Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

That’s a fascinating thread.  Based on the box illustration, it seems questionable that this engine ever had a smokestack at all.  Finding that little arm with the counter weight seems like it’s going to be a needle in a haystack.  I thought
for sure the whistle that I have must have gone on this thing somewhere, but it too doesn’t seem to be present on the illustration or the extant examples.  That seems odd.

The Smithsonian dates this piece to the early 20th century, but I seriously question that.  Based on some of the discussion in the thread, the Smithsonian‘s attribution to Peerless also seems debatable. 

A little more history on the engine…I‘ve had it for nearly 30 years.  Before that, it sat in a dark, sooty corner of an attic undisturbed for maybe 70 or 80 years.  I had an aunt who lived in the house all her life and she remembered it from when she was a little girl around 1920.  It hadn’t seen the light of day since then. All I have done with it is a gentle wash to get the layer of grime and dirt off from years in that attic.