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 Other Manufacturers For Sale Used Other Manufacturers New Other Manufacturers

Other Manufacturers

1:76 LWB LAND ROVER SERIES I - GREY - DIECAST!

1:76 LWB LAND ROVER SERIES I - GREY - DIECAST!

-
$6.25
$6.95
1h 25m
300 pcs Figures OO scale 1:75 Painted People passengers

300 pcs Figures OO scale 1:75 Painted People passengers

$26.87 1h 26m
30   OO Scale Figures ~ Great for your layout

30 OO Scale Figures ~ Great for your layout

1 $4.99 1h 29m
300 pcs Figures OO scale 1:75 Unpainted People

300 pcs Figures OO scale 1:75 Unpainted People

$24.90 1h 29m
HORNBO DUBLO THREE WAGONS

HORNBO DUBLO THREE WAGONS

2 $7.33 2h 10m
500 pcs Figures OO scale 1:75 Painted People passengers

500 pcs Figures OO scale 1:75 Painted People passengers

$40.90 2h 26m
TRIANG HORNBY Goods Depot Kit and Footbridge

TRIANG HORNBY Goods Depot Kit and Footbridge

4 $29.34 2h 38m
8 pcs Head Light OO Scale 1:76 Model Cars lighted Taxi

8 pcs Head Light OO Scale 1:76 Model Cars lighted Taxi

$23.70 2h 44m
8 pcs Model Trees OO scale 140mm(H)x70mm(W)

8 pcs Model Trees OO scale 140mm(H)x70mm(W)

$17.95 2h 47m
Grain of Wheat Bulbs = 100 pcs 3mm Red 6V Mini Bulbs

Grain of Wheat Bulbs = 100 pcs 3mm Red 6V Mini Bulbs

$6.80 3h 23m
Pack of 20 Yellow Flower Model Trees Railway Scenery N

Pack of 20 Yellow Flower Model Trees Railway Scenery N

$11.99 3h 36m
500x Building Model Train 1:75 Scale WHITE Figures OO

500x Building Model Train 1:75 Scale WHITE Figures OO

$17.90 3h 55m
Tri-ang 1959 Fifth Edition catalogue

Tri-ang 1959 Fifth Edition catalogue

- $8.73 6h 54m
Triang Spares - Pair of X171 Metal Couplings

Triang Spares - Pair of X171 Metal Couplings

3 $3.88 7h 8m
t053-40pcs Scale Scenery Layout Set Model Trees OO HO

t053-40pcs Scale Scenery Layout Set Model Trees OO HO

$10.98 8h 45m
L005-10pcs 12V Scale Train Layout Model Lamp Post HO OO

L005-10pcs 12V Scale Train Layout Model Lamp Post HO OO

$5.17 10h 15m
1 CD !! LAYOUT 5100 PHOTOS LOT IDEAS FOR LAYOUT new !!

1 CD !! LAYOUT 5100 PHOTOS LOT IDEAS FOR LAYOUT new !!

-
$0.99
$1.00
11h 51m
Langley G72 Atkinson 8 wheel tipper

Langley G72 Atkinson 8 wheel tipper

1 $24.06 21h 18m
Langley G49 Albion Caledonian 8 wheel flatbed

Langley G49 Albion Caledonian 8 wheel flatbed

1 $15.15 21h 23m
Langley G41 Leyland Steer 6 wheel flatbed

Langley G41 Leyland Steer 6 wheel flatbed

1 $15.89 21h 27m
Scale Link SLC062 Austin 7 box saloon c1926

Scale Link SLC062 Austin 7 box saloon c1926

1 $8.66 21h 32m
Scale Link SLC090 Brough Superior motor cycle & sidecar

Scale Link SLC090 Brough Superior motor cycle & sidecar

3 $11.52 21h 37m
Scale Link SLC95 6 assorted car drivers

Scale Link SLC95 6 assorted car drivers

1 $4.33 21h 43m

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.