# Lionel Corporation
**Lionel Corporation** was an American toy manufacturer, founded in 1900, that became the best-known maker of electric toy trains in the United States. The original corporation sold its train business to [General Mills](https://www.edgepedia.org/general-mills) in 1967–1969 and survived afterward as a toy-store holding company before filing for bankruptcy in 1991; the Lionel train brand itself has continued under a series of successor owners, most recently Lionel, LLC, acquired in 2026 by the collectibles company Round 2.[1](https://www.inc.com/magazine/20050201/mth.html) • [2](https://www.forinfos.com/en-gb/article/history-lionel-trains-b26fe718b84ec014) • [3](https://www.lionelbrands.com/lionel-brands-group-launch-press-release/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1900, by Joshua Lionel Cowen at age 23, as Lionel Manufacturing[1](https://www.inc.com/magazine/20050201/mth.html) |
| First trains | Cowen fitted an electric motor to a model train in 1901 and began selling trains the same year; the firm had started out making flash powder for photographers[4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/14/Lionel-one-time-trainmaker-files-for-bankruptcy/3411676872000/) |
| Renamed | Lionel Corporation in 1918[5](https://company-histories.com/Lionel-LLC-Company-History.html) |
| Peak | 1953 annual revenue of $32 million; in the 1950s Lionel accounted for nearly two-thirds of all United States toy train sales[1](https://www.inc.com/magazine/20050201/mth.html) • [6](https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/lionel-trains/) |
| End of trainmaking | Bankruptcy declared in 1967; train business sold to General Mills in 1969, after which Lionel Corp. operated toy stores[2](https://www.forinfos.com/en-gb/article/history-lionel-trains-b26fe718b84ec014) • [4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/14/Lionel-one-time-trainmaker-files-for-bankruptcy/3411676872000/) |
| Corporate end | Lionel Corp. filed for bankruptcy in June 1991 while running 97 toy supermarkets in 15 states[4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/14/Lionel-one-time-trainmaker-files-for-bankruptcy/3411676872000/) |
| Brand today | Lionel, LLC acquired March 4, 2026 by Round 2 (a Praesidian Capital portfolio company), forming the Lionel Brands Group[3](https://www.lionelbrands.com/lionel-brands-group-launch-press-release/) |
## Founding and early growth
Joshua Lionel Cowen, described by *Inc.* as a master marketer and a fierce competitor, founded Lionel Manufacturing in 1900 at age 23. Initially, the firm produced flash powder for photographers, but in 1901 Cowen tried fitting an electric motor into a toy train, and the trains went on sale that year.[1](https://www.inc.com/magazine/20050201/mth.html) • [4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/14/Lionel-one-time-trainmaker-files-for-bankruptcy/3411676872000/) He positioned trains as a father-son bonding hobby and attacked rivals such as A.C. Gilbert and the Ives Co. in no-holds-barred advertising.[1](https://www.inc.com/magazine/20050201/mth.html)
The company changed its name to the Lionel Corporation in 1918 and grew rapidly through the 1920s.[5](https://company-histories.com/Lionel-LLC-Company-History.html) Sales increased tenfold between 1910 and 1919, and Lionel even sold a war train with cannons.[7](https://ble-t.org/news/lionel-model-trains-get-back-on-track/)
## The postwar peak
After World War II, Lionel became what the *Los Angeles Times* called the world's largest toy company.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-25-fi-7131-story.html) By 1953 annual revenue had reached $32 million, and Lionel had become one of America's most recognized brands.[1](https://www.inc.com/magazine/20050201/mth.html) The Strong National Museum of Play records that during its 1950s heyday Lionel accounted for nearly two-thirds of all toy train sales in the United States.[6](https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/lionel-trains/)
The peak did not last. After the 1950s, Lionel fell asleep at the wheel as the new, smaller HO trains—half the size of its O gauge—took the market by storm; HO eventually accounted for up to 77% of sales, and Lionel's two attempts to compete in that scale both ended in failure.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-25-fi-7131-story.html)
## Changing hands, 1959 to 1969
The corporate turnovers began in 1959, when Cowen's son Lawrence sold Lionel to a group of investors, starting almost three decades of shifting ownership. Among the purchasers was attorney Roy M. Cohn, noted for his anti-communist pursuits and subsequent high-profile clientele; in 1963 Cohn disposed of Lionel at a substantial loss to the financier Victor Muscat, and before that year ended Muscat passed the firm on to a consortium headed by A. M. Sonnabend. Sonnabend also bought Lionel's biggest competitor, American Flyer Trains, and Lionel continued to build American Flyers afterward.[5](https://company-histories.com/Lionel-LLC-Company-History.html) • [8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-25-fi-7131-story.html)
The Lionel Corporation declared bankruptcy in 1967. In 1969 it sold the tooling for its current product line and licensed the Lionel name to General Mills, the breakfast-cereal conglomerate, ending Lionel's existence as an independent trainmaker. As part of the agreement, production and sale of the 1969 train product line were still handled by the Lionel Corporation.[2](https://www.forinfos.com/en-gb/article/history-lionel-trains-b26fe718b84ec014) • [9](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/history-lionel-trains-ownership-193255132.html)
## Lionel Corporation after the trains
From 1969 the corporation remained a publicly traded holding company for toy stores.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-25-fi-7131-story.html) It operated 97 "toy supermarkets" in 15 states through its principal subsidiary, Lionel Leisure Inc.[4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/14/Lionel-one-time-trainmaker-files-for-bankruptcy/3411676872000/) In June 1991 Lionel Corp. filed for bankruptcy; trading in its stock on the American Stock Exchange was suspended, and when it resumed the stock fell 6.25 cents to 93.75 cents a share. Analysts quoted by UPI attributed the company's difficulties to competition from Wal-Mart, K mart, and Target rather than from rival toy-store chains.[4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/14/Lionel-one-time-trainmaker-files-for-bankruptcy/3411676872000/) A bankruptcy-law study likewise records that after the 1967 bankruptcy Lionel was reinvented as a holding company for retail stores and ran into financial difficulty again in the 1980s during the 1980–83 recession.[10](https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/1227913/files/2_Hidden%20Wealth%20Transfers_FORMATTED_final.pdf)
## The train brand under General Mills and later owners
General Mills operated Lionel trains through its subsidiary Model Products Corporation (MPC) beginning in 1970, a period collectors call the MPC or Fundimensions era. In 1982 General Mills moved train production from the United States to Mexico, a poorly received decision; in 1983 it combined its toy manufacturing, including Lionel production, Kenner Toys, and [Parker Brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/parker-brothers) games, and moved it all to Mexico. In 1985 General Mills sold its toy divisions, with Lionel absorbed by Kenner-Parker.[5](https://company-histories.com/Lionel-LLC-Company-History.html) • [9](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/history-lionel-trains-ownership-193255132.html)
Richard Kughn, a Mount Clemens, Michigan collector of Lionel trains, bought the toy train business in 1986 and manufactured trains through his privately held Lionel Trains Inc., which a spokesman said was operating profitably and had no connection to Lionel Corp. or Lionel Leisure. Kughn returned production to Michigan and the union work force General Mills had left.[4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/14/Lionel-one-time-trainmaker-files-for-bankruptcy/3411676872000/) • [8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-25-fi-7131-story.html) Kughn sold Lionel to the Martin Davis Investment Group in 1995.[11](https://www.invaluable.com/blog/inside-the-archives-lionel-train-prices/)
## The brand since 2026
On March 4, 2026, Round 2, a collectibles company and portfolio company of Praesidian Capital, announced it had acquired Lionel, LLC, a brand it described as beloved for more than 125 years. The transaction created the Lionel Brands Group, uniting communities across trains, model kits, die-cast, and racing, with stated plans to strengthen investment in product development and storytelling. Howard Hitchcock, President and Chief Operating Officer of Lionel Brands Group, was quoted on the brand's "train-under-the-tree" appeal.[3](https://www.lionelbrands.com/lionel-brands-group-launch-press-release/) Hobby-industry coverage describes the deal as adding a new chapter to a company with a 125-year history and notes that Lionel today is a growing brand with strong current production.[9](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/history-lionel-trains-ownership-193255132.html) • [12](https://vibetrains.com/blog/lionel-vs-mth-complete-2026-comparison-for-o-gauge-collectors)
## Products and control systems
Lionel's O gauge output has spanned traditional toy-train proportions, highly detailed scale-sized equipment, and multiple generations of conventional and command control.[13](https://davidstrains.com/pages/o-gauge-manufacturers-guide) Modern Lionel layouts use the company's command-control products: the LEGACY Control System operated with a Cab-1L remote and Base3 command base, and the multipurpose TR feature, which controls either trains (building multi-locomotive lashups) or track power through devices such as the Legacy PowerMaster and the ZW-L Transformer.[14](https://control.lionel.com/base3/cab-1l-remote/) • [15](https://control.lionel.com/docs/tr-selection/) The standard Legacy PowerMaster (6-37146) provides AC track-voltage control, allowing 32, 120, or 200 speed-step control and handling up to 360 watts of external power from two 180-watt PowerHouse supplies; it does not provide power itself, only command control of external AC transformers.[16](https://control.lionel.com/power/legacy-powermasters/) The ZW-L Transformer (6-37921) uses two engineer-type handles for independent control of two variable-voltage circuits, each with built-in whistle, direction, and bell controls.[17](https://control.lionel.com/docs/zw-l/)
## References
1. [Train Wreck, Inc. magazine (February 2005)](https://www.inc.com/magazine/20050201/mth.html)
2. [What is the history of Lionel trains?, Forinfos](https://www.forinfos.com/en-gb/article/history-lionel-trains-b26fe718b84ec014)
3. [Praesidian Capital's Portfolio Company Round 2 Acquires Lionel, LLC; Forms Lionel Brands Group, Lionel Brands (March 4, 2026)](https://www.lionelbrands.com/lionel-brands-group-launch-press-release/)
4. [Lionel, one-time trainmaker, files for bankruptcy, UPI Archives (June 14, 1991)](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/14/Lionel-one-time-trainmaker-files-for-bankruptcy/3411676872000/)
5. [Lionel L.L.C. — Company History](https://company-histories.com/Lionel-LLC-Company-History.html)
6. [Lionel Trains, The Strong National Museum of Play](https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/lionel-trains/)
7. [Lionel model trains get back on track, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (2007)](https://ble-t.org/news/lionel-model-trains-get-back-on-track/)
8. [Getting on the Right Track: After Years of Decline, Lionel Train Is Making a Comeback, Los Angeles Times (December 25, 1990)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-25-fi-7131-story.html)
9. [A history of Lionel Trains ownership, Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/history-lionel-trains-ownership-193255132.html)
10. [Hidden Wealth Transfers in Bankruptcy Asset, Berkeley Law](https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/1227913/files/2_Hidden%20Wealth%20Transfers_FORMATTED_final.pdf)
11. [Lionel Trains: Value, History and What Collectors Should Know, Invaluable](https://www.invaluable.com/blog/inside-the-archives-lionel-train-prices/)
12. [Lionel vs MTH: Complete 2026 Comparison for O-Gauge Collectors, VibeTrains](https://vibetrains.com/blog/lionel-vs-mth-complete-2026-comparison-for-o-gauge-collectors)
13. [Major O Gauge Train Manufacturers Guide, David's Trains](https://davidstrains.com/pages/o-gauge-manufacturers-guide)
14. [Cab-1L Remote, Lionel Power & Control](https://control.lionel.com/base3/cab-1l-remote/)
15. [TR Selection, Lionel Power & Control](https://control.lionel.com/docs/tr-selection/)
16. [Legacy PowerMasters, Lionel Power & Control](https://control.lionel.com/power/legacy-powermasters/)
17. [Lionel ZW-L Transformer (6-37921), Lionel Power & Control](https://control.lionel.com/docs/zw-l/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Communications and everyday technology › Consumer electronics and devices › Toys and toy electronics*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license