more life like track. The rival Company was the Mecanno Toy Company in Liverpool. They used tin plate to make their feight cars and die cast metal for the engines.The trade name was Hornby 00 model trains.
It was widely believed that Hornby trains were the better make. Our British reader writes, "Mine was the Tri-ang and I have no doult that this was the better model railway set.
Both companies eventually merged and then restructured and the Hornby name survived but the model railways were the Triang models. The way you could tell was the couplings to attach the coarriages to each other. Noe the Hornby train sets are manufactured in China but still cost alot!" The manufacterers of the Triang trains were toy makers called The Lines Brothers. Around 1962 they produced a book called The First Ten Years. It was aimed at the school boy model railwayer and told an inspiring story of how they set up business and used the new plastic developed in the 1940's.
We do not know when the first toy trains appeared. We would guess probanly the 1830s, certainly by the 1840s. We would guess they first appeared in Britain. We do not have any photographic images of early toy trains. The earliest image we have found at thos time is an American boy, probably in the 1870s. As far as we know all the early toys wee locomotioves, perhaps with a coupled car or two. We are nmot sure when the fitst train set complete with tracks appeared. I think this became a popular passtime for boys (of all ages) during the 1920s. I remember being fascinated by the mosel train set by my father and brother. They had a wonderful set. I was a little to young to work on it myself. Model railroading was still very popular in America during the 1950s, but began to decline during the 60s. I think about the same timeline was the case in Britain. I still see modeltrain stores in the malls in america, but the customers seem more adults than boys. A reader writes, "I wonder how many boys of the modern computer generation would have been content to pushing a toy train around a track!"
One of the problems with model railroading is that it requires a good bit of permanent space. So beyond the cost of the trains and track, you had to have a house that was big enough to set aside a space for the train set ups.
We have only limited information about model railroads in various countries. I know that model railroading was immensly popular in America. I had a toy trailroad in the United States during the late 1940s and early 50s. Mine was a Lionel. I absolutely loved it. My dad and I worked togerher on it. Virtually every boy wanted a model railroad setup. British boys were also keen railroads. Quite a number of middleclass boys had model railroads. A toy train even figures in a famouus British children's book, The Railway Children. There is even an activityb in England known as "train spotting"--identifying individual locomotives. I believe toy trains were also very popular in Germany, but I have no actual information on thus. Hopefully ourvGerman readers will providevus some information here. The militarization of the German economy by the NAZIs in the 1930s probably affected the production of electrical trains. This would of course impaired thee popularity or at least children's access to them. By thev time the German economy began to recover from the War, the popularity of trains had begun to wain. We are less sure about how popular model railroafs were in France and Italy.
A HBC reader in England tells us about his nephew who is a model train enthusiast. "Then there is Our Danial. He likes model railways. Has a model railway that he is modelling with scenary and rolling stock of the period he is collecting. He also does running trains for real. He is a member of a Steam Railway preservation society. They kitted him out in a period uniform and he collects tickets rides the trains and currently he is in the plate laying gang fixing the rails. Pointing brick work etc. There are pictures of him doing all these tasks. He is also good at getting his uncle to buy him stuff for his railway. Who said pick what every you want at christmas thinging ones wallet would be 30 pounds
lighter shock and horrow when I found out how much a toy locomotive costs these days. Darn it George Stephenson built a real one in 1825 for the 2002 outlay!"
The inspiration for model railroading is of course real railroads. Thesec railroads were the high tech vehicles of the 19th abd early 20th century. They were big, powerful, and noisy--all characteristics thatv appeal to boys. They were also of great economuc importance and played a major role in history, both in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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