HO Toy Trains - An Antique of Today

Collecting toy trains is referred to as the world's greatest hobby; and for some, it isn't just a hobby. It's a passion and a way of life, perhaps beginning in childhood. Several toy train collectors started their hobby as children, when they were given a toy train as a gift. Toy trains, at one time, were a very popular and much desired toy among children. Over time, that concept faded and was replaced by razor scooters, iPods, and webkinz. Most children of today aren't familiar with the classic toy trains from back in the day, so the legacy is left to be carried on by adults who choose to start a collection of their own. One such popular toy train that is desired by many collectors is the HO toy train, developed by Marklin in 1935. So what makes these miniature locomotives so much different than the others?

The construction of the HO toy trains is one aspect that makes them stand apart from other toy trains. HO toy trains are jagged and are scaled at 1:87, making them the perfect starter electric train. Appearance is also a major factor in collecting HO toy trains. The flawless detailing gives them a realistic appeal, making them an attractive addition to any toy train system. The Marklin HO toy trains resemble the Z gauge in that they are built from diecast metal. Most of the frames and wheels are constructed from 100% metal. The engineering of HO toy trains is also quite brilliant. The wheels of the freight and passenger cars have a low center of gravity to avoid derailment, making them a reliable addition to electric systems.

The third-rail track systems of HO toy trains make them a hassle-free operation. The electrical current is carried by miniature stud contacts found in the middle of the ties. If you don't look closely, chances are you'll miss these clever additions. This helps prevent wiring problems and electrical pickup issues. Given the careful engineering and construction of HO toy trains, most collectors consider HO toy trains part of a scale hobby. At the debut of HO toy trains, they were sold as a toy train rather than a scale model as they are often sold today.

Scale model railroading didn't become a popular hobby among collectors until after the 1950's. Until that time, HO toy trains were thought of as just another size of train. Therefore, the Lionel Corporation began to make HO toy trains as smaller versions of the classic freight and passenger cars. It wasn't long before the Louis Marx Company began constructing their own version of HO toy trains, and they even started to sell them with complete scenery and in slot car sets.

Although finding HO toy trains on the shelf at your local toy store may be a challenge, they aren't all that difficult to come by. A simple search of the internet will provide you with a detailed listing of available HO toy trains for sale as well as places to locate these classic toy trains.

Crossword Puzzle History

The first crossword puzzle graced the pages of the Sunday New York World on December 21, 1913.  The first crossword puzzle was created by Arthur Wynne.  After the first issue, it never looked back.  It became a weekly feature until it became a craze. 

Word puzzles can be traced until the Roman period.  Actually, remains of a word squares can be found in the Roman ruins of Pompeii.  A word square is composed of words which can be read horizontally and vertically.  The words are the same in both directions.  But there would be instances where the horizontal word is different.  This is referred to as the double word square.

A famous word square was discovered in the Herculaneum ruins in Pompeii.  The word square was called Sator Square which is in Latin.  It can be predated in the Christian era. 

The longest word squares done were composed of nine letters and uses unusual word and proper names.  Nobody was able to construct a ten letter word square, whether it is a computer or a person.  Word squares were considered to be the forerunners of crossword puzzles.

When crossword puzzle was first published in the New York World, it was initially called “word-cross puzzle”.  It is very different from the current puzzles, since there were no black squares.  The New York World was the only newspaper back then which started publishing crossword puzzles.   It was created by a journalist working for the World.   Wynne was inspired by a childhood game in England. 

In 1924, a small publishing firm released a collection of the puzzles published in the World.  It was published in book form.  The book was launched by Simon and Schuster.  It sold 36,000 copies after the first printing. They published two more volumes of the book and this signalled the start of the craze over crossword puzzle. Other newspapers eventually picked up the trend and started publishing their own crossword puzzles. 

Within the next decade, crossword puzzle became very popular.  It seems like every kind of business is using crossword puzzle, it was even given free with items of clothing sold.  Its popularity eventually reached and conquered Europe. 

The first crossword puzzle appeared in Britain in Pearson’s Magazine in February 1922.  It first appeared in Times in February 1930.  British crossword puzzle was considered to be more difficult since it is a cryptic puzzle.  To solve a cryptic puzzle, answering the clues is not the only thing to do.  You would also need to figure out the clue itself. 

The crossword puzzles were initially created by hand until a software company was able to develop a program  for computers that would be able to create a crossword puzzle. This program was first created by Variety Games Inc. in 1997, the software was called Crossword Weaver and was patented.

Today crosswords are among the most popular word games in history.  There are people who make answering crossword puzzles a daily habit while there are some people who are totally obsessed with it.  In the United States alone, there were about 40 million people who solve crosswords daily. 

Now, there the New York World is no longer around.  The initial format of the crossword puzzle transformed to its current form.  But Simon & Schuster still publishes book of crossword puzzles.  Until now, the crossword puzzle’s popularity still continues.

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