Steam

Many of the earliest locomotives for commercial use on American railroads were imported from Great Britain. In 1830, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Tom Thumb was the first commercial US-built locomotive to run in America. Steam power remained the dominant power on US rails for over a century until dieselization took over in the 1950's and by the 1960's steam locomotives were eventually phased out in the U.S. Today, there is still one steam locomotive operating on a Class I railroad in the U.S., the Union Pacific 844. For the most part, though, the U.S. and the rest of the world have converted to electric and diesel which allowed the railroad industry to reduced maintenance costs dramatically while increasing locomotive availability.

The mainstay of Lionel's motive power fleet during the postwar era was the steam locomotive. Steam engines were available every year with a wide range of features, sizes, styles plus prices for the entry level buyer to the high end railroader. In any given year Lionel usually offered introductory Scout steamers, to middle-of-the-line Prairies and Turbines to the heavyweights like Berkshires and Hudsons.

Additionally, Lionel included a tender with every steam locomotive. These too came in a variety of shapes and sizes from the basic non-whistling tender, to tenders with added features. These additional features could have included; metal steps, metal railings, side number boards, a whistle, a bell, back-up lights as well as various roadnames and coupler types. These unique steamer and tender combinations have permitted collectors and operators to optimize their fleet of steam locomotives to meet their individual needs.

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