Lolionkel Apr 2026

By the 1920s, Lionel trains were the standard of the world. But the Great Depression hit, and the luxurious, expensive trains became hard to sell.

That winter, while walking past a bustling department store, he saw it: a stationary push-train in a toy display. Kids were walking by it. Joshua stopped. His mind raced, seeing electricity—not human hands—powering that train. lolionkel

He went back to the loft. For weeks, he worked, wiring a small motor he’d designed for a fan into a wooden gondola. He powered it with a volatile, wet-cell, acid-filled battery. By the 1920s, Lionel trains were the standard of the world

Joshua was brilliant but eccentric. He had already designed photographic flash fuses for the Navy, but he wanted to build something that ran on electricity and captured the awe of the new century. Kids were walking by it

He sent the prototype to a local shop to be a display window magnet. But when customers started asking to buy the display, a legend was born.