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Railway Station

1920 to 1929 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Toy trains dominated the toy market from about 1860 until 1914 and they continued to be popular. Many of these were made in Germany by companies such as Bing and Marklin. It was not until the turn of the century that companies started to make whole systems, where you could buy parts to add to your collection allowing you to make your train set as big or small as you wished. Companies like Distler, who made this railway station started to produce cheap accessories that could be added to these toy sets. This train station was played with alongside a table top set made by Bing.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Tin and colour lithograph
Brief description
Lithographed tin railway station made in Germany by Johann Distler in the early 1920s
Physical description
Lithograph Tin plate model of a railway station. The station includes a platform of plain grey. A building in the centre that is printed with images of a shop and a refreshment room. The roof is brown and red and decorated with tiles and the words Central Station is written across it in yellow. There are a number of adverts on the wall of the building and the white picket fence, these include pears soap, oxo and Will's gold flake cigarettes. The back of the station is plain and the building is left open. The parts are all held together with a tongue and grove system.
Dimensions
  • Length: 31.5cm
  • Width: 7cm
  • Height: 9.5cm
Production typeMass produced
Credit line
Given by John and Pat Clark
Summary
Toy trains dominated the toy market from about 1860 until 1914 and they continued to be popular. Many of these were made in Germany by companies such as Bing and Marklin. It was not until the turn of the century that companies started to make whole systems, where you could buy parts to add to your collection allowing you to make your train set as big or small as you wished. Companies like Distler, who made this railway station started to produce cheap accessories that could be added to these toy sets. This train station was played with alongside a table top set made by Bing.
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
B.93-2004

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Record createdApril 8, 2009
Record URL
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