http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=773&sid=1546530
Christmas
tree trains keep on chugging
December 11, 2008 - 5:03pm
This undated photo provided by Lionel shows a Lionel
train display at the
By MEGAN K. SCOTT
Associated Press Writer
So he
makes sure to put a train around his Christmas tree each year.
"It
brings back those good memories," said Forsyth, 43, of
Memories
are what often bring out Christmas tree trains this time of the year, as people
purchase new sets or dig out their old ones for repairs.
Electric
trains under the Christmas tree date back to at least the early 1900s,
according to Paul D. Race, editor of BigChristmasTrains.com. But prior to
electric, there were wind-up and push trains.
In the
1920s, '30s and '40s, a good train set could cost as much as a washing machine,
said Race.
"It
was the biggest present you could possibly get, and as a result, it was
reserved for Christmas," he said. "Once the presents were opened,
usually the only place you could set up the track was around the tree."
Trains
also had a special significance because they brought people home for the
holidays, according to Ron Hollander's "All Aboard!: The Story of Joshua
Lionel Cowen & His Lionel Train Company."
"So
for many people, Christmas seemed to involve trains," said Race.
By 1960,
Christmas trains were as ubiquitous as gaming systems are today, said Jerry
Calabrese, CEO of Lionel, the leading model train manufacturer.
Even
today, when the most-hyped electronics tend to be music players or
communication devices, and old-fashioned electric train chugging around the
Christmas tree is popular.
Lionel is
expecting a 50 percent increase in sales of starter sets, including licensed
ones such as a Harry Potter "Hogwarts Express," over 2007 based on
holiday pre-orders from major retailers. Lionel sold 200,000 model train sets
in 2007 compared with 80,000 in 2004, and the bulk of those were the
ready-to-run sets, according to the company.
Lionel
says it has run a marketing campaign to appeal to consumers beyond the
hard-core hobbyists, creating new lines of train sets and putting them in
places like Target, FAO Schwarz and Toys "R" Us, says Calabrese.
When
people see them, they think about being a kid and connecting with their
fathers, he said.
Mike
Wolf, owner of MTH Electric Trains, says that's what he sees, too. The average
age of his manufacturing company's customer is 52; many are Baby Boomers who
want to pass the tradition on to their kids and grandkids.
Some
train enthusiasts want the magic of a train but can't afford the $200 or so for
a complete set.
James
Pentifallo, owner and manger of Ridgefield Hobby in
For many
people, "there is no real money to buy a brand new train set," he
said. "They'll fix the old stuff up and add a little bit to it."
At the
other end of the spectrum, Caboose Hobbies in
For
Boomers, a train under the tree can be as much a part of decorating as
ornaments and lights, he said.
Lou
Failla, 48, of
Failla, a
cop, said his trains make him feel like a kid again. He can sit on the floor
and watch them, see the lights and hear the sounds.
"What's
nice is to be able to go back to that era, the simplicity of the trains running
around the Christmas tree," he said. "It's symbolic. It's almost up
there with the Christmas tree and Santa."