For people who are not into the hobby of model railroading, there is no difference between “toy” trains and “model” trains. After all, both hobbies involve small trains that are controlled by some kind of power pack. However, there is a huge difference for anyone who is excited. Calling a model railway a “toy train” is like calling a classic piece of literature a “novel.”<\/p>\n
Toy trains are generally marketed to children, which is how many of us came to know the hobby. They tend to be simple in appearance and not based on any real trains. On the other hand, model trains are often a true art form with large-scale reproductions of real or potential trains and layouts (a technique known as prototyping).<\/p>\n
Some of the earliest toy trains were available in the early 19th century. They often had pneumatic engines or even steam-powered locomotives and were generally made of cast iron.<\/p>\n
In the 1850s, a German company called Marklin, which made dollhouse accessories, introduced a box set of train and track in an effort to expand its market to boys and girls alike. They also made extra tracks, rolling stock, and buildings that were available as accessories.<\/p>\n
Electric trains followed soon after, and the Carlisle and Finch are generally believed to have been introduced in 1897 in the United States. Lionel revolutionized this model and it quickly gained popularity and development.<\/p>\n
Things like lighting, the ability to change direction, and “real” smoke were some of the first realism features to be added. There was still little distinction between “toy” and “model” trains until the 1950s, however, when the modern emphasis on realism began to take hold.<\/p>\n
Today there are various gauges of model railroads, with a wide range of accessories available. They are computer controlled and railyards can be run entirely the way they would be in real life. Many model railroad enthusiasts spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours creating prototypes of actual railroad tracks, past and present.<\/p>\n
There are clubs and societies that offer resources for railroad beginners and experts alike. The Internet has also made it easier to find information on model railways, as well as a much larger selection of trains and accessories than the average hobby store can hope to stock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For people who are not into the hobby of model railroading, there is no difference between “toy” trains and “model” trains. After all, both hobbies involve small trains that are controlled by some kind of power pack. However, there is a huge difference for anyone who is excited. Calling a model railway a “toy train”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christyspancakehouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}