The History of Lionel Model Trains

The History of Lionel Model Trains

The History of Lionel Model Trains

Innovative marketing strategies have always been the underlying reason for the success of any company, and the history of Lionel Model Trains is no exception. Using the power of animated display, the first Lionel train was designed to attract window shopping New Yorkers.

The story first begins, however, when Joshua Lionel Cowen, in 1901 placed a small motor under a model of a railcar, run by a battery on thirty inches of track, and this little experiment resulted in the creation of the first Lionel model train. Since then more than millions of train sets have been sold, and an even more impressive fact is that Lionel manufactures and sells hundreds of miles of track each year!

It is a well known fact that the name Lionel has been as closely associated to Christmas as Santa Clause himself. These magnificent trains have been chugging around Christmas trees and triggering the imaginations of children since the early 1900's, and continue to do so today.

The initial success of Lionel trains had as much to do with brilliant advertising campaigns, as it did with the companies determined commitment to promoting the highest level of quality and attention to detail that placed it's product in a position above all others.

Although the other model train manufacturers got on the band wagon, and began producing three-rail track, 2 1/8" gauge tracks, this track size was actually the innovative idea of Joshua Lionel Cowen. Through this original idea, his new track was known as "standard gauge", and was the start of Lionel's domination of the toy train industry.

During the 1920's, this time period was known as the "Golden Age Of Toy Trains", and Lionel was the ruler of the model train world, producing some of the most beautiful trains that were available. It was during this period that quality rose to a higher level and Lionel became well known for it's rolling stock and locomotives precise detail.

Lionel took an entirely different path during World War Two and unselfishly discontinued it's toy production, and focused all of it's efforts on the production of items for national defense.

In the upcoming years Lionel experienced some downturns that were ultimately overcome, and today enjoys the unrivaled position of being among the top manufacturers of model trains.

An interesting and probably not well known fact is that Lionel sold the company to a group of investors in 1995 called Wellsprings L.L.C. of New York. One of those investors is the legendary rock star Neil Young, who has also been a passionate model railroader for many years. Along with his other contributions to Lionel, Young has been involved for a number of years in the creation of controls that make it easier for handicapped people to use model trains.

Given the timeless and valued history of Lionel model trains, it should be an easy choice to include this manufacturers trains as part your collection.

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