| When the great locomotives of the Industrial | | | | hobby really began to take off. Who can forget the |
| Revolution started to snake winding steel trails through | | | | image of a family at Christmas, watching that little |
| the wilderness, the landscape of North America | | | | electric train set running circles around the tree? For |
| changed forever. Isolated towns were now connected: | | | | generations of children, toy trains were as important as |
| a country could be woven together with a network of | | | | stockings hung on the fireplace on Christmas morning. |
| train tracks. A feeling of wonder was born for the | | | | While the thundering steam engines are no longer our |
| massive steam engines that were revolutionizing the | | | | main method of long-distance travel, our fascination |
| world. Goods could be shipped easily, and people could | | | | with them remains. There is a nostalgia for times past, |
| travel across the country in relative comfort. Is it any | | | | when railroads were more than just a business |
| wonder that the world began to fall in love with trains? | | | | proposition: they meant that families could visit each |
| Model toy train collecting began not long after the first | | | | other and stay close, even across hundreds of miles. |
| big railways cris-crossed the country. The first model | | | | Taking model toy trains and building our own little |
| toy trains were simple, usually made with basic | | | | empires - through the living room, across the |
| materials. They also didn't have a rail system. | | | | basement, or in the garage - helps to keep that era |
| Steam-run toys were eventually replaced with electric | | | | alive. Some of the finest artisans and engineers use |
| models, and tinplate with plastic casing. | | | | model railroading as a way to remember their |
| Germany was the first to have model toy trains, but | | | | childhood love of trains, and share that love with their |
| Britain and the U.S. were quick to catch up. | | | | children and grandchildren. It's no surprise that the same |
| Toy and model train collecting was quickly becoming a | | | | railroads that once knitted together a country now knit |
| favorite indoor pastime in America. It wasn't until the | | | | families together. |
| beginning of the 20th century, though, that the iconic | | | | |