Lionel's Decision To End Standard Gauge
Lionel did not introduce a new standard gauge piece since 1933.
In 1937 there are some Lionel 500 series cars that where created with new trucks that had box couplers. This shows that Lionel invested money into tooling for modernizing Standard Gauge but ultimately did not put them into production.
The toy train market evolved into scale modeling and Lionel's prized 700e Hudson was cataloged in O-gauge starting in 1937 as their top of the line train. The large size of Standard Gauge no longer symbolized top of the line Lionel. Lionel's last showed Standard Gauge in 1940 in their catalogs, and the last few years they only offered rolling stock so most collectors assume they were selling off already manufactured items.
Read more about this topic: Wide Gauge
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