Williams Electric Trains was an American

toy train A toy train is a toy that represents a train. It is distinguished from a model train by an emphasis on low cost and durability, rather than scale modeling. A toy train can be as simple as a toy that can run on a track, or it might be operated b ...

and

model railroad Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

manufacturer, based in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...

. Williams was sold to Kader via their subsidiary

Bachmann Industries Bachmann Industries (Bachmann Brothers, Inc.) is a Bermuda-registered, Chinese-owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specialising in model railroading. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of its North American headquar ...

in October 2007, and is now identified as "Williams by Bachmann." It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Williams as a maker of reproductions of vintage Lionel and

Ives Ives is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Alice Emma Ives (1876–1930), American dramatist, journalist * Burl Ives (1909–1995), American singer, author and actor * Charles Ives (1874–1954), Ame ...

Standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

trains. Williams had acquired some of the original tooling from the original Lionel Corporation after it sold the rights to the name to

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

in 1969. In the 1980s Williams acquired tooling that had once belonged to Kusan, an obscure Lionel competitor from the 1950s, and its product line shifted to

O scale O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad scal ...

. Williams eventually discontinued its tinplate offerings, selling the old Lionel tooling to the company that later became

MTH Electric Trains MTH Electric Trains is an American toy train and model railroad designer, importer, and manufacturer. A privately held company based in Columbia, Maryland, MTH was formerly known as Mike's Train House. Early career MTH's founder, Mike Wolf, start ...

. Although today Williams is often considered a maker of reproduction 1950s-era Lionel equipment, Williams' offerings are distinguishable from the Lionel originals because Williams sometimes adds details that were not possible using 1950s manufacturing methods. Unlike most other O scale manufacturers, Williams never added electronics such as

Trainmaster Command Control Trainmaster Command (TMCC) is Lionel's electronic control system for O scale 3-rail model trains and toy trains that mainly ran from 1994 to 2006. Conceptually it is similar to Digital Command Control (DCC), the industry's open standard used by H ...

Digital Command System Digital model railway control systems are an alternative to control a layout and simplify the wiring and add more flexibility in operations. A number of control systems are available to operate locomotives on model railways. Analog systems where th ...

to its

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s. This decision gained Williams a small but devoted following among those hobbyists who want a more "traditional" train layout reminiscent of the 1950s but who want to buy modern equipment. However, this decision has also allowed companies such as MTH and

K-Line K-Line Electric Trains is a brand name of O gauge and S gauge model railway locomotives, rolling stock, and buildings. Formerly the brand name under which Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based MDK Inc. sold its products, K-Line was then acquired ...

to eclipse it in size in spite of being an older company.

External links

* http://www.bachmanntrains.com/ American companies established in 1971 Toy companies established in 1971 2007 mergers and acquisitions Toy train manufacturers Model railroad manufacturers Companies based in Columbia, Maryland Model manufacturers of the United States {{Toy-company-stub