Interesting locomotive. Can you measure the gauge (distance between the inside edges of the rail heads)?
Is it a Cagney? No; at least not a production locomotive. The details of the construction are a lot different, and it would appear to be smaller than a Class C, D or E by looking at your picture of it in front of the car.
Now, the McGarigle brothers (who actually produced the Cagney locos) built small live steam locos for park train use prior to the association w/ Cagney. Very little is known about those locomotives. However, I would still doubt that this is one of those engines.
It looks like the headlight and sand dome are wood... very unusual for what appears to be an operating live steam locomotive.
Sometimes it can be difficult to track down the history of a given locomotive. There were a lot more one-off models built way back when than most people would think. I have one that I've owned for 14 years, and still haven't found any history on it.
It is a very nice model! Thanks for posting it, and hopefully someone can identify it. Let us know some dimensions when you get a chance.
- James
Thank you James. As I remember, the gage, a dictance between rails is 7 inches. I think you right about Cagney. Even if it was that brand, they woudl probably place their stamp or some kind of indication on a boiler or somewhere else. I was looking for a name of T.W.Burt written on a side and apparantly that gentleman holds some patents from 1870s related to railroad.
James, I was also thinking about wooden parts of this locomotive. This is why pretty much I decided to obtain it. I love the decorative parts of models and those were good examples.
7" gauge is very close to scale for a 1/8th scale model of a standard gauge locomotive. I suspect that this model was built well before the present 7-1/4" & 7-1/2" gauges were established. At any rate, this is smaller than the McGarigle/Cagney gauges that I'm aware of.
I was intriqued by the mention of patents... here are a couple that I found attributed to T.W. Burt in 1886:
http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=342860&idkey=NONE&homeurl=http%3A%252F%252Fpatft.uspto.gov%252Fnetahtml%252FPTO%252Fpatimg.htm
http://www.google.com/patents/US346893
Both apparently have to do with a mechanical automatic signalling device for railroads.
It would be neat to see if a definite link could be made between the gentleman that held those patents and your locomotive. It could help establish an age and lineage for the engine. Doing so might be quite a challenge, though!
It is a very nice model. I can see why you decided to get it. I actually have a Cagney Class C that is waiting its turn for restoration; right now I have an International Miniatures in the shop that I am rebuilding for a friend. Gotta love those early live steam locomotives...
I have never seen anything like these. Now I have a whole new set of ideas on how to spend the kids money before I die.
I love them and the whole idea.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Just a word of warning... having an old live steam locomotive for display would be great. But keeping one in operating condition? Well, you don't own it - it owns you!
This is a video of my two steamers running back in 2014. The little one - #103 - is now out of service, waiting for a new boiler. If or when I get the Cagney rebuilt, it will be my 3rd locomotive... which will probably be more than enough!
Thank you very much James for the video. I can only imagine how much time I woudl spend running miniature railroad and fixing the locomotives. I imagine it is a full time job. Hopefully in near future such railroads will be operating in every city. Canada Post could use it for delivering mail and newspapers. Raccoons could be safely transported in comfortable cars from one forest patch to another.
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