Model Railways are Simply Great Fun

In recent years there has been nothing short of an explosion in interest in model trains and railways. Some have said that this is due to baby-boomers who fondly remember their own model trainsets, now buying model train sets for their own children.

That is certainly true for me. I am one of those baby boomers and I have fond memories of many hours spent with my brother and father building sometimes elaborate model railway systems. We completely transformed our dining room into what we called our railway room with a huge, elaborate system of tracks and buildings. We managed to keep the track set up in our railway room right up until Christmas when family guests for Christmas dinner meant that my mother insisted that we dismantle the track and return the railway room to its preceding dining room status. I can recall my fathers disappointment at having to dismantly the track that we had spent many hours constructing and modifying.

In fact, reflecting on those days, I think it was doing things with my father that was more important to me than the model railway. My father never really showed any interest in my school work or playing football or and sports for that matter. But when it came to model trains and railways his eyes would light up and he suddenly became very enthusiastic. The only way to get my father to put his newspaper down and leave his armchair was to suggest we turn on the model railway system.

Model trains can provide a fun and rewarding hobby for anybody, at any age. Model trains should not be confused with toy trains. They are scale models of the real thing and can provide a valuable educational aid, helping youngsters to become familiar with the history of rail transport, the development of railway technology and how locomotives have developed through the ages.

It was way back in the 1850s that a German dolls-house accessory manufacture called Marklin introduced the first, boxed train-set. This was intended to broaden their market by appealing to boys. They were also responsible for producig accessories for their train sets including trackside buildings. The company are still in business today.

It was the American company Carlisle Finch who are reputed to have introduced electric trains in 1897, but the Lionel Corporation are responsible for developing electric model trains. Their first electric train was called the Electric Express and was never intended for public sale. Their original model was intended to be used as a storefront display.

Jump forward to today and you will find many fathers, like myself, who have fond memories of many hours shared with their fathers building and playing with model train sets. We buy systems for our own children but, in truth, its more about us re-visiting our own childhoods and the happy times that we spent with our trains.