The rolling stock and accessories Wooden toy train

1 rolling stock , accessories

1.1 design origins , developments
1.2 bridges , tunnels
1.3 buildings
1.4 licensing , merchandise themes

the rolling stock , accessories
design origins , developments

3d ldraw rendering of wooden toy locomotive in style of heros around 1970

early sets such of skaneateles, eichhorn , brio seem have used rather simple , abstract designs. pieces not painted, trains , tracks had same surface. normal trains had engines , wagons each carved single piece of wood , connected hooks , eyes. painted sets may have become common in 1970s, did use of magnets connectors. engines carved single block commonly painted black in europe bright red funnels , wheels. trains made construction sets , large pull-along trains may have influenced other train designs built of several wood pieces ( cut broomstick design among others). each wooden piece had own color, engine, example, sport 6 different colors: 1 each base plate, cylindrical boiler, drivers cabin, cabin roof, funnels , wheels. sets painted patterns seem have become more popular in late 1980s , 1990s. may have been due success of thomas tank engine series , wish more realistic real world designs.

as of 2007 there seem several design trends:

one group seems emphasize material wood. simple roots designs, while others take more artistic approach, searching new ways abstract train theme.
another group tries stay true material wood use more realistic designs series based on famous real life trains.
a modern view use more , more plastic , build battery powered , remote controlled objects, electronic devices gaining ground.
specialty trains specific purposes alphabet trains , name trains, decoration sets birthday trains candles , promotional designs special events.

train tables popular way set trains , railways, fixed versions placed in waiting rooms @ hospitals, doctors offices, or other places entertainment children may offered. way stay off ground , not necessary take apart track after built! wooden railway layouts based on wtrak module standard have become part of model railroad shows in united states - starting in pacific northwest in 2009.

bridges , tunnels

early skaneateles sets had rectangular supports raised track gradually. due different connection system skaneateles used @ time, tracks bent upwards @ connection point. two-piece bridge massive, self-supporting, ramps has been common since 1960s. provided supports, bridge elongated using normal straights. more modern bridge designs have used large amounts of plastic since 1980s, reducing amount of wood needed , producing lighter , cheaper designs. sturdy basic bridge three-part bridge connections in ramp section. such designs seem aimed @ youngest players not come apart easily. however, design not extendable. 2 part bridge led development of raised track pieces. first versions had viaduct-like designs or sported sort of gadget drawbridge. later ramps track bent in s-shape. these not self-supporting, new sorts of elevated track pieces introduced. these consisted of short piece of track raised 4 legs. these supports stackable , based on square design, direction changed right angle turn on different levels.

buildings

early buildings had windows , doors made drawing lines in single color on simple rectangular blocks. had slanted roofs made piece of wood, painted color, stacked on top. common station design consisted of simple platform roof on 2 or 3 supports along longer axis. later buildings have printed multicolor patterns. there have been building sets similar popular wooden building blocks, allowing lots of individual designs. since 1990s building designs have become more sophisticated , interaction trains has increased. learning curve may have made approach popular many designs based on story plots of thomas tank series, such grain loader accessory or logging mill.

licensing , merchandise themes

sesame street - (playskool 70s?, strombecker-tootsie toys 1995), dealmakers 2008
thomas tank engine - (learning curve 1993 , brio)
jim knopf/button - (euro-play pre 2000?(tesco?), brio 2000 on)
bob builder - (brio 2001)
benjamin blümchen - (eichhorn 2001)
curious george - (brio 2002)
busytown - (brio 2002)
babar elephant - (brio, france)
the little engine - (maxim until mid-2005, whittle shortline of 2006)
winnie pooh - (strombecker-tootsie toys 2004?, eichhorn 2006, brio 2008)
the polar express - (brio 2006)
mickey mouse clubhouse - (brio 2008)
chuggington - (2010/11 chuggington wooden railway)
cars movie - (wood collection line toys “r” 2011 )




^ marshal h. larrabee claiming patent original ornamental design in 1941.
^ brio bridge before 1981, spielzeug museum nürnberg, number 1981.5111
^ based on u.s. patent filed on feb. 11 1999 (toy vehicle grain loader accessory)
^ patent filed on jan. 28 1998 (toy vehicle logging mill accessory)
^ sesame street wooden railway listed among 100 best toys of 1995 dr.toy
^ shown on homepage
^ maxim page on waybackmachine internet archive
^ brio ties in disney on playthings website, 29 october 2007
^ new wooden toys created of “cars” characters on route 66 news website.