Ho trains store model trains railroads Z Scale N Scale HO Scale OO Scale S Scale O Scale G trains Auction info
Ho Trains Store 1945-69 For Sale Used 1945-69 New 1945-69

1945-69

LIONEL POSTWAR X3464 ATSF OPERATING BOX CAR.. NICE

LIONEL POSTWAR X3464 ATSF OPERATING BOX CAR.. NICE

$28.00 15m
10, BA9S, T4W, 57, 182, 257, 363 Bulb Light Socket Fixture, 9S

10, BA9S, T4W, 57, 182, 257, 363 Bulb Light Socket Fixture, 9S

-
$0.99
$1.99
22m
LIONEL POSTWAR 3461 AUTOMATIC LUMBER DUMP CAR

LIONEL POSTWAR 3461 AUTOMATIC LUMBER DUMP CAR

$30.00 26m
432-Green ,  18 volt,  large head ,  screw type Bulbs,  3pc

432-Green , 18 volt, large head , screw type Bulbs, 3pc

$3.00 35m
LIONEL 6816 DOZER L N

LIONEL 6816 DOZER L N

11 $178.00 37m
LIONEL POSTWAR 6032 BLACK GONDOLA W  OB

LIONEL POSTWAR 6032 BLACK GONDOLA W OB

$18.00 46m
LIONEL 6816 DOZER L N (short hitch)

LIONEL 6816 DOZER L N (short hitch)

8 $247.50 48m
Lionel 151 Auto Semaphore   MINT Cello Window Box

Lionel 151 Auto Semaphore MINT Cello Window Box

$125.00 48m
#1449 -14 VOLT - SCREW BASE - SMALL GLOBE - CLEAR BULBS

#1449 -14 VOLT - SCREW BASE - SMALL GLOBE - CLEAR BULBS

$6.95 50m
LIONEL POSTWAR SCARCE 6562 NYC RED GONDOLA.. VERY CLEAN

LIONEL POSTWAR SCARCE 6562 NYC RED GONDOLA.. VERY CLEAN

$25.00 52m
Lionel Gateman #45N   145 Great Condition Metal

Lionel Gateman #45N 145 Great Condition Metal

1 $9.99 1h
LIONEL No. 2344 NEW YORK CENTRAL NYC F3 A-A ENGINE SET

LIONEL No. 2344 NEW YORK CENTRAL NYC F3 A-A ENGINE SET

$399.99 1h 1m
Nice Used Lionel 2338 Milwaukee Road Engine

Nice Used Lionel 2338 Milwaukee Road Engine

$199.00 1h 13m
LIONEL 2046W TENDER WITH WHISTLE SMALL BOX 1957 O

LIONEL 2046W TENDER WITH WHISTLE SMALL BOX 1957 O

$75.00 1h 14m
LIONEL POSTWAR 395 FLOODLIGHT TOWER..WORKS!!!

LIONEL POSTWAR 395 FLOODLIGHT TOWER..WORKS!!!

$35.00 1h 18m
NIB LIONEL TRAIN SEARCH LIGHT CAR  6-9302 1965 VINTAGE

NIB LIONEL TRAIN SEARCH LIGHT CAR 6-9302 1965 VINTAGE

4 $8.00 1h 44m
LIONEL POSTWAR FLAT CAR

LIONEL POSTWAR FLAT CAR

- $4.99 1h 44m
LIONEL POSTWAR ROCKET FUEL CAR 6463

LIONEL POSTWAR ROCKET FUEL CAR 6463

1 $19.99 1h 45m
LIONEL POSTWAR FRISCO BOX CAR 6014

LIONEL POSTWAR FRISCO BOX CAR 6014

- $4.99 1h 45m
LIONEL POSTWAR CRANE CAR 6560 AND 6119

LIONEL POSTWAR CRANE CAR 6560 AND 6119

1 $39.99 1h 45m
Lot of 7 Lionel Postwar Freight Cars and Cabooses NR

Lot of 7 Lionel Postwar Freight Cars and Cabooses NR

9 $72.99 1h 53m
LIONEL POSTWAR 153 AUTOMATIC BLOCK SIGNAL

LIONEL POSTWAR 153 AUTOMATIC BLOCK SIGNAL

$30.00 2h 7m
LIONEL O LEHIGH VALLEY MAROON HOPPER

LIONEL O LEHIGH VALLEY MAROON HOPPER

$14.00 2h 14m

Train news

  • TRAINS HISTORY

    Prehistory There have been models and toys of trains for as long as there have been real railways. Indeed some early models of locomotives were made first as sales promotional tools for the early railways, even if they later might have become playthings. During the Victorian period toy and model trains and locomotives fell into a number of categories there were the live steam engines, expensive and only for the wealthy, there were pull along trains in all shapes, sizes and materials, penny toys in lead and tin and latterly clockwork engines. The steam and clockwork engines might be intended to run on the floor, or a simple track assembled by the user, but there was no real sense of system about these trains. Most of these toys were made in Germany. Britain and France tended only to make the better class of steam engine. There was an indigenous US industry, with considerable use of cast iron rather than tinplate. The Real Beginning The defining event in toy train history was the launch by Marklin in 1891 of the first complete system of trains. While the first models were derived from earlier products, what Marklin introduced was a series of standard track gauges, ready to use track sections for those gauges, and a range of locomotives, rolling stock and accessories to match. Now you could have an initial train set, but continually add and expand till your miniature railroad empire was complete - which it never was.

     

    This was of course good for the toy manufacturer, indeed this is possibly the first example of the expanding range, with items at various price points Christmas, birthdays, parents and relations and pocket money sized, which is one of the basic features of most successful toys since.

     

    These first Marklin models were made in three gauges called 1, 2 and 3, logically enough. Painted and soldered tinplate was the main material, and clockwork the driving power. And they were crude. But the range was clearly a great success. So Marklin expanded and improved its range, after a few years adding a fourth, small gauge O. The range of accessories was greatly expanded. Other German toy makers introduced competitive products, most importantly Bing then probably Germanys, and hence the worlds, largest toy maker. Despite the odd divergence these makers generally adopted the same standards as to gauge as Marklin, while developing new production techniques, in particular the use of lithographed printed tinplate, allowing much cheaper and more colorful items, at the expense of some robustness.

     

    By the start of the 20th century other methods of propulsion were being applied too, in that live steam and electric powered models had taken to the toy train rails, though clockwork was still the prime mover. More importantly the first ranges of Marklin and Bing and others were growing and improving each year, and as with the rest of the German toy trade, was strongly export oriented, thus spreading toy trains world wide. The main markets were Britain, France and their empires and the US. Britain had no indigenous toy maker to compete with, nor really had France, but there was home based competition in America. Britain however had something else - model railways

     

    Model Railways

    The hobby of model railways can really be said to have been founded in the U.K. at the start of the Edwardian period. There were already active amateur model engineers, building live steam locomotives and with a keen interest in the real railways. One of the embryo suppliers to this group was a young man, W J Bassett Lowke. He saw the potential of using the German toy trains, particularly the track and mechanisms, with bodies rather more accurate as to prototype and selling not as a toy to children but rather to adult enthusiasts. And he used the services of another young man, Henry Greenly, as a designer of these models. Greenly, among other things, established a system of scales using the Marklin  gauges as the starting point. He also founded the first periodical devoted to model railways. And thus from the beginning the hobby of model railways was in part a toy, and in part the effort of amateur and professional model makers coexisting, sometimes comfortably and sometimes not.

    Bassett Lowke tended to use the services of Bing and Carrette for its own models, but of course once the idea of British outline models was established the German makers started to produce models for sale by other importers, for example Marklin for the Gamages store in London.