Gallery of Track Images
Preamble
This page is devoted to a representative display of toy train and model railway track as it has evolved and diversified from over 100 years ago. It has been designed to include all gauges from Standard or Wide Gauge (In Europe Gauge 2), all the way through the modern day scales and gauges to N and T.
It includes all major manufacturers, a selection of secondary ones, and a cross-section of all types of trackwork and track formations produced over the years. It is to be noted that there have been many minor manufacturers, whose track systems can be hard to identify, and whose origin has been lost to time.
In the many histories of manufactures that have been written, details of available track has generally been given scant attention, leaving one to research old toy train catalogs that can be scarce to obtain.
Credit for contributions and information goes to individuals as recorded, and to sources such as
Binns Road (UK)
Train Collectors Association, USA Western
Train Collectors Association, USA Western - Manufacturers Index
Train Collector Society, Any Make, Any Age, Any Gauge (UK)
van der Lubbe, Fred: Gauge and Scale
To get you into the toy train mood, click here for "the Railway Steam Gallop" by the late Kaj Pindal, noted Canadian animator and animation educator.
Gallery
Märklin
Standard/Wide Gauge
Notes:
- The four major makes of Standard/ Wide Gauge track (Lionel, Ives, American Flyer and Dorfan) were all interchangeable as to length, and curve. Eight pieces form a circle with a diameter (at the outside rail) of 42".
- Lionel had patented the name of this gauge-width (2 and 1/8") as "Standard Gauge", which obliged its competitors to refer to theirs as "Wide Gauge".
- Lionel, Ives and Dorfan all followed the 2-1 track pin arrangement, whereas AF favoured 3-0.)
- Post WWII, MTH ( Mike's Train House) produced replicas of Standard/Wide Gauge equipment.
- "Standard Gauge" was copyrighted by Lionel, so all other makes described their offering as "Wide Gauge".
American Flyer