Model Trains

According to experts, model trains are different than toy trains. Toy trains are a cheap representations of a train, but makers of model trains are concerned with gauge, accuracy, and being as true to the original as possible in a scaled down version. Model trains can be expensive.

Photo taken at home of Pat & Jimmy Matthews

Collecting the actual train and its cars are only part of the fun for model train enthusiasts. How they are displayed and the items that make up the setting are just as important. In this way, every display is unique and shows the creativity of the collector.

Of course, since trains were not prevalent until the 1800's, model trains are not as old as some toys. German craftsmen made the first miniature trains in the 1830's. The early ones were made by pouring molten tin or brass into a mold, and the train had to be pushed along the track. The French copied the idea, but made elaborately decorated models. When the Industrial Revolution hit England, toymakers there took model train making seriously. Sir Henry Wood built one of the first steam powered toys. European

clock makers then began to fit the toys with clockwork mechanisms to make them go. All these trains were handcrafted, tended to be pricey, and none of them were made to scale.

Photo taken at home of Pat & Jimmy Matthews

It was the U.S. toymakers that began to mass produce small trains, which made them more affordable. George Brown & Company of Connecticut is believed to have made the first self-propelled model train in the U.S. in 1856. America was a big country, and their models needed to be durable to ship over long distances. 1860-1890 is considered the golden age of American tin models, and even middle-class families could afford them. As the demand grew, so did expectations for realism. When Lionel began producing electric models in the early 1900's, model train collection really took off. After WW II, the models became more detailed and functional.

Photo taken at home of Pat & Jimmy Matthews

Many model train enthusiasts started their collection as children, when they received them as gifts. Adults have become interested from their children's or grandchildren's interest. Untold numbers of model trains have sat under Christmas trees to surprise children on Christmas morning. Even today, they've remained popular.

Photo taken at the home of Pat & Jimmy Matthews

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