The wrong Christmas by Frank L. Schmidt, CTTA, March 2017 I recently received an early American Flyer train set in the original box. Before I purchased this set, there was some discussion among my train collecting associates as to whether or not the train set originally came in this

Wartime trains By Charles Reif, CTTA, TCA  Is it “Prewar” or “Postwar”? With North American toy trains, that distinction has become a natural dividing line. This divide may be generational (I’m a postwar child, raised on 1950’s Lionel trains), but it’s also supported by the fact that the War

Could this clockwork O gauge British train have been sold at Eaton’s in 1948 – 1949? Tinplate fan Charles Hare from San Antonio shared this with us. A British clockwork ‘Mettoy’ tinplate set purchased at Hudsons in Denver, looks pretty identical to pieces in the 1948-49 Eaton’s Winter Catalog

Marklin’s Railway Accessories Figures Set, 2748G By Frank Schmidt, CTTA Published June 2016 This railway figures set first appeared in the 1934 – 35 Marklin catalogue (D11) as code 2748G (6 figures) for stations, etc. It comprised a boxed set of 6 different ‘Elastolin’ figure pieces, with the height

My Marklin factory Tour By Frank Schmidt, CTTA The toy and train manufacturer Marklin was founded in Goppingen, Germany in 1859 as a family run enterprise. Despite many setbacks from financial and family issues, they prospered and built sheet metal toys for the European market. By early 1900, Marklin’s

A Hornby Princess Elizabeth has something to say By Frank Schmidt October, 2017 All trains have a story. I’m sure many collectors have bought a special locomotive and wondered ‘What is this train’s story? Who owned this locomotive before me?’ Was it in a well-known collection, a birthday or

A brief history of toy trains for Canada By Charles Reif, CTTA, TCA, with an addendum by Robin Dodson, CTTA Originally published 2001 in the Canadian Flyer The first toy trains that actually represented Canadian Railways appear to date back only to the mid-teens of the 20th Century.  At that time, American

Part 1 – A perspective, by John Constible.January 2019 Collecting trains over the years has been nothing less than enjoyable, fascinating, and intriguing. The new products and the many companies today have become so intertwined with their sharing of technology, they seem to be so close or the same

Sequencing Bing trademarks for Canada and the USA By Charles Reif, CTTA, TCA Introduction: The Bing toy company was founded in 1863 in Nurnberg, Germany by brothers Ignaz and Adolf Bing. By 1914, the company had grown to near 5,000 employees. At first, toy trains for America were just

What happened to the other half?  By Frank and Melanie Schmidt This question has probably been asked a few times over the past decades by early American Flyer (AF) collectors. The American Flyer Manufacturing Company (AFMC) located in Chicago, Illinois from 1907 to 1940 never had a great grasp