The first toy train was sold 130 years ago

The first toy train was sold 130 years ago, on November 19, 1891, in Goppingen (German Empire).

According to the report, the first toy trains began to be built in England in the early 1830s, when the construction of real railways began, informs Railway Supply magazine citing Railinsider.

Toy trains often had a working steam engine, so they moved due to the combustion of fuel. Most often, these models were created to advertise the newly emerging railway transport.

The exact year of birth of such models is very difficult to determine, but it is often celebrated in 1829, when the grandchildren of the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were presented with a toy copy of Stephenson famous “Rocket”.

A similar toy was presented to the Spanish king.

Locomotives began to gain popularity quickly, so models of tin or metal soon appeared. The first model of a toy railroad was created in 1859 in the park of Saint-Cloud (Hughes, France) and was intended for Prince Napoleon Eugene Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte.

The first widely accepted standards for toy trains were introduced in Leipzig, Germany in 1891 by the Merklin Company (founded 1859).

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