Children And Trains

Children love trains. There is no question about that and there is not a lot doubt that most boys like trains more than most girls, but who understands why? Is it the speed, the power and the size of trains that hold the appeal? The days have probably passed when most boys wanted to become a train driver, but there are still loads of boys who do.

On the other hand, all kids like to see toy trains whizzing about a circuit of track and this love of toy trains frequently stays with adult males, although seldom with adult females.

Numerous manufacturers have attempted to take advantage of children’s love of trains. Some manufacture cheap train sets whilst others produce superb train sets that become classics and sell for many times their cost.

Apart from the actual train sets, there are also stories about trains and some of these make the cross-over into becoming real toys too. The Polar Express and Thomas the Tank Engine are good instances of this.

The Polar Express is especially popular in America, where numerous dwellings with young children have electric Polar Express trains running around the base of the family Christmas tree. The Polar Express was first a book and then a very well-liked children’s motion picture.

Thomas the Tank Engine is more well-known in the UK and Europe as a whole. Thomas began life as a children’s book in 1946 but only became well-known after a succession of cartoons were made in 1984 for TV in the UK.

He rapidly became world-famous, but most of the Thomas the Tank Engine children’s toys were pulled on a length of string instead of being electrified.

Thomas the Tank Engine has brought in billions of dollars in comic strips, books, toys and other spin-offs such as bedclothes, clothing, lunch boxes and wall coverings. There does not appear to be an end in sight to the popularity of Thomas and his friends among the young.

Kids older than seven or eight like to join the track into different configurations and controlling the speed and direction of realistic model trains. Different countries had their own train set makers, a few of them going back 120 years. Hornby and then Triang Hornby was one of the first in the UK, Marx and Lionel held a equivalent position in the United States and Maerklin in Germany.

These days, original Hornby, Lionel and Maerklin train sets in decent condition can sell for many thousands of dollars. Marx train sets too, although they always were targetted at the budget end of the American market.

Train sets are one of the classic presents for children like a rocking horse, a fort or castle and a dolls pram. It would be a terrible shame if these old-fashioned toys died out, because unlike video games, a basic train set can be built upon until it is something very impressive and then passed on to future generations as an heirloom for continued expansion.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is currently involved with trains and society. If you would like to know more about train sets for kids, please go over to our website for some great offers.