Help me with ID please. What type of a locomotive is this 1870 model?

[Romak]

Thank you so much Bob abd Penny Trains.

This is truly amazing. I think you are absolutely right about W.Colne being a name of a place rather than a name of another person who made this model. W.Colne might stand for Wakes Colne in England.

Thank you for the photograph of the locomotive. It does look like the model and it does not have exposed cylinders.

I've also noticed the precise details of the model. Many parts made of brass and it looks like the almost an exact prototype of the 2-2-2 locomotive. I also like the rivets. It seems like they are bigger in size than on original locomotive. Maybe this detailed model was an apprentice project that young engineers had to complete.

[Penny Trains]

I wonder if what we're looking at here isn't an engineering mock-up or a "salesman's sample"? The detail level appears extremely high, certainly more than what you would expect for a toy of the era.  Also, there may have been an engineer "Class" of this type of loco and this model could have been made to represent it, either to sell to established railways or maybe to perspective investors in an as yet unbuilt line.

[lionelsoni]

"Colne" seems to be an unlikely surname, but it is the name or part of the name of several towns in England.  The Colne Valley and Halstead Railway ran through the town of White Colne between 1860 and 1965.  Here is a link to a picture of one of their locomotives: 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/CVHRsharp222.jpg

It bears a considerable resemblance to your model--no external rods nor cylinders, buffers on the rear, 2-2-2 wheel arrangement, open cab--although it is not a perfect match.

So perhaps the model was made by G. Nicholls of White Colne.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article where the picture appears:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colne_Valley_and_Halstead_Railway

[lionelsoni]

Is this where you got it?  http://www.reemandansie.com/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=171125&archived

[Romak]

Thank you Bob for information. The small plaque under the steam dome says G.Nicholls W.Colne. These might be the makers of the model. I like that they created a unique name for their locomotive and called it "Engineer" The other plaque says 1870, so that is probably the date it was made. Also, I found a small cutout of a locomotive, probably from a book and a name Peterborough. The small paper locomotive was glued by these model makers. It is unusual that the makers paid so much attention placing brass pipes, iron rivets and other regulators for the boiler but they totally skipped propulsion part. There is no indication of steam cylinders or even rods.

[lionelsoni]

I can read the plates "ENGINEER" and "1870", but not the one at the base of the steam dome.  Can you tell us what it says?

[M636C]

Romak

Thank you so much for information! Do you think this locomotive's name is "Engineer" or it is just a plaque that tells about the profession of people who made it. Also, does anybody know if an actual locomotive with the name "Engineer" ever existed or not?

 

 

The London and North Western Railway used older passenger locomotives to operate inspection trains for the railway's civil engineers, including a number of locomotives of the same wheel arrangement as your model, although these had outside cylinders and connecting rods. One of these was named "Engineer", possibly as a spare locomotive, since the others had names specific to an area, such as "Engineer Manchester" and "Engineer Stafford". These remained in service long after other locomotives of the same design.

So it is possible that your model represented a locomotive intended to work inspection trains for the railway's engineer.

The Great Western Railway named all of their broad (seven feet) gauge locomotives, and a group of these were named after railway engineers, like "Stephenson", "Brunel", "Trevithick" and similar, but none was named "Engineer".

M636C

[Romak]

Thank you so much for information! Do you think this locomotive's name is "Engineer" or it is just a plaque that tells about the profession of people who made it. Also, does anybody know if an actual locomotive with the name "Engineer" ever existed or not?

[M636C]

Romak

Dear model engineers.

I have this wooden model of a locomotive from 1870. Could you please let me know what type of a locomotive it is. I assume it's name is "Engineer" but I am not sure if such a locomotive existed for real. I think there is a button with an old image of a locomotive attached to this model.

Thank you very much!

 

 

This appears to be a 2-2-2 locomotive, ie only the centre axle of the three is driven by inside cylinders and connecting rods.

This type of locomotive was common in the 1830s and the detail of this locomotive is similar to locomotives built by Robert Stephenson at that time. An example was the locomotive "North Star" sold to the English Great Western Railway. Locomotives of this type were built with and without tenders, and the presence of side buffers on the rear suggest this locomotive did not have a separate tender. The real locomotives had spoked wheels, but this would be hard to reproduce  in a wooden model.

M636C

[Romak]

Dear model engineers.

I have this wooden model of a locomotive from 1870. Could you please let me know what type of a locomotive it is. I assume it's name is "Engineer" but I am not sure if such a locomotive existed for real. I think there is a button with an old image of a locomotive attached to this model.

Thank you very much!