Halcyon Days Lionel was at its peak in the early 1950s, with record profits and some of its best products ever. Its catalogs of the period were absolute stunners. Unfortunately, Lionel was selling far more engines and rolling stock than existed on real railroads, which were rapidly overwhelmed by competition from highways and airlines. Lionel actually had its own television show, but the new medium soon mesmerized America, and interest in toy trains waned. Lionel products of this period included a stereo camera, the pastel-colored Lady Lionel train set, and trains with space age and Cold War themes. The "father and son railroad" of Joshua Lionel Cowen and Lawrence Cowen ended in 1959, when they sold their interest in Lionel to distant relative Roy Cohn.