Toy Model Trains
Out of the many childhood memories one which sticks vividly in my mind was standing on the train platform in Ffestiniog, North Wales, as the steam railway arrived in the station. My senses were arrested with the hissing and puffing of steam, the rumble of the ground, the smell of the smoke and the heat from the engine. I watched enviously as the train driver quickly wolfed down his cooked breakfast whilst standing in the engine, eager to pull away from the station and continue his journey.
I believe it is some of this awe which is captured in a young boy’s heart which stays with him into adulthood; the control over a powerful machine – the steam train. If he can’t own the real thing then he will want to own a toy. This is where his passion for toy model trains often comes from.
Men often become fascinated by the thought of mastering something so powerful even if it is 1/87 of its original size. Technically it may only be a toy, but to the train enthusiast it helps him solve the puzzle of how trains work, and how the electricity supplies the locomotives power or maybe the intricate moving parts synchronized so beautifully and harmoniously to produce forward movement. For me, the toy model train brings back memories from the train platform in Wales, for others the comforting childhood memory of a train whistling around a Christmas tree gets relived. Whatever the reason these toys have now grown up into machines and are ready to play with the big boys.
Children are introduced to the hobby of toy model trains when they find a plastic train in their Christmas stocking, possibly. It may be low priced and simple, but it gets the boy’s interest in the hobby. As boys grow into men, so the plastic train becomes a locomotive – and they are made to last. Men enjoy the precision engineering of a well made toy model train. The attention to detail such as the good contact the wheels make with the track in order to get a better electrical connection. They have a stronger engine – and that means greater pulling power (most men enjoying having more power!). The well crafted and engineered metal body oozes with quality, and intricate craftsmanship rather than the cheap plastic models of their youth. The insignias and designs on the carriages and engine, makes the whole experience seem even more like they are fulfilling the dream of driving a real locomotive – not just a toy model train.
For some, electrically driven steam toy model trains are just not enough – it has to be the real thing. So the genius’s within the model train industry offer steam engines for grown men to relive their childhood dream, in the comfort of their own loft. What could be better than enjoying your favourite locomotive filling your scenery with lifelike steam.
So although very few boys get to grow up to actually be train driver, there are many who get to indulge in their dream enjoying the hobby which so many of us love and enjoy; toy model trains.
