Not only do electric toy trains supply a lot of fun for the entire family, they have a record that is almost as rich as the one shared by the real railroads. The very original toy trains first appeared on the market in the 1860′s. These trains were uncomplicated designs that were made out of simple wood and metal. It is uncertain that the designers had any inkling of what there simple floor toys would grow into.

The Marklin Company saw a call for a set of standard gauges for toy trains in 1891. When they first implemented these standard gauges it was for the clockwork trains that the Marklin Company produced. The equal standards are still used for today’s electric trains. The very initial electric toy train was brought to the world in 1901. The train was a creation of the Lionel toy company. At first this train was only intended to be used as a window exhibit. It was not long before consumers were more interested in the window display then in the store’s merchandise.

It was during the 1920′s that electric toy trains became, in fact, very popular. At the time all the kids sought them, but only the wealthy kids could afford them. Smaller scaled eclectic toy trains were introduced to the world. These trains were normally O gauge and HO gauge. Most of these trains could simply be purchased as kits that were then put together by adults with a great deal of practice.

World War II stopped the production of toy eclectic trains from 1941 through 1945. When production of toy electric trains resumed after the war, the attractiveness of the trains took off. By the 1950′s, they were the main popular toy among boys in the United States. They had also become more reasonably priced. At this time the major toy train manufacturer is Lionel. By the middle of the 1950′s there was a clear separation between toy electric trains that were designed by adults and toy eclectic trains that were planned with children in mind.

The History of Toy Electric Trains

The American Flyer Model Train

Although The American Flyer model trains were at their peak of popularity between the 1940s and the 1960s, they actually had a long history before that, and their popularity seems to be on the increase again today. William Hafner, working as a toymaker in Chicago, developed a clockwork motor for use in toy cars in the very early part of the 19th Century and by 1905 was making toy trains using that clockwork motor.

With a friend, William Coleman, and using a small hardware manufacturing business known as the Edmonds-Metzel Hardware Company, Hafner began producing toy clockwork trains during 1906-7. These Edmond-Metzel trains were sold so successfully through some major retailers that the brand name The American Flyer was adopted for marketing purposes and by 1910, the name of the hardware company had been changed to American Flyer Manufacturing Company.

The American Flyer trains proved very popular, in part because they were lower priced than other makes popular at that time, and also because their detailing made them more realistic than other low budget model trains.

Hafner left the partnership in 1913 to start up his own company and Coleman’s American Flyer trains did extremely well during the First World War as they had no competition in the US from the German companies. By 1918, the first of the American Flyer electric trains were in production and business boomed during the 1920s but declined sharply during the Great Depression.

In 1938, William Coleman Jr, son of the company’s founder, who had taken over the business following his father’s death in 1918, sold the American Flyer to the A C Gilbert Company. Gilbert had been manufacturing and selling an extensive range of toys but not toy trains. He moved the company from Chicago to New Haven, Connecticut and immediately began to re-design the trains. He re-developed the American Flyer as S-scale in 1939 , a scale which was a modification of the very popular O gauge model trains then on the market. The S scale, which scales trains to the 1:64 ratio and made them smaller than the O scale trains, had a number of major advantages in terms of the track and track layouts.

In 1946 Gilbert made another major change to the American Flyer. Until that stage model electric trains had run on three rails, with the centre rail carrying the current. Gilbert developed a two rail system for running the American Flyer. This two-rail track, which had seven-eighths inches between the rails, made the track layout, and hence train operation, more realistic as the track now looked like ‘real train track’.

With the advent of television – to distract both younger people and older people from their regular hobbies – together with the rise of the discount chain stores which undercut prices and demanded lower wholesale prices, A C Gilbert Company ran into trouble and in 1962 was sold to Wrather Group. The new owners produced lines of toys, including model trains, which were of very poor quality and sales dropped sharply until in 1966 production of the American Flyer ceased. By 1967 the Company was bankrupt.

At this time, Lionel Corporation, which was itself in financial trouble although it had been the leading model train manufacturer for many decades, bought the rights to the American Flyer. However, by 1969 Lionel Corporation itself was bankrupt and sold the rights to the manufacture of its model trains, including the American Flyer, to General Mills.

General Mills began selling some of the original Gilbert designed American Flyer trains by 1979 but in 1984 sold its Lionel Company section to a toy manufacturer, Kenner who on-sold the company to Richard Kughn in 1985.

Kughn was very successful for over 10 years with the Lionel and American Flyer trains but sold in 1996 to Wellspring Partners who set up the company Lionel LLC, which operates today selling a range of model trains, including the S-scale American Flyer. Initially Lionel LLC concentrated on promoting the O and O27 scale model trains of its original lines but since 2002 has been releasing more and more American Flyer models.

The American Flyer then, is now more that 100 years old, and has gone though a number of ownerships and fluctuations in popularity. Dedicated S-scale enthusiasts now believe that this renowned model train is once again making a resurgence.

About the Author

John Vanse, a model train enthusiast, has a number of websites concerned with model trains. All these sites can be accessed through the hub site:
The Model Train Guide
For more specific information about American Flyers see:
American Flyer Model Trains

Marklin Z – Diesel and Electric Trains

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