Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
In the early 20th century, Joshua Lionel Cowen cofounded Lionel Corporation, a company that specialized in the production of toy trains and model railroads. From the late 1940s to the late 1950s, this electric train company reached it height, making record profits and some of its most valuable model train sets. During the postwar era, this automatic crossing gate No. 252 was manufactured. It was made to complement the No. 145C contractor and the No. L363 lamp. It is characterized by black hash marks that go up its arm and its O gauge scale. In the 1960s, the Lionel Corporation experienced decline as cars and airlines replaced trains as the main mode of transportation. Ultimately the company filed for bankruptcy and licensed its manufacturing to General Mills in 1969.