Carette Steam Engines And Their Accessories

Saturday, March 24, 2018
Sunny with Cloudy Periods
3 C  37.4 F

Carette Steam Engines 

and Their Accessories

Noel

Barrett

Please click here to visit these fine American auctioneers

One of the more interesting toys of the Early 20th century were the steam engines.  These machines were miniature reproductions of life-size steam engines miniatured for children to play with. However, these machines had to be supervised by parents as they were very hot when operated, and  ran on alcohol as a fuel.

Georges Carette was one of the best known manufacturers of these toys. Not only were there small steam engines, but there were accessories to have the engine run them.

The toy steam engine consisted of a fuel source, which heated up air to run a piston, that would turn a flywheel. Attached to the flywheel was a metal cord that ran up to a driving pulley wheel, which also had working driving pulleys. The last-mentioned pulleys would then attach to toy accessories that also had drive pulleys that ran theses accessories.

 Drive pulleys that you see below, could attach to small men characters that did assorted "jobs" that you will see later on. These pulleys could be single or in multiples as the sketches below illustrate.

Below are working models of assorted machine shop machines. 
These are without people. 

Below are working shop machines with people.

Each toy had a driving pulley wheel that would attach to the 

driving pulley wheel of the steam engine.

Below, the scan page illustrates many people operating different machines.

Each machine has its' own driving pulley wheel in front.

The page below illustrates even more complex and sophisticated machines.

 Here's an actual toy machine from the Pook & Pook / Noel Barrett auction.

There are 2 workers hammering a piece of iron. The driving pulley can be seen in front, 

attached beside the anvil.

One is chopping a block of wood, while the left person is a locksmith filing something. 

The models could be anywhere from 3"-5" tall (7.6 cm - 12.6 cm)

Below are 4 machinists working at the same time. You can clearly see the 4driving pulleys that are attached to the driving pulleys of the actual machines that the workers are at.

 The larger driving pulley to the extreme left and the largest is the master driving pulley,. That pulley would be attached to the steam engine.

Finally, a pair of riders on horses. You can see the large red driving pulley

at the left in the photo.

I'm sure that many of the steam engines found at auction might still be operable and could attach to the people working models that you saw above. Of course, you'd have to be very careful operating these machines, and you should be taking these machines outdoors for safety purposes. 
Once the driving pulleys of the steam engine and small toys were attached, you could see a miniature group of tradesmen plying their trades.

There are still today manufacturers of miniature steam engines. If you type in miniature steam engines or toy steam engines, you will come across the brand names of  the manufacturers - Wilesco, Mamod, and Jensen. 

Even today, these miniature models are still popular!

Thanks for visiting,
and as always
Have a great part 
of the day or evening.

Stacey Bindman
toysearcher@gmail.com

Steam Engines Revisited

Sunday, December 25, 2016
Sunny with clear skies
-6 C  21 F

Steam Engines Revisited

Please click here too visit this outstanding toy auctioneer

The Industrial Revolution  (1760-1840) was a transition period whereby industry in Europe, and later North America was transformed from manpower to machine power. New methods of power were created and discovered to increase production. These included water power, and also steam power. There were abundant coal reserves in Europe which were able to produce the steam for the vast number of machines that became the replacement for manpower. These included large presses and weaving machines (looms) that were able to replace many people and produce many more goods than had ever been produced before.

Naturally, with the invention of steam engines, European toy manufacturers and later American toy manufacturers started to produce steam toys. Some steam toys were simply steam engines that illustrated how these machines operated. Other steam engines could indirectly attach to other machines that could move.  THe power for the steam engines were small containers of small candles or small fuel sources to produce the heat necessary to produce the steam that ran the steam machines.

GEORGE BROWN FIRE PUMPER

Elusive clockwork driven horse drawn steam pumper, this very scarce Early American fire engine retains all the piping and decorative appointments as viewed in the important George Brown Sketch Book: hand painted tin, boiler done in patriotic red, white, and blue colors, bell appears under frame, drawn by two horses, large cast iron spoke wheels, clockwork concealed in upright boiler.  Minor re-touch to boiler, replaced wooden stack and tin pipe in rear frame, short pipe needs repair, horses re-soldered to hitch frame.

Length:  15"  380 mm

A scan (below) of the George Brown steam engine from the catalogue

suaid to have been produced between the 1860's-1870's.

Horizontal Steam Engine

Kenton, cast iron, painted in red and green, flywheel allows movement of parts, scarce.

 H x L:  5" x 7 1/2"  127 mm x 190 mm

The toy below appears to be a stand-alone toy. If the large green wheel was hand cranked, all of the parts of the toy would move to simulate a steam engine. Alternatively, a "real" steam engine could be directly attached to the toy via a cord or metal cord. This would then automatically 

cause the Kenton toy to go through all of its' motions.

a/ MARKLIN COMPOUND STEAM ENGINE
Germany, large scale example, features dynamo, centrifuge governor, feed pump, common cylinder with low & high pressure, horizontal boiler, many nickeled parts, mounted on enameled metal base, this was expensive in its day at $1.75. Base 21 1/2" x 21 1/2"  545 mm x 545 mm

MARKLIN STEAM PLANT

Germany, a wonderful engine, includes pressure gauge, weighted safety valve on steam dome, whistle, protected water glass, drain cock, feed water pump, a flyball governor, ladder to the catwalk around the marine style engine. 

L x W x H: 18 1/4"  x 20 3/4"  x 24 1/4" 463 mm x 528 mm x 615 mm

BING VERTICAL STEAM ENGINE

Germany, boiler appears partially blued, sight glass on side, whistle, fixed cylinder, cast iron base.  l x w x h:  4 1/4" x 4 1/4"  x 3 1/2" 118 mm x 118 mm x 90 mm  

MARKLIN DREDGING SHIP

#4322 w/4116 Steam engine, Germany, c.1909, exceedingly rare example, cataloged as "Bagger Machine," a fabulous entry depicting bucket dredge steam accessory toy, open hull boat able to sit into an embossed wave stand with spike for securing position, great colors comes with small boat to catch over spill from long chute protruding from deck. Toy comes with Marklin steam engine. Small boat 4 7/8" long. Engine 11" high.

The steam engine to the left could be attached to the dredging ship. When the steam engine was powered up, the energy transferred to the dredger would power the chain and small dredge "scoops" to fill with dirt. The scoops would rise and then tilt, dropping their load to the flat plate. From there, the load could drop into the smaller boat.

MARKLIN F.E. 4021 I GAUGE LOCOMOTIVE & TENDER

Hand enameled, 4-4-0 European outline live steam wind cutter style locomotive with eight wheel tender, features opening tool compartments and opening cap for access, functioning water reservoir, well detailed overall, extensive nickel apparatus. Engine and Tender 24 1/2" l

DOLL CO GANTRY CRANE
Germany, hand painted grey tin crane with double crank action, can be operated manually or as a steam engine accessory, overhead shed able to move across beams. 14" w. 

The above toy would have a stand-alone steam engine attached to it via a cord or metal cord.

The energy produced by the steam engine would allow the flywheel (the large wheel on a steam engine) to transfer the energy to the flywheel of the gantry crane. From there the small house hoist would move back and forth on the tracts, as well as lift an object from the ground.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a Merry Christmas, 

and Happy New Year.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Psssssssst-Steam Engines!

Saturday, January, 16, 2016
                   Sunny, Cold & Windy

Psssssssst - Steam Engines

    The Industrial Revolution that took place towards the second half of the 19th century owed much to the steam engine that was invented by the British. Engines were able to now propel machines that could do the work of what before were hundreds of people. As such, the toys were soon following the "real" machines. 

    Toy steam engines could run on alcohol or other fuels, and the toys were modelled after real-life machines. These toys were of course important to be monitored by parents as they produced high-pressure steam to run the machine, as well as having a live fire to heat up the water inside the engine or  water chamber.

    One thing that's not described in the description is the weight. These "toys" could weigh as much as 50-60 pounds (20-28 kilos), and were made of metal components that did not rust.  The toys were more popular in Europe than in North America, but some toys did manage to make their way crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

     Also, the toys were quite attention-gettters because of all their moving parts and the nosies (psssssst) from the steam being released periodically through the pressure values.

Please click here to visit Dan Morphy's location for today's toys & models

The engine below is interesting because it contained a double-boiler. You don't see too many double-boilers from this genre of toy.

Many machines of this type could in fact produce energy.  Cords or chains could be attached to a rotating wheel called a flywheel, and entire mini-factories accompanied with toy men working their machines could be attached. Hammers and saws were just 2 of the movements that toy men would be doing attached to the steam engines.

The steam engine machine below is a latecomer, having been manufactured in the 1940's. 

Even today, there are companies that still make steam engines for both adults and children.

 The item below is actually a "model", rather than a toy. However, it could in fact be "played with".

Although the model below is a true antique (106 years), I am 100% sure that even today, with some cleaning, the machine could be made to work!

They certainly knew how to make things last back then!

Thanks for dropping by,

and was always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Wilesco Models - Superior Toy Steam Engines

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Wilesco Models

Superior Toy Steam Engines

Background

  Finding new material is like a world-wide maze. I'll go to one site and fine new and interesting information, then I'll find another site, and keep moving. If you are a regular reader to my blog, you'll know that I've already written about toy steam engines. Last week, I discovered that these fine steam engines don't sit there and pump out energy by themselves. They have accessory toy accessory items that connect via a rubber band or closed circular wire. in this way, a turning spindle can transfer its energy from the engine to the accessory. 

  That was the "journey" as of a few days ago. But the search continued, and I discovered that there are still active and successful toy steam engine companies that continue making these marvellous  (marvelous, with 1 "l" if you're American) learning and entertaining toys.

   Yesterday, I wrote to Wilesco Models, and asked for permission to write about the site and present their fine photography. It's always a pleasure to see fine photography, and of course it saves me time in not having to refine and improve the images. I can a speedy reply from Mike (I'll have to get his surname), informing me that I had his OK. Not only that, but this was just 1 of his 3 companies, and that I should check out the other 2. Well, I did, I was even more amazed at these fine toys, and I willwrite them up in the future.

How does a Steam Engine Work?

   I'm always thinking and asking questions. Usually, I'm on the second question before I even get an answer to the first question. So my question was "how does a steam engine work"? I knew that a an energy source (fuel) heated up water to produce steam, but what happens after that? It turns out that there is a piston with values, slightly similar to a car engine with its pistons and valves. 

   As steam is produced, it passed on to a piston, and the piston moves. The movement is transferred to a round circle (spindle) that had a groove in it. The groove has a wire or rubber band that is attached to an "accessory steam toy", so that the toy can operate. To get the piston to constantly move back and forth to transfer its energy to the spindle. There are release valves that release the pressure after the piston had moved, so that it can return to its previous position. Fresh steam will then enter the chamber to again move the piston, to move the spindle, to transfer energy to the toy.

  You can get a very good understanding of a steam engine by simply going to Wikepedia and searching for "Steam Engine".

The Toys

   It turns out that there are 2 types of toys. One of them is called a static steam engine. This simply means that the item doesn't move. It stays in one place, has the moving spindle, and the energy is transferred to the accessory toys. The other category of the steam engine is the mobile one. This is the category where the toy moves,and includes cars, steamrollers and trains. 

  What interesting and noteworthy is that the toys are made from models of real life machines from way back , rather than 2013 models. The fact that the toys are designed and modelled at that point in time is quite nostalgic (in a nice way) for me.

3 Mobile Machines

You can see that these machines are not mass-prioduced on some assembly line. They are individually handmade. I did read that Mike had just purchased a laser cutter to cut out metal the "modern way", which I'm sure is more exacting and quality-controlled.

What I also found most-interesting, is that he maintains an inventory of replacement parts for these toys. I'll show you these in another instalment from the other 2 divisions.

I intentionally left the writing in because the narrative is quite interesting and educated you about these beautiful toys. I have a feeling that these toys are more popular in Europe and Great Britain than in North America, but there are toy companies in the USA that are major sellers of all kinds and brand names of steam engines. I have seen photos of British groups of adults and children gathered in flat areas where I'm sure they belong to clubs. The get-together is to show off their fine toys, and to chat up the latest news.

 Fine Examples of Static Machines With their Accompanying Accessory Toys

The above is the fuel source for these steam engines.

The above photo illustrates an all-in-one engine and accessory toys.

Notice that if you order one of these, it may take up to 2 months to get it, because it is custom-made , and is not in the usual inventory of merchandise.

The above accessory and person certainly looks familiar.  

It resembles the original toys that were made  in the 1920's

The above item is capable of running several machines at once.

Notice that all of the bases of the machines have holes. I would assume that for safety reasons, the toy has to be screwed or nailed into a heavy base such as wood. 

Wow! The abover item is certainly very colourful  and  interesting at the same time.

I don;t know if the above item is based on an older-generation model, but it must be certainly fascinating to young children, and adults as well. 

The quality photo helps to easily show how the accessory item works.

It would be screwed down to a piece of heavy wood or tabletop. The silver spindle on the right with the groove would have a metal wire band running from it to the static steam engine.

The new with the old is exemplified above.

A modern era LED light flashes to replicate the spot welding of the welder.

However, the welder certainly appears to be from the 1920's-1930's. I especially like the welders red cap, and those "repairs" to his apron!

So that's it for today. For myself it was a very enlightening and educational learning experience.

That's as always for dropping by, 

and have a great part of the day or night, wherever you may be.

Stacey