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

Thanks for the comments, Mike. Yes, I've been collecting early American 2" gauge and Boucher Standard gauge tinplate toy trains for a number of years now. My book was meant to fill a gap in the available literature on these very early 20th century toy trains, as there was no guide book available when I wrote it. I maintain an operating layout in the basement, though things are getting crowded severely with the addition of stationary steam engines to my collection. Here's a video showing one of my Voltamp 2" gauge locomotives running on my layout. There are many more videos on my YouTube channel showing trains and steam engines.

Voltamp was the first manufacturer to introduce a six wheel drive tinplate toy locomotive. In about 1908 or 1909, they introduced model 2222, a 4-6-0 locomotive accompanied by an eight wheel tender. This video shows the earliest version of the 2222, known as the "high cab" version, characterized by twin "cathedral" style cab windows. The loco is pulling an early 2103 "Royal Blue Limited" combine car with wood floor and flat car ends.