Model train toys

Thomas the Tank Engine really made the toy model train market take off. Boys and girls fell in love with the plastic Thomas characters that they came to love thanks to the cartoon, and soon enough we saw model Thomas train tracks, locomotives and sceneries enter the toy market.

Thomas the Tank engine fans eventually grow out of his plastic model train love and turn to other model train toys that suit their needs. It all comes back to the fact that boys and men alike love their “toys”. Trains are powerful machines, and the thought of being able to drive a train is a fantasy that many small boys and girls have. Even the thrill of being able to control a train that is 1:87 of the size of a real life train gives a thrill to many model train enthusiasts who may have always loved trains, or have always loved toys that are made to scale and actually run like the real thing.

Many children grow up with the memories of a model train in the store at Christmas time, or maybe you had a model train that ran laps around your Christmas tree, that made the whole year seem magical? Model trains are not toys, they are machines, but they are certainly small machines that boys and girls alike will love to play with throughout their childhood and into their adult lives.

A “toy” train and a model train are not the same thing. When you think of a toy train imagine the plastic fantastic of Thomas the Tank Engine. He doesn’t cost much, he is not difficult to build, and the scenery that comes with putting together your railroad will be unrealistic and cheap. Model trains are better than toys, and they are almost never made out of plastic and other cheap materials. Model trains are often referred to as locomotives, not just trains, and they are built to last and keep on working for many years to come. A model train has an actual engine, it is not simply battery operated. A model train weighs more than a toy train – simply because it is made by the same type of materials that a real train is, just in a scaled-down version.

Model trains are powered by electricity, but their inner workings are much more complex than a battery-operated toy train, or the simple type of toy train that you just push along the tracks until it gets to where you want it to go. Some model trains will even blow steam! A model train and its scenery will truly come to life if the train blows steam and toots its horn as it’s travelling along the tracks.

Not many model train lovers actually become train drivers in real life, but they can be the conductor of their very own locomotive service whenever they wish thanks to their model train creativity and artistry. Model trains are not just a hobby; they are an absolute art form, and a testament to real trains all over the world.