Cowen designed his first train, the Electric Express, not as a toy, but as an eye catching display for toy stores. During Lionels early days, Americans were captivated by the railroads and awed by electricity, still a rarity in many homes.
Cowen and Grants first customer was Ingersoll, the owner of the shop where Cowen saw the push train. Their first product was a large but simple, open gondola, called the Electric Express, propelled by the previous fan motor. The track was merely two steel strips inserted into slotted ties with a 2 7/8 inch width between the rails, and was powered by a battery. Lionels first trains were powered by a battery, soon replaced by the 110-volt electric transformer. Customers became curious about the Electric Express and, eventually, twelve of the showpieces Lionel trains were sold.
In June 1902 they decided to add something more interesting to the line with a City Hall Park trolley and a two foot suspension bridge. In 1903 they brought out an electric B & O locomotive and a motorized derrick car, and the original gondola was changed from wood to metal.
Several changes occurred in 1904. Cowen married Cecelia Liberman, the Lionel workshop was moved nine blocks to the north, and Cowen hired an Italian Immigrant, Mario Caruso. In future years it would be Caruso who did the dirtier job of keeping the factory running smoothly while Cowen managed sales.
Several changes occurred in 1904. Cowen married Cecelia Liberman, the Lionel workshop was moved nine blocks to the north, and Cowen hired an Italian Immigrant, Mario Caruso. In future years it would be Caruso who did the dirtier job of keeping the factory running smoothly while Cowen managed sales.
In 1906 a great change took place in the line. In that year Lionel added a third rail which carried the current and the outer rails, which were the ground rails, were only 2 1/8 inches apart. This was the system adopted by most other manufacturers. They were rigidly pre-assembled. Three trolleys, two steam engines, two passenger cars, seven freight cars and a wall transformer were offered. Cowens son, Lawrence, was born in 1907, and became the companys emblem on boxes and in catalogs and was later to become its President.
Lionel trains proved to be very popular, and before long Joshua Cowen was manufacturing cattle cars, coal cars, passenger cars, train stations, and tunnels. By 1909 Cowen was calling his trains The Standard of the World.As more and more American homes were wired for electrical power, Lionel really took off. No toy benefited more from electricity than trains. It was 1910. Electric trains had become a big business.
Lionel trains proved to be very popular, and before long Joshua Cowen was manufacturing cattle cars, coal cars, passenger cars, train stations, and tunnels. By 1909 Cowen was calling his trains The Standard of the World.As more and more American homes were wired for electrical power, Lionel really took off. No toy benefited more from electricity than trains. It was 1910. Electric trains had become a big business.
In 1915, O Gauge was introduced, which eventually became the most popular scale of train. Whatever the scale, Lionel Trains have become an active part of every childs beginning throughout the ages.
In 1929, Cowen unveiled the Transcontinental Limited, which stretched nine feet from its massive headlight to its ornate observation platform, complete with brass rail. It cost $110 more than a used Model T. The company was able to weather the Depression, when there was little money to spend on toys, and World War II, when there were no metals available to build toys with. Many collectors believe the trains and accessories that Lionel made in the two decades following World War II were the firms best, and they focus on the products from those years.
In 1929, Cowen unveiled the Transcontinental Limited, which stretched nine feet from its massive headlight to its ornate observation platform, complete with brass rail. It cost $110 more than a used Model T. The company was able to weather the Depression, when there was little money to spend on toys, and World War II, when there were no metals available to build toys with. Many collectors believe the trains and accessories that Lionel made in the two decades following World War II were the firms best, and they focus on the products from those years.
An often repeated story in both book form and on the Web credits Cowan with inventing the flashlight. We have been told the story stems from an interview printed in The New Yorker magazine in 1947. Cowen stated he accidentally invented the flashlight in 1898, attaching small canisters containing batteries and light bulbs to a flower pot for the purpose of illuminating the plant. The invention was a flop, and Cowen sold the rights to the invention to Conrad Hubert, who decided to try selling the lights without the flower pot, the flashlight. Although the story could be true, they were both in New York at the same time, Cowan had worked for both a battery and a lamp manufacture, Hubert (having newly arrived in America from Russia) was looking for work and at the time of the article Cowan was already rich and famous and therefore did not need to remake history. But the only solid evidence is the New Yorker article. You can decide if the story is true.
The good times didn’t last. They never do. From 1953, Lionels best year, to 1959, sales dropped by more than half. In 1958, the company lost money for the first time since the Depression. In September 1959, the Cowen family members including Joshua sold their shares of stock to a group of businessmen led by Cowen’s great-nephew, Roy Cohn. Cohn paid $15 for each of his Lionel shares in 1959. Four years later, he sold them for $5.25. Lionel survives, having passed through numerous hands before falling into a group of investors including Neil Young, the singer and songwriter.