So, what is a Toy Train, anyway?

Simply put, a Toy Train is one that was intended to be played with by a child.  Nowdays that tends to conjure up images of a brightly-coloured, cheaply made plastic set that might run for a short while before breaking, and being consigned to the back of the toy cupboard.  This was not always the case, though.  Toy Trains built prior to the 1970's, or thereabouts, were superbly made, and built to last.  Even trains at the lower end of the price range were well made, and in many cases when found just need a quick oiling and check-over, and will run as well as they did when new.

The most common brands that we had in Australia were Hornby Dublo- made by the Meccano company, and Tri-ang- made by the Lines group.  Today these trains are very collectable, as long as they are in good condition. We'll discuss condition and values in a future post.  In the United States the most common toy train brands were Lionel and American Flyer.  There were, of course, many, many, others.

To illustrate two 'extremes' of what Toy Trains are, here are some examples from my collection.  The first picture is a Lone Star Locos diesel, made in the early 1960's in 000 gauge. It is comparable in size to today's N gauge, and is made from die-cast metal, as is pretty much everything that Lone Star made. It was my very first train-set!  It is operated 'digitally', ie you push it along with your finger!  Later on Lone Star also made powered models.

The second picture is of a Standard Gauge Lionel 408E electric locomotive.  It is HUGE, and has two motors. This one is a very authentic reproduction made by MTH trains, and again it's all metal with a beautiful baked enamel finish.  Note the three-rail tinplate track that it runs on.

Another aspect of Toy Trains is the way in which they are collected, and displayed.  Some collectors don't run their trains at all, but are happy to have them displayed on shelves.  Collectors who wish to run their trains usually have a large table, perhaps painted green, with various loops of track on which they can run several trains at once, around and around.  You might notice in the photo above that to run this train I just set up a square of carpet outside and built a circle of track!  Not my favorite way of doing things, though! There is no attempt to copy real railway operation.  One of the really fun things about toy trains is that there are no 'rules'!!  Whatever you enjoy doing yourself is the best!

In order to further define what Toy Trains are, it is necessary to differentiate them from another huge hobby- that is Railway Modelling.  Railway Modellers largely try to recreate a railway and scenes from real life, in miniature.  Building scenery is important.  Whereas Toy Trains are best left in a totally unmodified condition- as they left the factory- Railway Modellers will often modify locomotives and rolling stock to make them better represent the real thing.  Railway Modellers also like to operate their trains in a similar fashion to the real thing, definitely not just going around in circles!!  I have enormous respect for Railway Modellers and their creations, but it's not what I'm chosing to do myself.  I am definitely of the green-painted table, "Plywood Central", school!!

There are many, many superb trains made today by companies such as Hornby and Bachmann in the UK, and Austrains, Auscision and Trainorama in Australia, but they are highly detailed models, and are not primarily intended to be 'played' with.  They can still be collected, but would not be classed as Toy Trains.  Of course the boundaries of what is a Toy and what is a Model have become extremely blurred these days, in which case we revert to Rule 1, which says there are no rules.  It's a hobby, and we're free to choose whichever direction we want!!