Figure 1.--This boy clearly got a nice electric train for Christmas. We are guessing the family Christmas tree is in a different room. Unfortunately the snapshot is undated, but could be from the 1910s or 20s. We suspect that the photograph was probably taken in the early- or mid-1920s, both because the train looks rather modern and the boy is wearing light-colored rather than black long stockings with his knickers. Note the classic ???? furniture.

Clockwork locomotives were soon superseded by electrically powered locomotives. Cowen "Electric Express" ran on batteries. This limited the operaion of the train and also made them very expensive. Cowen worked to change this and to make his Lionel trains more accessible to the public. A major step was the transformer. This allowed the rains to run safely on household current that was appearring in more and more city homes. The first electric trains ran on a two teack DC current. These early train sets needed complicated wiring for circular operation. And boys wanted circular operation, not just a straight line. Cowen invented an three-track AC system that could be used for cirular set up, including complicated set ups with more than one train. The trains operated by supplying low voltage alternating current to the rails, with electrical pickups on the locomotive. These electric toy trains could run endlessly when the current was turned on, and the voltage varied at the transformer by which the household voltage was stepped down to a safe level, and the speed of the locomotive adjusted in acccord with the voltage level selected. Talk about advancement! The toy train had truly arrived and the American boy was captivated. Now, well over century later, the toy train manufacturers are still at it. Iterestingly, the basics haven't changed, but the detail and degree of realism have.

Created: 9:22 PM 6/4/2011
Last updated: 9:22 PM 6/4/2011