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Podcast: BardsFM
Episode: Ep3912_BardsFM - The American Brand: Model Trains
Description: The first model trains were created by the German company Märklin as tinplate trains with clockwork wind-up mechanisms in 1890. In 1896, American engineers Carlisle & Finch created the first electric-powered train using a 10-volt motor and liquid chromite batteries. Then in 1901, Joshua Lionel Cowen created the first true electric model train called the Electric Express for a New York toy manufacturer window display. This launched the model train industry that grew to its hight point in the 1950s. Model trains become a defining part of American youth culture. The image of the train around the base of the Christmas tree b...