
….continued from yesterday…..
World War II ended the production of toy electric trains from 1940 through 1945. When production resumed after the war, their popularity skyrocketed.
By the 1950′s, electric trains were the most popular toys among boys in the United States. Lionel was the largest toy train manufaturer, and they had become much more affordable.
Over the years various gauges of toy trains were introduced to the public. Realistic sounds and digital control systems were eventually added to the electric toy trains in the 1980′s. It has been estimated that there are over a half million train collectors in the United States and Canada.