The Long Track History of Wooden Trains

When I was a kid, I loved different kinds of toys. From action figures, to robots, to gun models, I loved them all, any kid would. But, what was extraordinary was my enthusiasm for vehicular toys, cars and mostly trains.

As a kid, I thought they were the best toys out there, well, at least, for my generation, wherein there was no PSP, Xbox and other digital toys. Toy trains are just unique. And, I think I share the same opinion with other kids, all over the world.

Toy trains are just so good. Any kind will do. But I would have to say that the one that comes with the rail system is very good. Back in the early days, the trains are either made of plastic or wood. The plastic ones are the battery operated ones and are automatically set to follow the motion that the track paved for them.

The other type was the more detailed, better crafted wooden trains. Being a kid, I paid attention more for the details, other than most kids who would go for the automatic toy trains. I was contented with the realistic designs of the wooden trains, and gave up the “train in motion” for the detail effect. Wooden trains are really good and enticing, most likely for kids who are on the edge of curiosity at work factor.

Well after a few years, there came a newer generation of wooden trains which were able to run the tracks. Such amazing toys were usually made mainly of wood, and only had the metal parts on connectors and had plastic wheels. There wooden train models were based on the resemblance of anthropo-morphical, fictional and pro-typical railroad equipment.

Wooden toy trains had a long history behind it, behind each simple toy model. In the USA, the toy trains were first put into action by Marshall H. Larrabee ll and Skaneateles Handicrafters back in 1936, scaling back 70 years back. The connection system is not too different with the system being used at present day. It is only polished and improved.

The Track system though had shifted from the old times’ jigsaw style from the peghole style used in toy train tracks today. Such trains were made of maple, often left unpainted and unfurnished in detail. And while Skaneateles Handicrafters spearheaded the toy train industry in the American region, in Europe, their counterpart was BRIO Company, based in Osby, Sweden and later on Micki Leksaker.

Ever since, there has been a lot of things happening involving the train toy industry, one character “Thomas the Tank Engine” became a hit in UK, invading USA in 1989. With the popularity of this character and other characters similar to it, Learning Curve Toys made a wooden toy train series based on Thomas the tank engine and others. This made the wooden toy trains even more popular than before.

Learning Curve Toys was on the peak as they invented some newer train tracks and designs for wooden trains in 1995 and 2003, namely the “Clickety Clack” rails. After that, it didn’t stop evolving, as it witnessed dramatic changes brought with the digitality of the era, as even with wooden toy trains were infected with the bug of technology.