Postwar Lionel Train 0 Scale Santa Fe Diesel Locomotive AA Units #2333 OB
Postwar Lionel Train Norfolk Western Short Long Stripe Steam Locomotive #746 4-8-4 Boxes 2 tenders
Postwar Lionel 0 Scale Train Santa Fe F-3 # 2343  B unit EX OB
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Cool Facts:

The history of Lionel trains began with their inventor, Joshua Lionel Cowen, a New Yorker from Manhattan‘s east
side.   Joshua had been interested in toy trains since his childhood.   Prior to manufacturing  his electric trains, Cowen
had been a successful contractor with the government and operated  a business making electric.

In 1901 Cowen fitted a small motor to a model flatcar and powered it with a battery.   This was called the Battery
Express.  It was propelled by an electric fan motor.  

The purpose of the first Lionel train was to attract NY window shoppers to the Ingersoll Shop which later sold the first
Lionel trains on customer requests.  Lionel has sold over 50 million train sets since its inception

In 1906 Cowen changed the way the trains operated, using a 3rd rail to carry the current.

In 1915 Lionel introduced the O Scale which became the most popular model train scale.

In 1918 Lionel Mfg. Co. was renamed Lionel Corporation.   The company did well during the “Roaring Twenties” when
there were plenty of customers who had the money to buy trains.  This didn’t last long.

After weathering the depression and War War II where metal became  scarce for domestic use, Lionel’s business
picked up.  Most collectors believe the postwar years saw the best trains in the company’s production line.

By 1953 Lionel had become the world’s larges toy manufacturer

In 1959 Lionel retired and sold all his stock to the Roy Cohn, the famous attorney who was also his nephew.

In 1967 Lionel sold its machinery and in 1969 Model Products Corp, a division of General Mills, began production of
the trains under lease agreement.   

In 1986 Lionel was sold to Richard Kughn from Detroit who crated Lionel Trains Inc.,

It should be noted that Lionels were not the first toy trains.   Carlisle & Finch Co. in Cincinnati made the first electric
trains in the late 1800s.  There were also German trains by Bing and Marklin produced that ran on electricity and
steam.   Ives Co. of CT had been manufacturing key wind trains since the 1870s.   
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