Did Carlisle and Finch Invent The Electric Toy Train?

[Penny Trains]

It's a late Lionel #35 passenger car with 100 series Lionel trucks I have 2 35's and 1 36).  I'm not aware of any of those car bodies being used by Ives during the transition, but anything's possible.  "Cobbled together" sounds like the most likely explanation.  The bicycle type chain is a mystery seeing as it has no apparent function.  The pick-up also looks "thrown on" as 100 series trucks of this type had no provision for power.

Becky

[wallyworld]

Otis B. Drinkwater

 

wallyworld:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/C-F-34-Tinplate-Prewar-Train-O-Scale-Cincinnati-Lake-Erie-8-Wheel-Trolley-Toy-/200696523696?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2eba71ebb0

An apparently chain driven (?)  tinplate interurban..It looks cobbled together, but the listing says it's C&F.

 

 

 

 

Interesting that you note it is apparently chain driven.  Actually if you look at the item closely it has no drive mechanism visible.  Those are regular passenger car trucks with no gears on the wheels. 

Your observation that this item looks to be cobbled together is the correct answer.  I believe that this may be either an early Ives or Lionel car.  It certainly does not match known Carlisle and Finch items.

As for C&F being the inventor of the electric toy train, according to Greenberg's Guide to Early American Toy Trains (See Carlisle & Finch section) Louis Hertz's "Riding the Tinplate Rails" from 1944 indicates that Jehu Garlick marketed an electric train in 1895, which was 1 yer prior to Carlisle and Finch marketing their electric trains in 1896.  Carlisle and Finch were certainly one of the early pioneers of electric trains.

 

O.

Thanks for confirming I need to see an optometrist. it isn't the first time that Wikipedia is a coin toss. 

Jehu Garlick? Garlick Trains?

Well one thing is for certain, I wont be going to Wikipedia for the full story of Jehu.

[Otis B. Drinkwater]

wallyworld

http://www.ebay.com/itm/C-F-34-Tinplate-Prewar-Train-O-Scale-Cincinnati-Lake-Erie-8-Wheel-Trolley-Toy-/200696523696?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2eba71ebb0

An apparently chain driven (?)  tinplate interurban..It looks cobbled together, but the listing says it's C&F.

 

 

Interesting that you note it is apparently chain driven.  Actually if you look at the item closely it has no drive mechanism visible.  Those are regular passenger car trucks with no gears on the wheels. 

Your observation that this item looks to be cobbled together is the correct answer.  I believe that this may be either an early Ives or Lionel car.  It certainly does not match known Carlisle and Finch items.

As for C&F being the inventor of the electric toy train, according to Greenberg's Guide to Early American Toy Trains (See Carlisle & Finch section) Louis Hertz's "Riding the Tinplate Rails" from 1944 indicates that Jehu Garlick marketed an electric train in 1895, which was 1 yer prior to Carlisle and Finch marketing their electric trains in 1896.  Carlisle and Finch were certainly one of the early pioneers of electric trains.

 

O.

[wallyworld]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/C-F-34-Tinplate-Prewar-Train-O-Scale-Cincinnati-Lake-Erie-8-Wheel-Trolley-Toy-/200696523696?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2eba71ebb0

An apparently chain driven (?)  tinplate interurban..It looks cobbled together, but the listing says it's C&F. Interestingly, when I searched the net, I came upon the Wikipedia listing for  Carlisle and Finch which states that this firm invented the electric toy train.

"The trains, which entered the marketplace in 1897, stood about 5.5 inches tall, were made of metal, colorful, and highly detailed, and ran on metal track with rails two inches apart. They were the first complete electric-powered trains to be introduced to the marketplace"

Is this so? Being a novice, perhaps some expert opinion is called for. The piece is too pricey for me but it is  pretty interesting..