In '46 Lionel embraced - Classic Toy Trains

▲ Fig. 1: This image on the inside front cover of Lionel’s consumer catalog for 1946 shows new freight cars pulled by steamers from thelate prewar era. The ballasted solid rail track, telegraph poles, brush, and signs link this scene with the best hi-rail modeling of the time.In ’46 Lionel embracedhi-rail modelingCatalog photos reveal a commitment to scale realism in 1946by Roger Carpfter rushing to put out anabbreviated line of toy trainsto satisfy shoppers in 1945,executives at Lionel hadtime to contemplate what they shouldoffer the next year. They would not turntheir backs on the moderately pricedtoys that youngsters and families liked.However, realistic models had appealamong devoted hobbyists.The result was an assortment of trainsthat ran the gamut from true toys to scalereplicas. The most impressive of the newitems appeared at the top end. Expensivemodels and outfits seemed to promisestrong sales and would bolster Lionel’sreputation as more than a toy maker.Focusing on the catalogsTo learn about decision making at Lionel,we turn to documents – catalogs, in72 Classic Toy Trains • November 2008

with dirt or crushed rock – remind us ofwhat was pictured in the consumer catalog.The trees and shrubs, telegraphpoles and stacks of lumber, metal signsand wood barrels, even the two-dimensionalbackdrops, do as well.The photos of Lionel trains and accessoriesscattered throughout the advancecatalog conveyed to readers how realisticthose replicas seem. No one will confusethese scenes with what might be photographedalong an actual right-of-way or ina real industrial area. Even so, model railroadersexamining them couldn’t helprealizing how much might be accomplishedon their layouts with Lionel items.The commitment is fleetingPhotos showing Lionel trains in actionstand out in the advance and consumercatalogs for 1946. They show scenes filledwith neat details that match the mostsophisticated modeling of the time.Too bad for Lionel that images ofrealistic trains didn’t yield heighteneddemand for those models. As best ascan be determined, executives canceledproduction of two scale locomotivesand one top outfit because orders forthem fell short. Consumers evidentlypreferred to spend their limited dollarson less expensive, toy-like models.All the same, company leaders hesitatedto turn their backs on realism. Thedescriptions of sets and models printed inthe consumer catalog for 1947 spell outtheir eagerness to maintain perceptionsof Lionel as a producer of scale-detailedreplicas with smoke, whistles, electroniccontrol, and various other features.The illustrations, however, told a differentstory. None of the photos used inthe 1946 catalogs appeared in the nextconsumer catalog. Few of the images didmore than show the contents of outfits.The front cover and the few inside illustrationsof trains in action were paintings.Models in landscaped settings were gone.(The sole exception, a scene with accessoriesat a grade crossing, had first appearedin the catalog for 1940!)The decision makers at Lionel musthave found it more difficult to justify edginginto the scale modeling hobby. Withpublic demand for toy trains increasingafter the war, they would have been foolishto ignore it, especially when scalemodels apparently took more time todesign and cost more to manufacture.▲ Fig. 5: The centerpiece of the image on page 1 of the Lionel consumer catalog is thenew no. 671 6-8-6 turbine. The scenery lacks the detail and artistry of what can be foundelsewhere in that catalog. However, only this photo has rolling stock and accessoriesthat, except for the no. 165 magnetic crane, we are certain Lionel offered in 1946.▲ Fig. 6: The advance catalog for1946 has more photos of prewartrains in landscaped scenes withT-Rail track, accessories, anddetails. Standing by a main line arethe nos. 93 water tower and 97coal elevator, both of whichreturned to the line after the war.Photos worth rememberingRegardless of the path that Lionel followedwith its product line, the myriadphotos of trains in action sprinkledthroughout its advance and consumercatalogs for 1946 are worth rememberingand studying. They remind us ofhow great its trains can look in landscapedsettings, even those created longago with crude scenery materials.That, in addition to selling the company’smodels, was the point of theseimages. Just as Lionel developed ModelBuilder magazine to promote a hobbyand not just its products, so did it providethese pictures to inspire modelersand not just increase sales.Hobbyists today who dismiss Lionelas merely a toy business should pay▲ Fig. 7: The no. 152 crossing gate at the highwaywas photographed separately and then added tothis composite photo. The “Lionel” emblazonedacross the tender of the 700E scale New YorkCentral Hudson is another enhancement. Eventhough this image appears in the advance catalogfor 1946, every Lionel item found in it was part ofthe prewar product line.attention to these different photos.They demonstrate how far Lionel traveledinto the realm of what is now celebratedas hi-rail modeling and show iton the cutting edge once more.For help with this article, I thank my colleaguesat CTT, along with Ron Antonelli,Theo Cobb, Ray Fetzner, Harry Rado, MikeSoliday, Terry Thompson, and Bill Zuback.The questions of when and where these photoswere taken and who deserves credit for makingthese scenes will be the subject of a future article.www.ClassicToyTrains.com 75