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European Toys and Trains, 1880-1918
Germany and France once produced the world's finest toys. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, old wooden toy making traditions were adapted for production in tin and brass.
Simple toy trains first appeared during the 1840s. By the 1880s, steam-driven examples -- and later, electrical toy trains -- appeared alongside a wide variety of miniature factories, power houses, coal stations, bridges and tunnels. These toy railway sets mimicked the real logistical systems of industrial power, while teaching principles of steam and electrical engineering. |