For many of us old-timers, at least the men, who were around in the 1950’s, Lionel meant trains, or what we call model railroads today. Lionel, American Flyer, and Marx were the trains of the time in the United States. Although HO scale trains, much smaller than these three, had been introduced by German company Marklin in the 1930’s they had not yet become a large part of the train market in the United States. Lionel trains, sometimes using the logo Lionel Lines, remained both popular and profitable through sometime around 1956 when the smaller scale gained in popularity.

Lionel trains were some of the first things youngsters looked for in the Sears Christmas catalog or at local stores. Larger stores often had train displays in their windows and children could look at them for hours even though these were only trains running in circles.

In my small hometown we had no toy stores of other stores that sold Lionel trains. To see Lionel trains, we had to travel to nearby Jonesboro.  There we could visit the small Firestone store located in the heart of the business district.

Yes, as strange as it may seem, Firestone, a tire dealer, also sold Lionel trains. Each year at the beginning of the holiday season, the store brought their train display. To most children, the display seemed wonderful. Looking back today I suspect it was no more than about five feet wide and ten feet long. It had two loops of track close to the edges of the table where trains ran constantly, one in each direction.

Train sets and individual cars that were for sale were stored under the table. In the center of the two loops were some short sidings where some cars and accessories were on display. And directly down the center was a set of shelves extending upward. These shelves were used to display train sets for sale that year.

Although Lionel trains started to lose popularity around 1956, when I was only four years old, the Firestone store continued to display and sell them for several more years. And I enjoyed watching these trains run around in circles much as my Lionel train at home did.

While Lionel trains are still around today, they do not seem early as popular as the trains of the 50’s. Nor are they as easy to find. Model railroading has moved to the smaller sizes known as HO or N scale. And the trend seems to be highly detailed layouts with buildings, scenery, and other things to make them seem more realistic. Costs have risen greatly both for the trains and the space to use them.

I wonder if our children today have something that replaces the enjoyment provided by these simple Lionel displays. While they have their cell phones, video games, and other electronics, “Has imagination disappeared?” Have we as adults taken away the need to dream or to imagine or even to play? Has cost driven the children, or their parents, from the market?

Before I am criticized for being outdated or living in the past, I am a supporter of most new technology. At the same time, I believe that imagination is important to new ideas for the future. Had there not been those who could think of things outside the box, we would not have many of today’s advances.

So, let’s not push our children to become adults before their time. Encourage them to imagine and to work and play with others. Let them be children, not young adults, and to balance their new technologies with playing and enjoying the outdoors and the world around them. Push them to read and learn and to accept mistakes as part of life. In other words, let them be kids. They have a limited time to do this while they will have many years to be adults.