Even today, over one hundred years later, when people hear the name Lionel, they think of electric model trains. Before Lionel trains came on the scene, a young inventor, Joshua Lionel Cowen, received his first patent, a patent for an invention that caused a photographer’s flash to ignite. Shortly after the patent was awarded, Cowen installed a small motor underneath a model railroad flatcar. The car, driven by a battery on 30 inches of track, signaled the advent of the Lionel model train.

Joshua was born on the Lower East Side in Manhattan on 10/25/1877. An excellent student, Cowen loved to play with mechanical toys. He became captivated by electricity, studying how it was transmitted and how it was stored in batteries. At age 16, Cowen was accepted to the College of New York. A series of revolving doors into and then out of schools of higher learning began. His genius did not lie in formal education but in his hands. This became evident when he dropped out for the last time and became an apprentice to Henner and Anderson, a dry cell battery manufacturer. His tinkering and experimenting proved important when in 1899 he patented the ignition devise for photographs’ flash powder by heating a wire fuse using a dry cell battery.

He grew into more sophisticated detonation when he won a defense contract to arm 24,000 mines for the Navy. A beginner in armament manufacture, Cowen managed to build the detonators and deliver them to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, galloping to the yard pulling a horse-drawn wagon, loaded with fuses and on time.Cowen teamed up with Harry C. Grant to found the Lionel Manufacturing Company without even having a product to build. They tried electric fans but knew when winter arrived their product sales would tank. Ever on the lookout for a good product, Cowen saw a push train in a lower Manhattan toy store window. The push train stimulated his imagination to produce a vision of a self-propelled train. The vision became the legend.

The Electric Express, Lionel’s first train, became a display for toy shops, though not a toy. This first train, an open gondola, was propelled by Cowen’s fan motor. To become a marketable toy, the distribution of electricity would have to reach the tipping point for the number of American homes with power.

Eventually 12 of the Electric Express Trains were sold. Every year from 1901 the line evolved. In 1902 a trolley and two foot suspension bridge were added. In 1902 the materials used to produce the gondola changed from wood to metal. An electric B&O locomotive and a derrick car were produced to expand the product line.

The Lionel Manufacturing Company did not operate in a vacuum. Plenty of companies competed for market share. The British and German toy manufacturers had a head start with their toy trains. Bing and Marklin quickly produced electric and steam-powered toy trains. An Ohio company, Carlisle & Finch, made electric trains in 1896 after the first electric train was presented at the 1893 World’s fair in Chicago. To best these competitors, Cowen produced a sturdy, reliable product. He expanded his line of accessories and he used a sales benefit that painted the electric train as an educational toy parents could share with their children. Salesmanship and engineering talent put Lionel Trains in front of their competitors. The Lionel train became the iconic legend in the history of toy trains.

Author Bio: Reynolds Maxwell Mathes-Redd is a model train hobbyist and coach. For more great stories on the Lionel model train, visit http://www.lovingmodeltrains.com/Lionel-Model-Trains and http://www.LovingModelTrains.com

Category: Education
Keywords: model railway trains, model trains