Lionel, LLC is an American designer and importer of toy trains and model railroads that is headquartered in Concord, North Carolina.

Due to General Mills' cost-cutting measures, production of Lionel-branded toy and model trains returned to profitability, but sometimes at the expense of quality.

In 1979, General Mills resurrected the American Flyer brand and product line, which Lionel Corporation had originally purchased in 1967 from its bankrupt competitor (The A. C. Gilbert Company of New Haven, Connecticut).

American Flyer products by Gilbert made after World War II are scaled roughly to a 1:64 proportion and are known as S gauge; their most distinctive feature, however, is that they operate on two-rail track as opposed to Lionel's three-rail trackage system.

The year 1982 brought General Mills' poorly received move of train production from the United States to Mexico.

In 1986, Detroit-based real estate developer (and railroad enthusiast) Richard Kughn bought the brand and established Lionel Trains, Inc.

In 1989, Lionel, LLC made the switch from the MPC Sound of Steam to the new and improved Railsounds 1.0, heralding a new era of high-tech audio realism.

In 1995, Lionel introduced the Trainmaster Command Control (TMCC) system along with the fully digital Railsounds 2.5.

It introduced new features like whistle, bell, chugging, diesel roar, electro-couplers, and the ability to turn RailSounds on or off.

Lionel changed hands again in 1995, when Kughn sold controlling interest in the company to an investment group that included Neil Young and the holding company Wellspring Capital Management, which was headed by former Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western) chairman Martin Davis (he had left the board of Viacom, which bought Paramount the previous year).

In order to proliferate Trainmaster Command Control as a standard, Lionel licensed it to several of its competitors, including K-Line.

While most of the American Flyer products are re-issues using old Gilbert tooling from the 1950s, the O scale equipment is a combination of new designs and reissues.

In 1999, The Texas Special was fitted with RailSounds and critics pointed out[citation needed] that it had the best diesel horn Lionel ever produced.

The suit eventually went to trial, and on June 7, 2004, a jury in Detroit, Michigan, found Lionel liable and awarded MTH US$40,775,745.

[6] In 2001, Lionel closed its last manufacturing plant in the United States, outsourcing production to Korea and China.

While Athearn quickly settled and acquired a license, Lionel initially resisted, arguing that it and its predecessor companies had been using the logos for more than 50 years, and had been encouraged or even paid to do so.

In September 2004, the company dismissed its CEO, Bill Bracy, and replaced him with Jerry Calabrese, a former Marvel Entertainment and NASCAR executive.

On March 27, 2008, a bankruptcy judge approved Lionel's reorganization plan, including a settlement with MTH.

[7] The 2004 Christmas movie Polar Express, based on the children's book of the same name, provided Lionel with its first hit in years.

Lionel produced a train set based on the movie, and stronger-than-anticipated demand caused highly publicized shortages.

In 2006, the Lionel electric train was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame, along with the Easy-Bake Oven.

In 2009, Lionel launched a series of the most highly detailed model trains they have ever made called Visionline.

[9] In August of that year, Lionel moved their service center to their headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 2020, a large expansion to Lionel's HO scale lineup happened when they released a 2-8-2 Mikado and many other stock products.

On November 15, 2004, Lionel, LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing the US$40 million-plus judgment in the MTH lawsuit as the primary factor.

On December 14, 2006, a federal appeals court determined that the company was entitled to a new trial, and that their reorganized plan should be filed by March 1, 2007.

According to Lionel chief executive Jerry Calabrese, the plan called for the company to pay all its creditors in full with interest, whilst the company itself would also obtain up to US$40 million in loans to fund its exit from Chapter 11, pay off its creditors and fund its working capital needs in the future.

As in the past, the higher-end, limited run products tend to retain the highest collectible value for the future.

These products include the Legacy equipped steam and diesel locomotives which are accurate and highly detailed scale models.

Lionel introduced the Vision Line of locomotives and cars in 2009, with the goal of providing the most innovative and detailed O gauge models available.