"Tom Thumb" Locomotive, 1830, approx. 1:28 Scratch Build

Carleroo

Carleroo

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I am currently working on an approx. 1:28 scale model of the "Tom Thumb", the first locomotive built in the United States. It was built as an experiment by Peter Cooper, an American entrepreneur who was interested in influencing the Baltimore & Ohio RR that the future was in steam, as opposed to horse-drawn rail transport. There are no extant plans or contemporary images. The current replica, in the B&O Museum was based on drawings made by Cooper years later. From what I gathered from my Googling, he built the locomotive from existing machinery, including musket barrels! My effort is similar. I am using bits and pieces left over from other projects. The locomotive was scrapped after a few years, having been replaced by more advanced and powerful locomotives.
 

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Quite a novel thing to build, interesting that you appear to be going down the elastic band drive route. It worked well enough for early English N Gauge cant remember the name of the manufacturer now, but my memory was that the axles had a pretty thick middle for the band to grab to move the locomotive.
 
dunnyrail said:
Quite a novel thing to build, interesting that you appear to be going down the elastic band drive route. It worked well enough for early English N Gauge cant remember the name of the manufacturer now, but my memory was that the axles had a pretty thick middle for the band to grab to move the locomotive.
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The elastic band is actually to drive an air blower. The band - a belt on the original locomotive - is driven by the axle. This pumped air into the firebox.The locomotion itself is driven through a set of gears. There is a story that the Tom Thumb was challenged to a race between it and a horse. The engine was winning at some point, but the belt driving the air broke and the steam pressure dropped, with the horse winning the race.
 
dunnyrail said:
Quite a novel thing to build, interesting that you appear to be going down the elastic band drive route. It worked well enough for early English N Gauge cant remember the name of the manufacturer now, but my memory was that the axles had a pretty thick middle for the band to grab to move the locomotive.
Click to expand...

You are undoubtedly thinking of the Lone Star brand 'Treblo-electric', a late 50's trainset with a US-F7 outline loco and 'shortened' passenger cars. Initially it was simply push-along, and sold in Woolworths in bubble packs, with a range of around 40 different items. Then, having established itself, it was turned into a track-powered system, using tiny motors whose drive shafts protruded from each end, using tight rubber bands skewed through 90 degrees onto the wheel axles. Lots of details here -

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The pushalong versions ran on die-cast track sections of sectional track, and was sold in small sets.

My late Great Uncle Jack was a director of the company that made them - DCMT - Die-cast Metal Toy Co Ltd of Coalville. I firmly believe that it was the foundation for what was later called n scale - as it ran on 9mm gauge track to a scale of around 1:160. DCMT/Lone Star were world-famous for their huge range of cap guns!
 
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tac foley said:
You are undoubtedly thinking of the Lone Star brand 'Treblo-electric', a late 50's trainset with a US-F7 outline loco and 'shortened' passenger cars. Initially it was simply push-along, and sold in Woolworths in bubble packs, with a range of around 40 different items. Then, having established itself, it was turned into a track-powered system, using tiny motors whose drive shafts protruded from each end, using tight rubber bands skewed through 90 degrees onto the wheel axles. Lots of details here -

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The pushalong versions ran on die-cast track sections of sectional track, and was sold in small sets.

My late Great Uncle Jack was a director of the company that made them - DCMT - Die-cast Metal Toy Co Ltd of Coalville. I firmly believe that it was the foundation for what was later called n scale - as it ran on 9mm gauge track to a scale of around 1:160. DCMT/Lone Star were world-famous for their huge range of cap guns!
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A collection of Lone Star push-along railways was, along with Hornby/Tri-ang OO offerings, a major influence on my railway modelling: the child is the father of the man etc etc. The simplicity of joinable sections of rail allowed (encouraged?) temporary railways. A bit like Lego: build it, play with it, put it away and start again tomorrow. Perfect for a child, when you think about it.
Thank you for dusting off some memories!
 
Northsider said:
A collection of Lone Star push-along railways was, along with Hornby/Tri-ang OO offerings, a major influence on my railway modelling: the child is the father of the man etc etc. The simplicity of joinable sections of rail allowed (encouraged?) temporary railways. A bit like Lego: build it, play with it, put it away and start again tomorrow. Perfect for a child, when you think about it.
Thank you for dusting off some memories!
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De nada, bwyty.
 
dunnyrail said:
Very nice Carleroo Carleroo be interested to see underneath now finished so that we can understand how the wheels are linked to the crank workings.
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Thanks for your kind remarks. I have attached a photo showing the underside. The gear driven by the piston engages a second set of gears on the axle. This is more or less how it worked on the original, as far as I could determine. In my case, I couldn't get gear wheels to match exactly but arranged them close together so they look like they are engaged. This is Ok by meIMG_8985.jpg since this is a static model. The rubber band you see is attached to the axle which drives the air blower. The original had a leather belt to accomplish this.Screenshot 2024-12-30 at 3.41.55 PM.png
 
Oh so no power from those gears then. So as a static no power to axles required as you say, not so sure that it would have been that tricky to organize but as a shelf queen she looks fine.
 
dunnyrail said:
Oh so no power from those gears then. So as a static no power to axles required as you say, not so sure that it would have been that tricky to organize but as a shelf queen she looks fine.
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It wouldn't have been that tricky to organize, except the gear wheels I had were of slightly different tooth sizes and shapes, so they wouldn't engage as they should if it was meant to work. But it was always intended to bask on a shelf, so for me it didn't matter.
 
Carleroo said:
It wouldn't have been that tricky to organize, except the gear wheels I had were of slightly different tooth sizes and shapes, so they wouldn't engage as they should if it was meant to work. But it was always intended to bask on a shelf, so for me it didn't matter.
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Try using an old mechanical clock, you can pick a useless one up for a few quid.
 
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