Lionel has been a leader in the creation of model trains and model train sets since the company was founded in 1900. Rescued from the brink of bankruptcy and disappearance, today Lionel LLC has brought back quality and innovation in it’s modern line of Lionel model trains. It’s good to see that an American icon that is a part of many of our childhood memories is able to not only survive now but thrive.
With a new outlook and a new corporate structure, Lionel is able to do well in the modern world of tomorrow while keeping that which we know and love about the Lionel model trains of yesteryear and creating high quality products with tradition and innovation that all can enjoy and appreciate. Though not as popular compared to the golden age of the late 1940s and early 1950s, model trains haven’t gone anywhere and are even enjoying renewed interest. Children today have many more options when it comes to toys including electronic toys like video games that playing with a train set isn’t what it once was in terms of popularity.
Most of us can think back to the day when we were children and Lionel model trains were very much a part of our childhood. Remembering the huge box and the bright gift wrapping of your first train set is a great memory for many people. The love for model train along with the pleasant childhood memories of them remains with many of us into adulthood. As an adult with more money than our childhood allowances, we are enabled to realize many of our childhood model train dreams.
After evolving along a rich timeline and history, the modern Lionel model train company is not alone to enjoy the complete market dominance it once held, there are quite a few other mode railroad manufacturers that have garnered a piece of the model trains niche. Companies like MTH are really upping the ante with their hyper realistic locomotives and sound effects. It’s great that Lionel is facing this new and heightened competition since it has pushed Lionel forward in a good way. In any case, even with new competition and other manufacturers on the model train scene, model railroaders of all kinds appreciate the history and contributions, past, present and future of Lionel model trains.