Lionel Corporation was an American toy manufacturer and holding company of retailers that was founded in 1900 and operated for more than 120 years.

[4] Lionel's first train, the Electric Express, was long thought by historians to have been intended for use as a storefront display, rather than for sale to consumers.

Delivered in December 1900, it operated on a brass track and was powered by a battery and a motor that Cowen had intended to use for an electric fan.

Lionel's earliest trains were larger than the sizes commonly available today, running on two-rail tracks with the rails 27⁄8 inches apart.

By the end of World War I, Lionel was one of three major U.S. toy train manufacturers; the others were American Flyer and Louis Marx and Company.

William Walthers, a large seller of model railroads, asked Cowen in 1929 why Lionel painted its trains in bright and unrealistic colors.

[6] The product widely credited with saving the company was a wind-up handcar featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse, which operated on O gauge track and sold for $1.

It was the success of the more expensive but profitable 752E City of Portland Union Pacific Streamliner that gave the company much needed revenue.

[6] Lionel ceased toy production in 1942 to produce nautical items for the United States Navy during World War II.

The Red Comet and Blue Streak sets included models of New York Central's Commodore Vanderbilt locomotive.

In 1934, Lionel made a 1:45 scale model of Union Pacific's M10000 diesel streamliner (also called the City of Denver) that runs on O gauge track.

As the 1950s progressed, Lionel sales began to decline in proportion to the growing prevalence of space and military-themed toys and slot car racing sets.

These changes coincided with the decline in rail travel as private automobiles proliferated, and the launching of Sputnik, which began the space-race between the United States and Soviet Union.

The remaining interest in toy and model trains that existed was geared toward HO scale, which gradually overtook O gauge in popularity.

[9] Beginning in the 1960s, Lionel attempted to diversify into other product lines, such as phonographs, science, weather station and plastics engineering kits.

In December 1968 Ronald Saypol, Joshua Cowen's former grandson-in-law, became President and CEO of the Lionel Corporation, and in the following year, in an attempt to divest the company of what was by then determined to be a cash drain by the board and shareholders, began negotiations to sell their toy train line and lease the Lionel name to Model Products Corporation (MPC), a subsidiary of General Mills, Inc.[10] 1969 was the final year the Lionel Corporation published a toy train catalog and manufactured O gauge trains.

The structural elements were hollow beams of square cross section made from folded and quite thin sheet aluminum.

While innovative, the lack of general purpose beam members with enough holes limited the adaptability of the set to complex constructions.

This new wheel design, coupled with the use of Delrin plastic trucks, reduced rolling friction that allowed for longer trains to be run and is still in use by Lionel today.

Lionel also began to offer trains in a wider variety of road names and colors and with improved graphics that were not previously available during the postwar period.

The set included a blue Jersey Central Lines steam locomotive with a 2-4-2 wheel configuration and attached tender car.

The brand rose to prominence in 1976 following a series of television commercials featuring Johnny Cash, who was a longtime Lionel collector.

Starting in the 1980s, Lionel began to issue more postwar-derived operating accessories, such as the Lumber Mill, Ice Depot, and News Stand.

In 1989, Lionel phased out the Mighty Sound of Steam and replaced it with what would eventually be called "RailSounds," beginning with their re-issue of the pre-war B6 Pennsylvania switcher.

After the sale of its train product lines in 1969, Lionel Corporation became a holding company that specialized in toy stores.

By 1991, the chain had regrown to 100 stores and was the fourth-largest toy retailer in the country, but it encountered financial troubles due to a combination of factors.

[18] Additionally, Lionel found it difficult to compete on price with the larger Toys "R" Us, and it attempted to expand too rapidly in a weakened economy.

In 1992, Lionel again tried to reverse its fortunes by merging with the bankrupt Child World, the United States' #3 toy retailer, but was unable to secure financing.

[20] By February 1993, Lionel had closed all but 29 stores in six states, concentrating on the markets of Philadelphia, central New Jersey, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, and south Florida.

[21] Unable to reach an agreement for reorganization with its creditors, on June 2, 1993, Lionel announced its intention to liquidate all of its stores and go out of business.