Soon to follow with his superb model trains, Josh came out with a new gauge, and this was a small three rail O gauge. He had quickly seen the need for a train that would be more adaptable to home sizes and could generate off the electricity. That's exactly what this gauge allowed and is still a very popular model today.
Other train manufacturers were fast becoming known as well. For example the in 1907, the American Flyer joined the industry. Owned by two friends, William Coleman and William Hafner. They had decided they wanted to experiment with keeping costs down in the lithography area. They tried some tin type materials but the quality was inadequate, so they were not popular. Actually, it was this company that first started producing clockwork trains.
Eventually the partnership came to an end and Hafner went on his own manufacturing the American flyer electric train set. Originally, he went with the O gauge, but soon went into the standard gauge that Lionel had set.
Just before the onset of the war, Hafner sold out the American flyer in 1938. This was to A C Gilbert. Once the war started, all model train making had to stop. All the attention had to be put on the war. Prior to this though Gilbert had switched the gauge from HO to O. Then in 1946, the S gauge was introduced. The Lionel Company had the leading edge in the industry and Gilbert was unable to compete. He could not keep up with the mass production and the price of Lionel's. Gilbert stopped production in 1966 and just after this; Lionel took over the ownership of the American Flyer.
The love for model trains lives on today and will no doubt continue to do so for many years to come. The new fads and toys that hit the market every year will never replace the beloved train sets.
Are you a collector of model toy trains?
Frank Keenan is an avid model train enthusiast for over 25 years. He is also the founder of LionelManuals.com.
Discover how to repair and restore your lionel trains with over 2000 pages of blueprints and detailed diagrams.
Plus, you also receive vintage color catalogs covering the years of 1902-1986. It contains vintage manuals, catalog and service manuals of prewar and postwar model trains.
Find out more today at LionelManuals by clicking on the link below:
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By Frank Keenan
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