Rowan University intern Kendelyn Welsh puts a firehouse in position with a Lionel Texas Special model train from 1959 while setting up the 22nd annual Antique Toy Train Show at the Museum of American History in Deptford.
Long before trains revolutionized the transport of goods and people in the 19th century, Roman Empire engineers had designed a paved railway system for beast-drawn wagons in the first century.
By the 18th century, English miners were setting up tracks for horse-drawn wagons to bring coal from the mines to ships waiting at river piers. As a better and more efficient way to transport coal, engineer Richard Trevithick of Cornwall in England introduced the first steam locomotive on Feb. 21, 1804 – when the high-pressure steam engine train traveled along the tramway of an ironworks company in Wales.
Within 20 years, youngsters all over Europe had model trains to play with. German artisans are credited with making the earliest miniature trains in the 1830s. Mathias Baldwin, the creator of the Baltimore Locomotive Works, created an early passenger-train model several years later, and in 1856, Connecticut-based George Brown & Company created the first known self-propelled American model train.
By the 1950s and 1960s model trains were the favorite toy of American boys, including Jeffrey Norcross, curator of the Museum of American History in Deptford.
“I built these boards myself as a youngster in the 1960s,” recalled Norcross as he pointed out two large displays of towns with trains circling them at high speeds and a 1946 Lionel Steamer engine.
The museum’s annual Antique Toy Train Show opened on Nov. 29 will continue through Feb. 2, 2026.
“Grandfathers bring their grandchildren each year to show them the kind of toys they liked,” Norcross noted.
The show features O and O-27 gauge toy trains from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. Lionel, Marx and American Flyer engines, with adjoining cars, race against each other on two diverse platforms. Vintage Plasticville buildings from the 1950s augment the display and vegetation and auxiliary structures will give the platforms a traditional holiday appearance, Norcross explained.
Rowan University interns Kendelyn Welsh, a Biomedical Art and Visualization major, and Tatiana Elo, a Community Studies and Anthropology major, created the towns on the train boards using plastic trees, a firehouse, a church, stores, homes and more.
“I liked putting it together, the landscaping and the houses,” noted Welsh, who referred to the creations as dioramas and whose goal after graduation is to set up museum displays. “This is my first hands-on experience.”
“We made these boards to look like Christmas morning,” offered Norcross, adding that the style of the buildings is from the 1950s, while the look of the toy train engines and cars date to the ’30s.
His wife, Barbara, said the train show is one of her favorite events each year. She also distributed flyers about the upcoming Brooklawn Train Show at American Legion Post 72 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25.
The fascination of youngsters with model trains continues into the 21st century, and Barbara encouraged families to bring their children to the museum this holiday season. They will also see permanent exhibits about Deptford history; the Pre-Columbian period; fossils from the Cambrian to the Pleistocene periods; antique tools and equipment; farm tools; and glass and ceramics from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Georgia.
The Museum of American History is located at 138 Andaloro Way in West Deptford. It is open year-round from Thursday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For information call (856) 812-1121 or email sjmuseum@aol.com.
