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The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Lionel Trains (1997)
This is a history of Lionel, maker of toy trains for over 100 years.
In the year 1901, Joshua Lionel Cowen (origially Cohen), a resident of New York City, sent a flatcar, with an electric motor and battery cleverly concealed underneath, around a small circle of brass track. 1902 was the first year a catalog was published which also listed containers of acid and lead plates which converted household current for train use and dry cell batteries for homes without electricity. The cost of a Blue Comet 400E engine roughly equaled that of a three piece bedroom set or a used Model T. Cowen also personally lost a great deal of money in the stock market crash.
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