Large Model Trains

Your Children will Love a Model Railway as Much as You Did

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. I recall that our most extensive and elaborate system took over the whole of our dining room which became known as 'the railway room'. 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 are good for any age, providing a fun, rewarding and engaging hobby. Model trains are not toy trains. Good quality model trains are scale models of the real thing that can provide a valuable learning aid, helping young and old to understand the development of rail transport.

It was way back in the 1850s that a German dolls-house accessory manufacture called Marklin introduced the first, boxed train-set. The product was intended to appel to boys, broadening their market. They also produced accessories for their train set including trackside buildings. The company are still going strong today.

Electric powered trains are reputed to have been introduced by the American company Carlisle and Finch in 1897 but it was the Lionel Corporation who were responsible for developing the product. Their first electric train was called the Electric Express and was never intended for public sale. It was originally 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. These days we go out and buy model train sets for our children but they are really a way for us to revisit the happy times we had as children.

DRPA's Nash: Expect passenger trains heading to Glassboro in seven years (Newark Star-Ledger)

The train will be a rolling down the tracks from Camden to Glassboro in about
seven years' time if one believes the vice chairman of the Delaware River Port
Authority.That will be money in the cash register for the merchants...

Newark Star-Ledger

large model trains

Frequently Asked Questions...

Short dream about trains?

The dream is set from a first person POV. I'm on a large model train set that has wooden plank structure (like a rollercoaster?!) and just before the big "dip" I look down to see where the rest of the track leads to and notice that the track eventually turns colorful and rubbery