HELP! My Senior Research Paper is DUE on TUES. 1ST."The History (or evolution) Of Model Railroading"

[Anonymous]

Dear Reader,

The History of Model Railroading is the topic I am researching for my Senior Project's research paper. What are some good resources that I can look at (Books, Webpages, etc)? I am lost. I found a few books, but they don't have much in them. And search engines haven't been much help either. Can some share some information or place they know of that I may look? Thank you.
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[Anonymous]

Well, I can offer some advice on the early days on the hobby in Europe if it's any help - try googling Hornby, Hornby Dublo, Meccano, Triang for the UK market and Marklin, Lehmann (LGB who pretty much invented G scale), Fleischmann and Trix for the mainland European stuff - I'm thinking solely in HO/OO apart from Lehmann here. You could probably get a decent paper from the history of Hornby alone (they've gone through some pretty convoluted changes). Hornby-Dublo (the first OO scale mass-produced system) began pre-WW2 as did Trix Twin (neat system this, could handle two trains independently on one track by having the three rails wired so that the centre was a common return and the running rails the controlled live feeds).

Websites I have found:

www.triang.com - history of Triang (now Hornby) and links to other sites
www.mremag.demon.co.uk - has some articles on interesting models, particularly on how some manufacturers collaborated to make models (such as Liliput making grain hopper bodies for Triang Hornby).

Hope this is of some help!

[Big_Boy_4005]

I don't have a book list for you, but consider this. Without real railroads, there would be no models. So, when did railroads enter the public consciousness?

The earliest toy trains were cast iron or wood, and probably predate the Civil War. Around 1900 is when things start to get more interesting. This is when motors and electricity meet train models. In the US, look at Lionel as the starting point for electric trains. By the 1910's there were a number of manufacturers, in both the US and Europe.

The 1930's are a landmark period. In 1934 the NMRA was founded, as was Model
Railroader Magazine. After that, the trail is pretty easy to follow.

Try this page as a starting point for your web searches.

http://directory.google.com/Top/Recreation/Collecting/Models/Trains/

[mcouvillion]

Man,

If you waited this long to get started on your research paper, you are probably TOAST! I hope you can find some good reference material and read enough to get what you need in time.

Mark C.

[Anonymous]

This same person posted almost the same question here on January 18th, and there were 10 replies. Not bother to check them out?

Here is the thread: http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28831


Deja vu all over again!

Bob Boudreau