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

    Thanks, I have checked the cord up close under magnification and with a flashlight, there are no other colors there, but some parts of the black fabric covering look more brownish, I assume due to age.

    By a fortunate coincidence, a recent post (also yesterday) by Gil RedRyder shows four different model 10 engines; all are the standard 1930s type with sky blue paint, lamp on the base, and riveted boilers (and all four in excellent condition). Notably, two have the early leviton cord pattern, but the OTHER two have the same later black cord as mine. After seeing them, I did a quick search to look for other examples with the same cord, on e-bay, and wherever I could find them. I was able to find photos of a number of sky blue engines with riveted boilers that also had the same cord, including a couple more of the standard model 10, as well as a model 5, and 25 (maybe 20 also). As well as some later 1940w engines with the dark blue paint and non-riveted boilers.

    All things considered, it would seem that the later black and white cord was also in use for some of the 1930s engines. I suspect that they were just using what they had, and what was available, and the black and white cord common on the post-WW2 engines ended up being the type they adopted as standard, but the same cord was also being used much earlier. That would make sense in the 1930s, when steady supply might have been a problem? The only other explanation is that all of the otherwise 1930s sky blue riveted boiler engines that I have seen had their cords replaced in later years, and all with the same black and white cords that became standard after WW2. Which I believe is highly unlikely, especially since almost all of them looked to be in excellent condition.

    Just my two cents, I think that trying to solve little puzzles like this is half the fun of collecting old treasures!