Model railroad buffs come out chugging

Saturday, Dec. 7, is National Lionel Train Day. The model train whistles will be blowing at the headquarters of Lionel, LLC, located in Concord, N.C. The public is invited to celebrate at the Lionel retail store at Concord Mills, a giant shopping mall in Cabarrus County.

“In addition to selling everything a family needs to build its own model train layout, the 5,000-square-foot retail space houses an interactive 8-foot-by-24-foot Lionel train display as well as play space for ‘young conductors,’” said Howard Hitchcock, who became Lionel’s president in 2014.

With the Christmas season just around the bend, the timing of the train day observance conveniently coincides with the chug-chug countdown to Dec. 25.

Lionel’s emergence as a retailer is part of Hitchcock’s strategy to reinvigorate the venerable brand. Joshua Lionel Cowen of Queens in New York City built his first electric train in 1901 and sold it to a store owner in Manhattan, who used the train to call attention to his merchandise.

The store owner contacted Cowen the very next day to order a dozen more trains, because customers wanted to buy the store display. By 1902, the Lionel Manufacturing Company was picking up steam as a maker of toy train sets.

“Not that many organizations get to be this age – 117 years old,” Hitchcock told Adam Grybowski, communications director at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. (Hitchcock is a Rider alumnus.)

Lionel is a nostalgic, classic brand, Hitchcock said. Going forward, he says the challenge is to “integrate our products into the digital world occupying so much attention today, especially among young people, and continue to be a part of how families make memories.”

Grybowski wrote that “America’s fascination with trains, which budded in the 19th century as tracks were laid coast to coast, has ebbed and flowed since then, but trains continue to be a source of interest for hobbyists.”

Hitchcock says: “Trains almost feel like something lost in the past, but there’s a huge resurgence to bring them back, and they’re still very relevant today.”

One of the favorite Little Golden Books of all-time is Donald Duck’s Toy Train, published in 1950, with its bright yellow cover. F. J. Potter was a fan. “I am told that I had to have it read to me every night.” he said. The story is about Donald Duck’s train that he rides around in his backyard.

He discovers that Chip and Dale, two chipmunks, “borrowed the train”…and dagnabbit all…drove it into the village of Canyonville. They hopped off and move into one of the homes there that is “just the right size.” And they all lived happily ever after.

The 1950s were the golden years for model trains. Not only was Lionel the largest American toy train manufacturer, it was for a short time the largest toy manufacturer in the world. For a time, American Flyer was a formidable competitor, as a product of the A. C. Gilbert Company of New Haven, Conn. Lionel bought the American Flyer brand name in 1967.

That was the same year that Roger Miller, a folk singer-songwriter released a Christmas song titled “Old Toy Trains.”

Old toy trains, little toy tracks,

Little boy toys, comin’ from a sack

Carried by a man dressed in white and red.

Little boy, don’t you think it’s time you were in bed?

Model railroaders know that all train tracks lead to the village of Strasburg, in Lancaster County, Pa., home of the National Toy Train Museum and headquarters for the Train Collectors Association.

The Strasburg Rail Road is the oldest continuously operating railroad in the western hemisphere and the oldest public utility in Pennsylvania, chartered in 1832. Today, the Strasburg is a heritage railroad offering excursion trains hauled by steam locomotives on 4.5 miles of track in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, houses a collection of more than 100 historic locomotives and railroad cars that chronicle American railroad history.

Strasburg’s claim to be “Traintown U.S.A.” is further enhanced by The Choo Choo Barn, a 1,700-square-foot train display that features more than 150 hand-built animated figures and vehicles…and 22 operating trains.

Commenting on the barn, Anita L. of Ewing, N.J., told TripAdvisor: “Our family loves trains and this display does not disappoint. It really can be mesmerizing. This display is well taken care of and certainly worth every penny for the visit.”