Released by Movie Wonderland, this short film believed to be titled “Iron Ponies” was apparently originally made in the 1940s as a promo for Lionel Corporation to promote their O-scale model railroads. The movie starts on a snowy Christmas Eve’s night (0:20). A family of four sits around a fireplace adorned with candles (0:25). Father speaks with the son (0:31); Mother reads with the daughter (0:34). After Mother takes the children upstairs for reluctant sleep (0:56), the parents set up the Christmas tree, decorate it, and prepare the gifts beneath it (1:06). The biggest surprise this year will be an electric train set, an Iron Pony (1:20). Once the setup is complete, Father sets the train running (1:38). Older train models were quite different, and included stemwinders, battery-powered models, and the first plug-ins (2:04). The newer train models — those contemporary to this film — look sleeker, and are a reflection of American railroad progress (2:17). A montage of glowing billboards and neon signs of legendary, real trains: The Congressional, Philadelphia Wilmington Baltimore (2:25); The “400” (2:28); Streamliner, The City of Portland (2:29); Broadway Limited, All Room Train, Chicago (2:32); Streamliner, City of Los Angeles (2:33); and The Southerner, Atlanta Birmingham New Orleans (2:36). At 2:37, a Zephyr streamliner blasts through the mountains, blaring past a RAILROAD CROSSING sign (2:46), and various railway signals (2:28). A sign reads: TO THE TRAINS (2:55). From 2:58, footage of a very comprehensive and detailed miniature train set. Four adults are standing beside the impressive set (3:06). Among them stand actor William Gargan (3:16), and Grover Whalen (3:21), politician and New York’s official host. Together, they admire the model’s remarkable innovations: an electronic control set, which permits coupling and uncoupling of cars while they are in motion (3:17); a miniature lumber loader (3:26); a milk car with a milkman pushing milk cans (3:30); and even a miniature water tower servicing a miniature locomotive letting off smoke (3:37). The executives and engineers of Lionel Trains (3:53) keep in close contact with the railroads when considering the design of their miniatures. For example, at 4:04 they study a new car model that loads and unloads cattle into a corral. They also study blueprints and photos (4:13). One designer compares a photo with his model of a water tower (4:20), and another examines a photo of a train called The Santa Fe (4:29). The film then cuts to footage of an actual Santa Fe train at 4:33. Footage of a different train running on the tracks at 4:46; close-up on the wheels at 4:51. Inside the Baldwin Locomotive Works (4:57): massive flames and intense steam come off locomotive parts (5:00); a worker welds with heavy protective gear (5:05); men use rotary saws (5:07), and metal polishing machines (5:10); close-ups of heavy machinery, gears, and giant conveyor belts (5:10). In contrast, the environment in the Lionel toy factory is much daintier, and the workers there assemble tiny parts on tiny conveyor belts with their bare hands (5:15): a woman lines up miniature water tanks (5:45); little railway signals (5:49); a tiny, uniformed figurine with a tiny flag (5:53) from his tiny watchhouse (5:55); a worker checks the sound of the horn (5:58); and another runs a wear test, checking the durability of the entire set (6:03). The train building hobbyists might be a diverse group, but they all enjoy building and operating miniature train models (6:15). The home under thick snow — it is now Christmas Day (7:16). The children run down to see their new Lionel train, and the entire family is delighted (7:19).

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