The true Lionel Corporation in New York and Chicago lasted until 1969…
Grayson - We all got pretty steamed over a guy living 3000 miles away…1000 is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump…
Anyway, the matter (I think) seames to have been mediated, so let’s let water go under the bridge,k…?[2c]
BTW, how’ve you been kid? Got something on your shirt there - HEY, didn’t fall for it. See, you’re catching on…[swg]
Lionel Corporation 1900-1969
Grayson,
Just for the record, The Lionel Corporation was officially incorporated as Lionel Manufacturing on September 22, 1900. The first train came 1901.
The Lionel Corporation announced it’s intent to cease existence on June 2, 1993.
The Lionel Corporation produced trains from roughly 1901 until 1969, or about 68 years, counting 1967, 1943, and 1944 when no trains were produced. So 65 years of actual production.
The vaunted Post War Era lasted from 1945-1969, or about 24 years. By comparison, Lionel as a General Mills division, Lionel Trains Inc., and Lionel, LLC has produced trains for 37 years, or more than half as long as the original Lionel Corp produced trains!
Jon [8D]
Lets not get to technical!
Yes, I believe the Lionel Corp. had a string of toy stores after they sold to General Mills.
Who was that, fifey?!
“when you’re finding high prices but not finding toys, when you’re sad and you’re blue and your time is running out, let Lionel Kiddie City turn that frown upside down!, upside down! with more selection, low prices too, Lionel Kiddie City makes its easy for you, with prices and selection that are among the best around let Lionel Kiddie City turn that frown upside down!”
No need to even mention the name…[B)]
The Pre-War Era
Lionel’s first train was not intended for sale to consumers, but rather, as a storefront display. Delivered in 1901, it ran on a brass track and was powered by a battery and a motor originally intended for use in an electric fan. Cowen hoped to use the public’s fascination with railroads and electricity to capture the public’s attention and direct it to the goods for sale. Members of the public started approaching store owners about buying the trains instead, prompting Lionel to begin making toy trains for the general public. The earliest trains were larger than the sizes commonly available today, running on two-rail track with the rails 2 7/8 inches apart. In 1906, Lionel began offering a three-rail track that simplified wiring of reverse loops and accessories. Its outer rails were 2 1/8 inches apart, which did not match any of the existing standards that other manufacturers had been using since 1891. Whether this was an accidental misreading of Märklin’s Gauge 2 specifications or an intentional incompatibility is unclear, but Lionel named this non-standard track Standard Gauge, and then trademarked the name. When other U.S. companies began using Lionel’s standard, they usually called it Wide gauge. Starting in 1915, Lionel followed most of its U.S. competitors and adopted the smaller O gauge standard for its budget-level trains.
By the end of World War I, Lionel was one of three major U.S. manufacturers of toy trains, and it grew rapidly due to shrewd marketing. Cowen began getting department stores to incorporate his toy trains as part of their Christmas tree displays, linking toy trains to Christmas and making them into popular Christmas presents. Lionel made its trains larger than anyone else, making them appear to be better values. When competitors criticized the realism of Lionel’s trains–Cowen had been unwilling to invest in the equipment necessary for lithography, so its early offerings were simply painted with solid colors of enamel paint with brass
Even though I got that info from Wikipedia, and love to use it, I recently created an account and discovered how selfish people are. Heres how it went:
The only edit I have ever made is on the page about GE U23B diesels. (Georgia Central has them) and some guy had some good info posted in about 2 paragraphs. Well, since I knew that most of these were ex Norfolk Southern, I put at the end of the paragraph: “Many of these locomotives are ex-NS.” (He kept removing it and I reposted it about 3 times)
He reported me for vandalism and I cant edit until October.
Now tell me, was that really vandalism?
Grayson,
I have tried to stay out of this discussion… but you need to listen to Fife and drop this. It is getting very tiresome. It is because of people continuing to keep bringing these things up, or starting new fueds that the board monitors feel the need to keep locking threads.
I understand that you are a teenager and have a lot about life to learn, and let this be one of life’s lessons that you learn… grow up. You need to stop letting what others think of you bother you. I have recommended in the past that you email Colin and seek advice from someone who is close to your age, who has made some of the mistakes you have made, and has learned to stop making those mistakes, I make that recommendation again.
Might I add a famous quote…
"You can please all of the people, some of the time,
And you can please some of the people all of the time,
But, you can’t please all of the people all of the time"[;)]
I think he got you on a technicality. Normally when I think of vandalism, I think of people adding something completely irrelevant and, usually, distasteful, like if I added the line “Alan Liar has big, smelly feet” to the entry about General Motors.
Generally speaking, if you add something to Wikipedia, you’d better have a source and cite it. The source can be a reputable web page, an article in a magazine, a page in a book, or whatever, but if your source is your personal observation or experience, it’s very likely to get yanked when an editor sees it. Wikipedia didn’t used to be this way, but I guess there were a lot of people using Wikipedia to distribute or promote their own personal opinions or research.
If you can find a source and cite it, nobody can call it vandalism–but if someone else comes in and deletes something you added that has a source, that would arguably be vandalism. So that’s your best defense in the future.
I’ve had stuff pulled there for various reasons, some valid, some just because someone else found the fact embarrassing. I got tired of fighting the battles. If a change I make sticks, great, and if it doesn’t, I have plenty of other things to do. I was actually a Top-1,000 contributer there for a time (early 2005 I think) but anymor
Colin doesnt like me anymore… sniff sniff… Some people I know on my forum ( The link in my signature, PLEASE JOIN!) have told me that that the forum has changed. Than even though its past labor day, it hasnt seemed to be picking up again…
All I know is that I’m young and never had a problem with anyone. I love this forum and everyone has treated me with respect. I have been told by people older and wiser than me that if you look for trouble, you’ll find it.
Please let this not go down this road again… Please… It wasnt started about me, it was about locked posts and people getting into flame wars…
Hey Lionroar88,
C’mon, give the kid a break. Your comments came across as rather harsh and very condescending. After all, the very definition of a “forum” is to promote open discussions. And, we all know that the vast majority of topics raised on this forum are of a general nature, not involving a specific question about trains.
Why shouldn’t Grayson, or anyone else for that matter, be permitted to ask a rhetorical question or voice a general concern? Isn’t that exactly what you are doing in your response? I’m sure at any given time, each of us finds many of the threads on this forum personally tiresome. So what? There are lots of other threads to choose from. Telling a forum member to “grow up” just because you may be annoyed by their comments does not strike me as very mature on your part.
Perhaps Grayson could put YOU in touch with someone who might help you improve your communication skills.
Wow, a post on flame wars is starting to look like one…
If JLC only knew… [:-^] Seriously, this is a good place to discuss trains, the greatest obsession, err, I mean hobby. I have found the people here to be rather friendly and I will freely share my knowledge as I have learned alot as well. It is a great free exchange of informtion. The one thing to keep in mind is this is the internet. One cannot see the facial expressions, body language and hear tone in voice. What you may find offensive my not have been intended that way. I had to reread a couple of responces to my posts and figure out what that poster meant as per my last statement.
The other thing to realize is that many posters here have years of experience. While they are not always correct, chances are they probably are. I am 23 and know a great deal about postwar Lionel, but compared to someone who has been collecting it and opperating it since Lionel was making postwar, I am going to respect their knowledge. This does not mean they will always be right, but listen to them and you can learn a thing or two. My mentor to this hobby, my grandfather, was a very knowledgable man on the subject of trains. We had our discussions on trains, sometimes debating. Sometimes he won, sometimes I won and sometimes it was a stalematch. I didn’t get mad and ask, “why don’t you like me?” because, while we debated, it was just that, a friendly debate and I loved the man and I knew he loved me.
Sometimes people will not agree on the subject. I posted a topic that I believed the “boys train” was nothing more than a paint sample for “Lady Lionel” and not many people, if any, agreed with me. That’s that, I still believe what I believe but still read and respected the replies.
And lastly, anyone that is young to this hobby has my utmost respect and support because, hey, I want to attend train meets when I’m old and gray.
Well, EDW, you never came back to the Coffee Pot after you attacked our Brutus over there a week ago now. We were waiting for an explanati